Four histories, each about 30 pages, published under the authority of the Director of Public Relations, War Department , Government of India and available on Archive.org Golden Arrow - The Story of the 7th Indian Division https://archive.org/details/GoldenArrow-TheStoryOfThe7thIndianDivision One More River - The Story of the 8th Indian Division. The Eighth Indian Division in Italy https://archive.org/details/OneMoreRiver-TheStoryOfThe8thIndianDivision Teheran to Trieste - The Story of the 10th Indian Division https://archive.org/details/TeheranToTrieste-TheStoryOfThe10thIndianDivision Dagger Division - Story of the 19th Indian Division . Burma https://archive.org/details/DaggerDivision-StoryOfThe19thIndianDivision Cheers Maureen
Thanks Maureen. These are from a series published in 1950. Here is the list of the ones I have found (NYPL=New York Public Library, Cornell=Cornell University, and D.Ryan are copies made in the past in my library): Anon. Historical Sketches of Various Divisions of the Indian Army in World War II. Bombay: G.S. Borker; Defence Department, Public Relations Division, 1950. (NYPL&Cornell)(D.Ryan) - The Red Eagles: The story of the 4th Indian Division (NYPL) - The Fighting Fifth: The story of the 5th Indian Division (NYPL) - The Golden Arrow: The story of the 7th Indian Division. (Cornell & NYPL)(D.Ryan)(D.Ryan Digital) - One More River: The story of 8th Indian Division.1945. (NYPL)(D.Ryan Digital) - Teheran to Trieste: The story of Tenth Indian Division. 1945 (NYPL)(D.Ryan Digital) - The Black Cat Division: The story of the17th Indian Division (NYPL) - Dagger Division: The story of the 19th Indian Division (Cornell & NYPL)(D.Ryan)(D.Ryan Digital) - A Happy Family: The story of the 20th Indian Division (NYPL) - The Story of the 25th Indian Division. (Cornell & NYPL)(D.Ryan) - Tiger Head: The story of the 26th Indian Division. (Cornell & NYPL)(D.Ryan)
Maureen, Dryan, these links are fantastic.thank you for sharing I have only had a quick look , just wanted to Thank you both for my afternoon read . Elsie
Thanks Maureen - you are now officially my number one lady (I phoned my wife to tell her the news, no reaction yet). Seriously though, I have been trying to obtain a copy of Dagger Division for some time now. Every time a copy pops up on ebay nothing happens until I bid on it then two blokes with a lot more money than me decide to have a bidding war over it. I have downloaded it in PDF format to read at my leisure and I will probably download the other titles too. Once I have read all of that I will try to get a few other units' books using the info provided by DRyan. I originally wanted the book to help with the recollections of a 19th Div veteran - but he has sadly passed on now. Thanks again Dave
Forgot to mention that the unit the 19th Div veteran was with (4 Field Regiment, Indian Artillery) moved from the 19th to the 5th Indian Division around the end of the war - for occupation duties in various places including Java. I couldn't find reference to the unit's movements in the 5Div history (Ball of Fire) but The Fighting Fifth might provide some clues. To add to the thread, there is a transcription of Ball of Fire hosted on the Burma Star site, but I can't paste a link in for it at the moment: Watch this space (or hopefully someone else will paste in for me).
Thanks for the links Maureen, I've had a similar experience to that of DaveB, although I did manage to get a copy of 'The Golden Arrow' early last year on eBay.
Here is a transcription of Ball of Fire as hosted on the Burma Star site http://www.burmastar.org.uk/ball_of_fire_1.htm
The FIBIS Fibiwiki page Second World War has a link to a version of Ball of Fire on the American Field Service website, also a transcription, but has some photographs http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php/Second_World_War Cheers Maureen
Far from short, but Compton Mackenzie's Eastern Epic is online here and covers the Indian Army in quite some depth: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/113944 As does Elliot's: A Roll of Honour: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/111189 The March on Delhi: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/119329 And a history of the Gurkhas: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/126645 And a history if the Maratha Light Infantry (big file): http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/136498 And the Official Histories of the North African & Italian Campaigns: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/111420 http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/111423 Medical Services [Eastern Theatre]: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/111565 Medical Services [Western Theatre]: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/111518 - I'm nose deep in this now and it's excellent. Click View/Open - not the more obvious Flexipaper links.
And for those interested in Cassino: NEITHER FEAR NOR HOPE THE WARTIME CAREER OF GENERAL FRIDO VON SENGER UND ETTERLIN DEFENDER OF CASSINO Translated from the German by George Malcolm http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/119495 The Monastery By F. Majdalanay: http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/523828
Thanks for the links Charley Fortnum. Some of them I was aware of , but some were new to me. I have added the regimental links to various FIBIS Fibiwiki pages, and some to the Fibiwiki page Second World War http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php/Second_World_War. This Fibiwiki page also includes links to a number of "Official Histories" (17 in total), four of which were advised by Charley Fortnum in post 9. I had not heard of the March to Delhi previously, but I have found the title refers to Japanese plans for a “march on Delhi” following March 1944 when the 15th Japanese Imperial Army, supported by forces of the Indian National Army, crossed the Chindwin to invade India. Includes material supplied by Japanese commanders. The author served as an army air liaison officer during the siege of Imphal. The full title for the Maratha Light Infantry history is Valour enshrined. A history of the Maratha Light Infantry, 1768-1947 by M.G. Abhyankar. 1971. [Volume1]. Regarding the two links on Cassino, I must admit I don't know much about the Indian Army and this front. I assume there is mention of the Indian Army's role there in the digital book files. Is that correct? Cheers Maureen
4th Indian Infantry Division had a crack at Cassino during the second and third battles. Yes, there is some content pertaining to it.
Thank you Charley Fortnum. If anyone is interested in the period before WW2, two more from the Digital Library of India which I found in the catalogue recently (pdf downloads) Official History of Operations on the N.-W. Frontier of India, 1920-35 by General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1945. http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/449186 Official History of Operations on the N.W. Frontier of India, 1936-37 by General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1943. http://dli.serc.iisc.ernet.in/handle/2015/449185 The Digital Library of India has been unavailable for extended periods recently, (maintenance?) but was accessible at the time of writing this post. Cheers Maureen
A slow loader, but it's all there: https://ia601900.us.archive.org/34/items/THEROYALBOMBAYSAPPERSMINERS19391947/THE%20ROYAL%20BOMBAY%20SAPPERS%20&%20MINERS%201939-1947.pdf The Royal Bombay Sappers & Miners 1939-1947
Thanks Charley Fortnum I think the file in post 15 is related in some way to the archive.org file. https://archive.org/details/THEROYALBOMBAYSAPPERSMINERS19391947 Unfortunately it can't be read online (or at least I can't), but it is available for download in a number of different formats. I suspect the pdf download is the same at the link posted by Charley Fortnum. Cheers Maureen
Hi Maureen, As most of us know, those links are dead, but has anyone downloaded the above tomes? If so, I would love a copy either via Email or Dropbox. Any and all help would be most appreciated! (And I would be happy to reciprocate in some form with some odds and end titles I have in exchange). Thanks in advance.
The Red Eagles: The Story of the 4th Indian Division (Bombay: G.S. Borker). I'm still looking out for a copy of this. If anybody spots one in the wild or can provide a scan, I'd be most grateful. As a quid pro quo, I've just ordered a copy of another of the series: A Happy Family: The Story of the 20th Indian Division, and I'm happy to provide copies if requested. Evidence it exists:
Charlie Fortnum, I am looking for it also, I will let you know if/when I find it. (You do know that the 5th Indian Div history is online though...correct.)? Andrew
Charlie, I would love a copy of the Happy Family/20th Division...I can reciprocate in...some form or fashion. Did anyone here ever snag the Official History's of the NWF Campaigns of the 1930's from the now defunct DLI? Andrew