XI Corps (India)

XI Corps
Active1950 - present
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Army
RoleStrike Corps
SizeArmy Corps
Part ofWestern Command
Garrison/HQJalandhar
Nickname(s)Vajra Corps
Defenders of Punjab[1]
Battle honoursTheatre Honour:
Punjab
Battle Honours:
Dograi
Barki
Asal Uttar
Sehjra
Dera Baba Nanak[2]
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Gen Vijay B Nair
Notable
commanders		General Ved Prakash Malik
General Om Prakash Malhotra
Lt Gen Naveen Chand Rawlley
Lt Gen J S Dhillon
Lt Gen T B Henderson Brooks
Indian Army Corps (1915 - Present)
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XXI Corps I Corps

The XI Corps of the Indian Army is based in Jalandhar and is a part of Western Command.

History

XI Corps was raised to take command of the formations in the Punjab in 1950[3] as India reorganised its post-1947 army to meet the new threat of Pakistan.[4] It was raised on March 1, 1950 at Ambala under the command of Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh.[5] The corps headquarters was relocated to Jalandhar in July 1951.[2]

To reduce the load of XI Corps, X Corps was formed at Bathinda on 1 July 1979, taking over south Punjab and north Rajasthan.[6]

Formation Sign

The Corps formation sign consists of the 'red-white-red background' depicting a corps of the Indian Army overlaid by a Vajra, the powerful thunderbolt weapon of Lord Indra, the symbol of sacrifice of the great sage Dadhichi, who voluntarily sacrificed his body to make the fiercest weapon from his thighbone.[5]

Vajra Corps Platinum Jubilee, 1 March 2020

Organisation

The corps consists of:[7]

  • 7 Infantry Division (Golden Arrow Division) headquartered at Firozpur, raised in 1964.[8]
  • 9 Infantry Division (Pine Division) headquartered at Meerut.[9] It has one brigade each at Meerut, Delhi and Jalandhar.
  • 15 Infantry Division (Panther Division) headquartered at Amritsar.[10] Appears to include 350 Infantry Brigade.[11]
  • 23 (Independent) Armoured Brigade (Flaming Arrow Brigade) at Khasa, Amritsar.[12]
  • 55 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade (Double Victory Brigade) at Beas[13][14]
  • Corps Artillery Brigade[15]
  • Corps Air Defence Brigade[16]
Vajra Shaurya Sthal, Jalandhar Cantonment - the Corps war memorial

Operations

List of Commanders

Vajra Museum, Jalandhar[18]
Name Rank Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission References
Kalwant Singh Lieutenant General 1 March 1950 1st Punjab Regiment [5]
S P P Thorat 1955 May 1957 1/14 Punjab Regiment [19][5]
T B Henderson Brooks 1962 1963 5th Maratha Light Infantry [20]
Joginder Singh Dhillon November 1963 August 1966 Bengal Sappers [21]
Premindra Singh Bhagat August 1966 August 1970 Bombay Sappers
Naveen Chand Rawlley 1970 1972 12th Frontier Force Regiment [22]
Om Prakash Malhotra May 1972 July 1974 Regiment of Artillery [23]
Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar 1984 1985 Corps of Signals [24]
V K Nayar 1985 31 October 1987 Parachute Regiment[nb 1] [26]
Bakshi Krishan Nath Chhibber July 1990 September 1992 9th Gorkha Rifles [27]
Ved Prakash Malik August 1992 Sikh Light Infantry [28][5]
H B Kala April 1995 Jat Regiment [29]
Virendra Kumar Sewal Armoured Corps
Kamal Davar March 2000 April 2001 7th Light Cavalry [30]
Shantonu Choudhry April 2001 April 2002 Regiment of Artillery [31]
Krishnamurthy Nagaraj Apr 2002 May 2003 Maratha Light Infantry [32]
S Pattabhiraman May 2003 May 2004 Bombay Sappers [33][5]
Parmendra Kumar Singh May 2004 May 2005 Regiment of Artillery [34]
Mandhata Singh May 2005 April 2006 9th Gorkha Rifles [34]
Noble Thamburaj May 2006 September 2007 Bombay Sappers [35]
S S Kumar October 2007 August 2008 Brigade of the Guards [36]
Virender Singh Tonk August 2008 July 2009 Rajput Regiment [37]
Ramesh Halgali 24 July 2009 August 2010 Sikh Light Infantry [38]
Munish Sibal August 2010 November 2011 Rajputana Rifles [39][40]
Sanjeev Madhok November 2011 March 2013 Brigade of the Guards [41]
Ashwini Kumar Bakshi March 2013 July 2014 Bihar Regiment [42]
N P S Hira August 2014 31 July 2015 Sikh Light Infantry [43]
Jagbir Singh Cheema 21 August 2015 31 August 2016 Sikh Regiment [44][45]
B S Sahrawat 1 September 2016 2 November 2017 Kumaon Regiment [46]
Dushyant Singh 2 November 2017 4 November 2018 Maratha Light Infantry [47]
Arvind Dutta 5 November 2018 5 November 2019 Dogra Regiment [48]
Sanjeev Sharma 6 November 2019 2 December 2020 Rajputana Rifles [49]
C B Ponnappa 2 December 2020 10 February 2022 Mahar Regiment [50]
Devendra Sharma 11 February 2022 15 May 2023 14th Horse (Scinde Horse) [51]
Vijay B Nair 15 May 2023 Incumbent Punjab Regiment [52]

Notes

  1. ^ Originally a Signals officer, General Nayar, after persistent pestering of his bosses, managed a transfer to his desired regiment — the Maratha Light Infantry (MLI), securing a billet with 2 Para (3rd battalion, MLI, converted to paratroop infantry).[25]

References

  1. ^ "Vajra Corps celebrates 71st Raising Day". 1 March 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Vajra Corps - 'Defenders of Punjab' - celebrates Platinum Jubilee". The Times of India. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  3. ^ Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 26.
  4. ^ "IPS Driver Error". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Vajra Corps celebrates Raising Day". 17 March 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Commands of the Indian Army, South Western (Sapta Shakti) Command: Forever Victorious". 16 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Vajra Corps celebrates Infantry Day". 28 October 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  8. ^ Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 40
  9. ^ "Golden moments at Pine Division". 9 August 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  10. ^ "15 Infantry division celebrates its raising day". 1 October 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  11. ^ Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, 166.
  12. ^ "Army Commander Western Command visits Khasa Military station". 18 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. ^ Renaldi & Rikhye 2011.
  14. ^ "War Disabled Soldiers and Veer Naris Meet Organised at Beas". 16 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Vajra Corps organises Veer Nari meet". 4 May 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Vajra Air Defence felicitates veer naris at annual event". 17 December 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Saluting 'Defenders of Punjab'". 7 March 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Vajra Museum inaugurated". 6 October 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  19. ^ Singh, VK (2005). Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers. SAGE India. p. 140. ISBN 978-0761933229.
  20. ^ "1962 war report: When Nehru stepped on the Dragon's tail". The Times of India. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Last salute to the lion of 1965". 19 December 2003. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  22. ^ "1971 operations - Case West - I". Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  23. ^ "COAS pays Tribute to Former COAS Gen Om Prakash Malhotra". 31 December 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Examples of Learning in Counter-Insurgency". Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Unforgiving take on past". 11 August 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  26. ^ "PIB Release" (PDF). 27 October 1987. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Souvenir 1995" (PDF). Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  28. ^ "COVER STORY: DECORATED DUO". 16 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  29. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  30. ^ "Golden jubilee of Vajra Corps". 4 March 2000. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  31. ^ "Lt Gen Shantonu Choudhry appointed Vice Chief of Army Staff". 14 December 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  32. ^ "Vajra Corps celebrates Raising Day". 1 March 2003. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  33. ^ "Pattabhiraman takes over as GOC-in-C, Western Command". 3 February 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  34. ^ a b "Lieut-Gen Mandhata Singh is new GOC of Vajra Corps". 22 May 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  35. ^ "Lt Gen Kumar takes over as GOC of Vajra Corps". 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  36. ^ "Vajra Celebrations". 8 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  37. ^ "Lt Gen VS Tonk takes command of Vajra Corps". 21 August 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  38. ^ "K'taka man to head military training". 17 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  39. ^ "Lt.Gen. Sibal to head Vajra Corps". 18 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  40. ^ "Appointment". 17 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  41. ^ "BriefLt Gen Madhok takes over Vajra Corps Command". The Times of India. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  42. ^ "Lieutant general AK Bakshi assumes command of Vajra Corps". 13 March 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  43. ^ "Lt Gen Hira to take over as new Northern Command Chief of Staff today". 1 August 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  44. ^ "LT GEN JS CHEEMA, PVSM, AVSM (RETD)". Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  45. ^ "Deadlock over Army postings: GOC 11 Corps appointed officiating Western Army Commander". 29 January 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  46. ^ "Lt Gen BS Sahrawat takes over as commanding officer of Vajra Corps". Chandigarh. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  47. ^ "Vajra Corps GOC". 3 November 2017.
  48. ^ "Lt Gen Arvind Dutta takes over command of Vajra Corps". Jalandhar. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  49. ^ "Lt Gen sharma is Goc vajra corps". Jalandhar. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  50. ^ Service, Tribune News. "Lt Gen C Bansi Ponnappa is new GOC Vajra Corps". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  51. ^ "Lieut Gen Devendra Sharma is new Vajra Corps commander". 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  52. ^ "Lt Gen Sharma to take over as Western Command chief of staff". 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
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