British Army in India - WW1

[tejjy]

I'm looking for detail on what the British army was doing in India during WW1, and in particular which regiments were where & when.

As I understand it, there are two different "projects"; one is supporting the war in Mesopotamia (about which I have read a fairly detailed book - but inevitably simplified to fit into itself) and the other is dealing with opportunistic uprisings motivated more-or-less by the belief that the European war was a handy distraction. This is the topic I am most interested in but I am really struggling to get started. I spent a happy hour with a librarian in the BL when their computers weren't publicly available, but the two of us could find nothing in that time.

I feel somebody somewhere knows something about this...

I'm sure it's an enormous topic, but how to start?

thanks in anticipation

 

[Andy J2022]

Technically speaking there were very few elements of the British Army in India at that time. The Indian Army was a distinct entity which was mainly officered by the British and with large percentage of the more technical roles being filled with British other ranks who were seconded to the Indian Army. Obviously the British were in political control and decided on how the Indian Army would be deployed.
Consequently it is not really possible to separate what the British were doing from what the Indian Army was doing.

For an overview of what is a huge subject (and a huge Army - over 2,000,000 men) I suggest you take a look at this Wikipedia article and then follow some of the sources for a more detailed look at specific deployments.

[youngtug]

You mightt find this interesting;
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/41648334@N07/albums/72157628289021613/with/6462656783
   and;
         https://live.staticflickr.com/2469/3928561505_742dc78cd0_c.jpg

[alan o]

In 1914 most of the professional Regular Army Battalions were brought back to UK for the Western Front and others.  They were replaced by the Territorials.  This site will tell you which ones were where

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/

The Territorials were of an adequate standard for Garrison duties and many remained in India for the whole war.

[tejjy]

Technically speaking there were very few elements of the British Army in India at that time.

These are the ones i am interested in. i thought being only a few would make It relatively easy, but in actuality they get swamped. Thanks for that Wikipedia link, it's good background, a lot i didn't know.