Organisation
Uttar Bharat Area
The present day Uttar Bharat Area had its origin as the Uttar Pradesh Area which was raised at Lucknow on 01 Jun 1946. It then comprised of Allahabad, Lucknow, Meerut and Dehradun Sub Areas. It was in Jan 1955, UP Area was moved to Bareilly as Eastern Command was shifted from Ranchi to Lucknow.
The Formation Sign of the Area, ‘A pair of inward facing Golden Fish’ has been derived from the House of Awadh and can be seen in most of their heritage buildings.
With the enlarging role of Surya Command, Uttar Bharat Area has assumed responsibility of operations along the Line of Actual Control in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The Area covers a major portion of Western Uttar Pradesh & entire Uttarakhand. It comprises of two Sub Areas namely, Paschim Uttar Pradesh Sub Area at Meerut and Uttarakhand Sub Area at Dehradun.
Madhya Bharat Area
Krishna Rao Paswan was the owner of present day Jabalpur Cantonment. The British took possession of this area and established the cantonment in 1826. A new province, Central Province was established in 1861 and its headquarters was shifted from Saugor to Jabalpur which lead to the extension of present day Jabalpur Cantonment.
As its role evolved over the decades, it was sequentially renamed as Jabalpur Brigade in 1905, JBP (Independent) Area in 1929, JBP (Independent) Sub Area in 1944, MP (Independent) Sub Area in 1958, MP Area in 1963, MP B & O Area in 1971 and is now designated as Madhya Bharat Area since Mar 2002.
The Area now covers a major portion of Central India & is geographically one of the largest Areas of Indian Army. It has three Sub Areas, namely, Purva Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh Sub Area at Prayagraj, Jharkhand & Bihar Sub Area at Danapur and Chhatisgarh & Orissa Sub Area at Raipur.
14 Infantry Division
14 Indian Infantry Division was raised on 01 Jun 1941 at Quetta (Baluchistan) and was earmarked for operations in the Middle East (present day Iran & Iraq) which was under British occupation. Division was demobilized on 31 August 1945.
HQ 14 Infantry Division was re-raised at Saugor on 10 Apr 1965 by Maj Gen RK Ranjit Singh. With three Infantry Brigades and one Artillery Brigade on its orbat, the Division was fully established in 1966 and was located at Clement Town.
In 1971 Division took part in Op CACTUS LILLY in Ferozepur – Fazilka Sector. In Jan 1976, 42 Inf Bde was placed in the orbat of the formation replacing 35 Infantry Brigade.
It was converted to RAPID (STRIKE) on 01 January 1997.
50 Independent Parachute Brigade
Parachute Regiment is the most decorated and an elite Regiment of the Indian Army. ‘First In & Last Out, the Parachute Regiment is a purely volunteer force identifiable distinctly by the Maroon beret, the Paratrooper wings.
The first Indian Parachute Formation, the 50 (Independent) Parachute Brigade, comprising of 151, 152 and 153 Parachute Battalions was formed in Oct 1941 during World War II.
In May 1945 the Brigade was employed in an Airborne role and was later expanded to form 44 Indian Airborne Division (later 2 Indian Airborne Division), comprising of 50 Indian Parachute, 77 Indian Parachute and 14 Air Landing Brigades.
Post-independence, the government retained only 50 Independent Parachute Brigade. The formation got involved in the Indo-Pak conflict of 1947-48. The then Commander Brigadier Mohammed Usman made the supreme sacrifice and was awarded ‘Mahavir Chakra’ posthumously.
In 1971, the Regiment fought numerous actions both in the Eastern and Western Theatres. The Regiment earned battle honours Poongli Bridge, Chachro and Defence of Poonch during these operations.
The formation took part in Operation Pawan (Sri Lanka) and Operation Cactus Lilly, the first successful overseas intervention operation in Maldives.
