Eastern Command (India)

History

Early history

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras became the Indian Army. The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.

Between 1904 and 1908, the Bengal Command became the Eastern Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies – the Northern Army and Southern Army – as recommended by the then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army, Lord Kitchener. This system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again: Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command.

On 1 November 1920, the Eastern Command was formed, with its summer headquarters in Nainital and winter headquarters in Lucknow. General Sir Havelock Hudson, became its first Commander.

Second World War

In 1942, the command had the following formations under it:

• IV Corps (Headquarters at Imphal)
  • 17th Indian Infantry Division and 23rd Indian Infantry Division
• XXXIII Corps (Headquarters at Arakan)
  • 14th Indian Infantry Division and 26th Indian Infantry Division
• 70th British Division and 50th Indian Tank Brigade in reserve.

On 21 April 1942, the command was re-designated as Eastern Army. Its headquarters moved to Barrackpore to fight the World War II. The Chindits were raised and launched into operations in 1943, by the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, a unit of the Eastern Command.

In October 1943, the Fourteenth Army was formed and was given responsibility for the area east of the Meghna River. With this, the Eastern Army retained responsibility for the area west of the river.

After the war, on 23 March 1947, the Command HQ moved to Ranchi. The HQ was later moved to Lucknow in 1955. However, on 1 May 1963, post the Sino-Indian War; the Central Command was re-raised and Lucknow was made its HQ, while Kolkata was made HQ Eastern Command.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Main article: Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Command had the overall responsibility of the eastern theatre of the 13-day war. The command had the two existing infantry corps – IV Corps and XXXIII Corps, and raised another – II Corps. Apart from this, the 101 Communication Zone was reorganised as a Division-sized combat formation. Lieutenant General J S Arora, as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command, commanded all Indian and Bangladesh Forces in the eastern theatre. The Order of Battle of the Eastern Command during the war was:

II Corps (HQ - Krishnanagar) (GOC - Lieutenant General T N Raina)

• 50th Independent Parachute Brigade (less 2 Para Bn Gp) – Brigadier M Thomas
• 8th Mountain Artillery Brigade
• 58th, 68th and 263rd Engineering Regiments
• 9th Infantry Division (GOC - Major General Dalbir Singh)
  • 32 Infantry Brigade – Brigadier M Tewari
  • 42 Infantry Brigade – Brigadier J. M. Jhoria
  • 350 Infantry Brigade – Brigadier H. S. Sandhu
  • 9th Artillery Brigade
• 4th Mountain Division (HQ - Krishnanagar) (GOC - Major General M S Barar)
  • 7th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Zail Singh
  • 41st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tony Michigan
  • 62nd Mountain Brigade - Brigadier Rajinder Nath
  • 4th Mountain Artillery Brigade

IV Corps (HQ - Agartala) GOC - Lieutenant General Sagat Singh

• Corps Artillery Brigade
• Three Independent Tank Squadrons
• 8th Mountain Division (GOC - Major General K. V. Krishna Rao)
  • Echo Force Brigade – Brigadier Wadeker
  • 59th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier C. A. Quinn
  • 81st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier R. C. V. Apte
  • 2nd Mountain Artillery Brigade
• 57th Mountain Division (GOC - Major General B.F. Gonsalves)
  • 311th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Mishra
  • 73rd Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tuli
  • 61st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tom Pande
  • 57th Mountain Artillery Brigade
• 23rd Mountain Division (GOC - Major General R.D. Hira)
  • 301st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier H. S. Sodhi
  • 181st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Y. C. Bakshi
  • 83rd Mountain Brigade – Brigadier B. S. Sandhu
  • 23rd Mountain Artillery Brigade
  • Kilo Force Brigade – Brigadier Ananda Swaroop containing:
  • Mizo Range Hills Brigade

XXXIII Corps (HQ - Siliguri) (GOC - Lieutenant General M L Thapan)

• Corps Artillery Brigade
• 471st Engineering Brigade – Colonel Suri
• 235th Army Engineering Regiment
• 2 Para Bn Gp
• MF Brigade – Brigadier Prem Singh
• 71st Mountain Brigade – Brigadier P. N. Kathpalia
• 20th Mountain Division (HQ - Balurghat) (GOC - Major General Lachhman Singh)
  • 66th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier G. S. Sharma
  • 165th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier R. S. Pannu
  • 202nd Mountain Brigade – Brigadier F. P. Bhatty
  • 3rd Armoured Brigade – Brigadier G. Singh Sidhu
  • 20th Mountain Artillery Brigade
  • 340th Mountain Brigade Group – Brigadier Joginder Singh
• 6th Mountain Division ( HQ - Cooch Behar) (Eastern Command HQ Reserve) (GOC - Major General P C Reddy)
  • 9th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Tirit Varma
  • 99th Mountain Brigade
  • 6th Mountain Artillery Brigade

101st Communication Zone (HQ: Guwahati) (GOC - Major General Gurbax Singh Gill)

• 312 Air Defence Brigade
• 342 Ind. Air Defence Brigade
• 95th Mountain Brigade – Brigadier Hardev Singh Kler
• FJ Sector Brigade – Brigadier Sant Singh
• 167th Infantry Brigade – Brigadier Irani (allotted after 8 December 1971)
• 5th Mountain Brigade (allotted after 8 December 1971)

On 16 December 1971, the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Armed Forces surrendered at Dhaka. East Pakistan ceased to exist and Bangladesh was born. Lt Gen J S Arora accepted the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, signed by Lt Gen A. A. K. Niazi at Dacca Racecourse. Approximately 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were taken prisoner by the Indian Army, which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan.

Structure

The Command's Area of responsibility covers West Bengal; Sikkim; Assam; Arunachal Pradesh; Nagaland; Manipur; Mizoram; Tripura; Meghalaya, and Jharkhand.

The Eastern Command includes III Corps, IV Corps, XVII Corps, XXXIII Corps and the 23rd Infantry Division. It also supervises 101 Area, originally raised at Shillong in 1963 as 101 Communications Zone.

Precursors (1902–1947)

Following is the list of precursors to the Eastern Command and their commanders:

Eastern Command (1902–1907)

Eastern Command (1920–1940)

Eastern Army (1942–1943)

Eastern Command (1943–1947)

List of GOC-in-C of Eastern Command (1947–present)

Notes

References

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