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Western Command
Insignia of the Western Command
Active	1904 - 1908 1920 - 1938 1948 - Present
Country	British India (former)  India (after 1947)
Branch	British Indian Army (former)  Indian Army (after 1947)
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Chandimandir, Haryana
Motto(s)	सर्वदा विजयी भव (May you always win)
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar
Notable commanders	FM K. M. Cariappa Gen S M Shrinagesh Gen K. S. Thimayya Gen P. N. Thapar FM Sam Manekshaw Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh Lt Gen K. P. Candeth Gen T. N. Raina Gen K. V. Krishna Rao Lt Gen Srinivas Kumar Sinha Gen Krishnaswamy Sundarji Gen S. F. Rodrigues Gen B. C. Joshi Gen J. J. Singh
Insignia
Flag

Western Command is a Command-level formation of the Indian Army. It was formed in 1920. It was disbanded following its demotion to an independent district and eventual merge with Northern Command to form the North-western Army. It was re-raised in 1947 following the transfer of Northern Command HQ to Pakistan. Until 1972, it was responsible for India's border with Pakistan in the North and West and the Chinese border in the North. The Command HQ is located at Chandimandir, Haryana, about 5 km east of Chandigarh.

Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Katiyar is the GOC-in-C: he took over on 1 July 2023.

History

Pre-Independence

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras became the Indian Army. The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.

Between 1904 and 1908, the Bombay Command was renamed as the Western Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies: Northern Army and Southern Army as recommended by then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army Lord Kitchener. This system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again: Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command.

In 1937, Western Command was downgraded to become the Western Independent District commanded by a major general. In April 1942, the Western Independent District was absorbed in the Northern Command which itself was re-designated as North Western Army.

Re-raising

After the partition of India, the erstwhile command HQ, Northern Command, went to Pakistan and was renamed as GHQ, Pakistan. The communal violence of partition necessitated the raising of a new command headquarters to relieve Army Headquarters of the day to day overseeing of operations of the two independent areas in north India.

This command, initially named Delhi and East Punjab Command was raised in Delhi on 14 September 1947 with Lt Gen Sir Dudley Russell as its commander. It was responsible to administer the Delhi Independent Area and the East Punjab Independent Area.

On 26 October 1947, following the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, Western Command was put in charge of all Indian Army operations to secure the area for India.

Initially a division sized force Jammu and Kashmir Division was raised on 5 November 1947 under Maj Gen Kulwant Singh for overseeing operations in Jammu and Kashmir. This was later split into two parts Jammu Division (under Maj Gen Atma Singh) and Srinagar Division (under Maj Gen K.S. Thimayya) to oversee operations in Jammu and Kashmir respectively.

The II Corps (Ambala), IX Corps (Yol), XI Corps (Jalandhar) and 40th Artillery Division (Ambala) are control operational units in Western Command.

Structure

Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Jammu.

The Western Command has been assigned operational units:- II Corps, IX Corps, XI Corps and 40th Artillery Division. The command in total has following units under its belt :- 6 infantry divisions, 1 armoured division, 1 artillery division, 1 Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID), 3 armoured brigades, 1 mechanized brigade, 1 Air-defence brigade, and 1 engineering brigade.

Precursors (1855–1947)

Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:

Bombay Army (1855–1895)

Bombay Command (1895–1904)

Western Command (1904–1908)

Western Command (1920–1938)

Western Independent District (1938–1942)

North-Western Army (1942–1945)

Delhi and East Punjab Command (1947–1948)

List of GOC-in-C of Western Command (1948–present)

Notes

1. ^ "Lt Gen Nav K Khanduri appointed as next chief of Army's Western Command". India Today. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
2. "Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar takes over as Western Command GOC-in-C". Hindustan Times. 2 July 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
3. ^ "Northern Army". Retrieved 4 January 2010.
4. "Commands of the Indian Army". Centre for Defence Careers. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
5. "British Military History". British Military History. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
6. ^ Sinha, Lt. Gen. S.K. (1977). Operation Rescue:Military Operations in Jammu & Kashmir 1947-49. New Delhi: Vision Books. pp. 103–127 and 174. ISBN 81-7094-012-5. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
7. Khanduri, Chandra B. (1969). Thimmayya:An Amazing Life. New Delhi: Centre for Armed Historical Research, United Service Institution of India, New Delhi through Knowledge World. p. 137. ISBN 81-87966-36-X. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
8. "District Ambala,Government of Haryana | The Historical Ambala | India". Retrieved 28 April 2024.
9. "A Complete Guide To Indian Army". Defence Guru. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
10. "Principal Controller of Defence Accounts | Government of India - Principal Controller of Defence Accounts | Government of India". pcdawc.gov.in.
11. "Army Commands" (PDF).
12. "Rediff On The NeT:Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
13. ^ "As Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya retires, Indian Army reshuffles to appoint new army chief". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
14. "Former Western Command GOC-in-C passes away at 85". Hindustan Times. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
15. "NEW ARMY C0MMANDERS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). 29 October 1989. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
16. "Ex-Western Army Commander Lt Gen Gautama passes away". 28 November 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
17. "The Tribune - Windows - Feature". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
18. "Gen J J Singh new GOC-in-C of Western Command - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
19. "Commander-level reshuffle on the cards". The Hindu. 6 April 2002. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
20. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
21. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
22. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
23. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
24. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
25. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
26. "Lt Gen Ghosh to take charge of Western Command today - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
27. "Lt Gen Ghosh, last of the 1971 war veterans, retires". Hindustan Times. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
28. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
29. "Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra assumes charge of Western Command - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
30. "Keralite is chief of Western Army Command". The Hindu. 2 July 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
31. "Lt Gen Kamal Jit Singh Promoted Western Army Commander". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
32. "Lt Gen Surinder Singh takes over as GOC-in-C". The Indian Express. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
33. "Lt Gen Ravindra Pal Singh is next GOC-in-C Western Command, to take over on Oct 1". The Indian Express. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
34. "Major rejig in military's top hierarchy on the anvil". New Indian Express. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
35. "Lt Gen Manoj Katiyar assumes charge as Western Army Commander". The Tribune. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.

Further reading

• Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhye, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011.

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