detachments support the 19th Indian Division's advance along the Mawchi Road, east of Toungoo, Burma. The 19th Indian Infantry Division was raised in
Secunderabad,
India in October 1941 during the
Second World War and became part of
Southern Army, which was mainly concerned with defence against a possible seaborne invasion by the
Japanese. The division originally consisted of the
47th,
48th and
49th Indian Infantry Brigades. The divisions' first
General Officer Commanding (GOC) was
Major General Sir Jackie Smyth VC, who left in December to take command of the
17th Indian Infantry Division, then fighting in Burma. Between January and April 1942 all three brigades were reassigned and replaced by the
62nd,
64th and
98th Indian Infantry Brigades. , 9–10 March 1945. After short periods under the command of Major General
Geoffry Scoones and
Douglas Stuart the division in October 1942 came under the command Major General
Thomas Wynford Rees, who was to become GOC until December 1945. The division spent an extended period on
internal security duties and in training before being committed to the
Fourteenth Army, commanded by
Lieutenant General Sir William J. "Bill" Slim, on the
Burma front in July 1944. ==Order of Battle 1 March 1945==