Auxiliary Force (India)

2021-11-23T22:29:56Z

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The '''Auxiliary Force (India)''' ('''AFI''') was a part-time, paid volunteer organisation within the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] in [[British India]]. Its units were entirely made up of European and [[Anglo-Indian]] personnel.

The AFI was created by the Auxiliary Force Act 1920<ref>"Indian Auxiliary Forces: A Territorial Scheme", ''[[The Times]]'', 1 October 1920</ref> to replace the unpopular British section of the [[Indian Defence Force]], which had recruited by [[conscription]]. By contrast, the AFI was an all-volunteer force modelled after the British [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]].

The Indian parallel to the AFI was the [[Indian Territorial Force]].

==Units of the AFI on 3 September 1939==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Name!!Headquarters
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Contingents'''
|-
|Agra Contingent||[[Agra]]
|-
|Allahabad Contingent||[[Allahabad]]
|-
|Bangalore Contingent||[[Bangalore]]
|-
|Bareilly Corps||[[Bareilly]]
|-
|Bareilly Contingent||[[Naini Tal]]
|-
|Bombay Contingent||[[Bombay]]
|-
|Cawnpore Contingent||[[Cawnpore]]
|-
|Dehra Dun Contingent<ref>3 Infantry Platoons, 1 Wireless Telegraphy Section & 4 Motor Platoons.</ref>||[[Dehra Dun]]
|-
|Delhi Contingent<ref>1 Cavalry Troop, 1 Infantry Company & 3 Motor Platoons.</ref>||[[Delhi]]
|-
|Karachi Corps||[[Karachi]]
|-
|Lucknow Contingent||[[Lucknow]]
|-
|Madras Contingent||[[Madras]]
|-
|Poona Contingent||[[Poona]]
|-
|Punjab Contingent||[[Lahore]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Cavalry regiments'''
|-
|[[Assam Valley Light Horse]]||[[Dibrugarh]]
|-
|[[Bihar Light Horse]]||[[Muzaffarpur]]
|-
|[[Bombay Light Patrol]]<ref name=bom>Part of Bombay Contingent</ref>||[[Bombay]]
|-
|[[Calcutta Light Horse]]||[[Calcutta]]
|-
|[[Chota Nagpur Regiment]]||[[Ranchi]]
|-
|[[Northern Bengal Mounted Rifles]]||[[Darjeeling]]
|-
|[[Punjab Light Horse]]<ref name=pun>Part of Punjab Contingent</ref>||[[Lahore]]
|-
|[[Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles]]||[[Madras]]
|-
|[[Surma Valley Light Horse]]||[[Silchar]]
|-
|Allahabad Detachment, [[United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)]]<ref name=all>Part of Allahabad Contingent</ref>||[[Allahabad]]
|-
|Cawnpore Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)<ref name=caw>Part of Cawnpore Detachment</ref>||[[Cawnpore]]
|-
|Lucknow Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)<ref name=luck>Part of Lucknow Contingent</ref>||[[Lucknow]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Armoured Car companies'''
|-
|Bangalore Armoured Car Company<ref name=ban>Part of Bangalore Contingent</ref>||[[Bangalore]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Artillery brigades'''<ref>soon renamed regiments.</ref>
|-
|Bengal Artillery, RA||[[Barrackpore]]
|-
|I (Calcutta Port Defence) Brigade, RA||[[Calcutta]]
|-
|V (Cossipore) Field Brigade, RA||[[Cossipore]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Separate artillery batteries'''
|-
|No. 3 (Madras) Field Battery, RA<ref name=mad>Part of Madras Contingent</ref>||[[Madras]]
|-
|No. 10 (Bombay) Battery, RA<ref name=bom />||[[Bombay]]
|-
|No. 13 (Lucknow) Field Battery, RA<ref name=luck />||[[Lucknow]]
|-
|No. 15 (Kirkee) Field Battery, RA<ref name=poon />||[[Kirkee]]
|-
|No. 17 (Agra) Field Battery, RA<ref name=agra>Part of Agra Contingent</ref>||[[Agra]]
|-
|No. 18 (Bareilly) Field Battery, RA<ref>Part of Bareilly Contingent</ref>||[[Bareilly]]
|-
|No. 20 (Cawnpore) Field Battery, RA<ref name=caw />||[[Cawnpore]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Engineer companies'''
|-
|No. 1 (Calcutta) Fortress Company, RE||[[Calcutta]]
|-
|No. 3 (Bombay) Fortress Company, RE<ref name=bom />||[[Bombay]]
|-
|No. 4 (Karachi) Fortress Company, RE<ref name=kar>Part of Karachi Contingent</ref>||[[Karachi]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Signal companies'''
|-
|No. 1 (Madras) Signal Company<ref name=mad />||[[Madras]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Railway battalions'''
|-
|Assam Bengal Railway Battalion||[[Chittagong]]
|-
|Bengal Nagpur Railway Battalion||[[Kharagpur]]
|-
|Bengal and North Western Railway Battalion||[[Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh|Gorakhpur]]
|-
|1st Battalion, [[Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment]]||[[Lower Parel]]
|-
|2nd Battalion, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment||[[Ajmer]]
|-
|Eastern Bengal Railway Battalion||[[Sealdah]]
|-
|1st Battalion, [[East Indian Railway Regiment]]||[[Liluah|Lillooah]]
|-
|2nd Battalion, East Indian Railway Regiment||[[Lucknow]]
|-
|1st Battalion, [[Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment]]||[[Parel]]
|-
|2nd Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment||[[Jhansi]]
|-
|1st Battalion, [[Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles]]||[[Perambur]]
|-
|2nd Battalion, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles||[[Hubli]]
|-
|North Western Railway Battalion||[[Lahore]]
|-
|South Indian Railway Battalion||[[Trichinopoly]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Infantry battalions'''
|-
|[[Allahabad Rifles]]<ref name=all />||[[Allahabad]]
|-
|Bangalore Battalion (Bangalore Rifle Volunteers)<ref name=ban />||[[Bangalore]]
|-
|Bombay Battalion<ref name=bom />||[[Bombay]]
|-
|Calcutta and Presidency Battalion||[[Calcutta]]
|-
|[[Calcutta Scottish]]||[[Calcutta]]
|-
|[[Cawnpore Rifles]]<ref name=caw />||[[Cawnpore]]
|-
|East Coast Battalion||[[Vizayapatam]]
|-
|[[Hyderabad Rifles]]||[[Secunderabad]]
|-
|Kolar Gold Fields Battalion||[[Kolar Gold Fields|Oorgaum]]
|-
|[[Lucknow Rifles]]<ref name=luck />||[[Lucknow]]
|-
|[[Madras Guards]]<ref name=mad />||[[Madras]]
|-
|[[Nagpur Rifles]]||[[Nagpur]]
|-
|[[Nilgiri Malabar Battalion]]||[[Ootacamund]]
|-
|[[Poona Rifles]]<ref name=poon>Part of Poona Contingent</ref>||[[Poona]]
|-
|[[Punjab Rifles]]<ref name=pun />||[[Lahore]]
|-
|[[Simla Rifles]]||[[Shimla|Simla]]
|-
|[[Sind Rifles]]<ref name=kar />||[[Karachi]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Separate infantry companies'''
|-
|Bhusawal Company<ref>Administered by 1st Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment.</ref>||[[Bhusawal]]
|-
|Coorg and Mysore Company||[[Mercara]]
|-
|Eastern Bengal Company||[[Dacca]]
|-
|Yercaud Company||[[Yercaud]]
|- style="background:#e3d9ff"
|colspan=2|'''Machine-gun companies'''
|-
|No. 2 (Karachi) Machine-Gun Company<ref name=kar />||[[Karachi]]
|-
|No. 5 (Agra) Machine-Gun Company<ref name=agra />||[[Agra]]
|-
|}

==In literature==

The Auxiliary Force features extensively in the plot of John Masters' novel ''[[Bhowani Junction]]'', focusing on a community of Anglo-Indian railway workers at an Indian town in 1946, on the verge of the British withdrawal.

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Military of British India]]

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Auxiliary Force (India)