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Northern Command (India)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"North Western Army" redirects here. For the Chinese revolutionary army, seeGuominjun.

Northern Command
Insignia of Northern Command
Active1908–1947
1972 – present
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Army
TypeCommand
HQUdhampur
Motto(s)Forever in operations
Commanders
GOC-in-CLt GenM. V. Suchindra Kumar
PVSM,AVSM,YSM**,VSM
Notable
commanders		Lt GenP. S. Bhagat
GenS. Padmanabhan
GenDeepak Kapoor
GenUpendra Dwivedi
Insignia
Flag

TheNorthern Commandis aCommandof theIndian Army.It was originally formed as the Northern Army of theBritish Indian Armyin 1908. It was scrapped uponIndia's independence in 1947 and later re-raised in 1972. Currently, theXIV Corps(Leh),XV Corps(Srinagar),I Corps(Mathura) andXVI Corps(Nagrota) are under its control. Its present commander isLieutenant GeneralM. V. Suchindra Kumar.

History

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ThePresidency armieswere 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 alieutenant 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 1937, Western Command was downgraded to become the Western Independent District. In April 1942, the Western Independent District was absorbed into the Northern Command which itself was re-designated as North Western Army to guard the borders atNorth West FrontierduringWorld War II.It controlled theKohat,Peshawar,Rawalpindi,BaluchistanandWaziristanDistricts.[2][3]

The formation reverted to the title Northern Command in November 1945.[4]In 1947, India moved towards partition, with Northern Command HQ at Rawalpindi becoming the Army HQ of the newly formedPakistan Army(asGHQ Pakistan), with the rest of commands passing to theIndian Army.[5]

In 1972, theGovernment of Indiadecided to raise a separate command to oversee operations in the northern borders withPakistanandChina.Lt. Gen.P. S. Bhagatwas appointed as its GOC-in-C in June 1972. Bhagat's main activities as Army Commander were the improvement of defence and the living and working condition of his troops.[6]Headquartersfor the command was established atUdhampur,J&K.[7]

TheXIV Corps(Leh),XV Corps(Srinagar) andXVI Corps(Nagrota) control the operational units in Northern Command. 71 Independent Sub Area is part of the Command. In 2001–02, duringOperation ParakramtheIII Corpsand its 57th Mountain Division were temporarily shifted into the command as a reserve.[7]

Dhruva War Memorial,Udhampur

Structure

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Currently, the Northern Commands has been assigned operational units under fourcorps:XIV Corps,I Corps,XV CorpsandXVI Corps.

In 2021, the Strike One Corps was re-organised to join the Northern Command to assist at the Ladakh border with China.[8][9]

Structure of Northern Command
Corps Corps HQ GOC of Corps

(Corps Commander)

Assigned Units Unit HQ
XIV Corps

(Fire and Fury Corps)

Leh,Ladakh Lt GenHitesh Bhalla 3 Infantry Division Karu, Ladakh
8 Mountain Division Dras,Ladakh
254 (Independent) Armoured Brigade Leh,Ladakh
102 (Independent) Infantry Brigade Partapur,Ladakh
118 (Independent) Infantry Brigade Nyoma,Ladakh
XV Corps

(Chinar Corps)

Srinagar,Jammu & Kashmir Lt GenRajiv Ghai 19 Mountain Division Baramulla,Jammu & Kashmir
28 Infantry Division Gurez,Jammu & Kashmir
Rashtriya Rifles"Kilo Force" N/A
Rashtriya Rifles"Victor Force" N/A
XVI Corps

(White Knight Corps)

Nagarota,Jammu & Kashmir Lt GenNavin Sachdeva 10 RAPID Division Akhnoor,Jammu & Kashmir
25 Armoured Division Rajauri,Jammu & Kashmir
39 Mountain Division Yol,Himachal Pradesh
Rashtriya Rifles"Delta Force" N/A
Rashtriya Rifles"Romeo Force" N/A
Rashtriya Rifles"Uniform Force" N/A
10 Artillery Brigade N/A
I Corps

(Strike One Corps)

Mathura, Uttar Pradesh Lt GenSanjay Mitra 4 RAPID Division Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
6 Mountain Division Bareilly,Uttar Pradesh
42 Artillery Division Bassi,Rajasthan
14 (Independent) Armoured Brigade Bhatinda,Punjab

Precursors (1895–1947)

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Following is the List of precursors to the Northern Command and their commanders:[10]

Punjab Command (1895–1907)

[edit]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Punjab Command
S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission
1 General

Sir William S. A. LockhartGCB,KCSI

April 1895 Nov 1898 44th Bengal Native Infantry
2 General

Sir Arthur Power PalmerKCB

Nov 1898 March 1900 5th Bengal Light Infantry
Acting Lieutenant General

Charles C. EgertonCB,DSO

March 1899 Oct 1901 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot
3 General

Sir Bindon BloodKCB

Oct 1901 Oct 1904 Royal Engineers

Northern Command (1904–1908)

[edit]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission
1 General

Sir Bindon BloodKCB

Oct 1904 June 1907 Royal Engineers

Northern Army (1908–1920)

[edit]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Army
S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission
1 General

Sir Alfred GaseleeGCIE,KCB

June 1907 Nov 1908 Sutherland Highlanders
2 Lieutenant General

Sir Josceline H. WodehouseKCB,CMG

Nov 1908 Oct 1910 Royal Artillery
3 Lieutenant General

Sir James WillcocksKCB,KCSI,DSO

Oct 1910 Aug 1914 100th Regiment of Foot
4 Lieutenant General

Sir Robert I. ScallonKCB,KCIE,DSO

Aug 1914 Feb 1915 72nd Highlanders
5 General

Sir John E. NixonKCB

Feb 1915 Apr 1915 75th Regiment of Foot
Vacant Apr 1915 May 1916 -
6 General

Sir Arthur A. BarrettGCB,GCSI,KCVO

May 1916 May 1920 44th Regiment of Foot

Northern Command (1920–1942)

[edit]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission
1 General

Sir William R. Birdwood,BtGCB,GCMG,KCSI,CIE,DSO

Nov 1920 Nov 1924 Royal Scots Fusiliers
2 General

Sir Claud W. JacobKCB,KCSI,KCMG

Nov 1924 May 1926 Worcestershire Regiment
3 General

Sir Alexander S. CobbeVC,GCB,KCSI,DSO

May 1926 May 1930 Indian Staff Corps
4 General

Sir Robert A. CasselsGCB,CSI,DSO

May 1930 May 1934 Indian Staff Corps
5 General

Sir Kenneth WigramGCB,CSI,CBE,DSO

May 1934 May 1936 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles

(The Sirmoor Rifles)

6 General

Sir John F. S. D. ColeridgeKCB,CMG,DSO

May 1936 Jun 1940 Indian Staff Corps
7 General

Sir Alan F. HartleyKCSI,CB,DSO

Jun 1940 Jan 1942 Durham Light Infantry
8 General

Sir Cyril D. NoyesKCSI,CB,CIE,MC

Jan 1942 Apr 1942 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry

North-Western Army (1942–1945)

[edit]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief North-Western Army
S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission
1 General

Sir Cyril D. NoyesKCSI,CB,CIE,MC

Apr 1942 May 1943 Royal Scots Fusiliers
2 General

Sir Edward P. QuinanKCIE,CB,DSO,OBE

May 1943 Aug 1943 Worcestershire Regiment
3 General

Sir Henry FinnisKCB,CSI,MC

Aug 1943 May 1945 Indian Staff Corps
Acting Major-general

Cecil TooveyCB,CBE,MC*

Jun 1945 Oct 1945 Indian Staff Corps
4 General

Sir Richard N. O'ConnorKCB,DSO*,MC

Oct 1945 Nov 1945 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

Northern Command (1945–1947)

[edit]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
S.No Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission Ref
1 General

Sir Richard N. O'ConnorKCB,DSO*,MC

Nov 1945 May 1946 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Acting Lieutenant General

Douglas D. GraceyCB,CBE,MC*

May 1946 Oct 1946 Royal Munster Fusiliers
2 Lieutenant General

Frank W. MesservyKCSI,KBE,CB,DSO*

Oct 1946 Aug 1947 9th Hodson's Horse [11]

List of GOC-in-C of Northern Command (1972–present)

[edit]

Following is the list of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command after its re-raising in 1972:

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
S.No Rank Name Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission Ref
1 Lieutenant General Premindra Singh BhagatPVSMVC June 1972 28 July 1974 Bombay Sappers [6]
2 H. C. RaiPVSM 28 July 1974 31 July 1978 Rajputana Rifles [12]
3 Gurbachan SinghPVSM 1 August 1978 31 December 1979 20 Lancers [13]
4 Suraj Prakash MalhotraPVSM 1 January 1980 30 September 1982 Brigade of The Guards [14]
5 Manohar Lal ChibberPVSM,AVSM 1 October 1982 31 August 1985 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) [15][16]
6 A. K. HandooPVSM 1 September 1985 31 May 1987 Brigade of Guards [17]
7 Biddanda Chengappa NandaPVSM,AVSM 1 June 1987 31 May 1989 Mahar Regiment [17]
8 Gurinder SinghPVSM,AVSM 1 June 1989 30 September 1991 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) [18]
9 D. S. R. SahniPVSM,SM 1 October 1991 31 August 1993 Madras Sappers [19][20]
10 Surrinder SinghPVSM,AVSM 1 September 1993 31 August 1996 17th Horse (Poona Horse) [21][22]
11 Sundararajan PadmanabhanPVSM,AVSM,VSM 1 September 1996 31 December 1998 Regiment of Artillery [23]
12 H. M. KhannaSYSM,PVSM,AVSM 1 January 1998 31 January 2001 Gorkha Rifles [24]
13 R. K. NanavattyPVSM,UYSM,AVSM 1 February 2001 31 May 2003 8th Gorkha Rifles [25]
14 Hari PrasadPVSM,AVSM,VSM 1 June 2003 31 July 2005 Maratha Light Infantry [26]
15 Deepak KapoorPVSM,AVSM,SM,VSM 1 September 2005 30 December 2006 Regiment of Artillery [27][28]
16 Harcharanjit Singh PanagPVSM,AVSM 1 January 2006 29 February 2008 Sikh Regiment [29]
17 Prabodh Chandra BhardwajPVSM,AVSM,VrC,SC,VSM 1 March 2008 30 September 2009 Parachute Regiment [30]
18 B. S. JaswalPVSM,AVSM*,VSM 1 October 2009 31 December 2010 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [31][32]
19 K. T. ParnaikPVSM,UYSM,YSM 1 January 2011 30 June 2013 Rajputana Rifles [33]
20 Sanjiv ChachraPVSM,AVSM,VSM 1 July 2013 31 May 2014 Rajput Regiment [34]
21 Deependra Singh HoodaPVSM,UYSM,AVSM,VSM* 1 June 2014 30 November 2016 4th Gorkha Rifles [35]
22 Devraj AnbuPVSM,UYSM,AVSM,YSM,SM 1 December 2016 31 May 2018 Sikh Light Infantry [36]
23 Ranbir SinghPVSM,UYSM,AVSM*,YSM,SM 1 June 2018 31 January 2020 Dogra Regiment [37]
24 Yogesh Kumar JoshiPVSM,UYSM,AVSM,VrC,SM 1 February 2020 31 January 2022 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [38]
25 Upendra DwivediPVSM,AVSM 1 February 2022 18 February 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [39]
26 M. V. Suchindra KumarPVSM,UYSM,AVSM,YSM*,VSM 19 February 2024 Incumbent Assam Regiment [40]

References

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  1. ^abc"Northern Army".Archivedfrom the original on 3 March 2016.Retrieved4 January2010.
  2. ^"North Western Army".Order of Battle. Archived fromthe originalon 6 July 2007.Retrieved14 October2009.
  3. ^"British Military History".British Military History.Archivedfrom the original on 4 March 2016.Retrieved1 June2013.
  4. ^Major General Cecil Watton Toovey CB, CBE, MCArchived11 September 2011 at theWayback Machine
  5. ^"Northern Command, India".British Military History.Retrieved21 April2021.
  6. ^abSingh, V.K. (23 March 2005).Leadership in the Indian army: biographies of twelve soldiers(Illustrated ed.). New Delhi: Sage. p. 417.ISBN978-0-7619-3322-9.
  7. ^abRenaldi and Rikhye 2011, p. 21
  8. ^Service, Tribune News."Focus on China, Army moves key 'strike' elements to eastern Ladakh".Tribuneindia News Service.Retrieved8 June2022.
  9. ^ConflictX [@ConflictX7] (1 June 2022)."Strike One Corps got re-organised. It saw addition of 6 Mountain Division which came from Central Command. 33 Armored Division which was part of 1 corps is retained by South Western Command. While 23 Division moved to 17 Strike Corps. https://t.co/fPiMUnbb0O"(Tweet).Archivedfrom the original on 8 June 2022.Retrieved15 December2022– viaTwitter.
  10. ^Army CommandsArchived5 July 2015 at theWayback Machine
  11. ^"Page 5852 | Issue 37801, 29 November 1946 | London Gazette | The Gazette".www.thegazette.co.uk.
  12. ^"Lt. Gen. Rai Takes Over Northern Command"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.28 July 1974.Retrieved26 January2020.
  13. ^"New Appointments in Army"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.19 May 1978.Retrieved27 January2020.
  14. ^"Lt. Gen. S. P. Malhotra – New GOC-in-C"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.26 December 1979.Retrieved27 January2020.
  15. ^"Gen. Chhibber New GOC-in-C Northern Command"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.1 October 1982.Retrieved27 January2020.
  16. ^"Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 8 February 1986. p. 129.
  17. ^ab"Lt. Gen. BC Nanda Appointed GOC-in-C Northern Command"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.20 May 1987.Retrieved26 January2020.
  18. ^"Lt. Gen. Gurinder Singh Appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.31 May 1989.Retrieved26 January2020.
  19. ^"New Army Commanders Appointed"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.15 June 1991.Retrieved13 June2020.
  20. ^"New Vice-Chief and Army Commanders Appointed"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.23 June 1993.Retrieved26 January2020.
  21. ^"Lt. Gen. Surinder Singh Takes Over as Northern Army Commander"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.1 September 1993.Retrieved26 January2020.
  22. ^"Army Appointments"(PDF).Press Information Bureau of India – Archive.22 August 1996.Retrieved26 January2020.
  23. ^"rediff.com: Lt Gen Sundararajan Padmanabhan to be next army chief".www.rediff.com.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  24. ^"The Commanders Who Failed".Outlook India.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  25. ^"Lt Gen Nanavatty takes over as GOCC, northern command".Zee News.1 February 2001.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  26. ^"Lt Gen Hari Prasad new GoC-in-C, Northern Command".www.rediff.com.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  27. ^"Lt Gen Kapoor to be new VCOAS; Panag, Jamwal to head N, E Cmds".oneindia.com.Archivedfrom the original on 23 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  28. ^"The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Main News".www.tribuneindia.com.Archivedfrom the original on 8 November 2005.Retrieved24 October2017.
  29. ^"Senior Appointments: Army".pib.nic.in.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  30. ^"Lt Gen PC Bhardwaj, takes over as Vice Army Chief".pib.nic.in.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  31. ^"Northern Command bid Farewell to Lt Gen BS Jaswal, general officer commanding- in chief – Ground Report".www.groundreport.com.31 December 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  32. ^"Lt Gen B S Jaswal takes charge of Northern Command today – Indian Express".archive.indianexpress.com.Archivedfrom the original on 10 November 2016.Retrieved24 October2017.
  33. ^"Lieutenant General KT Parnaik,takes over as the GOC-in -C, Northern Command – Ground Report".www.groundreport.com.January 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  34. ^"Lt Gen Chachra takes over as Army's Northern Command chief".The Economic Times.1 July 2013.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  35. ^"Lt Gen Hooda takes over as Northern Command Chief".Firstpost.2 June 2014.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  36. ^"Lt Gen Devraj Anbu takes over as chief of Army's Northern command".The Indian Express.1 December 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2017.Retrieved24 October2017.
  37. ^"'Face of Indian Army' Lt Gen Ranbir Singh appointed Northern Army Commander ".The Week.Retrieved1 June2018.
  38. ^Negi, Manjeet Singh (24 January 2020)."Kargil fame Lt Gen YK Joshi appointed Northern Army Commander".India Today.London.Retrieved25 January2020.
  39. ^"Govt appoints new commanders for Indian Army's Northern, Eastern commands".India Today.26 January 2022.Retrieved26 January2022.
  40. ^"Kumar to head Northern Command, Dwivedi is vice chief".Daily Excelsior.6 February 2024.Retrieved6 February2024.
  • Chris KEMPTON, ‘Loyalty and Honour’ – The Indian Army September 1939 – August 1947 Part I Divisions; Part II Brigades; Part III (Milton Keynes: Military Press, 2003) [ISBN 0-85420-228-5].

Sources

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