Auxiliary Force (India)
The Auxiliary Force (India) (AFI) was a part-time, paid volunteer organisation within the Indian Army in British India. Its units were entirely made up of European and Anglo-Indian personnel.
The AFI was created by the Auxiliary Force Act 1920[1] to replace the unpopular British section of the Indian Defence Force, which had recruited by conscription. By contrast, the AFI was an all-volunteer force modelled after the British Territorial Army.
The Indian parallel to the AFI was the Indian Territorial Force.
Units of the AFI on 3 September 1939
| Name | Headquarters |
|---|---|
| Contingents | |
| Agra Contingent | Agra |
| Allahabad Contingent | Allahabad |
| Bangalore Contingent | Bangalore |
| Bareilly Corps | Bareilly |
| Bareilly Contingent | Naini Tal |
| Bombay Contingent | Bombay |
| Cawnpore Contingent | Cawnpore |
| Dehra Dun Contingent[2] | Dehra Dun |
| Delhi Contingent[3] | Delhi |
| Karachi Corps | Karachi |
| Lucknow Contingent | Lucknow |
| Madras Contingent | Madras |
| Poona Contingent | Poona |
| Punjab Contingent | Lahore |
| Cavalry regiments | |
| Assam Valley Light Horse | Dibrugarh |
| Bihar Light Horse | Muzaffarpur |
| Bombay Light Patrol[4] | Bombay |
| Calcutta Light Horse | Calcutta |
| Chota Nagpur Regiment | Ranchi |
| Northern Bengal Mounted Rifles | Darjeeling |
| Punjab Light Horse[5] | Lahore |
| Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles | Madras |
| Surma Valley Light Horse | Silchar |
| Allahabad Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)[6] | Allahabad |
| Cawnpore Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)[7] | Cawnpore |
| Lucknow Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)[8] | Lucknow |
| Armoured Car companies | |
| Bangalore Armoured Car Company[9] | Bangalore |
| Artillery brigades[10] | |
| Bengal Artillery, RA | Barrackpore |
| I (Calcutta Port Defence) Brigade, RA | Calcutta |
| V (Cossipore) Field Brigade, RA | Cossipore |
| Separate artillery batteries | |
| No. 3 (Madras) Field Battery, RA[11] | Madras |
| No. 10 (Bombay) Battery, RA[4] | Bombay |
| No. 13 (Lucknow) Field Battery, RA[8] | Lucknow |
| No. 15 (Kirkee) Field Battery, RA[12] | Kirkee |
| No. 17 (Agra) Field Battery, RA[13] | Agra |
| No. 18 (Bareilly) Field Battery, RA[14] | Bareilly |
| No. 20 (Cawnpore) Field Battery, RA[7] | Cawnpore |
| Engineer companies | |
| No. 1 (Calcutta) Fortress Company, RE | Calcutta |
| No. 3 (Bombay) Fortress Company, RE[4] | Bombay |
| No. 4 (Karachi) Fortress Company, RE[15] | Karachi |
| Signal companies | |
| No. 1 (Madras) Signal Company[11] | Madras |
| Railway battalions | |
| Assam Bengal Railway Battalion | Chittagong |
| Bengal Nagpur Railway Battalion | Kharagpur |
| Bengal and North Western Railway Battalion | Gorakhpur |
| 1st Battalion, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment | Lower Parel |
| 2nd Battalion, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment | Ajmer |
| Eastern Bengal Railway Battalion | Sealdah |
| 1st Battalion, East Indian Railway Regiment | Lillooah |
| 2nd Battalion, East Indian Railway Regiment | Lucknow |
| 1st Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment | Parel |
| 2nd Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment | Jhansi |
| 1st Battalion, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles | Perambur |
| 2nd Battalion, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles | Hubli |
| North Western Railway Battalion | Lahore |
| South Indian Railway Battalion | Trichinopoly |
| Infantry battalions | |
| Allahabad Rifles[6] | Allahabad |
| Bangalore Battalion (Bangalore Rifle Volunteers)[9] | Bangalore |
| Bombay Battalion[4] | Bombay |
| Calcutta and Presidency Battalion | Calcutta |
| Calcutta Scottish | Calcutta |
| Cawnpore Rifles[7] | Cawnpore |
| East Coast Battalion | Vizayapatam |
| Hyderabad Rifles | Secunderabad |
| Kolar Gold Fields Battalion | Oorgaum |
| Lucknow Rifles[8] | Lucknow |
| Madras Guards[11] | Madras |
| Nagpur Rifles | Nagpur |
| Nilgiri Malabar Battalion | Ootacamund |
| Poona Rifles[12] | Poona |
| Punjab Rifles[5] | Lahore |
| Simla Rifles | Simla |
| Sind Rifles[15] | Karachi |
| Separate infantry companies | |
| Bhusawal Company[16] | Bhusawal |
| Coorg and Mysore Company | Mercara |
| Eastern Bengal Company | Dacca |
| Yercaud Company | Yercaud |
| Machine-gun companies | |
| No. 2 (Karachi) Machine-Gun Company[15] | Karachi |
| No. 5 (Agra) Machine-Gun Company[13] | Agra |
In literature
The Auxiliary Force features extensively in the plot of John Masters' novel Bhowani Junction, focusing on a community of Anglo-Indian railway workers at an Indian town in 1946, on the verge of the British withdrawal.
Footnotes
- "Indian Auxiliary Forces: A Territorial Scheme", The Times, 1 October 1920
- 3 Infantry Platoons, 1 Wireless Telegraphy Section & 4 Motor Platoons.
- 1 Cavalry Troop, 1 Infantry Company & 3 Motor Platoons.
- Part of Bombay Contingent
- Part of Punjab Contingent
- Part of Allahabad Contingent
- Part of Cawnpore Detachment
- Part of Lucknow Contingent
- Part of Bangalore Contingent
- soon renamed regiments.
- Part of Madras Contingent
- Part of Poona Contingent
- Part of Agra Contingent
- Part of Bareilly Contingent
- Part of Karachi Contingent
- Administered by 1st Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment.
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