Western Command (India)

Western Command is a Command-level formation of the Indian Army. It was formed in 1920. It was disbanded following its demotion to an independent district and eventual merge with Northern Command to form the North-western Army. It was re-raised in 1947 following the transfer of Northern Command HQ to Pakistan. Until 1972, it was responsible for India's border with Pakistan in the North and West and the Chinese border in the North. The Command HQ is located at Chandimandir, Haryana, about 5 km east of Chandigarh.

Western Command
Western Command's insignia today
Active1904 - 1908
1920 - 1938
1948 - Present
Country British India (former)
 India (after 1947)
Branch British Indian Army (former)
 Indian Army (after 1947)
TypeCommand
Garrison/HQChandimandir, Haryana
Motto(s)सर्वदा विजयी भव
(May you always win)
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar
Notable
commanders		FM K. M. Cariappa
Gen S M Shrinagesh
Gen K. S. Thimayya
Gen P. N. Thapar
FM Sam Manekshaw
Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh
Lt Gen K. P. Candeth
Gen T. N. Raina
Gen K. V. Krishna Rao
Gen Krishnaswamy Sundarji
Gen S. F. Rodrigues
Gen B. C. Joshi
Gen J. J. Singh
Flag of the Western Command
Flag of the Western Command (India)

Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Katiyar is the GOC-in-C: he took over on 1 July 2023.[1][2]

History

Pre-Independence

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras became the Indian Army.[3] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.[3]

Between 1904 and 1908, the Bombay Command was renamed as the Western Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies: Northern Army and Southern Army as recommended by then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army Lord Kitchener. This system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again: Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command.[4]

In 1937, Western Command was downgraded to become the Western Independent District commanded by a major general. In April 1942, the Western Independent District was absorbed in the Northern Command which itself was re-designated as North Western Army.[5]

Re-raising

After the partition of India, the erstwhile command HQ, Northern Command, went to Pakistan and was renamed as GHQ, Pakistan. The communal violence of partition necessitated the raising of a new command headquarters to relieve Army Headquarters of the day to day overseeing of operations of the two independent areas in north India.[6]

This command, initially named Delhi and East Punjab Command was raised in Delhi on 14 September 1947 with Lt Gen Sir Dudley Russell as its commander. It was responsible to administer the Delhi Independent Area and the East Punjab Independent Area.[6]

On 26 October 1947, following the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, Western Command was put in charge of all Indian Army operations to secure the area for India.[6]

Initially a division sized force Jammu and Kashmir Division was raised on 5 November 1947 under Maj Gen Kulwant Singh for overseeing operations in Jammu and Kashmir.[6] This was later split into two parts Jammu Division (under Maj Gen Atma Singh) and Srinagar Division (under Maj Gen K.S. Thimayya) to oversee operations in Jammu and Kashmir respectively.[7]

The II Corps (Ambala), IX Corps (Yol), XI Corps (Jalandhar) and 40th Artillery Division (Ambala[8]) are control operational units in Western Command.[9]

Structure

Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Jammu.[10]

The Western Command has been assigned operational units:- II Corps, IX Corps, XI Corps and 40th Artillery Division. The command in total has following units under its belt :- 6 infantry divisions, 1 armoured division, 1 artillery division, 1 Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID), 3 armoured brigades, 1 mechanized brigade, 1 Air-defence brigade, and 1 engineering brigade.

Structure of Western Command
Corps Corps HQ GOC of Corps

(Corps Commander)

 Assigned Units Unit HQ
II Corps

(Kharga Corps)

 Ambala, Haryana Lt Gen Rahul R Singh 1 Armoured Division Patiala, Punjab
9 Infantry Division Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
22 Infantry Division Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
40 Artillery Division Ambala, Haryana
16 (Independent) Armoured Brigade Mamun, Punjab
612 Air-defence Brigade N/A
474 Engineering Brigade N/A
IX Corps

(Rising Star Corps)

 Yol, Himachal Pradesh Lt Gen SP Singh 26 Infantry Division Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir
29 Infantry Division Pathankot, Punjab
2 Armoured Brigade Mamun, Punjab
3 Armoured Brigade Ratnuchak, Jammu & Kashmir
XI Corps

(Vajra Corps)

 Jalandhar, Punjab Lt Gen Vijay B Nair 7 Infantry Division Firozpur, Punjab
15 Infantry Division Amritsar, Punjab
23 (Independent) Armoured Brigade Khasa, Punjab
55 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade Beas, Punjab

Precursors (1855–1947)

Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:[11]

Bombay Army (1855–1895)
Commander-in-Chief Bombay Army
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Somerset March 1855 March 1860 N/A
Lieutenant General Sir Hugh H. Rose March 1860 May 1860 19th Regiment of Foot
Lieutenant General Sir William R. Mansfield May 1860 March 1865 53rd Regiment of Foot
Lieutenant General Lord Napier of Magdala November 1865 August 1869 Bengal Engineers
Lieutenant General Sir Augustus A. Spencer August 1869 October 1874 43rd Light Infantry
General Sir Charles W. D. Staveley October 1874 October 1878 Royal Irish Fusiliers
General Sir Henry J. Warre October 1878 March 1881 54th Regiment of Foot
General Arthur E. Hardinge March 1881 February 1886 41st Regiment of Foot
Lieutenant General Charles G. Arbuthnot February 1886 December 1886 Royal Artillery
Lieutenant General Duke of Connaught and Strathearn December 1886 March 1890 Royal Engineers
Lieutenant General Sir George R. Greaves March 1890 April 1893 N/A
Lieutenant General Sir John Hudson April 1893 June 1893 64th Regiment of Foot
Lieutenant General Sir Charles E. Nairne September 1893 April 1895 Bengal Artillery

Bombay Command (1895–1904)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bombay Command
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
Lieutenant General Sir Charles E. Nairne April 1895 October 1898 Bengal Artillery
General Sir Robert C. Low October 1898 October 1903 Bengal Army
Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Hunter October 1903 October 1904 4th (King's Own Royal) Regiment

Western Command (1904–1908)
General Officer Commanding Western Command
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Hunter Oct 1904 Jun 1907 4th (King's Own Royal) Regiment

Western Command (1920–1938)
General Officer Commanding Western Command
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
Lieutenant General Sir Walter P. Braithwaite Dec 1920 Jun 1923 Somerset Light Infantry
Lieutenant General Sir George M. Kirkpatrick Jun 1923 Jun 1927 Royal Engineers
Lieutenant General Sir Charles H. Harington Jun 1927 Jun 1931 King's Regiment (Liverpool)
Lieutenant General Sir Torquil G. Matheson Jun 1931 Jun 1935 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
Lieutenant General Sir Ivo L. B. Vesey Jun 1935 Mar 1936 Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
Lieutenant General Sir Walter W. Pitt-Taylor Mar 1936 Nov 1938 Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)

Western Independent District (1938–1942)
General Officer Commanding Western Independent District
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
Major General Thomas J. Hutton Aug 1938 July 1940 Royal Artillery
Major General John F. Evetts July 1940 Feb 1941 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Lieutenant General Edward F. Norton Feb 1941 Apr 1942 Royal Artillery

North-Western Army (1942–1945)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief North-Western Army
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
General Sir Cyril D. Noyes Apr 1942 May 1943 Royal Scots Fusiliers
General Sir Edward P. Quinan May 1943 Aug 1943 Worcestershire Regiment
General Sir Henry Finnis Aug 1943 May 1945 Indian Staff Corps
Major-General Cecil Toovey

(acting)

 Jun 1945 Oct 1945 Indian Staff Corps
General Sir Richard N. O'Connor Oct 1945 Nov 1945 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

Delhi and East Punjab Command (1947–1948)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Delhi and East Punjab Command
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission
Lieutenant General Dudley Russell 15 August 1947 19 January 1948 97th Deccan Infantry

List of GOC-in-C of Western Command (1948–present)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command
Rank Name Appointment date Left office Unit of commission References
Lieutenant General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa 20 Jan 1948 14 Jan 1949 Rajput Regiment
Lieutenant General Satyawant Mallana Shrinagesh 15 Jan 1949 14 Jan 1953 19th Hyderabad Regiment
Lieutenant General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya 15 Jan 1953 31 Aug 1953 19th Hyderabad Regiment
Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh 01 Sep 1953 24 Mar 1954 1st Punjab Regiment
Lieutenant General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya 25 Mar 1954 14 May 1955 19th Hyderabad Regiment
Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh 15 May 1955 14 May 1959 1st Punjab Regiment
Lieutenant General Pran Nath Thapar 25 May 1959 7 May 1961 1st Punjab Regiment
Lieutenant General Daulet Singh 8 May 1961 22 Nov 1963 Armoured Corps
Lieutenant General Sam Manekshaw 04 Dec 1963 15 Nov 1964 12th Frontier Force Regiment
Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh 16 Nov 1964 26 Sep 1969 5 Sikh Regiment [12]
Lieutenant General Kunhiraman Palat Candeth 27 Sep 1969 21 Oct 1972 Royal Indian Artillery
Lieutenant General M. L. Thapan 23 Oct 1972 26 Oct 1973 Jat Regiment
Lieutenant General Tapishwar Narain Raina 27 Oct 1973 31 May 1975 Kumaon Regiment
Lieutenant General Inderjit Singh Gill 10 Jun 1975 30 May 1979 Royal Engineers
Lieutenant General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao 31 May 1979 31 May 1981 Mahar Regiment
Lieutenant General Srinivas Kumar Sinha 01 Jun 1981 31 Dec 1982 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)
Lieutenant General Krishnaswamy Sundarji 01 Jun 1983 13 Feb 1985 Mahar Regiment [13]
Lieutenant General Hriday Kaul 14 Feb 1985 30 Sep 1986 2nd Lancers [13][14]
Lieutenant General P. N. Hoon 01 Oct 1986 31 Oct 1987 Dogra Regiment
Lieutenant General V. K. Nayar 01 Nov 1987 31 Oct 1989 Parachute Regiment
Lieutenant General Sunith Francis Rodrigues 1 November 1989 30 June 1990 Regiment of Artillery [15]
Lieutenant General G. S. Grewal 01 Jul 1990 31 Jul 1992 1st Horse
Lieutenant General Bipin Chandra Joshi 14 Aug 1992 30 Jun 1993 64th Cavalry
Lieutenant General R. K. Gulati 01 Jul 1993 15 Apr 1995 9th Deccan Horse
Lieutenant General Arun Kumar Gautama 16 Apr 1995 31 Oct 1996 16th Light Cavalry [16]
Lieutenant General H. B. Kala 01 Nov 1996 14 Oct 1999 Jat Regiment
Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi 15 Oct 1999 29 Sep 2000 Maratha Light Infantry
Lieutenant General Surjit Singh Sangra 1 Oct 2000 31 Mar 2002 Dogra Regiment [17]
Lieutenant General Shamsher Singh Mehta 5 Apr 2002 31 Jan 2004 63rd Cavalry [18][19]
Lieutenant General Joginder Jaswant Singh 1 Feb 2004 31 Jan 2005 Maratha Light Infantry
Lieutenant General S. Patabhiraman 1 Feb 2005 30 Sep 2005 Bombay Sappers [20]
Lieutenant General Daljeet Singh 1 Oct 2005 31 Oct 2007 8th Light Cavalary [21]
Lieutenant General T. K. Sapru 1 Nov 2007 30 Nov 2009 1st Gorkha Rifles [22][23]
Lieutenant General S. R. Ghosh 3 Dec 2009 31 May 2012 Brigade of The Guards [24][25][26][27]
Lieutenant General Sanjiv Chachra 1 Jun 2012 30 Jun 2013 Rajput Regiment [28][29]
Lieutenant General Philip Campose 1 Jul 2013 31 Jul 2014 Mechanised Infantry Regiment [30]
Lieutenant General Kamaljit Singh 1 Aug 2014 31 Jul 2016 63rd Cavalry [31]
Lieutenant General Surinder Singh 17 Sep 2016 31 Jul 2019 Brigade of the Guards [32]
Lieutenant General Ravendra Pal Singh 1 Aug 2019 31 Oct 2021 Mechanised Infantry Regiment [33][34]
Lieutenant General Nav Kumar Khanduri 1 Nov 2021 30 June 2023 Army Air Defence Corps [1]
Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Katiyar 1 July 2023 Incumbent Rajput Regiment [35]

Notes
  1. "Lt Gen Nav K Khanduri appointed as next chief of Army's Western Command". India Today. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  2. "Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar takes over as Western Command GOC-in-C". Hindustan Times. 2 July 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  3. "Northern Army". Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  4. "Commands of the Indian Army". Centre for Defence Careers. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  5. "British Military History". British Military History. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  6. Sinha, Lt. Gen. S.K. (1977). Operation Rescue:Military Operations in Jammu & Kashmir 1947-49. New Delhi: Vision Books. pp. 103–127 and 174. ISBN 81-7094-012-5. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  7. Khanduri, Chandra B. (1969). Thimmayya:An Amazing Life. New Delhi: Centre for Armed Historical Research, United Service Institution of India, New Delhi through Knowledge World. p. 137. ISBN 81-87966-36-X. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  8. "District Ambala,Government of Haryana | The Historical Ambala | India". Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  9. "A Complete Guide To Indian Army". Defence Guru. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  10. "Principal Controller of Defence Accounts | Government of India - Principal Controller of Defence Accounts | Government of India". pcdawc.gov.in.
  11. "Army Commands" (PDF).
  12. "Rediff On The NeT:Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  13. "As Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya retires, Indian Army reshuffles to appoint new army chief". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  14. "Former Western Command GOC-in-C passes away at 85". Hindustan Times. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  15. "NEW ARMY C0MMANDERS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). 29 October 1989. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  16. "Ex-Western Army Commander Lt Gen Gautama passes away". 28 November 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  17. "The Tribune - Windows - Feature". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  18. "Gen J J Singh new GOC-in-C of Western Command - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  19. "Commander-level reshuffle on the cards". The Hindu. 6 April 2002. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  20. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  21. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  22. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  23. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  24. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  25. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  26. "Lt Gen Ghosh to take charge of Western Command today - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  27. "Lt Gen Ghosh, last of the 1971 war veterans, retires". Hindustan Times. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  28. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  29. "Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra assumes charge of Western Command - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  30. "Keralite is chief of Western Army Command". The Hindu. 2 July 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  31. "Lt Gen Kamal Jit Singh Promoted Western Army Commander". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  32. "Lt Gen Surinder Singh takes over as GOC-in-C". The Indian Express. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  33. "Lt Gen Ravindra Pal Singh is next GOC-in-C Western Command, to take over on Oct 1". The Indian Express. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  34. "Major rejig in military's top hierarchy on the anvil". New Indian Express. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  35. "Lt Gen Manoj Katiyar assumes charge as Western Army Commander". The Tribune. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.

Further reading
  • Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhye, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011.

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