History
At the end of 1941, by which time 1st Indian Support Group had joined the division, it was renamed 31st Indian Armoured Division and its brigades redesignated as the 251st and 252nd Indian Armoured Brigades and 31st Indian Support Group (the Motor Brigade's name remained unchanged).
In mid-1942, by which time the support group had been disbanded, the 251st brigade was detached and the rest of the division was shipped to join the British Tenth Army and served in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The division never saw combat although the motor brigade was detached to Egypt and saw heavy action in the Western Desert Campaign during 1942 and again in 1944 and 1945 when, reformed as the 43rd Indian Infantry Brigade (Lorried) it was sent to the Italian Campaign as an independent brigade. The closest the rest of the division came to combat was in April 1944 when it was rushed to Egypt to crush a mutiny among the Greek 1st Infantry Brigade.
The Tank Regiments received M4 Shermans in November 1943, thought to be in preparation for a transfer to Italy which never came about, and only drove them in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
The Division is now active as part of the present-day Indian Army, headquartered at Jhansi as part of XXI Corps.
Read more about this topic: 31st Indian Armoured Division
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“As I am, so shall I associate, and so shall I act; Caesar’s history will paint out Caesar.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)