Page 31 - Leadership in the Indian Army

In January 1941, Cariappa was posted as the DAQMG of 10 Indian
Division, which was then in Iraq. The general officer commanding (GOC),
‘Bill’ Slim, was overjoyed when Cariappa joined his staff in Baghdad.

World War II had begun and the division spent the next one year in Iraq,
Iran, Syria and North Africa. While it was advancing through a town called
Deir ez Zor in Syria, the mayor came to meet Cariappa, and asked him if it
was safe to let the women out. On enquiry, he revealed that having heard
rumours about the way Indians treated women, he had ordered all the
women of the town to stay indoors. Cariappa was both amused and angry.
He told the mayor that Indians never misbehaved with women and if there

was any instance of untoward behaviour, strict action would be taken
against the offenders. The mayor returned after a few days to apologise. As
Cariappa had predicted, there was not a single instance of misbehaviour
with women that involved Indian troops.
In March 1942, Cariappa was posted as second-in-command of 7 Rajput
Machine Gun Battalion, which was a new raising, at Fatehgarh. On 15 April

1942, he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel and given command of the
battalion, thus becoming the first Indian to command a battalion in the
Indian Army. In a way, his promotion was a sign that the British had finally
come to accept Indians in the officer cadre. The way was now open for
Indians to reach the top echelons of the military, and Cariappa’s
appointment was widely acclaimed not only by his compatriots but also by
several Englishmen, including Slim who was now commanding 15 Corps,

which had just retreated from Burma. Major (later General) Maharaj
Rajendra Sinhji, who had been commissioned into the 2nd Lancers from
Sandhurst on 14 July 1921, and was destined to succeed Cariappa as the C-
in-C in 1953, wrote: ‘…VCs, DSOs are a flash in the pan. A bit of luck, and
there it is. But the command of a battalion is not mere luck.’
Cariappa’s battalion comprised Muslims and Rajputs in the ranks. Among

officers, two-thirds were British and one-third Indian. The unit was
equipped with Vickers machine-guns, which required considerable skill in
handling. A battalion under raising has to start from scratch, not only in
terms of administration and training but also in terms of building up esprit
de corps. Cariappa soon welded his men into an effective fighting force. He
was a hard taskmaster and always on his feet, training and motivating his
troops. After three months, the unit was redesignated as 52 Rajput and

moved to Lahore as part of 43 Indian Armoured Division. It was converted