| GHQ India | |
|---|---|
 Formation sign of General Headquarters, India during the Second World War | |
| Active | 1903 to 1947 |
| Country | British India |
| Part of | War Office Viceroy of India |
| Garrison/HQ | New Delhi |
General Headquarters, India was the headquarters of theCommander-in-Chief, India, who commanded the British military forces in India, including theBritish Indian Army, after theKitchener Reforms of 1903. It succeededHeadquarters, India which was the term in use initially after the threePresidency armies had been amalgamated into one force. The Commander-in-Chief answered to the civilianViceroy of India.
Confusingly, in the officialVolume II: India's Most Dangerous Hour, Major-General Stanley Kirbyet al., 1958, the term "India Command" was repeatedly used.[1] "India Command" was not defined, but Stanley Kirbyet al. appeared to be referring to the British Indian Army in India; the British Army in India; and GHQ India, the three together, as a whole. A more correct term for these three entities together would have been theArmy in India.
GHQ India succeededHeadquarters, India which was the term in use initially after the threePresidency armies had been amalgamated into one force in 1895. "The C-in-C India’s HQ was known as the General Headquarters (GHQ India) and acted as the superior HQ for all services to fulfil their requirements."[2]
The Commander-in-Chief'schief of staff was theChief of the General Staff. It was based inCalcutta andSimla (the winter capital of the Raj) until the seat of power moved toNew Delhi in 1911.[3] In addition to India, as the [British] Indian Army garrisoned the waystationAden Settlement (laterAden Colony) the Commander-in-Chief was also responsible for troops in Aden. Later Indian troops were also sent to Iraq and Persia).[4]
The1906 Birthday Honours and1922 Birthday Honours list officers on the staff of Headquarters, India; by the1942 New Year Honours the listing had become General Headquarters, India (Colonel, Acting Major-GeneralRob Lockhart).[5]
For significant periods before the creation ofSouth East Asia Command (SEAC) in 1943, the C-in-C India was also responsible forCeylon andBurma. TheCommander-in-Chief, India,[2] had some 2,000 officers and 2.5 million troops under his command in 1945.[6] GHQ India was redesignatedArmy HQ in 1947 when India waspartitioned.[2]
Following a review by the British Chiefs of Staff in late 1939, operational control of troops in Iraq passed in early 1940 toMiddle East Command although the provision of troops and their maintenance remained for the most part GHQ India's responsibility.[7] In March 1941, in the period before theAnglo-Iraqi War, the C-in-C Middle East GeneralArchibald Wavell, who was preoccupied with existing problems in his theatre, gained approval for Iraq to come under India's operational control again[8] but once hostilities commenced in May Wavell was obliged by London reluctantly to reassume responsibility.[9] In June 1941, after cessation of hostilities, control reverted once more to GHQ India.[10] India finally relinquished responsibility for Persia and Iraq in August 1942 when a separatePersia and Iraq Command was created.[11]
After the dissolution ofABDACOM in February 1942 the C-in-CIndia also became responsible forCeylon. During this period, some Chinese and American units also came under C-in-C India.[12] These responsibilities remained unchanged until the creation ofSouth East Asia Command (SEAC) in August 1943. With the creation of SEAC there were three geographic theatres and a further operational command. The China Theatre was under the command ofGeneralissimoChiang Kai-shek. SEAC was an Anglo-American command under a Supreme Allied Commander,Lord Mountbatten, who was responsible for operations in Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Sumatra. GeneralAuchinleck asCommander-in-Chief, India, was responsible for the development of India as a base, for internal security in India, and the defence of India'sNorth West Frontier. His responsibility included the training, equipping, maintenance and movement of operational forces assigned to SEAC.[13] The American operational theater,China Burma India (CBI), operated in all three geographic areas. It was not subordinate to SEAC.[13]
On 24 November 1944, G.H.Q.(I) passed on to the HeadquartersAllied Land Forces South East Asia "..proposals made by the Burma Government-in-exile for the evaluation of the men released in 1942, either returnees or deserters."[14] "The Burma Government proposed to raise administrative units to screen personnel who had remained in Burma, and operational units for internal security duties. ..Within General Headquarters, India, the department responsible for the administration ofBurma Army units in India and Burma, known as Burma Section, also asked for the immediate raising of a second administrative unit." A.G. (BURSEC) was an integral part of GHQ India until it was established with HeadquartersTwelfth Army.[15]
Field Marshal SirClaude Auchinleck served as the last C-in-C, India from 1943. He was reappointed on 15 August 1947, and became Supreme Commander of India and Pakistan. He oversaw the division of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force between the two new countries. In the process,GHQ Pakistan was established to serve the newly independent Pakistan, atRawalpindi. Auchinleck served in this capacity until November 1948, when the role of Supreme Commander was abolished.[16]