Skip to content

India 1930 - 1947:

Central Command, India

With the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, and the loss of Burma, the threat of invasion by Japanese forces increased significantly. The Army in India was restructured by General WAVELL to meet this threat. Eastern Command and Southern Command were reorganised, becoming the Eastern Army and Southern Army respectively. At the same time, Northern Command became the North Western Army.

DOWNLOADABLE DOCUMENTS (pdfs)

In order to continue to provide a command structure for internal security within central India, a new command known as Central Command was formed. It became effective in May 1942. Central Command assumed responsibility for the Lahore District from the Northern Command, the Meerut District and Lucknow District from Eastern Command, and the Sind Brigade Area from the Baluchistan District (formerly the Western Independent District). By January 1945, it comprised the following Districts:

Lahore District;
Lucknow District;
Delhi District;
Nagur District.

By January 1945, the Sind Brigade Area had been redesignated as the Sind District and was under command of the North Western Army. The Meerut District had been downgraded to the Meerut Sub-Area within the Delhi District.

With the end of the Second World War, India Command was reorganised into three Commands: Southern, Northern and Eastern. Central Command was disbanded in September 1946. The Lahore District came under command of Northern Command, Lucknow District transferred to Eastern Command as the United Provinces Area, and the Meerut Sub-Area also came under command of Eastern Command.

Back To Top