7th ( Meerut ) Division The 7th ( Meerut ) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army that saw active service during World War I . Pre - Mutiny . The Meerut Division first appeared in the Indian Army List in 1829 , under the command of Sir Jasper Nicolls , KCB . At this period Divisions were primarily administrative organisations controlling the brigades and stations in their area , rather than field formations , but they did provide field forces when required . There were generally one Indian cavalry and two Indian infantry regiments stationed at Meerut itself , in addition to British troops : in 1829 these were the 4th Bengal Light Cavalry , 29th and 32nd Bengal Native Infantry . Indian Mutiny . In May 1857 , on the eve of the ' Indian Mutiny ' ( or ' First War of Independence ' ) , the troops at Meerut comprised the 6th Dragoon Guards ( Carabiniers ) and a battalion of the 60th ( King ’ s Royal Rifle Corps ) , the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry , and 11th and 20th Bengal Native Infantry under the command of Maj - Gen W . H . Hewitt . The mutiny outbreak at Meerut was one of the first and most serious of the whole conflict . Post - Mutiny . The division was reconstituted when peace returned . Over succeeding decades , the stations controlled by Meerut Division varied , and the forces under command were regularly rotated . For example : Composition , January 1888 " ' . GOC : Maj - Gen Sir G . R . Greave , KCB , Divisional HQ : Meerut Fatehgarh : Agra Brigade : Muttra : Dehra Dun : Delhi : Landour : Roorki : Chakrata : Pre – World War I . Under the reforms introduced by Lord Roberts as Commander - in - Chief ( CinC ) India , the Divisions were renamed 1st Class Districts in 1890 . In the next round of reforms inaugurated by Lord Kitchener as CinC , they became numbered divisions with their territorial affiliation as a subsidiary title . The title 7th ( Meerut ) Division first appeared in the Army List between 30 September and 31 December 1904 , as part of Western ( later Northern ) Command . On the eve of World War I , the division had its HQ at Mussoorie , and had the Meerut Cavalry Brigade and the Bareilly ( HQ Ranikhet ) , Dehra Dun and Garhwal ( HQ Lansdowne ) Infantry Brigades under command . World War I . Western Front . In 1914 the 7th ( Meerut ) Division was part of Indian Expeditionary Force A sent to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) fighting in France . The bulk constituted an infantry division as part of Indian Corps , while the Meerut Cavalry Brigade was detached to form part of 2nd Indian Cavalry Division in the Indian Cavalry Corps . While in France the division was known as the Meerut Division , and its brigades by their names , to avoid confusion with the 7th British Division . Despatch from India was delayed by the activities of the German raiders " Emden " and " Konigsberg " operating in the Indian Ocean , and by the slow speed of the transport vessels . The division landed at Marseilles 12 – 14 October 1914 , but there were further delays while the troops were re - armed with the latest pattern rifle , and the supply train could be improvised , using tradesmen ' s vans procured locally . The division finally got into action at the Battles of La Bassee , 1st Messines and Armentieres in October – November 1914 . Order of Battle , October 1914 . GOC : Lieut - Gen C . A . Anderson , CBGSO1 : Col C . W . Jacob Dehra Dun Brigade GOC : Brig - Gen C . E . Johnson Garhwal Brigade GOC : Maj - Gen H . D ’ U . Keary , CB , DSO Bareilly Brigade GOC : Maj - Gen F . Macbean , CVO , CB Divisional Mounted Troops Divisional Artillery Engineers Signals Service Divisional Pioneers Supply & Transport : Medical Units : After winter operations ( in which the Indian soldiers suffered badly ) the division next took part in the Battles of Neuve Chapelle , Aubers Ridge , Festubert and Loos in 1915 . Order of Battle , May 1915 . GOC : Lieut - Gen Sir C . A . Anderson , KCB Dehra Dun Brigade GOC : Brig - Gen Col C . W . Jacob Garwhal Brigade GOC : Brig - Gen C . G . Blackader Bareilly Brigade GOC : Brig - Gen W . M . Southey Divisional Troops As before , with the addition of 30th Battery of XLIII ( Howitzer Brigade ) RA . By the Battle of Loos in September 1915 , Maj - Gen Claud Jacob had replaced Anderson as GOC of 7th ( Meerut ) Division , and the exhausted 61st Jats and 41st Dogras had been replaced by the 93rd Burma Infantry and 33rd Punjabis ( from Egypt ) , while 30th Battery , XLII ( How ) Bde had been replaced by 61st Battery , VIII ( How ) Bde . Mesopotamia . On 13 August 1915 , General Sir John Nixon , commanding Indian Expeditionary Force D in Mesopotamia , requested one of the Indian infantry divisions in France as reinforcements for his advance on Baghdad . Coincidentally , on the same day , the Secretary of State for India , Austen Chamberlain , told the Viceroy of India that he was anxious for the Indian infantry to be withdrawn from France before they had to endure another winter . The system for supplying drafts had broken down and the Indian battalions were becoming very weak after the heavy casualties they had suffered . Although the Secretary of State for War , Lord Kitchener , objected to their withdrawal from the Western Front , orders were issued on 31 October for the two divisions of Indian Corps ( 3rd ( Lahore ) and 7th ( Meerut ) Division ) to embark at Marseilles for Mesopotamia . They were to leave behind their attached Territorial Force battalions . The two divisions were relieved in the front line on 6 November and were due at Basra on 1 December , but their departure from Marseilles was delayed until after 25 December because of fear of submarine attack . 7th ( Meerut ) Division finally arrived in Mesopotamia in Spring 1917 and joined Tigris Corps , too late to relieve the 6th ( Poona ) Division at Kut - al - Amara . The division participated in the battles at the Sheikh Sa ' ad , Wadi , Hanna , Dujailia , and the Sannaiyat . After the fall of Kut , as part of the reorganization of the British and Indian forces in the region , the division spent much of the summer and fall refitting . The Meerut and Lahore Divisions would eventually become part of the I Indian Army Corps , part of the newly formed Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force , participating in the capture of Baghdad in March 1917 . Palestine . After the fall of Baghdad , the Palestine Campaign was given priority over Mesopotamia , and in December 1917 Sir Edmund Allenby , commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force ( EEF ) , was informed that after he had captured Jerusalem he would be reinforced by the 7th ( Meerut ) Division from Mesopotamia . The division moved from Mesopotamia to Egypt in December , and then on 1 April 1918 it relieved the 52nd ( Lowland ) Division , which was on its way to the Western Front . The EEF undertook few operations during the hot weather of Summer 1918 , but the Meerut Division captured ' North Sister ' and ' South Sister ' Hills on 8 June , and raided ' Piffer Ridge ' on 27 June . It subsequently took part in Allenby ' s advance through Palestine , including the Battle of Megiddo as part of Lieutenant - General Bulfin ' s XXI British Corps operating on the right flank . Order of Battle September 1918 . GOC : Maj - Gen Sir V . B . Fane 19th Brigade : 21st Brigade : 28th Brigade :