Southern Command | |
---|---|
![]() Southern Command's insignia today. | |
Active | 1908–present |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Command |
Garrison/HQ | Pune |
Anniversaries | 1 April (Raising Day) |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, AVSM |
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 Dhiraj Seth is the present Southern Army Commander.
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]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]
Second World War
[edit]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]
- 19th Indian Infantry Division, April 1942 to July 1944
- 2nd British Infantry Division, June 1942 to April 1943, and then June 1945 to August 1945
- 70th British Infantry Division, July 1943 to October 1943
- 81st (West Africa) Division, March 1945 to August 1945
- 36th Infantry Division (British Army), June 1945 to August 1945
Component brigades included:[4]
- 7th Armoured Brigade, June 1942 to September 1942
- British 6th Infantry Brigade, November 1942 to December 1942
- 150th Indian Infantry Brigade March 1944 to August 1945
- 26th Indian Infantry Brigade July 1944 to December 1944
Post war
[edit]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]
Structure
[edit]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 |
Precursors (1907–1948)
[edit]Following is the List of precursors to the Southern Command and their commanders:[11]
Southern Command (1907–1908)
[edit]General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | General Sir Archibald Hunter KCB, DSO | June 1907 | October 1908 | 4th (King's Own Royal) Regiment of Foot |
Southern Army (1908–1920)
[edit]General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | General Sir Edmund G. Barrow KCB | October 1908 | October 1912 | 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) | |
2 | General Sir John E. Nixon KCB | October 1912 | February 1915 | 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot | |
3 | Lieutenant General Sir Robert I. Scallon KCB, KCIE, DSO | February 1915 | 1916 | 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot | |
4 | Lieutenant General Sir Charles A. Anderson KCB, KCIE, AM | April 1917 | November 1919 | Royal Horse Artillery | |
5 | Lieutenant General Sir William R. Marshall GCMG, KCB, KCSI | November 1919 | 1920 | Sherwood Foresters |
Southern Command (1920–1942)
[edit]General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | Lieutenant General Sir William R. Marshall GCMG, KCB, KCSI | 1920 | December 1923 | Sherwood Foresters | |
2 | Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Skeen KCIE, CB, CMG | December 1923 | March 1924 | King's Own Scottish Borderers | |
3 | Lieutenant General Sir Harold B. Walker KCB, KCMG, DSO | March 1924 | March 1928 | Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry | |
4 | General Sir William C. G. Heneker KCB, KCMG, DSO | March 1928 | March 1932 | Connaught Rangers | |
5 | General Sir George D. Jeffreys KCB, KCVO, CMG | March 1932 | March 1936 | Grenadier Guards | |
6 | Lieutenant General Sir Ivo L. B. Vesey KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO | March 1936 | October 1937 | Queen's Royal Regiment | |
7 | General Sir John E. S. Brind KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO | October 1937 | March 1941 | Royal Artillery | |
8 | Lieutenant General Thomas S. Riddell-Webster CB, DSO | March 1941 | October 1941 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) | |
9 | General Sir Brodie Haig KCB, MC* | October 1941 | June 1942 | 24th Punjabis |
Southern Army (1942–1945)
[edit]General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | Lieutenant General Sir Noel M. de la P. Beresford-Peirse KCB, CB, DSO | June 1942 | March 1945 | Royal Artillery |
List of GOC-in-C of Southern Command (1945- present)
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Northern Command". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "THE INDIAN ARMY 1914". Orbat.com. 25 March 2001. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ "Southern Army". OOB.com. Retrieved 11 October 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Southern Army Subordinates". OOB.com. Retrieved 11 October 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan. "The Liberation of Goa: 1961". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 5 October 2003. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- ^ Renaldi and Rikhye 2011, p. 43
- ^ "Operational Commands of The Indian Army". Archived from the original on 28 February 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ Renaldi and Rikhye, 2011, p. 18
- ^ "Southern Command". GlobalSecurity. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- ^ Dolare, Rahul (1 January 2024). "Lieutenant General Prit Pal Singh Assumes Command of Sudarshan Chakra Corps".
- ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015.
- ^ Praval, Major K.C. (1987). Indian Army After Independence. Lancer Publishers LLC. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-935501-61-9.
- ^ "Gopal Gurunath Bewoor". Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b "As Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya retires, Indian Army reshuffles to appoint new army chief". Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ a b Abidi, S. Sartaj Alam; Sharma, Satinder (2007). Services Chiefs of India. Northern Book Centre. p. 85. ISBN 978-81-7211-162-5.
- ^ "rediff.com: Lt Gen Sundararajan Padmanabhan to be next army chief". www.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Main News". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen GS Sihota retires on Feb 29". The Times of India. 28 February 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Army's Southern Command chief visits OTA in city". The Hindu. 4 November 2005. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu News : Army took six hours to get ready for relief". The Hindu. 30 December 2004. Retrieved 26 October 2017.[dead link]
- ^ India Who's who. INFA Publications. 2004.
- ^ "LT. GEN. ADITYA SINGH PVSM, AVSM** (RETD)". www.delhipolicygroup.org. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen HS Lidder new CIDS". oneindia.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen ML Naidu to be next Vcoas : other Senior Appointments also announced". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Sainik Samchar 2007". Archived from the original on 27 October 2017.
- ^ "'Ekuverin-09' Indo-Maldivian troops joint exercise concludes". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen A K Singh is new GOC-in-C of Southern Command – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen A K Singh to head Southern Army Command". The Indian Express. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Ashok Singh takes over as Southern Army commander – Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Bipin Rawat takes over as new Army Commander". The Indian Express. 2 January 2016. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ IANS (1 September 2016). "Lt Gen P.M. Hariz is new chief of Southern Command". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Soni takes over as chief of Southern Command". The Indian Express. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "General SK Saini, new head of Southern Command". Devdiscourse. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "Lt Gen CP Mohanty assumes command of Pune-based Southern Command". Hindustan Times. 31 January 2020.
- ^ "JS Nain army commander southern command". Deccan Express. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh assumed the command of Southern Command today". 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth assumes command of Pune-based Southern Army". The Indian Express. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
Sources
[edit]- Rinaldi, Richard; Rikhye, Ravi (2011). Indian Army Order of Battle. General Data. ISBN 978-0982054178.