East India Railway Volunteers (Volunteer Force of India)

Following excerpts have been taken from a book titled Among the Railway Folks written by Rudyard Kipling in 1888 (See chapter one, pp 3-4).

The author while describing Jamalpur (a small township in the Indian state of Bihar) narrates about a part-time territorial unit stationed there. He vividly mentions how the unit was so important to the spirit of the town.

 

"In the hot weather it splashes in the swimming bath, or reads, for it has a library of several thousand books. One of the most flourishing lodges in the Bengal jurisdiction —‘St. George in the East’— lives at Jamalpur, and meets twice a month. Its members point out with justifiable pride that all the fittings were made by their own hands; and the lodge in its accoutrements and the energy of the craftsmen can compare with any in India. But the institute is the central gathering place, and its half-dozen tennis-courts and neatlylaid-out grounds seem to be always full. Here, if a stranger could judge, the greater part of the flirtation of Jamalpur is carried out, and here the dashing apprentice — the apprentices are the liveliest of all — learns that there are problems harder than any he studies at the night school, and that the heart of a maiden is more inscrutable than the mechanism of a locomotive. On Tuesdays and Fridays the volunteers parade. A and B Companies, 150 strong in all, of the E.I.R. Volunteers, are stationed here with the band. Their uniform, grey with red facings, is not lovely, but they know how to shoot and drill. They have to. The ‘Company’ makes it a condition of service that a man must be a volunteer; and volunteer in something more than name he must be, or someone will ask the reason why. Seeing that there are no regulars between Howrah and Dinapore, the ‘Company’ does well in exacting this toll. Some of the old soldiers are wearied of drill, some of the youngsters don’t like it, but — the way they entrain and detrain is worth seeing. They are as mobile a corps as can be desired, and perhaps ten or twelve years hence the Government may possibly be led to take a real interest in them and spend a few thousand rupees in providing them with real soldiers’ kits — not uniform and rifle merely. Their ranks include all sorts and conditions of men — heads of the ‘Loco.’ and ‘Traffic,’— the Company is no respecter of rank — clerks in the ‘audit,’ boys from mercantile firms at home, fighting with the intricacies of time, fare, and freight tables; guards who have grown grey in the service of the Company; mail and passenger drivers with nerves of cast-iron, who can shoot through a long afternoon without losing temper or flurrying; light-blue East Indians; Tyne-side men, slow of speech and uncommonly strong in the arm; lathy apprentices who have not yet ‘filled out’; fitters, turners, foremen, full, assistant, and sub-assistant station masters, and a host of others. In the hands of the younger men the regulation Martini-Henry naturally goes off the line occasionally on hunting expeditions.

There is a twelve hundred yards range running down one side of the station, and the condition of the grass by the firing butts tells its own tale. Scattered in the ranks of the volunteers are a fair number of old soldiers, for the Company has a weakness for recruiting from the Army for its guards who may, in time, become stationmasters. A good man from the Army, with his papers all correct and certificates from his commanding officer, can, after depositing twenty pounds to pay his home passage, in the event of his services being dispensed with, enter the Company’s service on something less than one hundred rupees a month and rise in time to four hundred as a stationmaster. A railway bungalow — and they are as substantially built as the engines — will cost him more than one-ninth of the pay of his grade, and the Provident Fund provides for his latter end."

Refer the link to know more about Rudyard Kipling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

Reserve & Auxiliary Air Force

(Popularly known as the ‘Citizens’ Air Force’ or the ‘Weekend Flyers’)

Three categories of Reserves to the Indian Air Force were set up in pursuance of the Reserve & Auxiliary Air Force Act - August 1952. This Act was passed by the parliament on 14 August 1952 and received president’s assent five days later.

The first category of Reserve was known as the Regular Reserves. As the name implies, it comprised officers and airmen who at one time or the other served in the regular Air Force and were out of service on release of retirement.

The second type of Reserves was known as the Air Defence Reserves. It consisted of all technical and flying personnel associated with aviation in the country, but not directly connected with the regular Air Force. This force had General Duty (Pilots and Navigators) and Ground Duty officers and technical personnel. The Act made it obligatory for all citizens who held qualifications, either as aircrew or as aeronautical engineers, to register themselves by 30 April 1956. Civil Aviation from which source the members of this category of Reserves were drawn was nationalized and therefore became automatically complimentary to the Air Force under the Act.

The third type was the Auxiliary Air Force. It was an exact counterpart of the Regular Air Force as the Territorial Army to the Regular Army. This Citizens’ Air Force as it was popularly called provided flying and technical training so that, apart from the benefit the members may derive from military aviation, they can, in a national emergency, contribute their bit in defending the country.

The Auxiliary Air Force was composed of squadrons located at major towns of the country. Apart from a small number of a regular Air Force officers and airmen, to be employed on instructional duties, these squadrons were manned entirely by civilian personnel. Drawn from amongst the permanent residents of the city or locality, the members of these squadrons continued to follow their normal professions. 

Seven Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons were raised during the early fifties namely:-

• No. 51 Squadron, Safdarjang, New Delhi
• No. 52 Squadron, Juhu, Bombay
•   No. 53 Squadron, Meenambakam, Madras
• No. 54 Squadron, Manauri, Allahabad
• No. 55 Squadron, Barrack pore, Calcutta
• No. 56 Squadron, Bhubaneshwar
• No. 57 Squadron, Chandigarh

These squadrons were equipped with the HAL-designed HT-2 trainer - officially introduced into service on 10 January 1955 - and the Harvard, although Vampire FB Mk. 52s were added in 1959.

Recruitment was open to all Indian national on part time basis from airmen to a fighter pilot. It immediately caught the imagination of entire nation especially of the technicians and civilian pilots flying with various commercial airlines. Many serving Regular Air Force pilots even left to join this part time force. The part time nature was a win win situation for our country in terms of saving a huge amount of money which otherwise, would have been spent in training fresh pilots. For commercial pilots, it was merely a conversion to military aviation at a very minimal cost.

Training was so devised as not to interfere as far as possible, with the normal profession or work of the trainees. It included an annual training camp of about four weeks, during which squadrons used to exercise in their normal role. After successfully completing their general and flying training on basic and advanced trainer aircraft, the pupil pilots were awarded the coveted ‘Air Force Wings’. Similarly the airmen trainees used to become full fledged tradesmen after successful completion of their technical ground training. The members of the Auxiliary Air Force were provided with a uniform, identical to that of the regular Air Force but with a distinguishing Auxiliary badge.

Members were not liable to be transferred from one squadron to another due to their civil professions. The Auxiliary Air Force provided an ideal platform to the youth of our country to augment country’s growing air power by serving as an Active Air Force Reserve along with their civil professions.

A Central Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Minister of Defence, Government of India was set up under the Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force Act to advise the Government of India on all matters concerning the Auxiliary Air Force and how to make it more popular and effective?

Shortly after the war with China in 1962, a decision was taken to convert the Auxiliary Air Force squadrons of 'weekend' flyers to regular Indian Air Force Squadrons. These units were to form the training organizations where young pilot graduates of the Air Force Academy and Jet Training Wing would be sent for operational training and to be conferred ‘Fully Ops’ status. Resultantly, five Auxiliary squadrons were converted into two regular fighter or bomber squadrons, hence 220 and 221 Squadrons (both flying Vampires), came into being at Poona and Barrackpore respectively. 

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

Reasons for Joining Part-Time Military: A Historical Prospective

" They had joined because they liked riding and racing. Military activities were limited to an evening parade once a week - and often drinks at the bar constituted this parade. These civilians were asked to volunteer for a task no-one else could undertake - at their own risk and expense. If they failed, then the whole episode could be written off as a regrettable drunken prank that misfired."  

James Leaser while explaining about Operation Creek  undertaken by the part-time units of Indian army during World war II. This operation went on to become one of the finest operations of war in the entire eastern theater which completely changed the battle outcome for allied forces.

Prior to independence, many of the members of part-time military units believed that military activities should take second place to social and sporting interests. Everyone was expected to attend fortnight's annual summer camp, and a certain number of evening parades throughout the year. These were loosely defined. An evening in the clubhouse bar could often be dignified in the Regimental ledger as parade.

Young British civilians arriving in India joined for several reasons. One of them was to have a cheap entry into clubhouses and more importantly to get introduced to far more congenial people of their age and outlook than they could usually hope to meet in as many years back home. A reason for this the Victorian system of calling to leave cards which was more in fashion among Europeans living in India than in England. A new entry into India would have visiting cards engraved with his name and address and his company. This to be used as an introduction for interacting within the social circuit and also for possible marriage alliances.

Another inducement was the offer of subsidized riding. Take for example the case of Calcutta where riders would race across the countryside in the early morning. Gymkhanas where riders rode race horses which appeared solemnly in the regimental records as "Charger, Military, Trooper for the use of". Many races were run at Tollygunge, a private course, near the golf course of the Tollygunge Club. This club was so exclusive that at one time it had a waiting list of more than five years for membership. Also to encourage good riders for army enrollment before the war was not fully mechanized - the Government of India allowed each Light Horse member 32 Rupees a month towards the upkeep of his horse. This money provided for the animal's fodder and to some extend towards paying the wages of its groom.

Perhaps the greatest attractions of the part-time military were friendship and fun. The Auxiliary Force (India) units were totally democratic. There was no direct Officer entry, in fact everyone joined as a Trooper and all promotions were from this rank only, by popular vote. An extremely rich merchant might remain a Trooper for years, while a more enthusiastic but less successful accountant could be promoted Sergeant or even Officer within a matter of months.

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

Rules of FIRST BENGAL VOLUNTEER RIFLES (VOLUNTEER FORCE OF INDIA)

Immediately after the famous mutiny of 1857 part-time forces in India were completely reorganized and renamed as the Volunteer Force of India. Apart from the existing units, many more new units were raised. The objective of the new force was primarily to give strength to the British and European society living in India and also reinforce the regular forces.

Decisions regarding these new units were taken at the military department meetings on various occasions. An insight into the proceedings of military department will reflect how part-time forces operated and how they were so relevant to the overall schemes of Indian armed forces.

Following are the excerpts from the Proceedings of  March 1862, Military Department, Government of India regarding the Rules of First Bengal Volunteer Rifles (Volunteer Force of India):-

1. The Corps be called the Ist Bengal Volunteer Rifles, and consist of the main body a Howrah, with Sections at any Stations situated on the Railway below Rajmehal and Raneegunge that may wish to join.
2. A Captain, Lieutenant, and the Ensign to be appointed for every Company of fifty men, with one Serjeant and one Corporal for each Section of twenty men. The Commanding Officers to be selected by their Companies, the Non-Commissioned by their Captains.
3. A general parade of the entire strength of the Corps to take place every three months at one of the stations furnishing I Volunteers - due notice be given to each Member thereof.
4. Admission and expulsion of Members to be managed by a Committee of all the Commissioned Officers, to any of whom, subject to the future approval of the Committee, an application for enrolment may be made.
5. No Member to retire without giving one month's previous notice, except in special cases of sickness and change of residence, nor until he has made over his Arms, &c., to his immediate superior Officer.
6. All Members to attend parade at least twice a week.
7. Absence from parade and other breaches of discipline to be punishable by fine determined by Court composed of the Non-Commissioned Officers, presided over by a Commissioned Officer.
8. The Proceedings of this Court to be laid before the Commanding Officer for his award.
9. No Member of the Corps to appear on parade except in uniform.
10. Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, when on parade or duty, to salute their Officers.
11. Each individual Member to be responsible for the good state and thorough repair of the Arms, &c., committed to his charge.
12. Members leaving the Corps, or the neighbourhood of any Section of the Corps, to make over their arms, &c., to their immediate superior Officer.
13. The senior Officer at any station to be responsible to the Commandant for observance of these rules.
14. For ordinary expenses each Member to pay a monthly subscription of one Rupee, which may be raised, subject to the expressed approval of the majority of the Corps.
15. Copy of the foregoing rules to be forwarded to each Member.

Note: Copyright material; with permission from the National Archives of India, Government of India.

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

INDIAN ARMY OF BRITISH RAJ

Indian army was primarily used as a tool of Imperialistic aspirations by the United Kingdom until 1947 and even up to 1950 after independence. At no point of time it was separated from political interferences. All actions were directed  towards the Crown's own interest and record suggests that the Indian army units were also tasked to spy on their respective areas of responsibilities. A monthly or quarterly Intelligence Report used to be submitted by the units giving the complete picture of the area in terms of military, political, economical, social, religious, cultural, etc. activities. All these reports were classified as SECRET and were to submitted to the army headquarters. The army headquarters in tern used to analyse these reports and forward them to the Viceroy's office; they were to be finally used as a reference point in formulating future British policies in India.

I was quite fortunate to see some of the reports while researching for my book at the archives and became more curious as some of them originated from the Auxiliary Force (India) units; India's part-time military organization during the British Raj.

I am reproducing one such report which was originated by the Allahabad Contingent, Auxiliary Force (India). 

SECRET

No. 36 / 109

Headquarters Allahabad Contingent A.F.(I).

10 Hastings Road, Allahabad 10th July 1942.

To,

Chief General Staff

Army Headquarters.

Subject: Intelligence Report

Military.  There has been a certain amount of comment about the failure to find any role for the A.F.(I). to play in Civil Defence. The powers given to District Magistrates under the Defence of India Rules have certainly made the task of A.F.(I). commanders more difficult. Mechanised units find themselves threatened by District Magistrate's power of commandeering the cars of members - or by the refusal of all petrol - thus immobilising them. There seems no plan for the use of the A.F.(I). during internal disturbances which are likely if Mr. Gandhi launches another campaign - and there appears to be every chance of disorganisation if the Civil authorities are allowed to interfere with the A.F.(I). by commandeering cars - refusing petrol supplies for training purposes and claiming A.F.(I). members as A.R.P. Wardens etc. There is very strong held feeling in A.F.(I). circles that they are not wanted and not taken seriously and there is a definite feeling of frustration. Most A.F.(I). members cannot understand why all Europeans and Anglo Indians are not compelled to belong to the A.F.(I). It is not too late yet to do this and train these very useful recruits. The example of the 'Khaki Risala' of the Mutiny in restoring order in the districts should not be forgotten and value of mechanised light motor patrols should not be lost sight of. It is more than likely there will be a need for them in view of the spirit of Congress or part of Congress to pull down the roof on top of us all and in view of the loss of prestige which our defeats in Malay, Burma and now Libya have undoubtedly caused. The attack on the Shimla Kalka mail motor was a portent. We should certainly reorganise our A.F.(I). and make service in it compulsory. The  numbers in this unit are now reduced to 38 in the U.P. Horse and 18 in the Allahabad Rifles. Larger numbers have left to join regular units or have been embodied to serve as telephone orderlies in brigade and area offices. It is question whether it is any longer worthwhile keeping up so small unit and especially after the issue of Defence Department letter no. 6700-A/D6 of June 2. It is little use training men to take their place in a unit if when wanted they are not available. Unless all fit European and Anglo Indians are compelled to join the A.F.(I).- It would be wiser to disband them - before they disband themselves by the natural process of enlistment in other units or forces. There is always a disposition for A.R.P. services to be regarded as superior and more important. Civil officers do not consider the A.F.(I). of any value and do not take it into consideration. The Director General, Civil Defence of the Province told me the other day that the A.F.(I). was no use and A.R.P. was much more important; yet it could be made into a most useful force if all were made to belong as they should be.

Political.  The statement of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru published on the expansion of the Viceroys Council has been attributed by a well informed Muslim to a worsening of relations between the so called 'Moderates' and Government. He had noticed this in Cawnpore among the commercial element who seemed to be more inclined to carp. Part of this attitude is due to the defeat in Libya as these commercial circles are very sensitive to suggestions that they may be backing the wrong horse. On the other hand the statement is believed by some to be coloured by the views of his son Mr. P.N. Sapru M.L.C. , a somewhat cantankerous and disgruntled critic of everything British. He himself has no following and is disappointed. There is a feeling in educational circles that something should be done to harness the enthusiasm of youth which at present has little outlet. A scheme to improve physical training in schools has been greatly extended by the setting up of up to date gymnasia in high schools and the training of masters to teach agility exercise. This is having a good effect but more is wanted. A scheme on the lines of the A.T.S. in England would have a great influence - and undoubtedly if the organisation could be got up a cadet corps in the larger institutions would help a lot to canalise activities which undirected tend to undesirable ends.

Much speculation exist as to Mr. Gandhi's next move. On the whole it does not seem that the Congress organisation in the United Provinces is as strong as it was and doubts are expressed as to whether many would follow him in an aggressive policy - but local discontents would certainly be exploited. There is still a fairly general feeling that the Japanese would not be so bad as masters. This needs to be remembered. Indian evacuees from Burma are stated to be of a distinctly defeatist frame of mind and their influence has not been good.

Signed

Lt. Col.

Commanding The Allahabad Contingent A.F.(I).

Copy to :- Headquarters Allahabad Area.

Copyright Material: Reproduced with permission from the National Archives of India, Government of India, New Delhi

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

PART-TIME FORCES AFTER 1857

India's part-time forces were completely reorganized after the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. This was primarily with an objective of avoiding any future conflict of similar nature with a better response mechanism. The idea was two fold; to train and arm all British civilians in the art of soldiering so that they are able to respond to any contingency and also to provide standing reserves to reinforce the regular forces.

The British Crown now in power, was ruthlessly expanding its area of influence in the Indian subcontinent and wanted a strong professional military force rather than an amateurish one. But also, it was equally concerned on the cost factor and the strength of British civil society which could only be ensured with the concept of part-time soldiering. A new force therefore, was reconstituted from amongst the existing part-time units and renamed as the Volunteer Force of India (VFI).  This eventually was headed by an Inspector General at the army headquarters. Madras Volunteer Guards was the senior most unit  being raised on the 2nd July 1857 and perhaps was kept together till 1862 with a success hitherto attained by no other Volunteer Corps or Company in India. It was stationed at the garrison of Fort Saint George, Madras. On the 18th July 1857, Act XXIII of 1857 was passed to provide for the good order and discipline of certain Volunteer Corps.

A similar force was already existing in other British colonies which perhaps were constituted with a prime objective of giving strength to the empire. Matching well on the battlefield, the VFI also performed splendidly in various quarters of war both in India and abroad and the testimony can be found in various British notifications. On such account of gallantry was performed by the part-time soldiers of Lumsdon’s Horse at South Africa during the famous Anglo-Boer War in 1899. This was also the time when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (later known as the father of nation) served as Sergeant Major M K Gandhi with one of the part-time units there.

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS) 

ORIGIN OF INDIA'S TERRITORIAL FORCES

Origin of India’s territorial forces can be traced back to the arrival of East India Company in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. After the charter to trade in India was granted, few merchant adventurers along the some surgeons embarked upon on a voyage under the flagship of John’s Company and arrived on an Indian coast. These surgeons eventually played a key role in obtaining many valuable concessions from the Mughal Empire due to their superior medical skills and the company managed to get a firmaan to establish their factories followed by forts. It is interesting to note that the successors of same surgeons were later formed into the Indian Medical Service (which in present form is the Army Medical Corps of the Indian Army) wherein they used to be mobilized as soldiers in times of crises.

In the year 1645, East India Company requested their Directors in London to allow them to form a body of trained band which could be given military tasks. The Board of Directors replied in affirmative and a Companie of Trained Band was constituted at Fort St George, Madras from among the civilian employees of the company. Their task was to safeguard company’s commercial interests from the ever aggressive French, Dutch, Portuguese and the local princely states.

This band was loosely based on the structure of Trained Bands which existed in England at that point of time and the training used to be conducted during weekends. The body was pivotal in defending the East India Company and making it a force to reckon with.

Somewhere in the forth decade of eighteenth century a man called Robert Clive arrived on the Indian scene and completely changed the destiny of this country. Making a humble beginning with a meager job of a lower division clerk, he volunteered for part-time military service in the Companie of Trained Band. Slowly but surely he kept on rising and was granted the Ensign’s commission due to his exploits against the French. The man created history by defeating Siraj-ud- Daula in the famous battle of Plassey near Murshidabad in 1757 wherein an army of around ten thousand soldiers with mostly part-timers defeated a much larger army of over a lakh aided by the French. The battle was a complete turnaround for the East India Company which now was ruling the eastern part of India.

1759 onwards, the company decided to restructure the part-time force and began raising of units organized on the lines of regular army. These units were created from among the nucleus of the existing part-time units and thus we can say that the present Indian armed forces actually evolved out of the part-timers…

(Published by the team of Territorials)