British and Indian Officers in the 1920s
Courtesy: National Army Museum

The period between the First and Second World Wars saw an increase in the call for Indian self determination. Reform of the Indian armed forces was part of this process:

In the Indian Army a number of cavalry regiments and infantry battalions were selected to be ‘Indianised’. The changes were planned to end the appointment of new British subalterns (junior Officers), and to create entirely Indian officer cadres, up to and including the rank of Colonel. Previously, all Indian commissioned officers had ranked below the most junior British subaltern, and had never been able to command either British troops or their own units. Training colleges were established to prepare local personnel for command, with the Prince of Wales’s Royal Indian Military College opening at Dehra Dun in 1922, followed ten years later by the Military Academy (the Indian equivalent of Sandhurst).

In line with these reforms, the Royal Indian Marine was replaced by the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) in 1934. As a country traditionally dominated by the Army, India was slow to support its new Navy, and the RIN was administered initially by the Indian Army. During the war the RIN was built up into a highly effective naval fighting force, and a large number of Indian officers were recruited.

An independent Indian Air Force was created in 1932. From the outset, it was intended that the Indian Air Force should be composed as far as possible of Indian air and ground personnel. Officer training was conducted at the RAF College, Cranwell and the first Indian flight cadets were commissioned on 8 October 1932. However, the development of this new force was slow and only one squadron had been formed when the Second World War broke out in 1939.