9th Infantry Division (India)
| 9th Indian Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
Battle of Malaya Battle of Kota Bharu | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable Commander | Arthur Edward Barstow |
The 9th Indian Infantry Division was an
History
The 9th Indian Infantry Division was formed on 15 September 1940 at Quetta, India before being transferred to Malaya. On 15 September 1940 the three original brigades of the division were the 15th, 20th, and 21st Indian Infantry Brigades.[2] The 3/17th Dogra Regiment from the 9th Division was the first British Commonwealth Army unit to see action against the Japanese at the Battle of Kota Bharu on 8 December 1941.[3] The 9th Indian Division fought a relatively successful defensive retreat down Malaya's east coast until the 22nd Brigade was cut off from the rest of the division at a demolished railway bridge near the village of Layang Layang in the state of Johore. Major-General Barstow was killed crossing the bridge, while attempting to contact the brigade. The 22nd Brigade was destroyed whilst trying to find another way to Singapore.[3]
What was left of the division was amalgamated with the 11th Indian Division.
Component Units 1941 – 1942
- 3/WIAat Kota Bharu)
- 2/10th Baluch Regiment – Lieut.Col James Frith
- 2/12th Frontier Force Regiment (2nd Sikhs) – Lieut.Col Arthur Cumming V.C.
- 1st Indian States Forces) – Lieut.Col K.H.Preston
- 1st KIAat Kota Bharu)
22nd Indian Infantry Brigade – Brigadier George Painter
- Brigadier Painter
- 2/18th Royal Garhwal Rifles – Lt.Col L.H.Cockram/ Lt.Col G.E.R.S.Hartigan
- 5/11th Sikh Regiment – Lieut.Col John Parkin/ MacAdam
- 1/13th Frontier Force Rifles – Lieut.Col Clarence Gilbert
Support Units
- CRA – Brigadier E.W. Goodman
- 5th Field Regt. – Lieut.Col E.W.F.Jephson 4.5-inch Howitzers)
- 88th Field Regt. – Lieut.Col Sylvain Claude D'Aubuz Royal Artillery (24x25pdrs)
- 80th Anti-Tank Regt. – Lieut.Col W.Napier Royal Artillery (48x47mm Bredas)
- 21st Mountain Battery, IA – Major J.B.Soper IA (4xQF 3.7-inch mountain howitzers)
Footnotes
- ^ Cole p. 79
- ^ "9 Division units". Order of Battle. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b Smith
Books
- Cole, Howard (1973). Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire. London: Arms and Armour Press.
- Alan Jeffreys; Duncan Anderson (2005). British Army in the Far East 1941–45. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-790-5.
- Colin Smith (2006). Singapore Burning. England: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-101036-6.
- Tsuji, Masanobu (1997). Japan's Greatest Victory, Britain's Worst Defeat. Margaret E. Lake, tr. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 1-873376-75-8.