3rd (Lahore) Division: Difference between revisions

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|battles=[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]<ref name="1914-1918.net">{{cite web|first=Chris |last=Baker |url=http://www.1914-1918.net/corps.htm |title=The British Corps of 1914-1918 |work=The Long, Long Trail |date=2010 |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

The Lahore Division first appears in the Indian Army List in 1852, when the short-lived Cis-[[Jhelum River|Jhelum]] Division was renamed (at the same time the Trans-Jhelum Division at Peshawar was renamed the Punjab Division). The Cis-Jhelum Division in turn had previously been the [[Sagar, Madhya Pradesh|Saugor]] Division, a longstanding formation of the Bengal Army.<ref>''East India Register and Army List'' 1851–53; ''Bengal and Agra Directory and Annual Register'' 1852.</ref> At this period Divisions were primarily administrative organisations controlling the brigades and stations in their area, rather than field formations, but they did provide field forces when required. The Lahore Division absorbed the Lahore Field Force under Brigadier Sir James Tennant, which had formed part of the Army of the Punjab since 1847.<ref>''East-India Register and Army List'' 1847–53</ref> [[Lahore Fort]] was occupied by the British after the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] and the city of [[Lahore]] was annexed in 1849 at the conclusion of the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]. In 1852 a military [[cantonment]] (known until 1906 as Mian Mir) was established outside the city.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V16_121.gif |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India |volume=16 |page=115 |year=1908 |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

'''Govindgarh ([[Bathinda]]):'''<ref>{{cite book |url= https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V12_349.gif |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India |volume=12 |page=343 |year=1908 |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

During the '[[Indian Mutiny]]' (or 'First War of Independence') some Indian regiments at the Mian Mir cantonments plotted to mutiny but were disarmed under the guns of a British horse artillery battery and infantry battalion to prevent them seizing Lahore Fort. Later the 26th Bengal Native Infantry at Mian Mir did mutiny, murder some of their officers and escape under cover of a dust storm, but Lahore was held for the remainder of the conflict by British troops and Indians troops loyal to the government.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V16_103.gif |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India |volume=16 |page=97 |year=1908 |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

''Divisional HQ:'' Mian Mir (Lahore Cantonment)<ref>{{cite book |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V17_322.gif |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India |volume=17 |page=316 |year=1908 |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>

On 13 August 1915, General [[Sir John Nixon]], commanding [[Indian Expeditionary Force D#Indian Expeditionary Force D|Indian Expeditionary Force D]] in [[Mesopotamian campaign|Mesopotamia]], requested one of the Indian infantry divisions in France as reinforcements for his advance on [[Baghdad]]. Coincidentally, on the same day, the [[Secretary of State for India]], [[Austen Chamberlain]], told the [[Viceroy of India]] that he was anxious for the Indian infantry to be withdrawn from France before they had to endure another winter. The system for supplying drafts had broken down and the Indian battalions were becoming very weak after the heavy casualties they had suffered. Although the [[Secretary of State for War]], [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]], objected to their withdrawal from the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], orders were issued on 31 October for the two divisions of Indian Corps (3rd (Lahore) and 7th (Meerut) Division) to embark at Marseilles for Mesopotamia. They were to leave behind their attached Territorial Force and Special Reserve battalions, and the three RFA brigades of 18-pounder guns of 3rd (Lahore) Division.<ref>Edmonds & Wynne, ''1915'', Vol II, pp. 402–3.</ref> The two divisions were relieved in the front line on 6 November and were due at Basra in December, but their departure from Marseilles was delayed because of fear of submarine attack.<ref>Moberly, Vol II.</ref> 3rd (Lahore) Division finally arrived in Mesopotamia in April 1916 and joined [[Tigris Corps]], too late to relieve [[6th (Poona) Division]] at [[Siege of Kut|Kut-al-Amara]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Chris |last=Baker |url=http://www.1914-1918.net/mespot.htm |title=The British campaign in Mesopotamia 1914-1918 |work=The Long, Long Trail |date=2010 |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref>