Editing India in World War II

{{Short description|Involvement of India in World War II}}
{{See also|Indian Army during World War II|History_of_the_Indian_Air_Force#World_War_II_(1939%E2%80%931945)|l2=Indian Airforce in World War II|History_of_the_Indian_Navy#The_Royal_Indian_Navy_in_World_War_II|l3=Indian Navy during World War II|Propaganda and India in World War II}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
[[File:1-5MahrattaLightInfantryFlorence1944.jpg|thumb|220px|Infantrymen of the 1/5 [[Maratha Light Infantry]] during training, Florence, Italy, August 28, 1944]]
[[File:Indian_Airforce_Pilots_after_a_mission_in_Burma_during_WW2.jpg|thumb|Indian Airforce Pilots after a mission during the [[Burma Campaign]]]]
[[File:Delhi_Victory_Week_Parade_IND5040.jpg|thumb|Victory Week Parade in Delhi to celebrate the final defeat of the [[Axis Powers]], March 1946.]]
[[File:Indian women training for air raid precautions (ARP) duties in Bombay, 1942. IND1492.jpg|thumb|right|Indian women training for air raid precautions (ARP) duties in Bombay, 1942.]]
[[File:NH Karanjia ARP Warden Service Bombay.jpg|thumb|alt=ARP Warden Service Efficiency Warrant issued to NH Karanjia, Bombay, June 1942 with Acknowledgement of Gratitude Card|ARP Warden Service Efficiency Warrant issued to NH Karanjia, Bombay, June 1942 with Acknowledgement of Gratitude Card]]

During the [[Second World War]] (1939&ndash;1945), India was a part of the [[British Empire]]. [[British Raj|India]] officially declared war on [[Nazi Germany]] in September 1939.<ref name="Kux">{{cite book
  |last = Kux
  |first = Dennis
  |title = India and the United States: estranged democracies, 1941–1991
  |year = 1992
 |publisher = DIANE Publishing, 1992
  |isbn = 9781428981898}}</ref> India, as a part of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Nations]], sent over two and a half million soldiers to fight under British command against the [[Axis powers]]. India also provided the base for American operations in support of China in the [[China Burma India Theater]].

Indians fought with distinction throughout the world, including in the [[European theatre of World War II|European theatre against Germany]], [[North African Campaign]] against [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|fascist Italy]], and in the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II|southeast Asian theatre]]; while also defending the [[Indian subcontinent]] against the Japanese forces, including [[British Burma]] and the [[Crown colony of Ceylon]]. Indian troops were also redeployed in former colonies such as [[Singapore]] and [[Hong Kong]], with the Japanese surrender in August 1945, after the [[end of World War II]]. Over 87,000 Indian troops, and 3 million [[civilians]] died in World War II.<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/learning-and-resources/publications/annual-report.aspx Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013-2014] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104004037/http://www.cwgc.org/learning-and-resources/publications/annual-report.aspx |date=4 November 2015 }}, page 44. Figures include identified burials and those commemorated by name on memorials.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Gupta|first=Diya|date=2019-11-08|title=Hunger, starvation and Indian soldiers in World War II|url=https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/hunger-starvation-and-indian-soldiers-in-world-war-ii-11573191681653.html|access-date=2020-08-26|website=Livemint|language=en|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809145753/https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/hunger-starvation-and-indian-soldiers-in-world-war-ii-11573191681653.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]], former [[Commander-in-Chief, India]], stated that [[United Kingdom|Britain]] "couldn't have come through both wars [World War I and II] if they hadn't had the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]]."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Indian Army in the Second World War |url=https://www.cwgc.org/foreverindia/context/indian-army-in-2nd-world-war.php/ |publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619233546/http://www.cwgc.org:80/foreverindia/context/indian-army-in-2nd-world-war.php |archive-date=19 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/article1433642.ece?service=print |title=Armed and ready |access-date=2015-05-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524192004/http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/article1433642.ece?service=print |archive-date=24 May 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Viceroy Linlithgow declared that India was at war with Germany without consultations with Indian politicians.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mishra |first1=Basanta Kumar |title=India's Response To The British Offer Of August 1940 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1979 |volume=40 |pages=717–719 |jstor=44142017 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44142017 |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026175632/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44142017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Political parties such as the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] and the [[Hindu Mahasabha]] supported the British war effort while the largest and most influential political party existing in India at the time, the [[Indian National Congress]], demanded independence before it would help Britain.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Broad|first=Roger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PIQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT202|title=Volunteers and Pressed Men: How Britain and its Empire Raised its Forces in Two World Wars|date=2017-05-27|publisher=Fonthill Media|isbn=978-1781553961|location=United Kingdom|pages=|language=en|access-date=23 October 2021|archive-date=23 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023205525/https://books.google.com/books?id=PIQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT202|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Manu|first=Bhagavan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DN-Hn4rjCI8C&pg=PT14|title=The Peacemakers: India And The Quest For One World|date=2012-03-02|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|isbn=978-93-5029-469-7|location=India|pages=|language=en|access-date=23 October 2021|archive-date=23 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023205526/https://books.google.com/books?id=DN-Hn4rjCI8C&pg=PT14|url-status=live}}</ref> London refused, and when Congress announced a "Quit India" campaign in August 1942, tens of thousands of its leaders were imprisoned by the British for the duration. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Indian leader [[Subhash Chandra Bose]], Japan set up an army of Indian [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] known as the [[Indian National Army]], which fought against the British. [[Bengal famine of 1943|A major famine in Bengal in 1943]] led to 3 million deaths due to starvation, and a highly controversial issue remains regarding [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]]'s decision to not provide emergency food relief.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2015-06-16|title=Has India's contribution to WW2 been ignored?|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33105898|access-date=2020-08-26|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225173231/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33105898|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mishra |first1=Vimal |last2=Tiwari |first2=Amar Deep |last3=Aadhar |first3=Saran |last4=Shah |first4=Reepal |last5=Xiao |first5=Mu |last6=Pai |first6=D. S. |author7-link=Dennis P. Lettenmaier |last7=Lettenmaier |first7=Dennis |title=Drought and Famine in India, 1870–2016 |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |date=28 February 2019 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=2075–2083 |doi=10.1029/2018GL081477 |bibcode=2019GeoRL..46.2075M |s2cid=133752333 |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2018GL081477 |access-date=23 October 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023205525/https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2018GL081477 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Indian participation in the Allied campaign remained strong. The financial, industrial and military assistance of India formed a crucial component of the British campaign against Nazi Germany and [[Imperial Japan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-KPH1i56VAC|title=Churchill, Roosevelt and India: Propaganda During World War II|first=Auriol|last=Weigold|date=6 June 2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780203894507|via=Google Books|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=23 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023205525/https://books.google.com/books?id=f-KPH1i56VAC|url-status=live}}</ref> India's strategic location at the tip of the Indian Ocean, its large production of armaments, and its huge armed forces played a decisive role in halting the progress of Imperial Japan in the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II|South-East Asian theatre]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oa1IkbtVPnYC&pg=PA772|title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations: F-L|first=Cathal J.|last=Nolan|date=21 April 2019|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313307423|via=Google Books|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=23 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023205525/https://books.google.com/books?id=oa1IkbtVPnYC&pg=PA772|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Indian Army during World War II]] was one of the largest Allied forces contingents which took part in the [[North African Campaign|North]] and [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]], [[Western Desert Campaign]]. At the height of the second World War, more than 2.5 million Indian troops were fighting Axis forces around the globe.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mE04D9PMpAC&pg=PA361|title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World|first=Thomas M.|last=Leonard|date=21 April 2019|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9781579583880|via=Google Books|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=28 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228075350/https://books.google.com/books?id=3mE04D9PMpAC&pg=PA361|url-status=live}}</ref> After the end of the war, India  emerged as the world's fourth largest industrial power and its increased political, economic and military influence paved the way for its independence from the United Kingdom in 1947.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Po-8Pxqvy_cC&dq=india+world+war+2&pg=PA33 |title=India: Emerging Power - By Stephen P. Cohen |isbn=0815798393 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=15 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515070555/https://books.google.com/books?id=Po-8Pxqvy_cC&pg=PA33&dq=india+world+war+2&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a |url-status=live |last1=Cohen |first1=Stephen P. |date=13 May 2004 }}</ref>

==Quit India movement==
[[File:Gandhi, Patel and Maulana Azad Sept 1940.jpg|thumb|Prominent Indian leaders, including Gandhi, Patel and Maulana Azad, denounced Nazism as well as British imperialism.]]
The [[Indian National Congress]], led by [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]], [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]] and [[Maulana Azad]], denounced [[Nazi Germany]] but would not fight it or anyone else until India was independent.<ref>{{cite book|author=Frank Moraes|title=Jawaharlal Nehru|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0us3TambWogC&pg=PA266|year=2007|publisher=Jaico Publishing House|page=266|isbn=9788179926956|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=20 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520042713/https://books.google.com/books?id=0us3TambWogC&pg=PA266|url-status=live}}</ref>  Congress launched the [[Quit India Movement]] in August 1942, refusing to co-operate in any way with the government until independence was granted.  The government, not ready for this, immediately arrested over 60,000 national and local Congress leaders, and then moved to suppress the violent reaction of Congress supporters. Key leaders were kept in prison until June 1945, although Gandhi was released in May 1944 because of his health. Congress, with its leaders incommunicado, played little role on the home front. Unlike the predominately Hindu Congress, the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] rejected the Quit India movement and worked closely with the Raj authorities.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sankar Ghose|title=Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUeyUhVGIDMC&pg=PA114|year=1993|publisher=Allied Publishers|pages=114–18|isbn=9788170233435|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=17 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617045217/https://books.google.com/books?id=MUeyUhVGIDMC&pg=PA114|url-status=live}}</ref>

Supporters of the British Raj argued that decolonisation was impossible in the middle of a great war. So, in 1939, the British Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow declared India's entry into the War without consulting prominent Indian Congress leaders who were just elected in previous elections.<ref name="Kux"/>

[[Subhas Chandra Bose]] (also called Netaji) had been a top Congress leader. He broke up with the Congress and tried to form a military alliance with Germany or Japan to gain independence.  Bose, with the assistance of Germany, formed the [[Indian Legion]] from Indian students in [[Axis powers|Axis]] occupied Europe and Indian Army prisoners of war.  With German reversals in 1942 and 1943, Bose and the Legion's officers were transported by U boat to Japanese territory to continue his plans. Upon arrival, Japan helped him set up the [[Indian National Army]] (INA) which fought under Japanese direction, mostly in the [[Burma Campaign]].  Bose also headed the [[Provisional Government of Free India]], a government-in-exile based in [[Singapore]]. It controlled no Indian territory and was used only to raise troops for Japan.<ref>Leonard A. Gordon, ''Brothers Against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat & Subhas Chandra Bose'' (2000)</ref>

==British Indian Army ==
{{main|British Indian Army}}
{{See also|Indian Army during World War II|List of Indian Army Brigades in World War II}}
[[File:Indian Army volunteers, 1943 (c).jpg|thumb|left|Recruits line up to enlist with the [[5th Mahratta Light Infantry]], 1943.]]
In 1939 the [[British Indian Army]] numbered 205,000 men. It took in volunteers and by 1945 was the largest all-volunteer force in history, rising to over 3.35  million men.<ref>{{cite book | author=Compton McKenzie | title=Eastern Epic| publisher=Chatto & Windus, London | year=1951 }}, p.1</ref> These forces included tank, artillery and airborne forces. Indian personnel of the [[British Indian Army]] received 6,000 awards for gallantry, including 31 [[Victoria Cross]]es.<ref name=ccww>{{cite web|access-date=8 October 2009|publisher=BBC History|title=Colonies, Colonials and World War Two|last=Sherwood|first=Marika|author-link=Marika Sherwood|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/colonies_colonials_01.shtml|archive-date=2 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702084539/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/colonies_colonials_01.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

===The Middle East and African theatre===
[[File:Indian troops in North Africa parade with a Boys anti-tank rifle and 'Molotov cocktail' petrol bombs, 6 October 1940. E699.jpg|thumb|left|Indian troops in North Africa, 6 October 1940.]]
{{Main|Western Desert Campaign|Anglo-Iraqi War|Syria-Lebanon Campaign|East African Campaign (World War II)|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran}}
The British government meanwhile sent Indian troops to fight in [[West Asia]] and northern Africa against the Axis. India also geared up to produce essential goods such as food and uniforms.

The [[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th]], [[5th Infantry Division (India)|5th]] and [[10th Indian Infantry Division|10th]] Indian Divisions took part in the [[Western Desert Campaign|North African theatre]] against Rommel's [[Afrika Korps]]. In addition, the 18th Brigade of the 8th Indian Division fought at Alamein. Earlier, the 4th and 5th Indian Divisions took part in the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African campaign]] against the Italians in [[Somaliland]], [[Eritrea]] and [[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]] capturing the mountain fortress of Keren.

In the [[Battle of Bir Hacheim]], Indian gunners played an important role by using guns in the anti tank role and destroying tanks of Rommel's panzer divisions. [[Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam|Maj PPK Kumaramangalam]] was the battery commander of 41 Field Regiment which was deployed in the anti tank role. He was awarded the DSO for his act of bravery. Later he became the Chief of Army Staff of India in 1967.

===South-East Asian theatre===
[[File:The Far East- Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong 1939-1945 A30522.jpg|thumb|An Indian prisoner of war from [[Hong Kong]] after liberation in 1945.]]
[[File:INDIAN TROOPS IN BURMA, 1944.jpg|thumb|left|Indian infantrymen of the [[7th Rajput Regiment]] about to go on patrol on the [[Arakan Campaign 1942–43|Arakan front]] in Burma, 1944.]]
The British Indian Army was the key British Empire fighting presence in the [[Burma Campaign]]. The Royal Indian Air force's first assault mission was carried out against Japanese troops stationed in Burma. The [[Fourteenth Army (United Kingdom)|British Indian Army]] was key to breaking the siege of [[Imphal]] when the westward advance of Imperial Japan came to a halt.

The formations included the [[Indian III Corps]], [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]], the [[XXXIII Corps (British India)|Indian XXXIII Corps]] and the Fourteenth Army. As part of the new concept of Long Range Penetration (LRP), Gurkha troops of the Indian Army were trained in the present state of Madhya Pradesh under their commander (later Major General) Orde Charles Wingate.

These troops, popularly known as ''[[Chindits]]'', played a crucial role in halting the Japanese advance into South Asia.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Peter Liddle |author2=J. M. Bourne |author3=Ian R. Whitehead |title=The Great World War, 1914–45: Lightning strikes twice |year=2000 |publisher=HarperCollins, 2000 |isbn=9780004724546 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatworldwar19100pete }}</ref>

====Capture of Indian territory====
{{Main|Invasion and occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II|Battle of Kohima|Battle of Imphal}}
By 1942, neighbouring [[Burma]] was invaded by Japan, which by then had already captured the Indian territory of [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]].  Japan gave nominal control of the islands to the [[Provisional Government of Free India]] on 21 October 1943, and in the following March, the [[Indian National Army]] with the help of Japan crossed into India and advanced as far as [[Kohima]] in [[Nagaland]]. This advance on the mainland of South Asia reached its farthest point on India territory, with the Japanese finally retreating from the [[Battle of Kohima]] and near simultaneous [[Battle of Imphal]] in June 1944.<ref name="Allen638">Louis Allen, ''Burma: The Longest War'', p. 638</ref>

====Recapture of Axis-occupied territory====
In 1944–45 Japan was under heavy air bombardment at home and suffered massive naval defeats in the Pacific. As its Imphal offensive failed, harsh weather and disease and withdrawal of air cover (due to more pressing needs in the Pacific) also took its toll on the Japanese and remnants of the INA and the [[Burma National Army]]. In spring 1945, a resurgent British army recaptured the occupied lands.<ref>Edward M. Young and Howard Gerrard, ''Meiktila 1945: The Battle To Liberate Burma'' (2004)</ref>

===The invasion of Italy===
[[File:German prisoners being escorted by Indian troops after the Battle of the Sangro 1943.jpg|thumb|German prisoners being escorted by Indian troops after the Battle of the Sangro, Italy, December 1943.]] 
Indian forces played a role in liberating Italy from Nazi control. India contributed the third largest Allied contingent in the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]] after US and British forces. The [[4th Indian Infantry Division|4th]], [[8th Indian Infantry Division|8th]] and [[10th Indian Infantry Division|10th]] Divisions and [[43rd Gurkha Infantry Brigade]] led the advance, notably at the gruelling [[Battle of Monte Cassino]]. They fought on the [[Gothic Line]] in 1944 and 1945.

== Royal Indian Air Force ==
{{main|Royal Indian Air Force}}
[[File:Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection CI75.jpg|thumb|left|[[World War II]] photo: [[Arjan Singh]] (middle) as Flight Lieutenant. He went on to become [[Marshal of the Air Force]].]]

During [[World War II]], the IAF played an instrumental role in halting the advance of the [[Imperial Japan|Japanese army]] in [[Myanmar|Burma]], where the first IAF air strike was executed. The target for this first mission was the Japanese military base in [[Rakhine State|Arakan]], after which IAF strike missions continued against the Japanese airbases at [[Mae Hong Son]], [[Chiang Mai]] and [[Chiang Rai]] in northern [[Thailand]].

The IAF was mainly involved in [[Airstrike|strike]], [[close air support]], [[aerial reconnaissance]], [[bomber escort]] and pathfinding missions for RAF and [[China Burma India Theater#USAAF Order of Battle|USAAF]] heavy bombers. RAF and IAF pilots would train by flying with their non-native air wings to gain combat experience and communication proficiency. Besides operations in the [[Burma campaign|Burma Theatre]] IAF pilots participated in air operations in [[North African campaign|North Africa]] and [[European theatre of World War II|Europe]].<ref name=rafmuseum>{{cite web|url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/royal-indian-air-force/|title=Royal Indian Air Force|publisher=RAF Museum|access-date=12 May 2020|archive-date=26 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126223359/https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/royal-indian-air-force/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Pilots of No.263 Squadron RAF.jpg|thumb|right|Pilots of [[No. 263 Squadron RAF|No. 263 Squadron]] pose in front of their Typhoon. Pilot Officer Thyagarajan, an Indian pilot is seated on the engine cowling]]
[[File:Pilots of No. 83 Squadron RAF.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|83 Squadron aircrew in front of their [[List of surviving Avro Lancasters#Surviving aircraft 2|Lancaster R5868]], Squadron Leader Shailendra Eknath Sukthankar, an Indian Navigator stands in the middle.}}]]

In addition to the IAF, many native Indians and some 200 Indians resident in Britain volunteered to join the [[RAF]] and [[Women's Auxiliary Air Force]]. One such volunteer was Sergeant Shailendra Eknath Sukthankar, who served as a navigator with No. 83 Squadron. Sukthankar was commissioned as an officer, and on 14 September 1943, received the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC]]. Squadron Leader Sukthankar eventually completed 45 operations, 14 of them on board the [[List of surviving Avro Lancasters#Surviving aircraft 2|RAF Museum's Avro Lancaster R5868]]. Another volunteer was Assistant Section Officer [[Noor Inayat Khan]] a Muslim pacifist and Indian nationalist who joined the WAAF, in November 1940, to fight against Nazism. Noor Khan served bravely as a secret agent with the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) in France, but was eventually betrayed and captured.<ref name=rafmuseum /> Many of these Indian airmen were seconded or transferred to the expanding IAF such as Squadron Leader [[Mohinder Singh Pujji]] DFC who led [[No. 4 Squadron IAF]] in Burma.

During the war, the IAF experienced a phase of steady expansion. New aircraft added to the fleet included the US-built [[Vultee A-31 Vengeance|Vultee Vengeance]], [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|Douglas Dakota]], the British [[Hawker Hurricane]], [[Supermarine Spitfire]], [[Bristol Blenheim]], and [[Westland Lysander]].

[[Subhas Chandra Bose]] sent [[Indian National Army]] [[Tokyo Cadets|youth cadets]] to Japan to train as pilots. They went on to attend the [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy]] in 1944.<ref>[http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Books/Reviews/810-Burma-to-Japan.html BURMA to JAPAN with Azad Hind: A War Memoir (1941–1945)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713173707/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Books/Reviews/810-Burma-to-Japan.html |date=13 July 2022 }} Air Cmde R S Benegal MVC AVSM</ref>

In recognition of the valiant service by the IAF, [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]] conferred the [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]] "Royal" in 1945. Thereafter the IAF was referred to as the ''Royal Indian Air Force''. In 1950, when India became a republic, the prefix was dropped and it reverted to being the Indian Air Force.<ref name=Ahluwalia2012>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sabUQ7zKUvsC&pg=PA41|title=Airborne to Chairborne: Memoirs of a War Veteran Aviator-Lawyer of the Indian Air Force|last=Ahluwalia|first=A.|date=2012|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4691-9657-2|page=41|language=en|access-date=28 May 2021|archive-date=27 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427153944/https://books.google.com/books?id=sabUQ7zKUvsC&pg=PA41|url-status=live}}</ref>

Post war, [[No. 4 Squadron IAF]] was sent to Japan as part of the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied Occupation forces]].<ref>http://indianairforce.nic.in/show_unit.php?ch=7 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005819/http://indianairforce.nic.in/show_unit.php?ch=7 |date=5 March 2016 }} {{Bare URL inline|date=March 2022}}</ref>

== Royal Indian Navy ==
{{main|Royal Indian Navy}}

[[File:HMIS Bombay (305827).jpg|thumb|[[HMIS Bombay (J249)|HMIS ''Bombay'']] in [[Sydney Harbour]], 1942.]]
[[File:Commonwealth Forces in Burma IND4428.jpg|thumb|Royal Indian Naval personnel on board a landing craft during combined operations off [[Myebon]], [[Burma]], January 1945.]]
[[File:The Allied Occupation of Japan IND5225.jpg|thumb|[[HMIS Sutlej]] leaves [[Hong Kong]] for Japan as part of the Allied forces of occupation.]]

In 1934, the Royal Indian Marine changed its name, with the enactment of the Indian Navy (Discipline) Act of 1934. The Royal Indian Navy was formally inaugurated on 2 October 1934, at Bombay.<ref name=bhatia28>Bhatia (1977), p. 28</ref> Its ships carried the prefix '''HMIS''', for His Majesty's Indian Ship.<ref name=collins>D. J. E. Collins, ''The Royal Indian Navy, 1939-45'', vol. 1 (Bombay, 1964)</ref>

At the start of the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Royal Indian Navy was small, with only eight warships. The onset of the war led to an expansion in vessels and personnel described by one writer as "phenomenal". By 1943 the strength of the RIN had reached twenty thousand.<ref>{{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Mollo|page=144|title=Naval, Marine and Air Force uniforms of World War 2|year=1976|isbn=0-02-579391-8}}</ref>
During the War, the Women's Royal Indian Naval Service was established, for the first time giving women a role in the navy, although they did not serve on board its ships.<ref name=bhatia28/>

During the course of the war six anti-aircraft sloops and several fleet minesweepers were built in the United Kingdom for the R.I.N. After commissioning, many of these ships joined various escort groups operating in the northern approaches to the British Isles. {{HMIS|Sutlej|U95|6}} and {{HMIS|Jumna|U21|6}}, each armed with six-high angle 4" guns, were present during the Clyde "Blitz" of 1941 and assisted the defence of this area by providing anti-aircraft cover. For the next six months these two ships joined the Clyde Escort Force, operating in the Atlantic and later the Irish Sea Escort Force where they acted as the senior ships of the groups. While engaged on these duties, numerous attacks against U-boats were carried out and attacks by hostile aircraft repelled. At the time of action in which the [[German battleship Bismarck|Bismarck]] was involved, the Sutlej left Scapa Flow, with all despatch as the senior member of a group, to take over a convoy from the destroyers which were finally engaged in the sinking of the Bismarck.<ref name=Collins248>The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p248</ref>

Later {{HMIS|Cauvery|U10|6}}, {{HMIS|Kistna|U46|6}}, {{HMIS|Narbada|U40|6}}, {{HMIS|Godavari|U52|6}}, also antiaircraft sloops, completed similar periods in the U.K. waters escorting convoys in the Atlantic and dealing with attacks from hostile U-boats, aircraft and glider bombs. These six ships and the minesweepers all eventually proceeded to India carrying out various duties in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Cape stations en route. The fleet minesweepers were {{HMIS|Kathiawar|J155|6}}, {{HMIS|Kumaon|J164|6}}, {{HMIS|Baluchistan|J182|6}}, {{HMIS|Carnatic|J199|6}}, {{HMIS|Khyber|J190|6}}, {{HMIS|Konkan|J228|6}}, {{HMIS|Orissa|J200|6}}, {{HMIS|Rajputana|J197|6}}, {{HMIS|Rohilkhand|J180|6}}.<ref name=Collins248 />

[[HMIS Bengal (J243)|HMIS Bengal]] was a part of the [[Eastern Fleet]] during World War II, and escorted numerous convoys between 1942 and 1945.<ref>{{cite web |last = Kindell |first = Don |url = http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1943a.htm |title = EASTERN FLEET - January to June 1943 |work = ADMIRALTY WAR DIARIES of WORLD WAR 2 |access-date = 4 May 2021 |archive-date = 11 August 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210811105610/http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1943a.htm |url-status = live }}</ref>

The [[Sloop-of-war|sloops]] {{ship|HMIS|Sutlej|U95|6}} and {{HMIS|Jumna|U21|6}} played a role in [[Operation Husky]], the Allied invasion of [[Sicily]] by providing air defence and anti-submarine screening to the invasion fleet.<ref>[http://www.wewerethere.mod.uk/wewerethere_old/inmed.html Inmed] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124112038/http://www.wewerethere.mod.uk/wewerethere_old/inmed.html |date=24 January 2008 }}</ref><ref name=Collins252>The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p252</ref>

Furthermore, the Royal Indian Navy participated in convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean and was heavily involved in combat operations as part of the [[Burma Campaign]], carrying out raids, shore bombardment, naval invasion support and other activities culminating in [[Operation Dracula]] and the mopping up operations during the final stages of the war.<ref name=Collins255>The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p255 - p316</ref>

=== Royal Indian Naval combat losses ===
The sloop [[P-class sloop|HMIS ''Pathan'']] sunk in June 1940 by the Italian Navy Submarine [[Brin-class submarine|''Galvani'']] during the [[East African campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]]<ref name=r&h23>Rohwer & Hummelchen, p.23</ref><ref name="rin3945">{{cite book |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/index.html#contents |title=The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945, Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War |last=Collins |first=D.J.E. |work=Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan) |date=1964 |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221150642/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/index.html#contents |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1940-11-20a.1988.4|title=House of commons debate - Indian, Burman, and Colonial War Effort.|work=[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]|date=20 November 1940|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504210446/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1940-11-20a.1988.4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/ships/indian.htm |title=Fighting the U-boats = Indian Naval forces |work=Uboat.net |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513155405/https://www.uboat.net/allies/ships/indian.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the days immediately following the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]], {{HMS|Glasgow|C21|6}} was patrolling the [[Laccadive Islands]] in search of Japanese ships and submarines. At midnight on 9 December 1941, [[HMS Glasgow]] sank the RIN patrol vessel [[HMIS Prabhavati]] with two lighters in tow en route to Karachi, with 6-inch shells at 6,000 yards (5,500 m). Prabhavati was alongside the lighters and was mistaken for a surfaced Japanese submarine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/22394.html|title=Allied Warships - HMIS Prabhavati|access-date=6 May 2021|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516063510/https://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/22394.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Collins96>The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p96</ref><ref name="maccart153">Neil MacCart, ''Town Class Cruisers'', Maritime Books, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-904-45952-1}}, p. 153</ref>

{{HMIS|Indus|U67|6}} was sunk by Japanese aircraft during [[Burma Campaign]] on 6 April 1942.<ref name=Collins>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=J.T.E.|title=The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945|series=Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War|year=1964|publisher=Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India and Pakistan)|location=New Delhi|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/index.html|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=21 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221150642/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Royal Indian Naval successes ===

{{HMIS|Jumna|U21|6}} was ordered in 1939, and built by [[William Denny and Brothers]]. She was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] in 1941,<ref name=ub>{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3915.html |title=HMIS Jumna (U 21) |website=uboat.net |access-date=6 April 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924172913/https://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3915.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and with [[World War II]] underway, was immediately deployed as a convoy escort. ''Jumna'' served as an anti-aircraft escort during the [[Dutch East Indies campaign|Java Sea campaign]] in early 1942, and was involved in intensive anti-aircraft action against attacking Japanese twin-engined level bombers and dive bombers, claiming five aircraft downed from 24 to 28 February 1942.

In June 1942 {{HMIS|Bombay|J249	|6}} was involved in the defence of Sydney Harbour during the [[Attack on Sydney Harbour]].

On 11 November 1942, ''Bengal'' was escorting the Dutch tanker [[MV Ondina|''Ondina'']]<ref name=Visser>{{cite web |last=Visser |first=Jan |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/ondina.html |title=The Ondina Story |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942 |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-date=21 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321233336/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/ondina.html |url-status=live }}</ref> to the southwest of Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Two Japanese [[commerce raider]]s armed with six-inch guns attacked ''Ondina''. ''Bengal'' fired her single four-inch gun and ''Ondina'' fired her 102&nbsp;mm and both scored hits on ''[[Hōkoku Maru]]'', which shortly blew up and sank.<ref name=Visser/><ref>{{cite web |first= Klemen |last= L |date= 2000 |title= Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |access-date= 4 May 2021 |archive-date= 26 July 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |url-status= live }}</ref>

On 12 Feb 1944, the [[Japanese submarine Ro-110|Japanese submarine RO-110]] was depth charged and sunk east-south-east off Visakhapatnam, India by the Indian sloop {{HMIS|Jumna|U21|6}} and the Australian minesweepers [[HMAS Launceston (J179)|HMAS Launceston]] and [[HMAS Ipswich (J186)]]. RO-110 had attacked convoy JC-36 (Colombo-Calcutta) and torpedoed and damaged the British merchant Asphalion (6274 GRT).<ref name=ub /><ref>The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p309</ref>

On 12 August 1944 the [[German submarine U-198|German submarine ''U-198'']] was sunk near the [[Seychelles]], in position 03º35'S, 52º49'E, by [[depth charge]]s from {{HMIS|Godavari|U52|6}} and the British frigate [[List of River-class frigates|HMS Findhorn]].<ref name=uboat>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3922.html|title=HMIS Godavari (U 52) of the Royal Indian Navy - Indian Sloop of the Black Swan class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=15 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515114448/https://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3922.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Collins />

==Collaboration with the Axis powers ==
{{See also|Indian National Army|Indische Legion|Battaglione Azad Hindoustan}}
Several leaders of the radical [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|revolutionary Indian independence movement]] broke away from the main Congress and went to war against Britain. [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], once a prominent leader in the Indian National Congress, volunteered to help Nazi Germany and Japan; he claimed in speeches that Britain's opposition to Nazism and Fascism was "hypocrisy", since Britain was itself denying individual liberties to Indians.<ref name="Bose">{{cite book
  |last = Bose
  |first = Subash Chandra
  |title = Azad Hind: writings and speeches, 1941–43
  |publisher = Anthem Press
  |year = 2004
  |isbn = 978-1-84331-083-9}}</ref> Moreover, he argued that it was not Germany and Japan but the [[British Raj]] which was the enemy, since the British were over-exploiting Indian resources for the  war.<ref name="Bose"/> Bose suggested that there was little possibility of India being attacked by any of the Axis powers provided it did not fight the war on Britain's side.<ref name="Bose"/>

[[File:Japanese atrocities imperial war museum K9923.jpg|thumb|Captured soldiers of the British Indian Army who refused to join the INA were executed by the Japanese.<ref>{{citation|last=Aldrich|first=Richard J.|title=Intelligence and the War Against Japan: Britain, America and the Politics of Secret Service|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D86lnjjU7PIC|access-date=6 November 2013|year=2000|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=371|isbn=978-0-521-64186-9|archive-date=22 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022021951/https://books.google.com/books?id=D86lnjjU7PIC|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

[[Nazi Germany]] was encouraging but gave little help. Bose then approached the [[Japanese Empire]] at Tokyo, which gave him control of Indian forces it had organised.<ref>{{cite book
  |last = Horn
  |first = Steve
  |title = The second attack on Pearl Harbor: Operation K and other Japanese attempts to bomb America in World War II
  |publisher = Naval Institute Press
  |year = 2005
  |isbn = 9781591143888}}</ref>

The [[Indian National Army]] (INA), formed first by [[Mohan Singh Deb]], consisted initially of prisoners taken by the Japanese in Malaya and at [[Fall of Singapore|Singapore]] who were offered the choice of serving the INA by Japan or remaining  in very poor conditions in POW camps. Later, after it was reorganised under Subhas Chandra Bose, it drew civilian volunteers from Malaya and Burma. Ultimately, a force of under 40,000 was formed, although only two divisions ever participated in battle. Intelligence and special services groups from the INA were instrumental in destabilising the British Indian Army in the early stages of the Arakan offensive. It was during this time that the British Military Intelligence began propaganda work to shield the true numbers who joined the INA,{{vn|date=June 2022}} and also described stories of [[Japanese war crimes|Japanese brutalities]] that indicated INA involvement. Further, the [[Indian press]] was [[sedition|prohibited from publishing]] any accounts whatsoever of the INA.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

As the Japanese offensive opened, the INA was sent into battle. Bose hoped to avoid set-piece battles for which it lacked arms, armament as well as man-power.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=292,298}}</ref>  Initially, he sought to obtain arms as well as increase its ranks from British Indian soldiers he hoped would defect to his cause. Once the Japanese forces were able to break the British defences at Imphal, he planned for the INA to cross the hills of [[North-East India]] into the [[Gangetic plain]], where it was to work as a guerrilla army and expected to live off the land, garner support, supplies, and ranks from amongst the local populace to ultimately touch off a revolution.

Prem Kumar Sahgal, an officer of the INA once Military secretary to [[Subhas Bose]] and later tried in the first [[Red Fort trials]], explained that although the war itself hung in balance and nobody was sure if the Japanese would win, initiating a popular revolution with grass-root support within India would ensure that even if Japan lost the war ultimately, Britain would not be in a position to re-assert its colonial authority, which was ultimately the aim of the INA and [[Azad Hind]].

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-263-1580-05, Atlantikwall, Soldaten der Legion "Freies Indien".jpg|thumb|Troops of the [[Indische Legion]] guarding the [[Atlantic Wall]] in France in March 1944. Subhas Chandra Bose initiated the legion's formation, intended to serve as a liberation force from the British occupation of India.]]

As Japan opened its offensive towards India, the INA's first division, consisting of four Guerrilla regiments, participated in [[Second Arakan Offensive|Arakan offensive]] in 1944, with one battalion reaching as far as Mowdok in [[Chittagong]]. Other units were directed to Imphal and Kohima, as well as to protect Japanese flanks to the south of Arakan, a task it successfully carried out. However, the first division suffered the same fate as did Mutaguchi's Army when the siege of Imphal was broken. With little or no supplies and supply lines deluged by the Monsoon, harassed by Allied air dominance, the INA began withdrawing when the 15th Army and [[Burma Area Army]] began withdrawing, and suffered the same terrible fate as wounded, starved and diseased men succumbed during the hasty withdrawal into Burma. Later in the war however, the INA's second division, tasked with the defence of [[Irrawaddy Delta|Irrawaddy]] and the adjoining areas around Nangyu, was instrumental in opposing Messervy's [[7th Indian Infantry Division]] when it attempted to cross the river at Pagan and Nyangyu during the successful  [[Burma Campaign#Central Front 1944/45|Burma Campaign]] by the Allies the following year. The 2nd division was instrumental in denying the [[17th Indian Infantry Division]] the area around [[Mount Popa]] that would have exposed the flank of Kimura's forces attempting to retake Meiktila and Nyangyu. Ultimately however, the division was obliterated. Some of the surviving units of the INA surrendered as Rangoon fell, and helped keep order till the allied forces entered the city. The other remnants began a long march over land and on foot towards Singapore, along with Subhas Chandra Bose. As the Japanese situation became precarious, Bose left for Manchuria to attempt to contact the Russians, and was reported to have [[Death of Subhash Chandra Bose|died in an air crash near Taiwan]].

The only Indian territory that the Azad Hind government controlled was nominally the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. However, they were bases for the Japanese Navy, and the navy never relinquished control. Enraged with the lack of administrative control, the Azad Hind Governor, Lt. Col. Loganathan, later relinquished his authority.  After the War, a number of officers of the INA were tried for treason. However, faced with the possibility of a massive civil unrest and a mutiny in the Indian Army, the British officials decided to release the prisoners-of-war; in addition, the event became a turning point to expedite the process of transformation of power and independence of India.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=}}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2022}}

==Bengal famine==
{{main|Bengal Famine of 1943}}
[[File:Bengal famine 1943 photo.jpg|thumb|Child who starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943.]]
The region of Bengal in India suffered a devastating famine from 1940 to 1943. Some of the key reasons for this famine are:

# British export of food and material for the war in Europe;
# Japanese invasion of Burma which cut off food and other essential supplies to the region;
# British denial orders destroying essential food transportation throughout the Eastern region;
# British banned transfer of grain from other provinces, turning down offers of grain from Australia;
# mismanagement by British Indian regional governments; 
# constructing 900 airfields (2000 acres each) taking that huge amount of land out of agriculture in a time of dire need;
# price inflation caused by war production
# increase in demand partially as a result of refugees from Burma and Bengal.

The British government denied an urgent request from [[Leopold Amery]], the Indian secretary of state, and [[Archibald Wavell]], the Viceroy of India, to stop exports of food from Bengal in order that it might be used for famine relief. [[Winston Churchill]], then prime minister, dismissed these requests in a fashion that Amery regarded as "[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]-like," by asking why, if the famine was so horrible, [[Gandhi]] had not yet died of starvation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/08/13/exit-wounds|title=Exit Wounds|first=Pankaj|last=Mishra|date=6 August 2007|via=www.newyorker.com|access-date=21 April 2019|archive-date=6 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706122849/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/08/13/070813crbo_books_mishra?currentPage=3|url-status=live}}</ref>

Indian Economist [[Amartya Sen]] (1976) challenged this orthodoxy, reviving the claim that there was no shortage of food in Bengal and that the famine was caused by inflation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Khan|first=Yasmin|title=The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan|url=https://archive.org/details/greatpartitionma00khan|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300120783}}</ref>

==Princely states==
[[File:Maharaja with kids and women from Poland.jpg|thumb|[[Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji|Maharaja Jam Sahib]] celebrates Christmas with Polish children he rescued from Soviet camps, 1943]]
During World War II, in 1941, the British presented a captured German Bf109 single-engined fighter to the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]], in return for the funding of 2 RAF fighter squadrons.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/a-mystery-behind-the-history-plane--------/15988/ | title=A mystery behind the history plane | author=Manu Pubby | publisher=Indian Express | date=4 November 2006 | access-date=12 October 2015 | archive-date=5 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305203920/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/a-mystery-behind-the-history-plane--------/15988/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

There was a campsite for Polish refugees at [[Memorial Pillar (Valivade)|Valivade]], in [[Kolhapur State]], it was the largest settlement of Polish refugees in India during the war.<ref name="Piotrowski">{{Cite book|last=Piotrowski|first=Tadeusz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Kefzi0_vwIC&q=%22Jamnagar%22+polish&pg=PA126|title=The Polish Deportees of World War II: Recollections of Removal to the Soviet Union and Dispersal Throughout the World|date=2015-09-17|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5536-2|language=en|access-date=11 July 2021|archive-date=13 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713173708/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Kefzi0_vwIC&q=%22Jamnagar%22+polish&pg=PA126|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Phadnis|first=Samrat|date=February 13, 2014|title=Over 70 Polish refugees to visit city in March, relive WW-II memories|work=The Times of India|url=https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolhapur/Over-70-Polish-refugees-to-visit-city-in-March-relive-WW-II-memories/articleshow/30313290.cms|url-status=live|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201221518/https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolhapur/Over-70-Polish-refugees-to-visit-city-in-March-relive-WW-II-memories/articleshow/30313290.cms|archive-date=1 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Deshpande|first=Devidas|date=July 31, 2011|title=The last Pole of Valivade|work=Pune Mirror|url=https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/cover-story/the-last-pole-of-valivade/articleshow/32090088.cms|url-status=live|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020125307/https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/cover-story/the-last-pole-of-valivade/articleshow/32090088.cms|archive-date=20 October 2022}}</ref> Another such campsite for Polish refugee children was located in [[Balachadi]], it was built by [[K. S. Digvijaysinhji]], Jam Saheb Maharaja of [[Nawanagar State]] in 1942, near his summer resort. He gave refuge to hundreds of Polish children rescued from Soviet camps (Gulags).<ref name="Piotrowski"/><ref name="ol2010">{{cite web | title=Little Warsaw Of Kathiawar | work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] | date=20 December 2010 | url=http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/little-warsaw-of-kathiawar/268578 | access-date=7 May 2016 | archive-date=21 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521142631/http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/little-warsaw-of-kathiawar/268578 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="docv2013">{{cite web | title=Good Maharaja saves Polish children - beautiful story of A Little Poland in India | website=newdelhi.mfa.gov.pl | date=10 November 2013 | url=http://newdelhi.mfa.gov.pl/en/news/good_maharaja_saves_polish_children___premiere_of_a_little_poland_in_india_in_new_delhi;jsessionid=A6A8EEBD502F3978A62F42449C9E01CC.cmsap2p | access-date=7 May 2016 | archive-date=16 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516221156/http://newdelhi.mfa.gov.pl/en/news/good_maharaja_saves_polish_children___premiere_of_a_little_poland_in_india_in_new_delhi;jsessionid=A6A8EEBD502F3978A62F42449C9E01CC.cmsap2p | url-status=live }}</ref> The campsite is now part of the [[Sainik School, Balachadi|Sainik School]].<ref name="ss2016">{{cite web | title=Origin and History | website=Welcome to Sainik School Balachadi | date=27 April 2016 | url=http://www.ssbalachadi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=73 | access-date=7 May 2016 | archive-date=25 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325224352/http://ssbalachadi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=73 | url-status=live }}</ref>

== 1944–45 Insurgency in Balochistan ==
From 1944 to 1945, Daru Khan Badinzai led an insurgency against the authorities of the Raj. It began in the first half of 1944, when rebels of the Badinzai tribe began interfering with road construction on the British side of the Balochistan border.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjyQAAAAMAAJ|title=British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: Eastern Affairs, January 1944-June 1944|last1=Preston|first1=Paul|last2=Partridge|first2=Michael|last3=Yapp|first3=Malcolm|date=1997|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=9781556556715|pages=141|language=en|access-date=30 August 2020|archive-date=14 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814121922/https://books.google.nl/books?id=jjyQAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The insurgency had subsided by March 1945.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D6QAAAAMAAJ|title=British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: Eastern affairs, July 1944-March 1945|last1=Preston|first1=Paul|last2=Partridge|first2=Michael|last3=Yapp|first3=Malcolm|date=1997|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=9781556556715|pages=348|language=en|access-date=30 August 2020|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725002439/https://books.google.com/books?id=-D6QAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Mazrak Zadran's invasion of India ==
{{See also|Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947}}
In 1944, the Southern and Eastern provinces of Afghanistan entered a state of turmoil, with the [[Zadran (Pashtun tribe)|Zadran]], [[Safi (Pashtun tribe)|Safi]] and [[Mangal tribe|Mangal]] tribes rising up against the Afghan government.<ref name=":0">{{Cite document|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1766/a3e499978d4f07ec02e3433acfa10dff41fd.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731114037/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1766/a3e499978d4f07ec02e3433acfa10dff41fd.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-07-31|title=AFGHANISTAN: TRANSITION WITHOUT END|last=Giustozzi|first=Antonio|date=2008|page=13|s2cid=54592886}}</ref> Among the leaders of the revolt was the Zadran chieftain, [[Mazrak Zadran]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100038334404.0x000072|title=Coll 5/73 'Afghan Air Force: Reports on' [57r] (113/431)|date=2016-12-21|website=Qatar Digital Library|language=en|access-date=2019-12-26|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226143235/https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100038334404.0x000072|url-status=live}}</ref> who opted to invade British-occupied India in late 1944. There he was joined by a Baloch chieftain, Sultan Ahmed.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHeQAAAAMAAJ|title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East 1947. Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, january 1947-december 1947|last=Yapp|first=Malcolm|date=2001|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=978-1-55655-765-1|pages=34|language=en|access-date=30 August 2020|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725001329/https://books.google.com/books?id=cHeQAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Mazrak was forced to retreat back into Afghanistan due to British aerial bombardment.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D6QAAAAMAAJ|title=British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: Eastern affairs, July 1944-March 1945|last1=Preston|first1=Paul|last2=Partridge|first2=Michael|last3=Yapp|first3=Malcolm|date=1997|publisher=University Publications of America|isbn=9781556556715|pages=348|language=en|access-date=30 August 2020|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725002439/https://books.google.com/books?id=-D6QAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Propaganda and India in World War II]]
* [[Burma Campaign]]
* [[Indian Army during World War II]]
* [[List of Indian divisions in World War I]]
* [[Military history of India]]
* [[Military production during World War II]]
* [[Military history of the British Commonwealth in the Second World War]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}
26. Henry Boot and Ray Sturtivant. Gifts of War
27. Brett Holman. The Imperial Aircraft Flotilla - II

==Further reading==
* Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar. ''From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India''  (2004)
* Barkawi, Tarak. "Culture and Combat In the Colonies: The Indian Army In the Second World War," ''Journal of Contemporary History''  (2006) 41#2 pp 325–355 doi=10.1177/0022009406062071  [https://cambridge.academia.edu/TarakBarkawi/Papers/267472/Culture_and_Combat_In_the_Colonies_The_Indian_Army_In_the_Second_World_War online]
* Bhatia, Harbans Singh, ''Military History of British India, 1607–1947'' (1977)
* Brown, Judith M. ''Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy'' (1994)
* Brown, Judith M. ''Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope'' (1991)
*{{Citation
 | surname1 = Fay
 | given1 = Peter W.
 | year = 1993
 | title = The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942–1945.
 | publisher = Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.
 | isbn = 0-472-08342-2
}}.
* Collins, D.J.E. ''The Royal Indian Navy'' (1964 [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/index.html online official history]
* Gopal, Sarvepalli. ''Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography'' (1976)
* Herman, Arthur. '' Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age'' (2009), pp 443–539.
*{{Cite book| title = India-Burma| first = David W.| last = Hogan| url = http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/indiaburma/indiaburma.htm| publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]| id = CMH Pub 72-5| series = World War II Campaign Brochures| location = Washington D.C.| access-date = 14 June 2010| archive-date = 19 July 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719212652/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/indiaburma/indiaburma.htm| url-status = dead}}
* Jalal, Ayesha. ''The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan''  (1993), 
* James, Lawrence. ''Raj: the making and remaking of British India'' (1997) pp 545–85, narrative history.
*Joshi, Vandana. "[https://www.projekt-mida.de/reflexicon/memory-and-memorialisation-interment-and-exhumation-propaganda-and-politics-during-wwii-through-the-lens-of-international-tracing-service-its-collections/ Memory and Memorialisation, Interment and Exhumation, Propaganda and Politics during WWII through the lens of International Tracing Service (ITS) Collections]", in ''[https://www.projekt-mida.de/rechercheportal/reflexicon/ MIDA Archival Reflexicon]'' (2019), pp.&nbsp;1–12.
* Judd, Dennis. ''The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600–1947'' (2004)
* Karnad, Raghu. ''Farthest Field - An Indian Story of the Second World War'' (Harper Collins India, 2015) {{ISBN|9351772039}}
* Khan, Yasmin. ''India At War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War'' (2015), wide-ranging scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/India-At-War-Subcontinent-Second/dp/0199753490/ excerpt]; also published as ''The Raj At War: A People's History Of India's Second World War'' (2015)' [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=45255 online review]
* Marston, Daniel. ''The Indian Army and the end of the Raj'' (Cambridge UP, 2014).
* Moore, Robin J. "India in the 1940s", in Robin Winks, ed. ''Oxford History of the British Empire: Historiography'' (2001), pp.&nbsp;231–242
* Mukerjee, Madhusree. ''Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II'' (2010).
* Raghavan,  Srinath. ''India's War: World War II and the Making of Modern South Asia'' (2016). wide-ranging scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/dp/046503022X/sr=1-1/qid=1466893522/ excerpt]
* Read, Anthony, and David Fisher. ''The Proudest Day: India's Long Road to Independence'' (1999)  [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101073461 online edition]; detailed scholarly history of 1940–47
* Roy, Kaushik. "Military Loyalty in the Colonial Context: A Case Study of the Indian Army during World War II." ''Journal of Military History'' 73.2 (2009): 497–529.
* Voigt, Johannes. ''India in The Second World War'' (1988).
* Wolpert, Stanley A. ''Jinnah of Pakistan'' (2005).

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|India in World War II|'''India in World War II'''}}

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