I am trying to ascertain the regional makeup of the India Army III Corp when it was defeated and captured in the WWII Battle of Singapore. The infantry seems to be from Punjab and other northern Indian regions however I'm trying to find out if soldiers in the supporting units such as artillery, field, signals or engineers could have come from the southern regions of Bombay/Maharashtra or Kamataka or both. If there were soldiers from these regions in III Corp, I hope to include references to the Battle of Singapore and Kranji War Memorial in a US/international novel that I'm writing. Any information or source recommendations will be greatly appreciated. Regards, George
While it is true that the British tended to favour the Punjab martial tribes for the infantry, the III Indian Corps did include units from all over India. Among the Sappers and Miners, that is Indian Engineers, were the following unit: 15th Field Company, Madras Sappers and Miners 45th Army Troops Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners - To Krohcol 46th Army Troops Company, Madras Sappers and Miners 1st Artizan Works Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners 6th Bridging Section, Madras Sappers and Miners 14th Bridging Section, Madras Sappers and Miners 23rd Field Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners 17th Field Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners 19th Field Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners 22nd Field Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners The Madras Sappers and Miners were made of southern Madrassis while the Bombay Sappers and Miners included Mahrattas as well as Sikhs and Musalmen. There was also two Indian State Forces infantry unit from the south, the 1st Mysore Infantry and the 1st Hyderabad Infantry used on Line of Communications Airfield Defence. The Mysores were made up of Hindus (Mixed), Mahrattas, and Christians while the Hyderabads were made up of Deccani Mohammedans and Hindus - Mixed. I hope that this helps a bit.
Your information put me on the right track. I was able to find references to the Bombay Sappers & Miners elsewhere on the Internet. Their recruiting/training point was Khadki outside of Pune in Maharashtra. That gives me a reasonable link between Mumbai/Bombay 150 KM away and Singapore. Thank you very much for the information.