Evening star., 1943-05-28
Indian Division
UphoIds Tradition
Major Eliot Explains How
Hindus, MosIems and Sikhs
Fight for King Emperor
BIZ Maj. George Fielding Eliot.

6U MuJ. IGOTyS + tctutty CttOC.
When the German commander in chief
in Tunisia, Col. Gen. Jurgen Won Arnlm'
surrendered to the 4th Indian Division,
he brought to an altogether appropriate
climax the long and splendid African
career of that distinguished unit.
The 4th Division is a typical division
of the Indian Army, which Is an army
that should be better known IN thls
country-and very likely will be better
known before this war is great deal
older.
The 4th, like other Indian divisions.
is composed partly of British and partly
of Indian troops. Normally an Indian
division has three infantry brigades, and
each brigade consists of one British
battalion and two or three Indian bat
talions. The divisional artillery is usual
ly British but with a considerable mix
ture of Indian personnel there are some
batteries which are entirely Indian,
but so far as is known none OF these
was serving with the 4th Division. The
reconnaissance unit (armored cars), the
engineers, signal troops, medical service
and transport are all Indian units.
The native troops of the Indian Army
are, in general, drawn from the so-caled
martial races who are warriors by ira
dition and descent. The army is re-
cruited entirely by voluntary enlistment,
and in time Of peace, when the estab-
lishment Is limited, most OF the regi-
ments have long waiting lists. Many
of the applicants for enlistment are
those whose fathers and grandfathers
before them have served in a particular
regiment, for the Indian Army is an old
and distinguished organization whose
roots go far back to the "Sepoy" bat
talions which were raised to guard the
first English trading posts almost 200
years ago.
For example, two of the battaGons
which served with the 4th Division orig
inally were raised in ITS, when England
was winning an empire In Asia as she
was losing one in North America These
are the Sd Battalion of the 1st Punjab
Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the
9th Rajputana Rifles. The 5th Mahratta
Light Infantry, which also was repre-
sented in the division, has one bat
talon which was raised as long ago as
1913. The 9th Gurkha Rifles which
joined the division toward the latter
part Of the African campaign originally
was raised in 1917, and the 4th Battalion
OF the 9Th Rajput Regiment is not much
younger, having been raised in 1920.
The battle honors borne by the colors
OF those and other Indian regiments
emphasize the magnificent traditions to
which the young Indian soldiers of today
are proving themselves the worthy heirs.
They go back to the wars Of Give and
Wellesley, to great battles in the open
field, such as Plassey and Assaye, to
sieges such as those of Bhurtpore and
Seringapatam. They follow all the course
of British imperial history down through
the years, and many of these units
fought on the Western Front in the
last war, in Palestine and in Mesopo-
tamia.
The men of the Indian Army are of
many races and of various religions In
the ranks of the 4th Indian Division,
Hindus and Moslems fight side by side
with Sikhs, with an equal devotion to
duty and an equal courage In the face
OF all adversely. Some battalions in
cluded all three of these major religious
groups in the ranks of single unit.
Thus to take one at random, the Sd
Battalion OF the 14th Punjab Regiment
has Sikh company, a company of
Punjaby, Moslems and two Hindu COM
panies-one of Rajputs and one of
Dogras. The Central India Horse, whose
Steeds today move on four wheels in
stead of on four legs, has Sikh SQUAD
ron, Moslem squadron and squadron
composed of Jats, who are Hindus.
The Indian Army knows no politics.
1t fights for its King Emperor on every
battlefield where its duty calls it. 1t
is itself symbol of the unity of India
and Of the possibility of Indians of all
faiths, all classes and all races Cooper
aJing in common purpose. The 4th
Indian Division has left its dead in
Egypt, In Eritrea, in Libya and now in
Tunisia. 1t has added fresh battle
honors to those already borne by its
proud and ancient regiments 1t has
set an example which will be followed
In the days to come by other divisions
OF the Indian Army; those Americans
who may come to fight at their side
WILL lind them worthy comrades in arms.
(Copyrisht. 1943, New York Tribune Inc)