17th Infantry Division ( India ) The 17th Infantry Division is a formation of the Indian Army . During World War II , it had the distinction of being continually in combat during the three - year long Burma Campaign ( except for brief periods of refit ) . Second World War . It was first formed in 1941 , in Ahmednagar in India . It consisted then of the 44th , 45th and 46th Indian Infantry Brigade s , and was intended to garrison Iraq . At the end of the year , war with Imperial Japan broke out and the division was split ; 44th and 45th Brigades were despatched to Malaya where 45th Brigade fought in the Battle of Muar before both brigades were lost in the Battle of Singapore ; 46th Brigade and the division HQ went to Burma , where the Division was reinforced by 16th Indian Infantry Brigade and took 2nd Burma Infantry Brigade under command . 1942 . The Japanese attacked Burma on January 22 , 1942 . It was soon apparent that the British and Indian troops in Burma were too few in number , wrongly equipped and inadequately trained for the terrain and conditions . After failing to hold the Kawkareik Pass and Moulmein , the division fell back to the Bilin River , where it was joined by 48th Indian Infantry Brigade . The Bilin was not a proper defensive position , and the division tried to retreat over the Sittang River . Air attacks , poor organization and vehicle breakdowns delayed the division , and Japanese parties infiltrated around them to threaten the vital bridge over the Sittang . The division ' s commander , Major General " Jackie " Smyth VC , was forced to order the bridge to be destroyed , with most of the division cut off on the far side of the river . Only a few thousand men without equipment succeeded in crossing the river . Smyth was dismissed and replaced by Major General Cowan . The division was reinforced with 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade , and narrowly escaped being trapped in Rangoon . After trying to hold a front in the Irrawaddy River valley , it subsequently retreated north into Assam just before the monsoon broke , fighting off a Japanese attempt to trap it at Kalewa . 1943 . For the campaigning season of 1943 , the division was reorganised as a " Light " formation , with two brigades only ( 48th and 63rd ) , supported by mountain artillery , and with mules and jeeps only for transport . It disputed the mountainous and jungle - covered region around Tiddim , with mixed success . The division was at the end of a long and precarious supply line , and the " light " establishment was found to be inadequate in some respects . Some heavier equipment and transport was restored . 1944 . In 1944 , the Japanese launched a major invasion of India . During the long Battle of Imphal , 17th Division first successfully fought its way out of encirclement at Tiddim , and then disputed the vital Bishenpur sector south of Imphal ( with 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade temporarily under command ) . In July , the Japanese were broken by heavy casualties and starvation , and retreated . Some units of 17th Division had suffered nearly 100 % casualties . During the late monsoon season , the division was temporarily withdrawn to India and reorganised once again . 48th and 63rd Brigades were fully equipped with vehicles to become Motorized infantry . 99th Indian Infantry Brigade was added to the division , equipped to be transported by Douglas DC - 3 aircraft . 1945 . In late February . 1945 , the motor elements of the division , with the bulk of 255th Indian Tank Brigade under command , crossed the Irrawaddy River and advanced on the vital Japanese communications centre of Meiktila . Joined by 99th Indian Infantry Brigade which was flown into the captured airfield at Thabutkon , they captured Meiktila in only four days . Reinforced by 9th Indian Infantry Brigade which was flown into the airfields around Meiktila , they subsequently withstood a Japanese siege . This Battle of Meiktila largely destroyed the Japanese armies in Central Burma . The division now broke the last Japanese defensive position at Pyawbwe , and advanced south on Rangoon . At Pegu , it pushed Japanese rearguards aside , but was still short of its objective when the monsoon broke . Rangoon fell to an assault from the sea , Operation Dracula . In the last months of the campaign , the division participated in the mopping up of Japanese stragglers in Burma . After the war ended , elements of it formed part of the Commonwealth Occupation force in Japan ( under Cowan ) . The division was disbanded in India in 1946 . After independence . The division was re - raised at Ambala ( India ) on November 15 , 1960 . It was under the command of Major General K . S . Katoch , MC . Among its new formations was 99th Indian Infantry Brigade , which was soon detached for service with ONUC in the Congo . Under the command of Major General Candeth , the division participated in the Goa military operations in 1961 . On November 15 , 1963 , the division relocated to Sikkim and took on the role of guarding a portion of the Tibet - India border . Notes . The division had two different formation signs . The first was a lightning bolt ( white ) on a blue background . This was used until the middle of 1942 . Afterward , the formation sign was changed to a black cat on a yellow / orange background . The division was sometimes called , " The Black Cat Division " based on its second formation sign . Assigned brigades . All theses brigades were assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II Memoirs