Indian Army Units' Published Histories

I'm hoping for a little help finding Second World War-Era published histories (regimental or battalion) for any of the following. The only one that I know of that covers any of them is The Sikh Regiment In The Second World War by Colonel F. T. Birdwood (OBE); I'd be glad to hear of any other titles.

Units that I'm interested in:

• 3rd (Royal) (Sikhs) Bn. 12th Frontier Force Regiment
• 2nd (Royal) (Ludhiana Sikhs) Bn. 11th Sikh Regiment
• 4th Bn. 11th Sikh Regiment
• 21st King George V’s Own Horse (Central India Horse)

Additionally:

I simply cannot find a copies of the following books anywhere--and I'm out of range of libraries. Does anybody have a copy?

• Thatcher, W. S.: The Tenth Baluch Regiment in the Second World War. (Abbottabad: The Baluch Regimental Centre 1980)

• Sethna, Am & Katju Valmiki: Traditions of a Regiment: The Story of the Rajputana Rifles by (New Delhi: 1983)

Has either had a more modern reprint?

 

Here are some you may be interested in:

Singh, Colonel Kanwaljit. Sargarhi Battalion: Ashes to Glory (History of the 4th Battalion the Sikh Regiment (XXXVI)). New Delhi: Lancer International, 1987. (NYPL)

Condon, Brig. W.E.H. The Frontier Force Regiment. Aldershot: Gale and Polden, 1962. (NYPL)

Filose, Brig. A.A.E. King George’s Own Central India Horse, Volume II (1921-1946). Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1950. (NYPL Annex)(MoD)

I saw my copies, as indicated, in the New Public Library (NYPL) including the Annex, and at the old Ministry of Defence Library (MoD).

Regarding:

Thatcher, W.S.The Tenth Baluch Regiment in the Second World War.Abbottabad: Baluch Regimental Centre, 1980. (NAM)

I saw Thatcher at the National Army Museum Library (NAM). I do not have a copy of any of these histories, though.

 

David,

That's all very helpful, thank you. I wasn't aware of the existence of any of those titles. The library option is not really an option for me as I'm resident (far) overseas, but I will try to track down copies of one or more of the others--preliminary reconnaissance suggests that they will not be cheap.

A general impression: from what I've seen the 'later' regimental histories (80s & 90s) coming out of the subcontinent seem heavily skewed towards the Ind-Pak-China conflicts and don't have as much Second World War material as I'd hope. Perhaps more to do with the rise of nationalism than a surge in scholarship. I hope Sargarhi Battalion doesn't follow this pattern.

 

Found a preview of this one: Condon, Brig. W.E.H. The Frontier Force Regiment. Aldershot: Gale and Polden, 1962. (NYPL)

Looks very promising:

 

Birdwood is available as a reprint from Naval and Military Press.
12 FFR's history is by Condon and is usually easier to find than original copies of his 13 FFRifs history (though the latter has been NMP'd unlike the former).

Never seen Thatcher anywhere, unfortunately. There is an alternative in the History of the Baloch (sic) Regiment 1939-1956 by Ahmad.

 

The Ahmad is not as good as the Thatcher but it is available from N&MP.

 

Naval & Military Press has a category for WW2 (and similar categories for other periods) Regimental Histories of the Empire
Regimental Histories of the Empire - Naval & Military Press

includes
CAPITAL CAMPAIGNERS, THE HISTORY OF THE 3RD BATTALION (QUEEN MARY’S OWN) THE BALUCH REGIMENT - Naval & Military Press
Capital Campaigners, The History Of The 3rd Battalion (Queen Mary’s Own) The Baluch Regiment

and
FRONTIER FORCE RIFLES 1849 - 1946 - Naval & Military Press
Frontier Force Rifles 1849 – 1946 by Condon, mentioned above.

The latter is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3 (located in World War II/Military Books/Britain).

There are many online books on fold3, most of which seem to be Naval & Military Press reprints, and although they are all in the WorldWar II category, more are actually World War I. You can browse the titles without being a subscriber.
Fold3 Browse. Most of the Indian Army volumes are under India, although some are under Britain, or other countries.

Late note: I have just seen that Capital Campaigners is available on fold3
https://www.fold3.com/browse/251/hTGb85NZ8wIfXXI19aUGwPZm3 (located in World War II/Military Books/Britain).

Cheers
Maureen

 

Further to my post above, the online books on fold3 are free at the moment. You don't need to sign in, just click on the book links.

I don't know how long the free access will last, possibly for the next few days.

Cheers
Maureen
Edit. I have seen elsewhere that the free period lasts until the end of 12 November 2018 (GMT)

 

Thanks, but a few quid less that that.

Is anybody able to tell me whether there is/was a dedicated history of the RIASC during the Second World War?

 

Yes, but quite difficult to find.
HISTORY OF THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS VOL. 4 1939-1946 by BRIG. V. J. MOHARIR
STIRLING PUBLISHERS, NEW DELHI

 

Thank you.

Title : History of the Army Service Corps: Vol. 4: 1939-1946
Author : V.J. Moharir
Edition : Hardbound
ISBN : B0000E8WG6
Pages : 444p.
Year of Pub : 1979

The present volume, the fourth in the series, dealing with the period of World War II compiled by Brigadier Moharir traces the development of the Corps during the war years from its comparatively small establishment into a mammoth organisation which was employed in practically every part of the world where the opposing forces fought. Contents cover: Foreword - Introduction - The Indian Base - Rations and Forage - Petroleum OIls and Lubricants - Transport Services _ Training _ Force K-6 - In Africa - In West Asia - In Italy - War in the East - Epilogue. 3 Appendices - A. Organisation of Imphal Road for Intensive Running, 1943-45 - B. Riasc Casualties World War II - C. Sources Used. COl In Chief and Col Commandants of RIASC - List of Honours and Awards 11 Folding Maps.
​

Not a single copy available that I can see.

 

Charley,

if this is still of interest to you, then I've got a original copy? I would have to get to know the workings of my camera to be able to copy some of it. It will not fit two pages at a time on my A4 scanner. Not sure if this will be of any use to you, but I've got a copy of Maxwell's book CAPITAL CAMPAIGNERS 3RD BATTALION (Q.M.O.) The Baluch Regiment. It would be a piece of cake to copy.

Regards,
Stu.

 

Hey Stuart

If it hold anything on the time in the Netherlands East Indies and French Indo-China I will be interested in those pages if it is not a problem

Cheers
T

 

I've reported this thread for being injurious to my own chances of finding some of these titles...

 

From a slightly different angle; I would now feel bad if I caught sight and purchased one of these for my own benefit. Ahh! Who am I trying to kid.

 

I've been thinking about some of these Indian army histories and how fiendishly difficult they are to obtain.

Many, it seems, were published in India and England in the 40s and 50s and never reprinted. I suppose that a) they were aimed more at officers than men (most of the men reading relatively small amounts of English as a second or third languge), b) the British Indian Army had recently been disbanded and the units that had been transferred to the new Indian army were now focused on conflict, potential and actual, with Pakistan, c) the Indian soldier having served in huge numbers across multiple theatres was hardly lauded by his own public in the atmosphere of unsavoury jingoism that followed partition, and British cultural stock was at pretty low value following our hasty scuttle from the subcontinet. Given all these factors, the potential market was likely viewed as extremely limited and that single edition was probably a comparatively small one--certainly relative to the large ones enjoyed by British regimental histories.

 

I do wonder if each regimental centre has a pallet of their histories gathering dust in a corner...
Same with their archives...

 

Injurious.This may well also be be a kick in the nuts,but i also obtained the other book that was compiled by BRIGADIER W. E. H. CONDON O.B.E. The Frontier Force Rifles. Printed and bound in Gt Britain by Gale & Polden Ltd, at their Wellington Press Aldershot.

 

I would like to think so, but--to take a single example--we had a relative of a officer whose regiment remained with the Indian army posting here to say that the regimental centre was asking British sources to help supply copies of old paperwork and publications because they had so little with which to record their history.

No idea how typical this case is.