Battaglione Azad Hindoustan Battaglione Azad Hindoustan ( Italian : " Free India Battalion " ) was a foreign legion unit formed in Fascist Italy under the " Raggruppamento Centri Militari " in July 1942 . The unit , raised initially as " Centro I " , was headed by Mohammad Iqbal Shedai - a long term Indian resident of Rome - and was formed of Indian ex - prisoners - of - war from India . Raised along with units dedicated to Tunisia ( " Centro T " ) and the Arabs ( " Centro A " ) , it was tasked to intelligence gathering and sabotage operations behind enemy lines . A part of " Centro I " was renamed " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " in August 1942 when the " Raggruppamento Centri Militari " itself was redesignated as " Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse " ( " Red Arrows group " ) . By the time of its disbandment in November 1942 , " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " came to be between three hundred and fifty and four hundred strong . Units of the " Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse " were intended to infiltrate on the ground , from submarine s and by parachute . Accordingly , a further unit was raised within the " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " to form the " plotone paracadutisti " ( " parachute platoon " ) . The chosen troops were sent for paratroop combat training to the parachute school at Tarquinia . Uniform . The soldiers of the " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " wore standard Italian military uniforms . However - unlike the troops of the German - raised " Legion Freies Indien " , who had peaked field cap s - all the troops of the " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " wore a turban of the colour of the Italian " Sahariana " tunic . Additionally , the troops wore on their tunics collar patches with three vertical stripes in the saffron , white and green ( reflecting the colours of the Indian National Congress that was at the time the focus of the nationalist movement ) . Italians serving in the " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " were distinguished by stars on the collar patches that was not worn by the Indian troops . The Tarquinia detachment sent for parachute training wore their own collar patches above paratroop - pattern patches , as well as the paratroop badge depicting an open yellow parachute embroidered in rayon thread on the left upper arm . Structure . According to the order of battle of the Italian " Raggruppamento Centri Militari " in May 1942 , the unit had the following under its control : " comando " ( " headquarters " ) commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Massimo Invrea ; " Centro T " consisting of Italians from Tunisia ; " Centro A " consisting of Italians from Egypt , Palastine , Syria and Arabia ; plus Arabs and Sudanese ex - prisoners - of - war and lastly ; " Centro I " consisting of Italians from India and Persia and Indian ex - prisoners - of - war . In all , the " Raggruppamento Centri Militari " collected together approximately 1 , 200 Italians , 400 Indians and 200 Arabs . In August 1942 the " Raggruppamento " was renamed " Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse " ( " Red Arrows group " ) a name chosen by the commanding officer in memory of his service with the Italian " Divisione Frecce Nere " ( " Black Arrows Division " ) of the Italian " Corpo Truppe Volontarie " ( " Corps of Volunteer Troops " ) in the Spanish Civil War . The three " Centri Militari " received new designations at the same time . According to the order of battle of the Italian " Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse " in August 1942 , the following units comprised the force structure : " comando " ( " headquarters " ) , " Battaglione d ' Assalto Tunisia " ( " Tunisia Assault Battalion " ) , which was formerly " Centro T " ; " Gruppo Italo - Arabo " ( " Italo - Arab Group " ) , formerly " Centro A " ; and " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " ( " Free Indian Battalion " ) , formerly " Centro I " . The " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " was created out of " Centro I " using both the ex - Indian Army personnel ( the Indian Army was under British operational command ) and Italians previously resident in India and Persia ( Iran ) . The order of battle of the " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " in August 1942 was : Disbandment . Despite their investment in training the Indians in infiltration combat , the Italians considered the Indian troops of " Battaglione Azad Hindoustan " to be of doubtful loyalty and this view was confirmed when the Indians mutinied on learning of the Axis defeat at El Alamein in November 1942 . Following this the battalion was disbanded and the Indians returned to their prisoner - of - war camps .