ISBN 0-85420-228-5
xii + 161 pages

Introduction; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and Notes; Formation Signs; Bibliography

Kempton, Chris. Loyalty & Honour: The Indian Army, September 1939 - August 1947, part II: Brigades. Milton Keynes, UK: Military Press, 2004

ISBN 0-85420-233-1
ii + 108 pages

Introduction

Kempton, Chris. Loyalty & Honour: The Indian Army, September 1939 - August 1947, part III. Milton Keynes, UK: Military Press, 2004

ISBN 0-85420-248-X
ii + 146 pages

Appendices: Miscellaneous Forces and Columns; Higher Formations; The Army in India; Relative Strengths, 1939-1947; Expansion of the Indian Army; Maps

   H.F. Joslen's seminal work provides complete order of battle information for British divisions and brigades, their components, and their commanders during World War II in a structured, tabular format. David Hughes and his colleagues expand on this material with descriptive text and further TOE data for British units. Malcolm Bellis in a pair of slender but useful volumes fills in details about where British battalions were deployed throughout the war and to what formations they were subordinated, also in a tabular format. With all the Joslen, Hughes, and Bellis volumes on hand, researchers can look up any British division, brigade, or battalion and without too much trouble cross-reference to find its components, the higher HQs under which it served, where it served, and (for divisions and brigades) names of commanders.
   Until now, that kind of information has been far more elusive for units of the Indian Army. While Joslen provides data about British units assigned to Indian formations, the Hughes series should eventually include a volume on Indian units, and F.W. Perry has a very interesting (but unpublished) manuscript on file at the Imperial War Museum, there has been no published compendium of Indian units coming remotely close to what has been done for the British Army in World War II. That's a shame, because the Indian Army by the end of the war fielded over two million men.
   Thankfully, Chris Kempton has produced a spectacular set of new books that does for the Indian Army what Joslen, Hughes, and Bellis did for the Brits.
   Volume one covers Indian divisions. Volume two covers brigades. Volume three deals with battalions and includes appendices about, among other things, "Higher Formations" and "Miscellaneous Forces and Columns." We'll look at each volume in turn.
   Volume one opens with an Introduction, a page about "Political Background," a page about the organization of the Indian Army in 1939, a page about the Army's expansion, and "A Short Chronology by Theatre." Kempton then provides details for each of the following divisions:

1st (later redesignated 31st) Armored Division
2nd (later redesignated 32nd) Armored Division
43rd Armored Division
44th Armored Division
2nd Infantry Division
3rd Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
5th Infantry Division
6th Infantry Division
7th Infantry Division
8th Infantry Division
9th Infantry Division
10th Infantry Division
11th Infantry Division
12th Infantry Division
14th Infantry Division
17th Infantry Division
19th Infantry Division
20th Infantry Division
21st Infantry Division
23rd Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
26th Infantry Division
34th Infantry Division
36th Infantry Division
39th Infantry Division
Brindiv
1st Burma Division
44th Airborne Division

   Each division's entry includes the following information: date and place of formation; date of redesignation(s) (if any); date disbanded; narrative summary of service (up to ten pages in length); list of "major battles/engagements" in which the division participated; names of divisional commanders and dates served; names of divisional artillery commanders and dates served; names of divisional engineer commanders and dates served; list of component Indian brigades and dates under command; list of non-Indian brigades and dates under command; list of divisional troops and dates under command; list of divisional artillery units and dates under command; list of divisional engineer units and dates under command; list of divisional signals units and dates under command; list of divisional supply and transport units and dates under command; list of divisional medical units and dates under command; list of divisional ordnance units and dates under command; list of divisional electrical and mechanical engineer units and dates under command; list of miscellaneous units (such as Provost and Field Post Office) and dates under command. Each list of commanders and divisional components consumes in total as many as three or four pages, depending on the division.
   Here's an example of one of the shortest (and most obscure) divisional entries:

39th INDIAN LIGHT DIVISION

Formed at Shillong, Assam from 20th June 1942, by redesignation of remnants of 1st Burma Division.

Disbanded between January & March 1946.

The division formed as a 'light' division consisting of only two brigades and with six mule and four jeep companys rather than the conventional transport establishment. For its first twenty-four hours it was designated as 38th Light Division but when it was realised that a 38th Chinese Division already existed the number was changed to avoid confusion. The division trained at Shillong and Ranchi for a deep penetration role until the Infantry Committee, India, sitting from 1st to 14th June 1943, decided that, together with 14th Division, it would be given a training role to properly prepare units for active service in Burma.

It was redesignated as a Training Division on 14th June 1943 at Ranchi and Divisional HQ had moved to Saharanpur by 25th August, internal training started from 1st October and the first drafts from Regimental Centres arrived from 1st November. The division had a training responsibility for 50% of Royal Bombay S&M, all Bengal S&M, 50% each I.E.M.E. & I.M.S./I.A.M.C, 9th Jat, 12th FFR, 14th, 15th, & 16th Punjab, 17th Dogra, 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles, 19th Hyderabad, Bihar, Assam & Sikh Lt. Inf. Regts also I.S.F. units and Gurkhas [115 Brigade]. The training programme and methods were in general the same as 14th Division's.

Jim Corbett [Tigers of Kumaon/Corbett National Park] served as a Lt. Col. on the training staff at age 70+, teaching jungle survival to trainees at both 39th and 14th Divisions.

DIVISIONAL COMMANDERS

Major General J.B. Scott D.S.O., M.C. [June 1942 - 27th March 1943][1]
Brigadier A.J.H. Bourke [Acting 27th March - August 1943]
Major General F.M. Moore C.S.I., C.I.E. [August 1943 - 11th March 1945]
Major General W.D.A. Lentaigne C.B.E., D.S.O. [11th March 1945 - on]

[1] Frequently shown as J. Bruce Scott but not hyphenated and on I.A. Lists as J.B. Scott

COMMANDERS R.A.

Brigadier F.C. Picton [9th September 1942 - 31st August 1943]
None Appointed [1st September 1943 - on]

COMMANDERS I.E.

Lt. Col. D.C.T. Swan R.E. [August 1942 - April 1944]
Lt. Col. T.H.F. Foulkes R.E. [May - September 1944]
Lt. Col. R.S.B. Ward O.B.E., M.C., R.E. [September 1944 - April 1945]
Lt. Col. B.S. Downward R.E. [April - November 1945]

106 Indian Infantry Brigade [ex 1 Burma Bde.] [June 1942 - March 1946]
113 Indian Infantry Brigade [ex 13 Indian Inf. Bde.] [June 1942 - March 1946]
115 Indian Infantry Brigade [September 1943 - March 1946]

DIVISIONAL TROOPS

2nd Duke of Wellington's Regt. [West Riding] [24th October 1942 - 19th October 1943]
7/10th Baluch Regt. [Attached August 1942 - January 1943 at Ranchi]

ARTILLERY

[No Artillery allocated after August 1943. * 145 Field Regt. was attached for administration whilst training at Dehra Dun after arrival from England]
9 Field Regt. R.A. [12th March 1943 - 22nd August 1943]
24 LAA/Anti Tank Regt. R.A. [10th March - 18th August 1943]
145 [Berkshire Yeomanry] Field Regt. R.A. [1st March 1945 - 22nd June 1945]*

ENGINEERS

Malerkotla Field Coy., Sappers & Miners ISF [June 1942 - August 1943]
82 Field Coy., K.G.V's Bengal Sappers & Miners Group I.E. [1943 - January 1946]
26 Field Coy., Q.V.O. Madras Sappers & Miners Group I.E. [1943 - 1946]
367 Field Coy., K.G.V's Bengal Sappers & Miners Group I.E. [1943 - 1945]
306 Field Park Coy., K.G.V's Bengal Sappers & Miners Group I.E. [1943 - January 1946] [Part to 14 Ind. Div. June 1945]

SIGNALS

39 Indian Divisional Signals [ex Burma Div. Sigs.]

SUPPLY & TRANSPORT R.I.A.S.C.

904, 905, 907 & 908 Jeep Coys. [1942 - 1943][1]
174 G.P. Transport Coy. [1943 - 1945]
9, 15, 19, 28, 30 & 41 A.T. Coys. [Mule] [1942 - 1943][1]
79 Pony Coy. [1943 - 1945] [Redesignated A.T. Coy. [Mule] in 1944]

MEDICAL I.M.S./I.A.M.C. & VETERINARY I.A.V.C.

57 Field Ambulance [June 1942 - June 1943]
75 Field Ambulance [designated Light to March 1943] [June 1942 - June 1943]
77 Field Ambulance [ex 1 Burma Field Ambulance] [June 1942 - June 1943]
70 Field Ambulance [June 1943 - on]
39 Field Ambulance [June 1943 - on]
63 Field Ambulance [June 1943 - on]
35 Field Hygiene Sec. [June 1943 - on]
19 Mobile Veterinary Section [1944 - 1945]

ORDNANCE

7 Mobile Workshop Coy. I.A.O.C. [June 1942 -to I.E.M.E. 1943]
39 Division Recovery Coy. I.A.O.C. [ex Burma Div. Rcy. Coy.][June 1942 -to I.E.M.E. 1943]

ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

3 Mobile Workshop Coy. I.E.M.E. [1943 - 1946]
7 Mobile Workshop Coy. I.E.M.E. [1943 - 1946]
39 Division Recovery Coy. I.E.M.E [1943 - 1946]

MISC.

39 Division Provost Unit
609 Field Security Section I. Corps [I] [1943 - 1946]
39 Division Postal Unit [with FPO's R654 & R655] [1944 - March 1946]
124 Field Post Office [June 1942 - March 1946]

[1] The Transport establishment was reduced as soon as the division was redesignated as a Training Division

   Following the divisional histories, Kempton provides somewhat crude but perfectly acceptable examples of formation signs for the divisions. Measuring approximately six centimeters by six centimeters, each of almost thirty hand-drawn patches is reproduced in color. Volume one concludes with an alphabetical listing of divisional commanders and artillery commanders (with ranks, positions, units, and dates served), all of whom are also shown separately under the appropriate divisions.
   Volume two continues in similar fashion with Indian brigades: armored, cavalry, tank, motor, infantry, parachute, and frontier. Nothing seems to be left out. Not only does this volume contain familiar brigades like the 5th, 7th, and 9th, readers can also find the obscure (such as the 38th which existed briefly in the Western Desert) and the virtually unknown (such as the Razmak Brigade stationed in Waziristan which conducted operations against the Fakir of Ipi in 1942).
    The format is much the same as in the divisional volume, with date and place of formation, redesignations, HQs to which assigned, movements, and notes about battles and engagements. Where the divisional narrative histories take up to ten pages or so, brigades typically receive about a half page of narrative text. "The Brigade histories," the author explains, "are intended to be read in conjunction with those of the Division(s) under which they served. They are not, therefore, comprehensive, and are given in detail only when the brigade was operating in a detached or independent role or was involved in some action of particular interest. Some detail of brigade operations is also given for Burma and Arakan in order to try and clarify the complexity of operations in those areas." The entry for each brigade also includes a list of commanders with dates served, a list of component battalions with dates under command, and a list of other units (artillery, signals, post office, etc) assigned to the brigade with dates. In sum, a typical brigade's entry amounts to about a page or a page and a half of information.
   Here's an example of a brigade entry:

9th INDIAN INFANTRY BRIGADE

Formed at Secunderabad in late September 1939 to replace 9th [Jhansi] Brigade. The brigade trained until joining 5th Indian Division in June 1940. After Sudan and Eritrea the brigade was in N Africa with the division except for a detachment to Tobruk from April to early June 1942. The brigade suffered heavy casualties at the battle of The Cauldron on 5th June 1942, [temporarily under command 7th British Armoured Division], and subsequently on Ruweisat Ridge on 22nd/23rd July with only 2nd West Yorkshire and 3/14th Punjab under command.

In Iraq with the division from October 1942 to May 1943 the brigade returned to India in June moving to Chas for jungle training then rejoining the division, in reserve, at Wabyin in January 1944 for the Arakan campaign and locating at Maungdaw. Attached to 7th Indian Division from 7th February firstly in the Mayu Range eastern foothills, then Zingweya on 6th February and finally the Ngakyedauk Box until rejoining 5th Division on 25th. At Razabil on 9th March and then moved from Arakan to Imphal between 23rd/26th March [the West Yorks. went directly to Kohima but moved to Imphal on the 28th]. From the 27th the brigade was at Nushigum Hill then Kanglatongbi to 5th April moving to the Mapao area of the Iril Valley at the end of April and the Tiddim Road in July.

Attached to 17th Indian Division [15th March -1st April 1945], and 19th Indian Division [April 1945] the brigade returned to 5th Indian Division for the Sittang Battle in May 1945 and after the Japanese surrender moved to Singapore. Went to Sourabaya D.E.I. with the division in October 1945 returning to India in April/May 1946 for disbandment in July 1946.

BRIGADE COMMANDERS

Brigadier A.G.O.M. Mayne D.S.O. [September 1939 - February 1941]
A/Brigadier F.W. Messervy [February 1941]
Brigadier F.W. Messervy D.S.O. [March - 13th April 1941]
Brigadier B.C. Fletcher D.S.O., M.C. [13th April 1941 - July 1942]
A/Brigadier W.H. Eangran M.C. [2nd West Yorks.] [27th July - September 1942]
Brigadier W.H. Eangran M.C. [September 1942 - January 1944]
Lt. Col. J.A. Salomons D.S.O., O.B.E. [4/7th Rajput] [Acting 28th January - 14th February 1944]
Brigadier G.C. Evans D.S.O. [14th - 25th February 1944]
Brigadier J.A. Salomons D S.O., O.B.E. [25th February 1944 - relieved c 17th March 1945]
Lt. Col. K. Bayley [officiating 17th - 26th March 1945]
Brigadier H.G.E. Brain O.B.E. [26th March 1945 - June 1946]

3 Royal [Sikhs]/12th Frontier Force Regt. [20th September 1939 - 6th June 1942] [1 Coy. with Fletcher Force 28th April - 19th May 1941]
3/5th Mahratta Light Infantry [January 1940 - May 1942]
6 Royal [Scinde]/13th Frontier Force Rifles [August - 11th October 1940 & December 1940 - January 1941]
2nd West Yorkshire Regt. [Prince of Wales's Own] [5th November 1940 - 29th August 1945]
3/18th Royal Garhwal Rifles [April - May 1941]
3/9th Jat Regt. [May 1942 - December 1944]
4 [Duke of Connaught's Own]/10th Baluch Regt. [June 1942] [Attached from 10th Brigade]
1/2nd Punjab Regt. [24th July - early August 1942] [Attached from 161st Brigade]
3/14th Punjab Regt. [July 1942 - October 1944]
4th Jammu & Kashmir Infantry I.S.F.. [9th October 1944 - 30th April 1945]
3/2nd Punjab Regt. [March 1945 - 5th May 1946]
1st Burma Regt. B.A.F. [6th April - 30th April 1945 & 13th May - 24th October 1945]
7th York & Lancaster Regt. [21st - 24th June 1945]
1/3rd Madras Regt. [August 1945 - 3rd July 1946]
3/4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles [November 1945 - June 1946]

4 Field Regt. R.A. [16th September - 7th October 1940 & 24th March - 24th June 1944]
28 Field Regt. R.A. [16th October 1941 - 11th March 1942]
9 Brigade Signals Section
9 Brigade Troops Transport Coy. R.T.A.S.C. [Bde. Tpt. Coy. 1942] [1941 -1944]
9 Brigade Ordnance Coy. I.A.O.C. [1942 - 1943]
9 LAD Type E/F. I.E.M.E. [9 Inf. Bde. LAD 1945] [ex Bde. Ord. Coy.] [1943 - on]
15 Field Post Office [September - December 1940]
E603 Field Post Office [December 1940 - May 1941]
89 Field Post Office [May 1941 - June 1942 [captured]]
R69 Field Post Office [4th - 13th July] -replaced by R12 Field Post Office [July 1942 - March 1943]
21 Field Post Office [March 1943 - June 1946]

   Volume two concludes with an alphabetical listing of commanding officers of brigades.
   Where volume one allows readers to find divisional data and volume two provides information for brigades, the third volume in Kempton's set allows readers to look up individual battalions. To begin with, the author sets out all the British battalions which served in Indian formations, but entries for those battalions only cover periods when the unit was under an Indian brigade or division.
   More importantly, this volume contains entries for every battalion in service during the war for the Indian Army, the Gurkhas, the forces of the independent Indian states, Burma, and the Nepalese Army. Those familiar with the regiments of the Indian Army know their numbering and naming conventions can be even more confusing than the complex British regimental system. Kempton carefully lists each regiment (with its various titles and honorifics) and under each regimental heading lists all of its battalions. For each individual battalion the entry displays in chronological sequence the date and place raised, movements and assignments to higher headquarters during the war, redesignations, etc. For each battalion this amounts on average to approximately eight to twelve chronological lines. (Unlike the division and brigade listings in the first two volumes, commanders aren't included.) Most readers will be at least passingly familiar with units like the Rajputana Rifles and the Punjab Regiment, but the author also includes mysterious battalions like the Nabha Akal Infantry (garrison troops at Bologna and Ferrara in April and May 1945) and the Bhopal Sultiana Infantry (serving in Egypt and Cyprus).
   Here's an example of just a portion of one of the better-known Indian regiments:

6th RAJPUTANA RIFLES
[THE RAJPUTANA RIFLES [Oct. 1945]]

1st BATTALION [WELLESLEY'S]

August 1939 [Force 'Heron'] - December 1941. 11th BRIGADE [With Gazelle Force 24th - 27th January 1941]
December 1941 - February 1942. 5th BRIGADE
February - April 1942. 11th BRIGADE
April - June 1942. 20th BRIGADE [18th June at Gambut, 10th Div.]
June-November 1942. 21st BRIGADE
November 1942 - July 1943. Corps Troops M.E. Egypt
July 1943 - January 1944. 5th BRIGADE
January - February 1944. 11th BRIGADE
February - March 1944. 7th BRIGADE
March - April 1944. 5th BRIGADE
April - May 1944. 11th BRIGADE
May - August 1944. Garrison Troops in Italy and returned to India
August 1944 - September 1945. At Delhi
September 1945 - November 1946. ZHOB BRIGADE
December 1946 - on. WANA BRIGADE

2nd BATTALION [PRINCE OF WALES'S OWN]

Pre September 1939 - October 1939. KOHAT BRIGADE
October - December 1939. BANNU BRIGADE
December 1939 - November 1940. KOHAT BRIGADE
November 1940 - April 1941. THAL BRIGADE
April 1941 - January 1944. 24th BRIGADE
January - March 1944. 39th BRIGADE
March 1944 - July 1945. 24th BRIGADE
July - August 1945. 60th BRIGADE
September 1945 - February 1946. At Delhi
February 1946 - on. At Meerut

   Volume three also contains six appendices. The first is a listing of all the temporary "forces" and "columns" related to Indian units during the war, including, for example, the relatively well-known Gazelle Force in East Africa. Each entry devotes a paragraph to the unit, its composition, its commander, and its operations. Among the more interesting listings here is Force K which controlled the Indian contingent serving with the BEF in France during 1939-1940. Appendix Two lists all the higher HQs relevant to Indian forces—such as ABDA Command, 11th Army Group, III Indian Corps, etc—with brief notes about the headquarters and its commanders. Appendix Three shows in tabular format the general structure of ground forces in India itself, including commands, districts, areas, and sub-areas. Appendices Four and Five are each one-page tables of overall strengths of Indian forces measured in manpower and in various types of divisions, brigades, and battalions at several different dates during the war.
   The final appendix comprises almost forty pages of maps. For each campaign and/or geographic area, one or more maps depict the movement of major Indian units during the war. Printed in three colors (black, red, and blue), these maps resemble the maps of divisional peregrinations found in the Deutschen Divisonen, 1939-45 series and provide an excellent—although sometimes crowded—overview of when and where units moved.
   Stylistically, the presentation of the text in all three volumes could have been improved (and made much easier on the eyes) by better indenting and line spacing, by adding missing periods, by removing all the extraneous parentheses, brackets, etc., by better punctuation in general, and by judicious use of bold and italized text to perk up the pages. That's a very minor quibble, however, and few readers will even notice such an insignificant shortcoming.
   Punctuation quibbles aside, these are spectacular volumes. It should be noted that they contain no photos, no organigrams, no snapshot OBs of the entire Indian Army for any specific dates, and no information about the organization or equipment of battalions or other formations (of the sort provided by, for example, J.J. Hays in his United States Army Ground Forces TOE series, also published by Military Press). Nevertheless, Loyalty & Honor meets or exceeds for the Indian Army the type and quality of information offered for the British Army by Joslen, Hughes, and Bellis.
   Chris Kempton seems to be the first researcher to publish a comprehensive work of this nature for the Indian Army, and it's an amazing achievement. Each volume is a treasure trove of hard-core orbat wisdom. The amount of information packed into these books (including ranks and decorations for the unit commanders) could only have been compiled after years of tedious digging through mountains of archives. (The bibliography gives a glimpse of the sources, including official publications and regimental histories.) Anyone who has attempted the difficult task of researching Indian OB material in the existing WWII literature will appreciate the magnitude, originality, and importance of Kempton's accomplishment.
   For students of the Indian Army, Loyalty & Honour is highly recommended. These rank among the most important books ever published on that subject, and all three volumes also deserve to be recognized among the best WWII titles to appear this year.
   Likewise—we've said this before and we'll say it again—Jonathan Prickett and his Military Press deserve an immense amount of credit. Looking at their track record of terrific OB and TOE volumes on American, French, and German forces—as well as a plethora of other very specialized military titles—it's clear that the Military Press is unsurpassed as a source for these kinds of books. The Indian volumes only confirm preeminence in that arena. Even in the relatively tiny niche of WWII publishing, however, Prickett's operation remains a small, hard-to-find specialty house. Those with an interest in this topic are strongly encouraged to support the publisher and its authors by tracking down these books and buying them.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Military Press.
   Thanks to Military Press for providing these review copies.