First Indian National Army
Encyclopedia
The First Indian National Army (or the First INA) is the term often used to denote the Indian National Army
as it existed between February and December 1942. It was formed with Japanese aid and support after the Fall of Singapore and consisted of approximately 12,000 of the 40,000 Indian
prisoners of war who were captured either during the Malayan campaign or surrendered at Singapore and was led by Mohan Singh
. It was formally proclaimed in April 1942 and declared the subordinate military wing of the Indian Independence League
in June that year. The unit was dissolved in December 1942 after apprehensions of Japanese motives with regards to the INA led to disagreements and distrust between Mohan Singh and INA leadership on one hand, and the leagues leadership, most notable Rash Behari Bose
. A large number of the INAs initial volunteers, however, later went on to join the INA
in its second incarnation
under Subhas Chandra Bose.
, at some stage of their campaign against Britain, sought to support and exploit the armed revolutionary activities within India and aided the recruitment of a military force from disaffected Indian prisoners-of war captured while serving with the British Commonwealth forces and Indian expatriates.
, with ex-Indian Army personnel and Italians previously resident in India and Persia, that ultimately served under Raggruppamento Centri Militari. However, these efforts proved unsuccessful, given the overtly propagandist nature of their efforts that ultimately found little acceptance among the constituent soldiers, and the lack of a leadership that would deemed legitimate by the troops. By November 1942, following the defeats in El Alamein
, the Italian efforts had failed.
Subhash Chandra Bose, with his arrival in Germany in April 1941 however, was able to convince Hitler (with whom he had one meeting) and the Nazi high command to raise an Indian unit from Rommel
's Indian prisoners of war from the battlefields of Europe and Africa, according to the concept of an Indian Liberation force. The Indische Legion was tasked both as a pathfinder for a German/Indian invasion of the western frontiers of British India, as well as to infiltrate into India to foment local revolt and sabotage operations. However, the Free India Legion only ever saw action in Europe, fighting as a Heer unit attached to the Wehrmacht
and later incorporated into the Waffen SS (as were other national legions of the Wehrmacht) after the Allied Invasion of France.
Only a small contingent ever was put to its original intended purpose when a hundred of the Legionnaires were parachuted into eastern Iran in what came to be known as Operation Bajadere, to infiltrate into India through Baluchistan
and commence sabotage
operations against the British in preparation for the anticipated national revolt. A majority of the troops of the Free India Legion were only ever stationed in Europe – mostly in non-combat duties – from the Netherlands, to Atlantic Wall
duties in France till the Allied invasion of France. A small contingent, including the leadership and the officer corps, was also transferred to Azad Hind after its formation and saw action in the INA's Burma Campaign. A segment of the Free India Legion fought against British and Polish Forces in Italy in 1944.
, which focussed on south-east Asia up to the Indo-Burmese border. Even then, the plan initially did not even encompass the whole of Burma but only a part of it. Militarily however, India was important as the origin (from Assam
) of the Ledo road
which supplied Nationalist Chinese and American forces, as well as the supplies airlifted over the hump
. Also, the idea that their western boundary would be controlled by a more friendly government was attractive. It would also have been consistent with the idea that Japanese expansion into Asia was part of an effort to support Asian government of Asia and against western colonialism.
The successful Malayan campaign
, and later the Burma campaign brought under the Japanese a large number of Indian expatriates who, although not essentially sympathetic to the Japanese (some were even hostile), held substantial nationalist motives and sought to exploit the window offered by the reversal faced by the British forces to drive them out from the Indian sub-continent. In addition, the fall of Malaya had brought under Japanese control approximately 45,000 Indian troops under Gen. Percival's command in Malaya, including a large numbers of the remnants of the Indian III Corps
. In these circumstances, the Japanese Military Administration encouraged various Indian nationalist groups in East Asia to form an anti-British alliance, which came together to form the Indian Independence League
(IIL), with its headquarters in Singapore. The IIL also looked after the welfare of Indian communities in East Asia. Also, initially under the direction of dissatisfied troops of the British Indian Army
who had fallen into Japanese hands (notably under the leadership of Captain Mohan Singh), and of what came to be known as the Indian Independence League, came to form the Indian National Army. This was from the Japanese point of view primarily a propaganda move of initiating anti-British sentiments among civilians and soldiers in South-east Asia.
, the birthplace of the Buddha
, and from the second decade of the 20th century, the home of Gandhian philosophy, had been an attraction for Japanese and Buddhist and literary fugures. India, in the meantime, looked to Japan as an inspiration of a model industrialised, advancing Asian society and nationhood. The Japanese victory over Russia
in 1905 had furthered the inspiration Japan infused, especially among Indian nationalists. Noted Indian and Japanese cultural figures, including Okakura Tenshin
and Rabindranath Tagore
acknowledged the connection of the two Asian nations, their heritage, and the vision of pan-Asianism.
After the end of World War I, Japan increasingly became a haven for radical Indian nationalists in exile, who were protected by patriotic Japanese societies. Notable among these included Rash Behari Bose
, Taraknath Das, A M Sahay as well as others. The protections offered to these nationalists effectively prevented British efforts to repatriate them and became a major policy concern.
By the end of the war however, the pan-Asiatic vision gradually moved away from prominence as the independence movement in India
became engrossed in agitations on immediate issues of post-war India. These included agitations against the Rowlatt act
, the Khilafat Movement
against the suspension of the authority
of the Caliph
of the Ottoman Empire
(an inflammatory issue among India's huge Muslim population), as well as the home rule agitations that was heralded by Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement
in 1922. By the time that the pan-Asiatic regained any prominence, the highground that Japan held among the Indian population and especially Indian nationalist leadership had fallen, owed to a large extent to her aggressive and often nihilistic
war in China.
had already voiced their demands to the Japanese authorities that support and pursuit of Indian Independence be an aim of the Japanese campaign. However, neither the government nor the Imperial Japanese army felt able to commit to these, especially given the task of establishing a stable orderly state should the Independence movement succeed. The Imperial army would be committed to elsewhere, notably China and the Manchurian border with Russia. However, it was widely accepted that the Congress
was anti-Japanese, Gandhi, even during the intense Quit India Movement
, Gandhi had categorically warned the Japanese
, headed by the Major Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the 15th army. Tasked with intelligence gathering and contacting the Indian independence movement, the overseas Chinese and the Malayan Sultan with the aim of encouraging friendship and cooperation with Japan, Fujiwara's staff included five commissioned officers and two hindi
-speaking interpreters. His initial contact was with Giani Pritam Singh and after the outbreak of the war and the Malayan invasion, with Capt. Mohan Singh. Mohan Singh had, as a captain in the British Indian Army
, seen action with the 1/14th Punjab Regiment
against Japanese forces at the Battle of Jitra
, where his troops were outgunned and shattered by Japanese tanks. Captured by Japanese troops after several days in the Jungle, Singh was taken to Alor Star
to Fujiwara and Pritam Singh at a joint office of the F-Kikan and the IIL
. Fujiwara, later self-described as "Lawrence of the Indian National Army" (after Lawrence of Arabia) is said to have been a man committed to the values which his office was supposed to convey to the expatriate nationalist leaders, and found acceptance among them.
Although Pritam Singh was involved to a large extent, it was Fujiwara who, with his sincerity of purpose and belief, convinced Mohan Singh to unite with the Japanese mission for the greater motive of Indian freedom. This included the promise that he would be treated as an ally and a friend, and not a PoW. Initially helping Fujiwara to take control of the situation of looting and arson that had developed in Alor Star, Singh was in December 1941, after meeting with the Japanese commanding general, convinced of the feasibility of raising an armed Indian unit. Between himself, Pritam Singh and Fujiwara, Mohan Singh formulated on contacting Indians in the British Indian Army in South-east Asia, and also began recruiting from amongst those captured by the Japanese in Malaya, prior to the fall of Singapore. Thus the nucleus what came to be the Indian National Army was born.
By January 1942, Fujiwara was able to give positive reports on the success of Japan's India policy and suggested an eight point policy that included aid for both the IIL and the INA, as well as encouragement of the independence movement within India
Following the establishment of the F-kikan, and with initial positive feedback, a Liaison conference declared among other aims the "stimulation of the Indian independence movement". By early 1942, Tōjō
's speeches to the Diet
included specific references to the liberation of India and to decisions to strike the British colonial authority in India.
Specific plans for the invasion of India were, however, not formulated.
and Thailand
. They were further tasked to work amongst the British Indian troops and foment dissent and encourage defection. Before the fall of Singapore, these troops numbered nearly 2,500.
In a similar note, on March 10, 1942, the Indian soldiers at Christmas Island
mutinied, allowing the Japanese forces to land unopposed at the Battle of Christmas Island
. This was followed by a mutiny in the Ceylon Garrison Artillery in the Cocos Islands. However, the Cocos Islands Mutiny
failed after it was quickly put down by the Ceylon Light Infantry. Sri Lankans in Singapore
and Malaya formed the 'Lanka Regiment' of the Indian National Army. An abortive plan was made to land these troops in Sri Lanka by submarine
.
. The British officers were, in the meantime, ordered to assemble east to Changi
. On the morning of 17 February 1942, some 45,000 Indian POWs who gathered at Farrer Park where addressed by in turns, first by a Col Hunt of the Malaya Command, who handed over the troops to Japanese command under Fujiwara.
Fujiwara spoke to the troops in Japanese which was translated into English and then Hindustani
. In his speech, Fujiwara is said to have told the troops of the Asian co-prosperity sphere
under the leadership of Japan, of Japanese vision of a free India and its importance to the co-prosperity sphere, and of the Japanese intentions to help raise a "liberation army" for the freedom of India. He invited the troops seated at the park to join this army. Further, he told the troops, they were going to be treated not as PoWs, but as Friends and allies. Fujiwara ended his speech stating he is passing on their responsibilities and command to Mohan Singh.
Mohan Singh's speech, in Hindustani
, was short He told the troops of forming the Indian National Army to fight for free India, and invited the troops to join it. As an Indian Jawan
present at the time remembers, Mohan Singh's speech was powerful and touched a chord, and the troops responded with wild enthusiasm and excitement. It is estimated that nearly half of those present at Farrer Park
later joined the first INA. Significantly however, a large number of Indian officers decided not to, which also kept disinclined those under their command not to.
The Japanese forces, eager to engage the co-operation of the troops and further lacking the man-power, did not have the men impounded. The supreme command of the INA was set up at Mount Pleasant suburbs in the Northern part of the City. The PoW headquarters, along with the largest PoW camp was set up at Neesoon under M. Z. Kiani
. Other smaller PoW camps housing Indian troops were set up at Bidadari, Tyersall, Buller, Seletar
and Kranji
. To Lt. Col N.S Gill went the overall direction of PoW.
and defining the aims of the movement carried on, Mohan Singh convened a meeting of a group of his officers to frame what is now called the Bidadary resolution. This resolution announced that:
The resolution further specified that the army would go to battle only when the Congress and the people of India asked it to. It did not however, specify the army was to interact with the Japanese forces. This resolution was circulated among the Indian PoWs, followed by tour of the mainland camps by Mohan Singh and Fujiwara. The PoW headquarter was subsequently dissolved and the staff were transferred to Mohan Singh's supreme command. On 9 May, Singh began recruiting for the INA.
The process involved identifying units that were most likely to come up with volunteers. These units were transferred to Neesoon and Bidadary, while the other units were shipped away to other camps.
,an Indian nationalist who had lived in self-exile in Japan since the 1920s. Rash Behari encouraged the formation of the INA, but also sought to attach it to a central civilian authority speaking for and encouraging Indian civilian Indian population of the region to become a part of it.
The framework of local Indian associations that existed before the war reached Malaya, where rekindled, and after a meeting of the leaders of these associations, well as Mohan Singh and other representatives of the INA, at a conference in Tokyo on of Rash Behari Bose
's invitation, the formation of the All-Malayan Indian Independence league
was declared in April, in the same month as Mohan Singh formally declared the formation of the Indian National Army. The League became the liaising organisation with the local Indian population and the Japanese. .
In June, the formation of an all-Indian IIL was proclaimed at Bangkok. In June 1942, the Bangkok conference
specified in the Tokyo assembly was held. A resolution adopted by the league at Bangkok declared the The INA was to be sub-ordinate to the League with Rash Behari Bose chairing the council, while K.P.K Menon, Nedyam Raghavan were among the civilian members of the council. Mohan Singh and an officer by the name of Gilani were to be the INA's members. The Bangkok resolution further reaffirmed the Bidadary resolution that the INA was only to go to war when the Congress and the Indian population wished it to. Further among the thirty-four points of the Bangkok resolution, the INA and the IIL raised a number of questions including the role and position of India in Japan's co-prosperity sphere, Japan's intentions in and towards an Independent India etc. These were presented via the Iwakuro Kikan that had replaced the Fujiwara Kikan and demanded a point-by-point answer which Tokyo was not able to give assurances to, which was unacceptable to the Council for action.
There remains suggestions, however, that members of the League and the INA, including Niranjan Singh Gill who directed the PoW camps, were apprehensive about Japanese intentions with regards to the league, the Independence movement. Even within the league, members of the original Indian delegation to the Tokyo conference held reservations about serving Rash Behari and of ultimate Japanese intentions with regards to independent India.
. The I-Kikan was considerably larger, with some 250 officers and with offices in Rangoon, Penang
, Saigon and Hong Kong
. The close relation of Fujiwara and Mohan Singh, however, was not to be repeated.
Iwakuro, the founder of the Army intelligence school Rikugun Nakano Gakko, was considered less idealistic and romantic than Fujiwara and did not use his expertise to encouage the "true Indian army" that Fujiwara had envisioned, aware that the IGHQ did not have any immediate plans for an invasion towards India. Iwakuro was further placed in office at a time when the Pacific War
faced a higher priority among Japanese forces for materiel
. Using his expertise in intelligence
and special missions
, Iwakuro sought to train the Indian forces in such mission, and by some accounts only engaged in as much development of the INA as would keep Mohan Singh happy.
had conditionally supported the Allied war effort, following failure of the Cripp's Mission, the Quit India Movement
was launched in India on 8 August 1942 that called for the British Raj
to leave India or face a massive Civil Disobedience
. Forewarned, the Raj quickly arrested the Congress leadership. However, foreplanning on the part of the Congress meant the movement continued at the local level, and quickly deteriorated into a leaderless act of defiance and descencded into violence and general anarchy and mayhem. The movement created alarm amongst the high-command and significantly hindered the Allied war effort.
In south-east Asia, this was perceived as the signal that the INA and the League expected to receive to start its war.
and was inducted in September 1942 under the command of J.K. Bhonsle. The unit was formed at Singapore
and comprised three battalions derived from troops of the 17th Dogra Regiment
, Garhwal Rifles
and the 14th Punjab Regiment
(now a part of the Pakistani Army) and had a strength of nearly 2000 troops. However, only about two hundred or so of its troops were sent to combat around September 1943. The unit was dissolved after the collapse of the first INA and after the revival
of the Indian National Army
under Subhas Chandra Bose, the troops of the Hindustan Field Force formed the nucleus of the INA's 2nd division as the 1st Infantry regiment and ceded men to the 5th Guerilla regiment to form the 2nd Infantry regiment which later fought in the Battle of Irrawaddy and Battle of Meiktila under Prem Kumar Sahgal.
's First Arakan Offensive.
. A number of the Indian troops who chose to revert to PoW were subsequently sent away to labour camps in New Guinea
or to work in the Death railway
.
Between December 1942 and February 1943, Rash Behari Bose tried but failed to keep the IIL and INA going. Thousands of INA soldiers returned to the status of POWs again and most of the IIL leaders resigned. The movement was seen doomed to fail.
Additional special units were also to be organised. These included an Intelligence froup for forward intelligence, a Special Service Group to promote defection amongst the British Indian Army and a Reinforcement group to receive the defectors and prepare them for service with the INA.
Of the formation of this army however, the British intelligence was unaware of until around July 1942, and even then was unclear on the scale, purpose and organisation of the INA.
purposes. However, by the end of 1942, they had become aware of trained Indian espionage agents (of the INAs Special services group
) who had infiltrated into India for the purpose of collecting intelligence, subversion of the army and the subversion of civilian loyalty. These information were derived to a large extent from some of the agents themselves who gave themselves up to the authorities after reaching India. However, the intelligence was also aware at this point of misinformation being spread about the INA itself by the agents who concealed their purpose and professed to pass on intelligence from local knowledge. More troubling for the military command were the activities of the INA agents in the battle fields of India's eastern frontier in Burma.
had reached a crescendo within India, while the continuing British reversals at Burma further affected the morale of the army. The Irwin
's First Campaign had been contained and then beaten back by inferior Japanese forces at Donbaik. Intelligence analysis of the failure, as well as Irwin's own personal analysis of the campaign attributed significant demoralisation and rising discontentment amongst Indian troops due to the subversive activity of INA agents at the frontline, as well as rising nationalist (or "Pro-Congress
") sentiments. The activities of these agents were addressed at the Sepoys and these found enough support to successfully encourage defection without attracting the attention of the officers commanding the units. Soon, defection by British Indian troops had become a problem significant and regular enough in the Burma theatre to form a regular part of the intelligence summaries in the first half of 1943.
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
as it existed between February and December 1942. It was formed with Japanese aid and support after the Fall of Singapore and consisted of approximately 12,000 of the 40,000 Indian
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
prisoners of war who were captured either during the Malayan campaign or surrendered at Singapore and was led by Mohan Singh
Mohan Singh Deb
Mohan Singh was an Indian Military officer and member of the Indian Independence Movement most famous for his role in organising and leading the First Indian National Army in South East Asia during World War II...
. It was formally proclaimed in April 1942 and declared the subordinate military wing of the Indian Independence League
Indian Independence League
The Indian Independence League was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organize those living outside of India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India...
in June that year. The unit was dissolved in December 1942 after apprehensions of Japanese motives with regards to the INA led to disagreements and distrust between Mohan Singh and INA leadership on one hand, and the leagues leadership, most notable Rash Behari Bose
Rash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
. A large number of the INAs initial volunteers, however, later went on to join the INA
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
in its second incarnation
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
under Subhas Chandra Bose.
Indian nationalism in World War II
With the onset of the Second World War, all the three major Axis PowersAxis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
, at some stage of their campaign against Britain, sought to support and exploit the armed revolutionary activities within India and aided the recruitment of a military force from disaffected Indian prisoners-of war captured while serving with the British Commonwealth forces and Indian expatriates.
Italy
Italy had in 1942 created the Battaglione Azad HindoustanBattaglione Azad Hindoustan
The Battaglione Azad Hindoustan was a foreign legion unit formed in Fascist Italy under the Raggruppamento Centri Militari in July 1942...
, with ex-Indian Army personnel and Italians previously resident in India and Persia, that ultimately served under Raggruppamento Centri Militari. However, these efforts proved unsuccessful, given the overtly propagandist nature of their efforts that ultimately found little acceptance among the constituent soldiers, and the lack of a leadership that would deemed legitimate by the troops. By November 1942, following the defeats in El Alamein
El Alamein
El Alamein is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. As of 2007, it has a local population of 7,397 inhabitants.- Climate :...
, the Italian efforts had failed.
Germany
German motives and intentions with relation to India were complex. While the German Foreign office is said to have wanted to support Indian revolutionaries and nationalists, there is consensus that, ultimately, Hitler held the belief that the British had to rule over the unfit Indian masses.Subhash Chandra Bose, with his arrival in Germany in April 1941 however, was able to convince Hitler (with whom he had one meeting) and the Nazi high command to raise an Indian unit from Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
's Indian prisoners of war from the battlefields of Europe and Africa, according to the concept of an Indian Liberation force. The Indische Legion was tasked both as a pathfinder for a German/Indian invasion of the western frontiers of British India, as well as to infiltrate into India to foment local revolt and sabotage operations. However, the Free India Legion only ever saw action in Europe, fighting as a Heer unit attached to the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and later incorporated into the Waffen SS (as were other national legions of the Wehrmacht) after the Allied Invasion of France.
Only a small contingent ever was put to its original intended purpose when a hundred of the Legionnaires were parachuted into eastern Iran in what came to be known as Operation Bajadere, to infiltrate into India through Baluchistan
Baluchistan (Chief Commissioners Province)
The Chief Commissioner's Province of Baluchistan was a province of British India located in the northern parts of the modern Balochistan province.- History :...
and commence sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
operations against the British in preparation for the anticipated national revolt. A majority of the troops of the Free India Legion were only ever stationed in Europe – mostly in non-combat duties – from the Netherlands, to Atlantic Wall
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
duties in France till the Allied invasion of France. A small contingent, including the leadership and the officer corps, was also transferred to Azad Hind after its formation and saw action in the INA's Burma Campaign. A segment of the Free India Legion fought against British and Polish Forces in Italy in 1944.
Japan
Japan, at the outbreak of the war in south-east Asia, had not formulated any concrete policy with regards to India. Its headquarters lacked any India experts, while civilian experts on India were few in Japan. At least in 1941, it is accepted that India in Japanese plans were peripheral. It did not feature in the plans for Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity SphereGreater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
, which focussed on south-east Asia up to the Indo-Burmese border. Even then, the plan initially did not even encompass the whole of Burma but only a part of it. Militarily however, India was important as the origin (from Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
) of the Ledo road
Ledo Road
The Ledo Road was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the Chinese as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942. It was renamed the Stilwell Road in early 1945 at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek...
which supplied Nationalist Chinese and American forces, as well as the supplies airlifted over the hump
The Hump
The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces based in...
. Also, the idea that their western boundary would be controlled by a more friendly government was attractive. It would also have been consistent with the idea that Japanese expansion into Asia was part of an effort to support Asian government of Asia and against western colonialism.
The successful Malayan campaign
South-East Asian theatre of World War II
The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in Burma , Ceylon, India, Thailand, Indochina, Malaya and Singapore. Conflict in the theatre began when the Empire of Japan invaded Thailand and Malaya from bases located in Indochina on December 8,...
, and later the Burma campaign brought under the Japanese a large number of Indian expatriates who, although not essentially sympathetic to the Japanese (some were even hostile), held substantial nationalist motives and sought to exploit the window offered by the reversal faced by the British forces to drive them out from the Indian sub-continent. In addition, the fall of Malaya had brought under Japanese control approximately 45,000 Indian troops under Gen. Percival's command in Malaya, including a large numbers of the remnants of the Indian III Corps
Indian III Corps
The III Corps was a formation of the Indian Army during World War I formed in Mesopotamia. Prior to the reorganization of the British and Indian forces in Mesopotamia, it was designated as the Tigris Corps....
. In these circumstances, the Japanese Military Administration encouraged various Indian nationalist groups in East Asia to form an anti-British alliance, which came together to form the Indian Independence League
Indian Independence League
The Indian Independence League was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organize those living outside of India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India...
(IIL), with its headquarters in Singapore. The IIL also looked after the welfare of Indian communities in East Asia. Also, initially under the direction of dissatisfied troops of the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
who had fallen into Japanese hands (notably under the leadership of Captain Mohan Singh), and of what came to be known as the Indian Independence League, came to form the Indian National Army. This was from the Japanese point of view primarily a propaganda move of initiating anti-British sentiments among civilians and soldiers in South-east Asia.
Japan and Indian nationalism
India and Japan, especially from the last decade of the 19th century, had enjoyed a growing exchange of cultural, religious and philosophical ideas. India, as the home of HinduismHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, the birthplace of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, and from the second decade of the 20th century, the home of Gandhian philosophy, had been an attraction for Japanese and Buddhist and literary fugures. India, in the meantime, looked to Japan as an inspiration of a model industrialised, advancing Asian society and nationhood. The Japanese victory over Russia
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
in 1905 had furthered the inspiration Japan infused, especially among Indian nationalists. Noted Indian and Japanese cultural figures, including Okakura Tenshin
Okakura Kakuzo
was a Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of arts in Japan. Outside of Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of The Book of Tea.-Biography:...
and Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
acknowledged the connection of the two Asian nations, their heritage, and the vision of pan-Asianism.
After the end of World War I, Japan increasingly became a haven for radical Indian nationalists in exile, who were protected by patriotic Japanese societies. Notable among these included Rash Behari Bose
Rash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
, Taraknath Das, A M Sahay as well as others. The protections offered to these nationalists effectively prevented British efforts to repatriate them and became a major policy concern.
By the end of the war however, the pan-Asiatic vision gradually moved away from prominence as the independence movement in India
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
became engrossed in agitations on immediate issues of post-war India. These included agitations against the Rowlatt act
Rowlatt Act
The Rowlatt Act was a law passed by the British in colonial India in March 1919, indefinitely extending "emergency measures" enacted during the First World War in order to control public unrest and root out conspiracy...
, the Khilafat Movement
Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
against the suspension of the authority
Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
The Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was a political event that occurred after World War I. The huge conglomeration of territories and peoples formerly ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new nations.The partitioning was planned from the early days of the war,...
of the Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(an inflammatory issue among India's huge Muslim population), as well as the home rule agitations that was heralded by Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement
Non-cooperation movement
The non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule which lasted for years. This movement, which lasted from September 1920 to February 1922 and was led by Mohandas Gandhi, and supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist...
in 1922. By the time that the pan-Asiatic regained any prominence, the highground that Japan held among the Indian population and especially Indian nationalist leadership had fallen, owed to a large extent to her aggressive and often nihilistic
war in China.
Japan's India-policy
The importance that India increasingly held in Japanese plans from late 1941 becomes clear from the Japanese decisions to increasingly support and stimulate and profess support for the Indian Independence movement. Exiles like Rash Behari BoseRash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
had already voiced their demands to the Japanese authorities that support and pursuit of Indian Independence be an aim of the Japanese campaign. However, neither the government nor the Imperial Japanese army felt able to commit to these, especially given the task of establishing a stable orderly state should the Independence movement succeed. The Imperial army would be committed to elsewhere, notably China and the Manchurian border with Russia. However, it was widely accepted that the Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
was anti-Japanese, Gandhi, even during the intense Quit India Movement
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement , or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. Gandhi hoped to bring the British government to the negotiating table...
, Gandhi had categorically warned the Japanese
"Make no mistake. You will be sadly disillusioned if you believe that you will receive a willing welcome from India"Earlier, in April 1941, however, the Consul general to Calcutta had noted activities of the Forward Bloc, and from Berlin, ambassador Oshima Hiroshi had reported on Subhas Bose's organisation of the Free India Legion. The foreign ministry did not, however make any overt decisions regarding Bose.
F Kikan
By the end of 1941, India had started featuring prominently in the Japanese policies. The Japanese IGHQ in October set up the Fujiwara Kikan, or the F-kikan, in BangkokBangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, headed by the Major Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the 15th army. Tasked with intelligence gathering and contacting the Indian independence movement, the overseas Chinese and the Malayan Sultan with the aim of encouraging friendship and cooperation with Japan, Fujiwara's staff included five commissioned officers and two hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
-speaking interpreters. His initial contact was with Giani Pritam Singh and after the outbreak of the war and the Malayan invasion, with Capt. Mohan Singh. Mohan Singh had, as a captain in the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
, seen action with the 1/14th Punjab Regiment
Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)
The Punjab Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in 1956 from an amalgamation of the 1st Punjab Regiment, 14th Punjab Regiment, 15th Punjab Regiment and 16th Punjab Regiment...
against Japanese forces at the Battle of Jitra
Battle of Jitra
The Battle of Jitra was a major engagement fought between the invading Japanese and Allied forces during the Malayan Campaign of the Second World War. The battle lasted from 11-13 December 1941...
, where his troops were outgunned and shattered by Japanese tanks. Captured by Japanese troops after several days in the Jungle, Singh was taken to Alor Star
Alor Star
Alor Setar, known as Alor Star between 2004 and 2008, is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia, and Kota Setar District's Administrative Centre. It is also a distribution center for manufacturing and agricultural products such as paddy, and the royal seat of the Kedah state since the establishment...
to Fujiwara and Pritam Singh at a joint office of the F-Kikan and the IIL
IIL
IIL may stand for*Indian Independence League*Integrated injection logic*The Insurance Institute of London*The International Institute for Learning*The Institut International de Lancy* II-L or IIL, a subtype of Type II supernova...
. Fujiwara, later self-described as "Lawrence of the Indian National Army" (after Lawrence of Arabia) is said to have been a man committed to the values which his office was supposed to convey to the expatriate nationalist leaders, and found acceptance among them.
Although Pritam Singh was involved to a large extent, it was Fujiwara who, with his sincerity of purpose and belief, convinced Mohan Singh to unite with the Japanese mission for the greater motive of Indian freedom. This included the promise that he would be treated as an ally and a friend, and not a PoW. Initially helping Fujiwara to take control of the situation of looting and arson that had developed in Alor Star, Singh was in December 1941, after meeting with the Japanese commanding general, convinced of the feasibility of raising an armed Indian unit. Between himself, Pritam Singh and Fujiwara, Mohan Singh formulated on contacting Indians in the British Indian Army in South-east Asia, and also began recruiting from amongst those captured by the Japanese in Malaya, prior to the fall of Singapore. Thus the nucleus what came to be the Indian National Army was born.
By January 1942, Fujiwara was able to give positive reports on the success of Japan's India policy and suggested an eight point policy that included aid for both the IIL and the INA, as well as encouragement of the independence movement within India
Following the establishment of the F-kikan, and with initial positive feedback, a Liaison conference declared among other aims the "stimulation of the Indian independence movement". By early 1942, Tōjō
Hideki Tōjō
Hideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944...
's speeches to the Diet
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
included specific references to the liberation of India and to decisions to strike the British colonial authority in India.
Specific plans for the invasion of India were, however, not formulated.
The frst INA
Even before Singapore fell, the Japanese troops had started the process of identifying Indian troops among the captured and separating them from the Australian and British troops. On a number of occasions, it was noted, British and Australian officers were killed, while the Indians spared. These troops were organised into the embryo of what became the Indian National Army. There was significant deviation from the British Indian Army, in that officers were organised into a single class, adoption of a common kitchen, slogans etc., that attempted to bridge any communal and casteist rivalries that were accepted or even institutionalised in the British army.Conception of the INA
The units that were formed in this predecessor of the INA were from volunteers from within the soldiers of the British Indian Army captured in Malaya and numbered about 200. The volunteers were issued rifles, and given arm bands bearing the letter "F". They were organised into units and trained and worked along with those already under Pritam Singh in MalayaBritish Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. They were further tasked to work amongst the British Indian troops and foment dissent and encourage defection. Before the fall of Singapore, these troops numbered nearly 2,500.
In a similar note, on March 10, 1942, the Indian soldiers at Christmas Island
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
mutinied, allowing the Japanese forces to land unopposed at the Battle of Christmas Island
Battle of Christmas Island
The Battle of Christmas Island, was a small engagement which began on 31 March 1942, during World War II. Because of a mutiny by Indian soldiers against their British officers, Japanese troops were able to occupy Christmas Island without any resistance...
. This was followed by a mutiny in the Ceylon Garrison Artillery in the Cocos Islands. However, the Cocos Islands Mutiny
Cocos Islands Mutiny
The Cocos Islands Mutiny was a failed mutiny by Ceylonese soldiers against British officers, on the Cocos Islands in May 1942, during the Second World War....
failed after it was quickly put down by the Ceylon Light Infantry. Sri Lankans in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Malaya formed the 'Lanka Regiment' of the Indian National Army. An abortive plan was made to land these troops in Sri Lanka by submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
.
Farrer Park
Singapore surrendered on the 15th of February, 1942. On the evening of the 16th, the Indian troops of the now amalgamated 1/14th and 5/14th Punjab were ordered by the Malaya command (of the commonwealth forces) to assemble at Farrer ParkFarrer Park
Farrer Park is a historic neighbourhood in the central part of Singapore, located at the end of Little India. Farrer Park is defined by the boundary formed by Dorset Road, Hampshire Road and Northumberland Road.-Etymology:...
. The British officers were, in the meantime, ordered to assemble east to Changi
Changi
Changi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese Prisoner of War Camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore and Malaysia...
. On the morning of 17 February 1942, some 45,000 Indian POWs who gathered at Farrer Park where addressed by in turns, first by a Col Hunt of the Malaya Command, who handed over the troops to Japanese command under Fujiwara.
Fujiwara spoke to the troops in Japanese which was translated into English and then Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
. In his speech, Fujiwara is said to have told the troops of the Asian co-prosperity sphere
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
under the leadership of Japan, of Japanese vision of a free India and its importance to the co-prosperity sphere, and of the Japanese intentions to help raise a "liberation army" for the freedom of India. He invited the troops seated at the park to join this army. Further, he told the troops, they were going to be treated not as PoWs, but as Friends and allies. Fujiwara ended his speech stating he is passing on their responsibilities and command to Mohan Singh.
Mohan Singh's speech, in Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
, was short He told the troops of forming the Indian National Army to fight for free India, and invited the troops to join it. As an Indian Jawan
Jawan
Jawan refers to a young man in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and Punjabi. It can also refer to a "donkey" in the Bengali language. In the Indian subcontinent, it has additionally taken on the reference to an infantryman, and is used in much the same meaning as soldier in English...
present at the time remembers, Mohan Singh's speech was powerful and touched a chord, and the troops responded with wild enthusiasm and excitement. It is estimated that nearly half of those present at Farrer Park
Farrer Park
Farrer Park is a historic neighbourhood in the central part of Singapore, located at the end of Little India. Farrer Park is defined by the boundary formed by Dorset Road, Hampshire Road and Northumberland Road.-Etymology:...
later joined the first INA. Significantly however, a large number of Indian officers decided not to, which also kept disinclined those under their command not to.
The Japanese forces, eager to engage the co-operation of the troops and further lacking the man-power, did not have the men impounded. The supreme command of the INA was set up at Mount Pleasant suburbs in the Northern part of the City. The PoW headquarters, along with the largest PoW camp was set up at Neesoon under M. Z. Kiani
M. Z. Kiani
Major General Mohammad Zaman Kiani an officer of the Indian National Army who went on to be appointed the Chief of General Staff. A keen Hockey player in his youth, Kiani joined the British Indian Army in 1931 at the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun, sitting for the entrance exam in preference...
. Other smaller PoW camps housing Indian troops were set up at Bidadari, Tyersall, Buller, Seletar
Seletar
Seletar is an area of Singapore within its North-East Region. Seletar commonly refers to the areas south of Yishun and west of Sungei Punggol, covering Yio Chu Kang near Jalan Kayu , the Lower Seletar Reservoir and part of Upper Thomson .The Seletar Planning Area, an urban planning zone under the...
and Kranji
Kranji
Kranji is a suburb in northwestern Singapore, located about from the city centre.-Etymology:Kranji is named after a local tree, the kranji or keranji . Its abundance has rapidly dwindled since the first half of the nineteenth century.-History:The first Singapore-Kranji railway from Tank Road to...
. To Lt. Col N.S Gill went the overall direction of PoW.
Bidadary Resolution.
Niranjan Singh Gill did not trust Japanese overtures and intentions. Mohan Singh, however, was confident. In April 1942, even as the discussions and the process of setting up the Indian Independence LeagueIndian Independence League
The Indian Independence League was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organize those living outside of India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India...
and defining the aims of the movement carried on, Mohan Singh convened a meeting of a group of his officers to frame what is now called the Bidadary resolution. This resolution announced that:
Indians stood above all differences of caste, community, or religion. Independence was every Indian's birthright. An Indian National Army would be raised to fight for it.
The resolution further specified that the army would go to battle only when the Congress and the people of India asked it to. It did not however, specify the army was to interact with the Japanese forces. This resolution was circulated among the Indian PoWs, followed by tour of the mainland camps by Mohan Singh and Fujiwara. The PoW headquarter was subsequently dissolved and the staff were transferred to Mohan Singh's supreme command. On 9 May, Singh began recruiting for the INA.
The process involved identifying units that were most likely to come up with volunteers. These units were transferred to Neesoon and Bidadary, while the other units were shipped away to other camps.
Indian Independence League
The Japanese government and high-command had, with Fujiwara's encouraging feedbacks in early 1942, sought to expand the scope and support for the evolving INA and the Japanese support for the independence movement. For this it sought the counsel of Rash Behari BoseRash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
,an Indian nationalist who had lived in self-exile in Japan since the 1920s. Rash Behari encouraged the formation of the INA, but also sought to attach it to a central civilian authority speaking for and encouraging Indian civilian Indian population of the region to become a part of it.
The framework of local Indian associations that existed before the war reached Malaya, where rekindled, and after a meeting of the leaders of these associations, well as Mohan Singh and other representatives of the INA, at a conference in Tokyo on of Rash Behari Bose
Rash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
's invitation, the formation of the All-Malayan Indian Independence league
Indian Independence League
The Indian Independence League was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organize those living outside of India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India...
was declared in April, in the same month as Mohan Singh formally declared the formation of the Indian National Army. The League became the liaising organisation with the local Indian population and the Japanese. .
In June, the formation of an all-Indian IIL was proclaimed at Bangkok. In June 1942, the Bangkok conference
Bangkok Conference
The Bangkok Conference was a conference held on 15 June 1942 by Indian Nationalist groups and local Indian Independence leagues at Bangkok to proclaim the formation of the All-India Independence league...
specified in the Tokyo assembly was held. A resolution adopted by the league at Bangkok declared the The INA was to be sub-ordinate to the League with Rash Behari Bose chairing the council, while K.P.K Menon, Nedyam Raghavan were among the civilian members of the council. Mohan Singh and an officer by the name of Gilani were to be the INA's members. The Bangkok resolution further reaffirmed the Bidadary resolution that the INA was only to go to war when the Congress and the Indian population wished it to. Further among the thirty-four points of the Bangkok resolution, the INA and the IIL raised a number of questions including the role and position of India in Japan's co-prosperity sphere, Japan's intentions in and towards an Independent India etc. These were presented via the Iwakuro Kikan that had replaced the Fujiwara Kikan and demanded a point-by-point answer which Tokyo was not able to give assurances to, which was unacceptable to the Council for action.
There remains suggestions, however, that members of the League and the INA, including Niranjan Singh Gill who directed the PoW camps, were apprehensive about Japanese intentions with regards to the league, the Independence movement. Even within the league, members of the original Indian delegation to the Tokyo conference held reservations about serving Rash Behari and of ultimate Japanese intentions with regards to independent India.
Iwakuro Kikan
In the spring of 1942, based on Fujiwara's own proposals in January which included the suggestion of expanding the work of the F-Kikan to all parts of Asia Fujiwara was replaced by Col.Hideo IwakuroHideo Iwakuro
- Notes :...
. The I-Kikan was considerably larger, with some 250 officers and with offices in Rangoon, Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Saigon and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The close relation of Fujiwara and Mohan Singh, however, was not to be repeated.
Iwakuro, the founder of the Army intelligence school Rikugun Nakano Gakko, was considered less idealistic and romantic than Fujiwara and did not use his expertise to encouage the "true Indian army" that Fujiwara had envisioned, aware that the IGHQ did not have any immediate plans for an invasion towards India. Iwakuro was further placed in office at a time when the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
faced a higher priority among Japanese forces for materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
. Using his expertise in intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
and special missions
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
, Iwakuro sought to train the Indian forces in such mission, and by some accounts only engaged in as much development of the INA as would keep Mohan Singh happy.
Quit India
Although the CongressIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
had conditionally supported the Allied war effort, following failure of the Cripp's Mission, the Quit India Movement
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement , or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. Gandhi hoped to bring the British government to the negotiating table...
was launched in India on 8 August 1942 that called for the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
to leave India or face a massive Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
. Forewarned, the Raj quickly arrested the Congress leadership. However, foreplanning on the part of the Congress meant the movement continued at the local level, and quickly deteriorated into a leaderless act of defiance and descencded into violence and general anarchy and mayhem. The movement created alarm amongst the high-command and significantly hindered the Allied war effort.
In south-east Asia, this was perceived as the signal that the INA and the League expected to receive to start its war.
Hindustan Field Force
The Hindustan Field Force was formed as the first operational regiment of the Indian National ArmyIndian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
and was inducted in September 1942 under the command of J.K. Bhonsle. The unit was formed at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and comprised three battalions derived from troops of the 17th Dogra Regiment
17th Dogra Regiment
The 17th Dogra Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments...
, Garhwal Rifles
Garhwal Rifles
The Garhwal Rifles is a light infantry or 'rifle' regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised as the 39th Garhwal Rifles of the Bengal Army, became part of the old Indian Army, and received its present name on Indian independence...
and the 14th Punjab Regiment
14th Punjab Regiment
The 14th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to the Pakistan Army on Partition of India in 1947, and amalgamated with the 1st, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments in 1956, to form the Punjab Regiment....
(now a part of the Pakistani Army) and had a strength of nearly 2000 troops. However, only about two hundred or so of its troops were sent to combat around September 1943. The unit was dissolved after the collapse of the first INA and after the revival
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
of the Indian National Army
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
under Subhas Chandra Bose, the troops of the Hindustan Field Force formed the nucleus of the INA's 2nd division as the 1st Infantry regiment and ceded men to the 5th Guerilla regiment to form the 2nd Infantry regiment which later fought in the Battle of Irrawaddy and Battle of Meiktila under Prem Kumar Sahgal.
Intelligence groups
The Iwakuro Kikan and the Indian Independence League was instrumental in training a number of INA recruits as well as civilian volunteers from Malaya in intelligence and subversion activities. A number of intelligence and subversion training schools were opened in Bruma and Singapore, and the raduates from these schools were sent by Submarine or Parachuted into India for starting intelligence work and underground subversive and sabotage activities. However, it was mainly from these schools that the first frictions arose between the Indians and Japanese as they trainees began to be sent before completing their training and without knowledge or consent of the Indian leaders. However, the intelligence services played a significant role in the failure of Noel IrwinNoel Irwin
Lieutenant General Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin CB, DSO & Two Bars, MC was a British soldier, who played a prominent role in the British Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, and in the Burma Campaign...
's First Arakan Offensive.
The end of the first INA
By late 1942, however, the divisions appeared as the Indian troops increasingly felt as pawns in the hands of the Japanese. In December, Mohan Singh and other INA leaders ordered the INA to disband after severe disagreements with the Japanese. Mohan Singh was subsequently arrested by the Japanese and exiled to Pulau UbinPulau Ubin
Pulau Ubin is a small island situated in the north east of Singapore, to the west of Pulau Tekong. Granite quarrying supported a few thousand settlers on Pulau Ubin in the 1960s, but only about a hundred villagers live there today...
. A number of the Indian troops who chose to revert to PoW were subsequently sent away to labour camps in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
or to work in the Death railway
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...
.
Between December 1942 and February 1943, Rash Behari Bose tried but failed to keep the IIL and INA going. Thousands of INA soldiers returned to the status of POWs again and most of the IIL leaders resigned. The movement was seen doomed to fail.
Order of battle
Earnest organisation of the INA in preparation for battle began after news of Quit India had reached South-east Asia. According to the reviews available, the INA was to be organised of twelve infantry battalions of 650 troops, organised into four guerrilla regiments of 2000 men. The first of these, led by Bhonsle, was the Hindustan Field Force. The remaining four were to be designated Gandhi, Nehru and Azad regiment.Additional special units were also to be organised. These included an Intelligence froup for forward intelligence, a Special Service Group to promote defection amongst the British Indian Army and a Reinforcement group to receive the defectors and prepare them for service with the INA.
Of the formation of this army however, the British intelligence was unaware of until around July 1942, and even then was unclear on the scale, purpose and organisation of the INA.
Espionage in India
Intelligence summaries initially did not believe the INA to be a substantial force or have any purpose more than propaganda and espionageEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
purposes. However, by the end of 1942, they had become aware of trained Indian espionage agents (of the INAs Special services group
Bahadur Group
The Bahadur Group, or the Special Services Group as it was initially formed, was a Special Forces unit within the Indian National Army that was tasked with frontline intelligence as well as subversion and sabotage operations behind enemy lines....
) who had infiltrated into India for the purpose of collecting intelligence, subversion of the army and the subversion of civilian loyalty. These information were derived to a large extent from some of the agents themselves who gave themselves up to the authorities after reaching India. However, the intelligence was also aware at this point of misinformation being spread about the INA itself by the agents who concealed their purpose and professed to pass on intelligence from local knowledge. More troubling for the military command were the activities of the INA agents in the battle fields of India's eastern frontier in Burma.
Espionage in Burma frontier
Around this time, the Quit India movementQuit India Movement
The Quit India Movement , or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. Gandhi hoped to bring the British government to the negotiating table...
had reached a crescendo within India, while the continuing British reversals at Burma further affected the morale of the army. The Irwin
Noel Irwin
Lieutenant General Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin CB, DSO & Two Bars, MC was a British soldier, who played a prominent role in the British Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, and in the Burma Campaign...
's First Campaign had been contained and then beaten back by inferior Japanese forces at Donbaik. Intelligence analysis of the failure, as well as Irwin's own personal analysis of the campaign attributed significant demoralisation and rising discontentment amongst Indian troops due to the subversive activity of INA agents at the frontline, as well as rising nationalist (or "Pro-Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
") sentiments. The activities of these agents were addressed at the Sepoys and these found enough support to successfully encourage defection without attracting the attention of the officers commanding the units. Soon, defection by British Indian troops had become a problem significant and regular enough in the Burma theatre to form a regular part of the intelligence summaries in the first half of 1943.
External links
- From Banglapedia
- Article on Bose
- Website on Netaji and the I.N.A.
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose & India's Independence
- Speeches of Netaji
- The Last Straw
- Why the I.N.A. withdrew
- Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge
- Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin
- Free Indian Legion
- BBC Report: Hitler's secret Indian army
- BBC Radio programme HITLER'S INDIAN ARMY Part of the Document Series, listen via RealPlayer. Incl. interview with the last living member of the I.N.A.
- Stand at East BBC Radio series on the British Indian Army especially the War against the Japanese, listen via RealPlayer.
- BBC report about the Indian Army fighting the Japanese during World War II
- Indische Freiwilligen Legion der Waffen-SS/Indian SS volunteer Legion
- Infanterie-Regiment 950 indische Legion Freies Indien
- Battaglione Azad Hindostan; Indian Volunteer forces between Italian Army