XXXIII Corps (India)

XXXIII Corps is a corps of the Indian Army. It draws some of its heritage from the British Indian XXXIII Corps which was formed in 1942, but disbanded in 1945. It was re-raised in 1960 at Shillong.[2]

This article is about the present-day formation of the Indian Army. For British Indian formation of the Second World War, see XXXIII Corps (British India).
XXXIII Corps
Active1948-1949
1960-Present
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Army
SizeCorps
Part ofArmy Eastern Command
Garrison/HQSiliguri
Nickname(s)Trishakti Corps
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt General AK Singh[1]
Notable
commanders		General Deepak Kapoor
General Krishnaswamy Sundarji
General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor

Re-Raising

The corps was re-raised by Lt Gen Umrao Singh on 1 November 1960.,[2] in order to reduce IV Corps's area of responsibilities. XXXIII Corps covered Sikkim.

The Corps is based in Sukna, North Bengal near the city of Siliguri. Its area of responsibility includes North Bengal, Sikkim and if needed, Bhutan, It comprises three mountain divisions, 17th (Gangtok), 20th (Binnaguri), and 27th (Kalimpong).[3]

Indian Army Corps (1947 - Present)
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XXI Corps -

The coat of arms consists of a white horizontal band between two red bands (the standard formation sign background for corps in the Indian Army) with two crossed spears with wings in the foreground. The Corps HQ has an Indian Air Force air control unit attached to it, 3 TAC, commanded by a group captain. The corps has an organic Army Aviation Helicopter Squadron based at Sevoke flying the HAL Chetak. It is commanded by a full colonel.

The Corps is commanded by a Three Star officer of the rank of Lieutenant General and holds the title General Officer Commanding (GOC). His chief of staff is a Two Star officer of the rank of Major General. The total troop strength of the XXXIII corps is estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 soldiers.

The Indian Air Force bases at Bagdogra (Siliguri) and Hashimara are the air units co-tasked to the XXXIII Corps Area of Responsibility.

It currently consists of:

  • 17th Mountain Division (Blackcat Division[4]) headquartered at Gangtok.
    • It was raised in 1959 and converted to a mountain division in 1963.
    • It is assigned to the Sikkim sector.[5]
  • 20th Mountain Division (Kirpan Division[6]) headquartered at Binnaguri.
    • It was raised in 1963 and assigned to the Sikkim sector.[5]
    • Composed of 66, 165, and 202 Mountain Brigades in 1971.
  • 27th Mountain Division (Striking Lion Division[7]) headquartered at Kalimpong.
    • It was converted to a mountain division in 1963.[5]
  • Artillery brigade

XXXIII Corps in the India Pakistan War 1971

The Siliguri-based XXXIII Corps handled the sensitive Indo-Tibetan border. XXXIII Corps, the formation that was responsible for the defence of the Macmahon line. The 33 Corps Operating Signal Regiment was a part of 14 Army during World War-II. The regiment moved to its present location along with the Corps HQ in 1962. It participated in the 1962 India-China war and captured some Chinese communication equipment. These equipment are kept in Corps of Signals Museum at Jabalpur to enable the future generations of soldiers know about the bravery and dedication shown by their predecessors.

The XXXIII Corps under Lieutenant General Mohan L. Thapan controlled 6 and 20 Mountain Divisions and 71 Mountain Brigade. While fighting the war to the south, however, the corps also had to look north and retained command of 17 and 27 Mountain Divisions on the Tibetan frontier. Furthermore, Thapan could not commit 6 Mountain Division without permission from New Delhi as it was to be held ready to move to the Bhutanese border in case China intervened in the war.

As elsewhere along the border, Indian forces in support of the Mukti Bahini made significant in roads into East Pakistan prior to 3 December. Most notable was Brigadier Pran Nath Kathpalia’s 71 Mountain Brigade, which had pushed to the outskirts of Thakurgaon by the eve of war. Efforts to capture the heavily fortified border village of Hilli, however, failed repeatedly in a struggle that raged off and on from 24 November to 11 December. Resolutely defended by Pakistani 4 Frontier Force, Hilli blocked the proposed advance of 20 Division across the narrow “waist” of this sector.

After heavy losses in front of Hilli, the Indian division solved this problem by swinging around to the north and unleashing 340 Brigade under Brigadier Joginder Singh Bakshi. Bakshi moved swiftly to control the main north-south road, unhinging the defense of Hilli, splitting Pakistani 16 Division, and opening the way to Bogra, which town he effectively controlled by war’s end. The Pakistani division, despite continued resistance by isolated units, had ceased to exist as a coherent combat formation. Indicative of the chaotic situation, General Shah and the commander of 205 Brigade, Brigadier Tajammul Hussain Malik, were almost captured when Indian forces ambushed their convoy on 7 December. On the other hand, a last-minute Indian moves north by 66 and 202 Brigades to capture Rangpur proved unsuccessful.

In secondary actions, 9 Mountain Brigade secured most of the area north of the Tista River and an ad hoc command of Indian BSF and Mukti Bahini under Brigadier Prem Singh pushed out of Malda to capture Nawabganj in the extreme southeastern corner of the sector. Despite Bakshi’s performance and the generally successful advance of 71 Brigade, much of XXXIII Corps’ offensive power was allowed to lie idle far too long and Pakistani troops still held the major towns of the sector (Rangpur, Saidpur, Dinajpur, Nator, Rajshahi) when the cease-fire was announced. Likewise, the cease-fire intervened before the Indians could implement a hastily conceived plan to transfer 340 Brigade, a tank squadron, and an artillery battery across the Jamuna via the Phulchari ferry to take part in the advance on Dacca. With the exception of this squadron, all the armour was preparing to transfer to the west by the end of the war.

General Officers Commanding
Rank Name Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission References
Lieutenant General H R S Mann 4 October 1999 19 November 2000 Brigade of the Guards [8]
Ashok Chaki 20 November 2000 19 August 2002 3/4 Gorkha Rifles [8]
Avtar Singh 20 August 2002 20 February 2004 Jat Regiment [8]
Deepak Kapoor 21 February 2004 14 April 2005 Regiment of Artillery [8]
Thomas Mathew 15 April 2005 25 August 2006 Rajput Regiment [8]
CKS Sabu 26 August 2006 25 September 2007 Regiment of Artillery [8]
Deepak Raj 26 September 2007 31 August 2008 Mechanised Infantry Regiment [9]
P K Rath 1 September 2008 25 November 2009 Regiment of Artillery [9]
D S Sidhu 26 November 2009 2 November 2010 Poona Horse [9]
Vinod Bhatia 3 November 2010 24 November 2011 Parachute Regiment [9]
K Surendranath 25 November 2011 31 January 2013 71 Armoured Regiment [9]
Kamal Jit Singh 1 February 2013 11 May 2014 63rd Cavalry [9]
G S Chandel 12 May 2014 25 July 2015 Bihar Regiment [9]
Surinder Singh 26 July 2015 26 August 2016 2nd Brigade of the Guards
Sanjay Kumar Jha 27 August 2016 27 August 2017 The Sikh Regiment
Pradeep M Bali 28 August 2017 29 August 2018 Punjab Regiment
Chandi Prasad Mohanty 30 August 2018 13 September 2019 Rajput Regiment [10]
Nav K Khanduri 13 September 2019 13 September 2020 Corps of Army Air Defence [11]
AK Singh 14 September 2020 Present

References
  1. "Welcome to the official website of Rajbhavan, Gangtok, Sikkim".
  2. "Serving the nation for 46 years". www.telegraphindia.com.
  3. Kenneth Conboy, Elite Forces of India and Pakistan, Osprey
  4. Pike, John. "17 Mountain Division / Black Cat Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  5. Conboy et al, p.8
  6. Pike, John. "20 Infantry Division / Kirpan Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  7. Pike, John. "27 Mountain Division / Striking Lion Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  8. shabana, syeda (30 August 2018). "LIEUTENANT GENERAL CP MOHANTY TAKES OVER AS GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING TRISHAKTI CORPSpic.twitter.com/YykDEduFh0". @shabana3637.
  9. "West Bengal: Delegation of 8 senior military officials of Chinese People's Liberation Army, led by Lt Gen Liu Xiaowu Dy Commander of Western Theatre Command arrived at Sukna y'day on a 2-day visit to Trishakti Corps. The visit is aimed at enhancing bilateral defence cooperation.pic.twitter.com/yRIoWAaKDT". @ANI. 4 July 2018.
  10. "Army to debut its Mountain Strike Corps next month, at HimVijay exercise in Arunachal". www.uniindia.com. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  11. "Lt. Gen Nav K Khanduri assumes charge as commander of Trishakti Corps". www.aninews.in. Retrieved 2019-09-21.

Sources
  • Jane's World Armies, Issue 19, 2006
  • Globalsecurity.org
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