7th Indian Infantry Division

{{for|the World War I formation|7th (Meerut) Division}} {{Infobox military unit | unit_name = 7th Infantry Division | image = File:7 Infantry Division.png | caption = Formation sign for the 7th Infantry Division.<ref>Cole p. 79</ref> | dates = 1940-present | country = | type = [[Infantry]] | role = | size = [[Division (military)|Division]] | command_structure = | garrison = [[Ferozepur]] | equipment =  | current_commander = | notable_commanders = [[Frank Messervy]]<br>[[Geoffrey Charles Evans]] | identification_symbol = | identification_symbol_2 =  | nickname = ''Golden Arrow Division'' | motto = | march = | mascot = | battles = [[Battle of the Admin Box]]<br>[[Battle of Kohima]]<br>[[Battle of Central Burma]]<br>[[Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations|Irrawaddy River]] | anniversaries = | decorations = | battle_honours = }} The '''7th Infantry Division''' is a war-formed [[infantry]] [[Division (military)|division]], part of the British Indian Army that saw service in the [[Burma Campaign]].

==History== The division was created on 1 October 1940 at [[Attock]], under the command of [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[Arthur Wakely (Indian Army officer)|Arthur Wakely]]. Its formation sign was an arrow, pointing bottom left to top right, in yellow on a black background. The division was sometimes known as the "Golden Arrow" division from this sign. When first formed, the division consisted of the [[13th Indian Infantry Brigade|13th]], [[14th Indian Infantry Brigade|14th]] and [[16th Indian Infantry Brigade]]s, but within eighteen months, both the 13th and 16th Brigades were removed and dispatched to [[Burma]], where both fought during the [[Japanese conquest of Burma]]. The 14th Brigade was renumbered the [[114th Indian Infantry Brigade]] and remained with the division.

During 1942, the [[33rd Indian Infantry Brigade|33rd]] and [[89th Indian Infantry Brigade|89th Brigades]] were added to the division. The division trained for operations in the deserts in the Middle East but by the end of the year, the [[North African campaign]] was clearly at an end. In early 1943, the division was reassigned to the [[Burma campaign]] and Major General [[Frank Messervy]], a veteran of the fighting in North Africa, was appointed to command, replacing Major General [[Thomas Corbett (Indian Army officer)|Thomas Corbett]].

[[File:The British Army in Burma 1943 SE24.jpg|thumb|left|[[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Louis Mountbatten]], Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, talking to British officers of the 2nd Battalion, [[King's Own Scottish Borderers]] near the Arakan front, December 1943.]]

After extensive retraining and preparation, 7th Division took part in an offensive in [[Rakhine State|Arakan]], the coastal province of Burma. Starting in December 1943, the division advanced down the Kalapanzin River valley as part of [[XV Corps (British India)|XV Corps]]. In February 1944, Japanese troops infiltrated through the division's front and overran the divisional HQ. Units of the division took part in the subsequent [[Battle of the Admin Box]], in which the Japanese failed to capture positions supplied by parachute drops and were forced to retreat.

During March, the Japanese launched a major offensive (codenamed [[Operation U-Go]]) into [[Manipur]]. Having been withdrawn from the Arakan battles, the division proceeded by road and rail to [[Dimapur]], where it came under command of [[XXXIII Corps (British India)|XXXIII Corps]] and took part in the [[Battle of Kohima]]. The [[161st Indian Infantry Brigade|161st Indian Brigade]], part of the [[5th Infantry Division (India)|5th Indian Division]], came under command, while the 89th Brigade was flown to Imphal, to replace 161st Brigade in 5th Division. During early May, 33rd Brigade completed the recapture of Kohima Ridge, while the main body of the division recaptured Naga Village to the north of the ridge. During the later part of the month and early June, the division advanced through heavy [[monsoon]] rains along rough tracks to the east of the main road from Kohima to Imphal, and cleared Japanese stragglers from [[Ukhrul]].

From July to October, the division regrouped near Kohima, and 89th Brigade rejoined. Late in 1944, Major General Messervy was promoted to command [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] and was replaced in command of the division by Major General [[Geoffrey Charles Evans]]. Now commanded by IV Corps, the division advanced down the Gangaw Valley west of the [[Chindwin River]], with the [[28th (East Africa) Brigade]] under command, screened until [[Pauk, Myanmar|Pauk]] was reached by the lightly equipped [[Lushai Brigade]]. During late February 1945, the division captured vital bridgeheads across the [[Irrawaddy River]] near [[Pakokku]]. During March, as part of the decisive [[Battle of Central Burma]], the division was involved in several battles at [[Myingyan]] and [[Yenangyaung]].

[[File:The British Army in Burma 1945 SE4330.jpg|thumb|right|Men of the 1st Battalion, [[Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)]], on patrol aboard an assault boat on the Pegu Canal near Waw, July 1945.]]

During April, the division once again came under command of XXXIII Corps and advanced down the west bank of the Irrawaddy. After [[Yangon|Rangoon]], the capital, was captured in early May, the division was directly commanded by the new headquarters of [[Twelfth Army (United Kingdom)|Twelfth Army]] and resisted Japanese diversionary attacks across the [[Sittang River]] during the monsoon.

After the war ended, in September 1945, the division moved to [[Thailand]], where it disarmed the Japanese occupying army, and liberated and repatriated Allied prisoners of war.

Following the [[Partition of India]] in 1947 the 7th Division local units were split between India and Pakistan, and both armies continue to have a 7th Infantry Division with the Golden Arrow formation sign.

==Component Units (1 March 1944)== * [[33rd Indian Infantry Brigade]] ** 1st Battalion, [[Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)]] ** 4th Battalion, [[15th Punjab Regiment]] ** 4th Battalion, [[1st Gurkha Rifles]] * [[89th Indian Infantry Brigade]] ** 2nd Battalion, [[King's Own Scottish Borderers]] ** 7th Battalion, [[2nd Punjab Regiment]] ** 4th Battalion, [[8th Gurkha Rifles]] * [[114th Indian Infantry Brigade]] ** 1st Battalion, [[Somerset Light Infantry]] replaced by 2nd South Lancashire Regiment (PWV) March 1944 ** 4th Battalion, [[14th Punjab Regiment]] ** 4th Battalion, [[5th Royal Gurkha Rifles]]

===Support Units=== * 1st Battalion, [[11th Sikh Regiment]] (Machine-gun unit) * 136th (1st West Lancashire) Field Regt, [[Royal Artillery]] * [[2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers|139th (4th London) Field Regt]], Royal Artillery * 25th Mountain Regt. [[Royal Indian Artillery|Indian Artillery]] * 24th Light Anti-Aircraft / Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery * 62nd Field Company [[Royal Indian Engineers]] (IE) * 77th Field Company IE * 421st Field Company IE * 303rd Field Park Company IE

==Commanders== * Maj. Gen. A.V.T. Wakely * Maj. Gen. R. Richardson * Maj. Gen. [[Thomas Corbett (Indian Army officer)|Thomas Corbett]] * Maj. Gen. [[Frank Messervy]] * Maj. Gen. [[Geoffrey Charles Evans|Geoffrey Evans]] * Maj. Gen. [[Frederick Joseph Loftus-Tottenham]]

==Assigned brigades== All these brigades were assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2009-10-22|publisher=Order of Battle|title=7 Division units|url=http://www.ordersofbattle.com/UnitData.aspx?UniX=6007&Tab=Sub|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314220519/http://www.ordersofbattle.com/UnitData.aspx?UniX=6007&Tab=Sub|archive-date=14 March 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> * [[55th Indian Infantry Brigade]] * [[9th Indian Infantry Brigade]] * [[28th (East African) Infantry Brigade]] * [[268th Indian Infantry Brigade]] * [[22nd (East African) Infantry Brigade]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite book|last1=Cole|first1=Howard|title=Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire|date=1973|publisher=Arms and Armour Press|location=London}}

==External links== * {{oob unit | id = 6007 | name = 7 Indian Infantry Division }}

==Further reading== * Jon Latimer, ''Burma: The Forgotten War'', London: John Murray, 2004 {{ISBN|0-7195-6576-6}} * Michael Roberts, ''Golden Arrow: the story of the 7th Indian Division in the Second World War, 1939-1945'', 1952

{{DEFAULTSORT:07 Indian Infantry Division}} [[Category:Indian World War II divisions]] [[Category:British Indian Army divisions]] [[Category:Divisions of the Indian Army]] [[Category:Military units and formations established in 1940]] [[Category:Military units and formations in Burma in World War II|D]] [[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1947]]