Despite its relatively late introduction into the mainstream of battle, its members won nearly 600 awards and honours including 4
Victoria Crosses, 26
DSOs and 149
MCs. During the war the 8th Indian Division sustained casualties totalling 2,012 dead, 8,189 wounded and 749 missing.
Iraq, Syria and Iran When originally formed, the division's main fighting formations were
17th,
18th and
19th Indian Infantry Brigades. On 9 June 1941, 17th Brigade arrived in
Basra and joined
Iraqforce, which had fought the
Anglo-Iraqi War to secure the British-owned oilfields during May. These oilfields were perceived to be threatened when a coup d'état brought into power
Rashid Ali al-Kaylani who was sympathetic to the
Axis powers. By the second half of June the brigade had moved to
Mosul to defend British-owned oilfields from an anticipated thrust by Axis forces south through the
Caucasus. At the end of 1 June, 1/
12th Frontier Force Regiment and 5/
13th Frontier Force Rifles were detached from 17th Brigade to join two battalions from
20th Indian Infantry Brigade (part of
10th Indian Infantry Division) to take part in the
Syria-Lebanon campaign and capture the Duck's Bill area in north east
Syria and secure the Mosul to
Aleppo railway. This was achieved without a shot being fired as the
Vichy French forces retired westwards. On 17 July,
Major-General Charles Harvey and the divisional HQ arrived in Basra and had
24th Indian Infantry Brigade (which had arrived on 16 June) assigned to the division.
18th Indian Infantry Brigade arrived in Iraq on 26 July. The British, having secured first the Iraqi oilfields and then Syria, now focused their concern on Persia (now
Iran) where it had been estimated there were some 3,000 German nationals working as technicians, commercial agents and advisors. The division first saw shots
fired in anger during the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August 1941 when 24th Brigade made a night-time amphibious assault across the
Shatt al Arab to capture
the oil refinery at
Abadan in South
Persia. Meanwhile, 18th Brigade had crossed into Persia between Basra and Abadan to take
Khorramshahr and became part of a three brigade advance (with
Hazelforce) towards
Ahwaz, 75 miles north east of Basra. The fighting ended on 28 August when the
Shah ordered his forces to cease hostilities. The 19th Indian Infantry Brigade arrived in Iraq in August, replacing 24th Brigade (which transferred to
6th Indian Infantry Division), and by 17 October, 18th and 19th Brigades had concentrated at
Kirkuk in northern Iraq and moved north of the oilfields where they were joined by the
6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse) (6th DCO Lancers), the division's reconnaissance regiment.
North Africa In June 1942 the
18th Brigade, having been rushed over to
North Africa from Mosul, and with only two days to prepare defensive positions, was overrun by
Erwin Rommel's tanks at
Deir el Shein in front of the
Ruweisat Ridge. In the process, however, they gained valuable time for the
British Eighth Army to organise the defences for what was to be the
First Battle of El Alamein, halting Rommel's advance towards Egypt. The brigade was never re-formed.
Iraq and Syria From August 1942 the division, still a brigade short, became part of
Paiforce when Persia and Iraq became a separate command under
General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson in
Baghdad, (
Lieutenant-General Edward Quinan's
Tenth Army in Iraq and Persia having previously come under
Middle East Command in
Cairo). As the threat from the north faded following the Axis defeats at
Alamein and
Stalingrad the division withdrew in October 1942 to
Kifri near Baghdad where it was joined by
21st Indian Infantry Brigade and the 3rd, 52nd and 53rd Field regiments of the
Royal Artillery. It spent the winter in intensive training. In January 1943 command of the 8th Indian Division passed to Major-General
Dudley Russell (The Pasha), promoted after 15 months commanding the
5th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the excellent "Red Eagles"
4th Indian Infantry Division. The 8th Indian Division moved in March 1943 to
Damascus and continued to spend much of its time training, notably in
mountain warfare and
combined operations. In June 1943 the division was selected to participate in the anticipated
Dodecanese Campaign ("
Operation Accolade"), and seize the Italian-occupied island of
Rhodes, the chief Axis stronghold in the
Dodecanese Islands. After frantic preparation and having loaded the first wave of ships, the division's participation was canceled when the
Italian government surrendered and it was redirected to Italy which the
German Army had continued to occupy.
Italy On 24 September 1943 the 8th Indian Division landed in
Taranto, to take its part in the
Italian Campaign. The division landed 21 days after the
initial invasion, as part of
V Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General
Charles Allfrey, serving alongside
British 4th Armoured Brigade and the
British 78th Infantry Division. For 19 months the division was almost continuously in action, advancing through mountainous country, crossing river after river. The formation later adopted the motto "One more river". and mortar team of the 6th Battalion,
13th Frontier Force Rifles, between Lanciano and Osogna on the central sector of the Eighth Army's front, 13 December 1943. From October 1943 to April 1944 the 8th Indian Division was part of the
Allied thrust by the
British Eighth Army, under General
Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, up the
Adriatic front on the Eastern side of Italy. This involved opposed river crossings of the Biferno, Trigno (October 1943),
Sangro (November 1943) and
Moro (December 1943). The following three months proved almost as arduous for, although there was no formal offensive, the period was characterised by patrolling and vicious skirmishes in very difficult terrain and abominable winter weather, which proved to be extremely demanding, both physically and mentally, and very stressful.
Cassino advance along a road past an abandoned German 75mm anti-tank gun in the Rapido bridgehead, Italy, 16 May 1944. When the spring came the 8th Indian Division was switched in great secrecy (along with the bulk of the British Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-General
Sir Oliver Leese) 60 miles west across the
Apennine Mountains to concentrate as part of Lieutenant-General
Sidney C. Kirkmans
British XIII Corps, serving alongside the British
4th and
78th Infantry Division,
6th Armoured Divisions, as well as the
1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, along the
River Garigliano at a part of the river better known as the
Gari. Their heavily opposed night crossing of the Gari in May 1944, supported by Canadian tanks (1st Canadian Armoured Brigade) with which the division had formed a particularly close fighting relationship over the previous six months, was critical to the Allies' success in this, the fourth and final
Battle of Monte Cassino. Following this, the division advanced some 240 miles in June across mountainous country, fighting many actions against rearguards and defended strongpoints. In late June they had reached
Assisi and the division was rested. It was during the fighting on the Gari that
Kamal Ram of the 3rd Battalion,
8th Punjab Regiment was awarded his
Victoria Cross. At 19 years of age, he was one of the youngest recipients of the VC during the Second World War.
Florence and the Gothic Line is driven past cheering Indian troops on his way to a ceremony to invest Sepoy Kamal Ram with the Victoria Cross, Italy, 26 July 1944. By the end of July 1944, after a few weeks out of the line, the 8th Indian Division was back in the line with
1st Canadian Armoured Brigade in front of
Florence pushing towards the
River Arno. Florence was occupied by the
21st Indian Infantry Brigade on 12 August where they had the unusual task to recover some of the world's greatest art treasures and arrange safe custody. By mid-September the division was in the mountains again, breaking through the
Gothic Line and then spending two months of grim (and ultimately unsuccessful) battling in foul weather towards the plains of Northern Italy, together with the British
1st Infantry,
78th Infantry and
6th Armoured Divisions, alongside the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, forming
British XIII Corps. XIII Corps had now become the right wing of the
U.S. Fifth Army, commanded by
Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark. It was during this time that
Thaman Gurung of the 1st Battalion,
5th Royal Gurkha Rifles was awarded the Victoria Cross. In December 1944 the
2nd New Zealand Division, advancing from the Adriatic on the division's right along the
Romagna plain, took
Faenza and the resistance on the 8th Indian Division's front weakened as the Germans withdrew to shorten their front. In late December 1944,
19th and 21st Brigades were rapidly switched across the Apennines to reinforce the
U.S. 92nd Infantry Division on the Fifth Army's left flank in front of
Lucca. By the time they had arrived the Germans had broken through but decisive action by Major-General
Russell halted their advance and the situation was stabilised by the New Year. The 8th Indian Division then moved to
Pisa for a period of rest.
Spring offensive 1945 In mid-February 1945 the division was back in the line on the Adriatic front, this time as part of
British Eighth Army's
V Corps, in front of the River
Senio. The
main assault on the Senio started on 9 April. In desperate fighting two members of the division,
Namdeo Jadav and
Ali Haidar, were awarded the
Victoria Cross. By 11 April the division reached and crossed the River
Santerno breaking open a hole in the German line for the
British 78th Division and elements of
British 56th Division to engage the enemy and defeat them in the
Argenta Gap. This opened the way to
Ferrara and the
Po River and for the
British 6th Armoured Division to pass through, veer left and race westward across country to link with the advancing
U.S. Fifth Army, now commanded by
Lucian Truscott, and complete the encirclement of the divisions of the German
10th and
14th Armies defending
Bologna. In the aftermath of the Argenta fighting, the 8th Indian Division drove on rapidly through to Ferrara and across the Po and shortly thereafter to their last river crossing of the war, the
Adige. The campaign ended on 2 May 1945. The
6th DCO Lancers marked the occasion with a special mission, sending an officer and nine men far up the road towards Austria and arranged the surrender of 11,000 men of their old enemy, the
German 1st Parachute Division. == Formation and order of battle during World War II ==