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Remembered Today:

Indian Army Units List for the Great War East Africa Campaign


bushfighter

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Adam Prime wishes to know which Indian Army units served in the Great War East Africa Campaign (reference Personal Message).

So I'll put my list up (below as an annexure to a paper I'm giving in Lisbon on Monday) so that anyone who has other useful information can add to it.

Harry

ANNEXURE I

Indian Army, Indian Volunteer and Indian State Forces Imperial Service Units that served in East Africa during the Great War

(Each of these units either served as a complete unit or else sent a complete sub-unit or detachment to serve independently in East Africa during the period of the Great War.)

Indian Army Cavalry

17th Cavalry East Africa Squadron (January 1915- January 1917)

25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) (August 1917 – February 1918)

Indian Army Mountain Artillery

22nd Derajat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) (December 1916 – November 1918)

24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) (April 1917 – August 1918)

27th (Bengal) Mountain Battery (September 1914 – January 1918)

28th (Lahore) Mountain Battery (November 1914 – January 1917)

Indian Volunteer Artillery

Calcutta Volunteer Battery, formed from the Cossipore Artillery Volunteers (September 1914 – mid 1917)

Indian State Forces Artillery

1st Kashmir Mountain Battery (December 1916 – February 1918)

Indian Sappers & Miners

14th Company, Madras Sappers & Miners (February-November 1918)

25th Railway Company, Sappers & Miners (November 1914 – December 1917)

26th Railway Company, Sappers & Miners (November 1914 – December 1917)

27th Railway Company, Sappers & Miners (April 1916 – April 1918)

28th Railway Company, Sappers & Miners (April 1916 – September 1918)

No 5 Pontoon Park, Bombay Sappers & Miners

No.4 Engineer Field Park, Madras Sappers & Miners

No. 3 Photo-Litho Section, Madras Sappers & Miners

No. 4 Printing Section, Madras Sappers & Miners

Indian State Forces Sappers & Miners

1st Faridkot Field Company, Sappers & Miners (November 1917 – February 1918)

Indian Army Infantry

5th Light Infantry (March 1916 – June 1918)

13th Rajputs (The Shekhawati Regiment) (November 1914 – December 1915)

17th Infantry (The Loyal Regiment) (February 1916 – December 1917)

29th Punjabis (September 1914 - May 1917)

30th Punjabis (December 1916 – December 1917)

33rd Punjabis (May 1917 – February 1918)

40th Pathans (January 1916 – February 1918)

55th Coke’s Rifles (Frontier Force) (August 1917 – February 1918)

57th Wilde’s Rifles (Frontier Force) (July 1916 – September 1917)

58th Vaughan’s Rifles (Frontier Force), one company (February 1918 – mid-1918)

61st (King George’s Own) Pioneers (November 1914 – February 1918)

63rd Palmacottah Light Infantry (November 1914 – January 1917)

98th Infantry (November 1914 – January 1917)

101st Grenadiers (November 1914 – August 1916)

127th (Queen Mary’s Own) Baluchi Light Infantry (August 1917 – February 1918)

129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis (January 1916 – January 1918)

130th (King George’s Own) Baluchis (Jacob’s Rifles) (January 1915 – October 1917)

Indian Volunteer Machine Gun Units

Indian Volunteer Maxim Company (September 1914 – mid-1917)

North-West Railway Volunteers Machine Gun Company (November 1914 – early 1918)

Indian State Forces Infantry

Bharatpur Imperial Service Infantry (September 1914 - December 1917)

3rd Gwalior Maharajah Scindia’s Own Battalion (November 1914 – December 1917)

Jind Imperial Service Infantry (September 1914 - January 1918)

Kapurthala Jagatjit Infantry (September 1914 - December 1917)

2nd Kashmir Imperial Service Rifles (November 1914- May 1917)

3rd Kashmir Rifles (Raghunath Regiment) (November 1914 – May 1917)

1st Rampur Imperial Service Infantry (September 1914 - January 1918)

Indian Army Logistics and Support Units

Indian Medical Service

Indian Subordinate Medical Department

Indian Army Hospital Corps

Indian Postal Department

Indian Telegraph Department

Indian Supply and Transport Department

Indian Ordnance Department

Indian Corps of Military Staff Clerks

Indian Writers

Sea-going Units

Royal Indian Marine

ANNEXURE II

Totals of gallantry awards made to Indian servicemen in the Great War East Africa theatre

Military Cross 2

Indian Order of Merit 68

Indian Distinguished Service Medal 263

Distinguished Conduct Medal (to Volunteers) 8

ANNEXURE III

Indian Army casualties in East Africa

Indian officers killed or died 67

Indian officers wounded 59

Indian officers missing or prisoners 0

Indian other ranks killed or died 2,405

Indian other ranks wounded 1,927

Indian other ranks missing or prisoners 40

Indian followers killed or died 500

Indian followers wounded 17

Indian followers missing or prisoners 3

Total killed or died = 2,972

Total wounded = 2,003

Total missing or prisoners = 43

Total casualties = 5,018

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There is a brief mention of an “armoured train crew “ which is perhaps the same as “North-West Railway Volunteers Machine Gun Company (November 1914 – early 1918)” on the list above.

They operated until the railway lines were safe from German attacks and then manned a tug on one of the Great Lakes.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03071846809422315?journalCode=rusi19#.U7s7VFYWFFw

First page only of "Armoured Trains in British India" by Colonel A. A. Phillips, Royal United Services Institution. Journal Volume 113, Issue 651, 1968

Cheers

Maureen

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Maureen

Greetings.

It is indeed the same unit. Later it did excellent work in German East Africa as a machine gun company, often supporting Indian Imperial Service State Forces.

Harry

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120th Indian Field Ambulance was part of IEF B. Also in 1916 you have the HQ of 4th Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade.

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  • 3 weeks later...

ATM

Thank you for commenting.

To save space I bundled the individual medical units under Indian Medical Service.

As the Mountain Artillery Brigade was a HQ rather than a unit I omitted it.

Maureen

There is some detail on the North-West Railway Volunteers here:

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/other-war-theatres/1072-indian-volunteers-in-the-great-war-east-african-campaign.html

But again thank you both for contributing - if only more Members would!

Harry

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Hi Harry,

Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information.

Would if be possible to get a list of individual Indian Army Medical Units that came under the IMS?

Jean-Paul

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I would love to be able to contribute to your excellent posting - and your others - oh master. They are always fascinating insight on my own ignorance so I am only able to be a spectator.

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Jean-Paul

If you wish to list the Indian Medical units then I suggest that you scrutinise the index in the Official History Part I and the list of relevant medical unit War Diaries available at The National Archives, Kew.

That should give you a useful list fairly easily.

David

Greetings

How nice to read a post of yours that doesn't mention your concerns about the reputation of T.E. Lawrence!

This is real progress and I feel uplifted!

Harry

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Oh Harry. TEL is only a sideline. He's one of the flawed heroes who have fascinated me since childhood along with Robert Falcon Scott and Charles Lindbergh. I do post on books and the BEF. you should get out more! That said what are you speaking at and to in Lisbon.

Very best regards

Davd

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Harry,

Thank you for the suggestion regarding a look-up of the Index of Part I of the Official History for IMS units. I just happen to have to have a copy in my library.

There is nothing more that I would enjoy than a visit to Kews to look at the relevant war diaries, but this is unlikely as I live in Canada.

Jean-Paul

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Jean-Paul

You don't need to go to Kew.

On the Kew internet site (which I agree is worse than fighting through the bush in East Africa) just get the East Africa campaign war diaries listed and you can pick out the Indian medical ones.

I'm away from my base at present or I would be more helpful.

David

Actually I presented the paper 'India's role in the Great War East African Campaign', of which the lists in post #1 were the Annexures.

Harry

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There was a similar thread here last year... I assume these have been cross-referenced....It covers all the units mentioned in the main reference books on East Africa. MG

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Hi Harry,

Glad to see that the information should be available online on the Kews website. Will certainly have a look.

Jean-Paul

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