Re: Singapore - what happened

Rich Rostrom wrote:

I've read that the Indian troops in
Malaya were mostly recent recruits,
and that the veteran non-coms had
nearly all been sent to the Middle East.

It depends precisely which Indian units we're discussing.

12th Indian Infantry Brigade was a pre-war formation with pre-war battalions.

9th and 11th Indian Infantry Divisions were 1940 divisions (along with 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th), composed of pre-war battalions and other units in war-raised higher formations. The infantry battalions had been bled for cadres for war-raised units and refilled with recruits. The divisions were short on formation-level training and equipment.

44th and 45th Indian Infantry Brigades were war-raised, the component units in 1940, the brigade staffs in 1941 as part of 17th Indian Infantry Division.

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