Southern Command | |
---|---|
Active | 1908–present |
Country | India |
Branch | Indian Army |
Type | Command |
Garrison/HQ | Pune |
Anniversaries | 1 April (Raising Day) |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh |
Notable commanders | General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja General S M Shrinagesh General K S Thimayya General Pran Nath Thapar General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor General Om Prakash Malhotra General Bipin Chandra Joshi General Ved Prakash Malik General Sundararajan Padmanabhan General Nirmal Chander Vij General Bipin Rawat |
Southern Command is a formation of the Indian Army, active since 1895. It has seen action during the integration of several Princely States into modern India, during the 1961 Indian liberation of Goa, and during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani Wars. Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh is the current Southern Army Commander.
The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies became the Indian Army. [1] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands (Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command) each under a lieutenant general. [1]
In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies (Northern Army and Southern Army): this system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again (Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command). [1] In 1914, the Southern Army consisted of the 4th (Quetta) Division, the 5th (Mhow) Division, the 6th (Poona) Division, the 9th (Secunderabad) Division, and the Aden Brigade. [2]
During the Second World War, Southern Command was reformed as Southern Army (equivalent to a corps) in April 1942. The formation reverted to the title Southern Command in November 1945. [3]
Component divisions included: [4]
Component brigades included: [4]
In August 1947, Southern Command had the Deccan, Madras and Bombay Areas (with HQs at Kamptee, Madras and Bombay). In 1947–48, Southern Command was largely responsible in getting Junagadh and Hyderabad to sign the instrument of accession to India. [1] 1st Armoured Division did the actual incursion into Hyderabad. In 1961, the Indian annexation of Goa was conducted by 17th Infantry Division and 50th Parachute Brigade, under the operational control of Southern Command. [5]
In 1965–66, two further divisions were raised within the command. After fighting broke out in the Rann of Kutch in April 1965, a hastily constituted force, named Kilo Force under Maj. Gen P. O. Dunn was formed to contain this attack. [1] Kilo Force was later re-designated as 11 Infantry Division. In September 1965, the operational responsibility for the Barmer sector was given to Southern Command and entrusted to 11 Infantry Division. Delhi and Rajasthan Area, with its Advance Headquarters at Jodhpur, fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 under Western Command. On 3 November 1966, this formation was re-designated 12th Infantry Division, under Major General J.F.R. Jacob, and also placed under Southern Command. [6]
The command headquarters is located in Pune, Maharashtra. [7] It consists of two corps and two military areas. [1] The two areas are:- Maharashtra Goa and Gujarat Area (MG&G Area) and the Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala Area (ATNK&K Area) [8] In 2005, the changes to its jurisdiction area were made when a new South Western Command was established. [9]
Structure of Southern Command | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corps | Corps HQ | GOC of Corps (Corps Commander) | Assigned Units | Unit HQ | |
XII Corps (Konark Corps) | Jodhpur, Rajasthan | Lt Gen Mohit Malhotra | 11 Infantry Division | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | |
12 RAPID Division | Jaisalmer, Rajasthan | ||||
75 (Independent) Infantry Brigade | Bhuj, Gujarat | ||||
4 (Independent) Armoured Brigade | Jaisalmer, Rajasthan | ||||
340 (Independent) Mechanized Brigade | Ajmer, Rajasthan | ||||
XXI Corps (Sudarshan Chakra Corps) | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh | Lt Gen Prit Pal Singh [10] | 54 Infantry Division | Secunderabad, Telangana | |
36 RAPID Division | Sagar, Madhya Pradesh | ||||
31 Armoured Division | Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh | ||||
41 Artillery Division | Pune, Maharashtra | ||||
475 Engineering Brigade | Nasirabad, Rajasthan | ||||
Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa Area | Mumbai, Maharashtra | ||||
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala Area | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | ||||
617 (Independent) Air Defence Brigade | Pune, Maharashtra |
Following is the List of precursors to the Southern Command and their commanders: [11]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of commission |
General | Sir Archibald Hunter | June 1907 | October 1908 | 4th (King's Own Royal) Regiment of Foot |
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of commission |
General | Sir Edmund G. Barrow | October 1908 | October 1912 | 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) |
General | Sir John E. Nixon | October 1912 | February 1915 | 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot |
Lieutenant General | Sir Robert I. Scallon | February 1915 | 1916 | 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot |
Lieutenant General | Sir Charles A. Anderson | April 1917 | November 1919 | Royal Horse Artillery |
Lieutenant General | Sir William R. Marshall | November 1919 | 1920 | Sherwood Foresters |
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of commission |
Lieutenant General | Sir William R. Marshall | 1920 | December 1923 | Sherwood Foresters |
Lieutenant General | Sir Andrew Skeen | December 1923 | March 1924 | King's Own Scottish Borderers |
Lieutenant General | Sir Harold B. Walker | March 1924 | March 1928 | Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry |
General | Sir William C. G. Heneker | March 1928 | March 1932 | Connaught Rangers |
General | Sir George D. Jeffreys | March 1932 | March 1936 | Grenadier Guards |
Lieutenant General | Sir Ivo L. B. Vesey | March 1936 | October 1937 | Queen's Royal Regiment |
General | Sir John E. S. Brind | October 1937 | March 1941 | Royal Artillery |
Lieutenant General | Thomas S. Riddell-Webster | March 1941 | October 1941 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) |
General | Sir Brodie Haig | October 1941 | June 1942 | 24th Punjabis |
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of commission |
Lieutenant General | Sir Noel M. de la P. Beresford-Peirse | June 1942 | March 1945 | Royal Artillery |
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