World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe camp that would later become the Ramgarh Training Center in Bengal Presidency (now state of Jharkhand), India was originally a prisoner of war camp for Germans and Italians captured by British and Commonwealth troops in North Africa. Ramgarh accessible by rail from the river port of Calcutta (now Kolkata). In early 1942, as Burma became overrun by the Japanese, 9,000 men of Chinese 5th Army fled into India alongside of their British allies; the number was consisted of about 5,000 from Chinese 38th Division under Sun Liren, 2,500 from 22nd Division under Liao Yiaoxiang, 1,200 from 5th Corps also under Liao Yiaoxiang, and smaller numbers from 28th Division, 96th Division, and 200th Division. Ramgarh was selected in Jun 1942 as the new base for these Chinese troops, who were now collectively named "X Force". Although the Chinese had by this time almost five years of fighting experience under their belt, the Japanese having escalated the Sino-Japanese conflict into a full scale war in Jul 1937, most Chinese troops were conscripts who received little or no training. Thus, Ramgarh was immediately defined as a training camp for these survivors of Chinese 5th Army. By the end of Jun 1942, the first of the US Army instructor arrived; the first of the Chinese arrived in the following month by rail. In addition to instructors, the United States would also provide radios, rifles, artillery pieces, tanks, and trucks. Meanwhile, the British provided the large amount of food that this training center would require, and the funding to pay the wages of the Chinese soldiers. The first of the trained units, of 38th Division, returned to the front lines in Apr 1943, followed by units of 22nd Division in Sep 1943; they would play a part in the opening of the Ledo Road supply route. As space at the training center was freed up, units of Chinese 30th Division began to be brought in in Jul 1943. By the end of 1943, the center would turn out 5,368 officers and 48,125 men. Ramgarh would leave the legacy as the first US-manned military training center outside of the United States, and would remain the only one until another training center was established in Kunming, Yunnan Province in southern China later in the war.

Ramgarh Training Center Interactive Map

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Ramgarh Training Center Timeline

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