Page 142 - Leadership in the Indian Army

repatriated to India. Towards the end of 1946, Usman was posted as GSO 1
to the 2nd Airborne Division, which was being Indianised. When World
War II ended, pressure on the British to accelerate the pace of Indianisation

increased. After the Eight Unit Scheme had been introduced in 1922, only
one division (4th Indian Division) and one cavalry brigade had been
Indianised. It was now decided to also Indianise 2nd Airborne Division,
which was then located at Karachi. Earlier known as the 44th Airborne, the
division had three parachute brigades—the 50th, located at Quetta; and the
77th and 14th, both located at Malir. Each brigade had one British, one
Gurkha and one Indian para battalion. After reorganisation, all British and

Gurkha troops were withdrawn and replaced by Indians. The Indian
Parachute Regiment, raised in December 1944, was disbanded and the para
battalions were to become regular units, from certain nominated regiments
of the Indian Army.
Major General S.C. Sinha, who was then serving in 3 Para Battalion of
the Mahratta (now Maratha) Light Infantry as a captain, recalls that

Usman’s posting came as a surprise to everyone. A few months earlier,
when Major General Downes, a British officer serving as GOC 2nd
Airborne Division, was being posted out, he gave a farewell speech to the
officers of his division. Most of the officers were British, and he tried to
reassure them that they need not worry about losing their jobs to Indians,
since it would take the latter many years to come up to the required
standards. To reinforce his point, he mentioned that he had interviewed

several Indian officers for the appointment of GSO 1, and found only one
who could fit the bill. And this officer, he gloated, was not a volunteer for
parachute duties. General Downes had obviously not heard about Usman,
who was subsequently selected for the job. Fortunately, the new GOC,
Major General C.H. Boucher, was from the Gurkhas, and did not have any
bias against Indian officers. He himself had not been a paratrooper, and

underwent the basic para course and jumps at Chaklala before assuming
command of the division on 31 March 1946.
The process of reorganisation continued for several months. The British
and Gurkha battalions were replaced by Indian units. By January 1947, 14
Para Brigade comprised 4 Para Battalion of the 6 Rajputana Rifles
(Outram’s), 1 Para Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment, and 3 Para
Battalion of 16 Punjab Regiment; 50 Para Brigade had 3 Para Battalion of 1

Punjab Regiment, 3 Para Battalion of the Baluch Regiment, and 2 Para