10th Indian Infantry Division The Indian 10th Infantry Division was a war formed Infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II . In four years , the division traveled over from Tehran to Trieste , fought three little wars , and fought two great campaigns : Anglo - Iraqi War , Invasion of Syria - Lebanon , Anglo - Soviet invasion of Iran , North African Campaign , and Italian Campaign . History . World War II . The Indian 10th Infantry Division was formed in Iraq in early 1941 under Major - General W . A . K . Fraser . Command was passed in May 1941 to Major - General William " Bill " Slim when Fraser fell ill . As part of Iraqforce , the division first fought in Iraq , in Syria , and in Iran against forces potentially barring the road from Europe to India . In March 1942 command of the division passed from Major - General Slim to Major - General T . W . " Pete " Rees when Slim was ordered to India to take command of Burma Corps , the kernel that would eventually become the Fourteenth Army . The division then moved on to North Africa for the battle for Libya . Initially the division was committed piecemeal with units involved El Adem and Sidi Rezegh during the Battle of Gazala . In June the division , with 2nd Free French Brigade under command , was ordered by William Gott , the XIII Corps commander , to hold a position near the Egyptian border with Libya for 72 hours during the Eighth Army ' s retreat to El Alamein . Rees responded that the division had only just concentrated and that defensive works were as yet inadequate . He believed therefore that the division was unlikely to be able to withstand a full - scale attack from Rommel . Gott immediately visited Rees and relieved him of command of the division , telling him he lacked resolution . Command passed to Major - General John Nichols and as Rees had foretold , the division was overrun at the Mersa Matruh defenses . Rees was posted to command Indian 19th Infantry Division in Burma . The division then went to Cyprus for regrouping and hill training under Major - General Alan Bruce Blaxland and then to Iraq to join Tenth Army , part of Paiforce . In July 1943 , Major - General Wilfrid Lloyd took command when Blaxland was promoted and in January 1944 , command passed to Major - General Denys Reid when Lloyd was killed in an air crash . Reid remained in command until the end of British involvement in the division in 1947 . After nearly a year of relative inactivity and training , the Indian 10th Infantry Division was sent in March 1944 to Italy to join Eighth Army on the Adriatic front . The division fought the rest of the Italian Campaign , facing hard fighting northwards through central Italy with the Eighth Army . Numerous mountain battles and river crossings followed with " Operation Olive " on the Gothic Line and then the spring 1945 offensive . The division earned many battle honours and decorations and suffered many casualties before final victory in Italy in May 1945 . Security tasks on the Yugoslav border around Trieste completed the Division ' s war service . Division Formation in World War II . General Officers Commanding : 43rd Independent Gurkha Infantry Brigade . From 6 October 1944 Assigned brigades . All theses brigades were assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II