Original force
On 4 October 1914, the headquarters of 6th (Poona) Division in India, which had been ordered to mobilise to go to France as part of Indian Expeditionary Force “A”, received orders to hold the following force in readiness to go overseas:
- 16th Indian Infantry Brigade
- 2nd Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment
- 104th Wellesley’s Rifles
- 117th Mahrattas
- 20th Duke of Cambridge’s Own Infantry (Brownlow’s Punjabis)
- 22nd Company of 3rd Sappers and Miners
- 1st Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade
- 23rd Mountain Battery
- 30th Mountain Battery
- One section of 34th Divisional Signal Company
- 125th Field Ambulance (indian)
- 12th Mule Corps
- 13th Mule Corps
- Supply and Transport Column
- Field Post Office
- Ordnance Field Park.
In all, this force had a strength at embarkation of:
- 91 British and 82 Indian officers
- 918 British and 3640 Indian other ranks
- 460 followers (of which 171 were with the Field Ambulance
- 1290 animals (horses and mules).
By 1 December 1914
The original force had been expanded by the addition of:
- IEF “D” staff (essentially a divisional staff at this stage)
- 33rd Queen Victoria’s Own Light Cavalry
- 10th Brigade Royal Field Artillery
- 63rd Battery RFA
- 76th Battery RFA
- 82nd Battery RFA
- 6th Divisional Ammunition Column RFA
- 17th Company of 3rd Sappers and Miners
- Remainder of 34th Divisional Signal Company
- 3 Troop of Wireless Signal Squadron (later renamed 41st Wireless Signal Company)
- 48th Pioneers
- 117th Indian Infantry Brigade
- 1st Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
- 119th Infantry (The Mooltan Regiment)
- 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry
- 22nd Punjabis
- 18th Indian Infantry Brigade
- 2nd Battalion Norfolk Regiment
- 110th Mahratta Light Infanry
- 120th Rajputana Infantry
- 7th Duke of Connaught’s Own Rajputs
- 16th Field Ambulance (British)
- 17th Field Ambulance (British)
- 126th Field Ambulance (Indian)
- 127th Field Ambulance (Indian)
- 19th Combined Clearing Hospital
- 57th Indian Stationary Hospital
- 3rd (A) General Hospital (British – 2.5 Sections)
- 9th General Hospital (Indian – 6 Sections)
- 2nd X-Ray Section
- Advanced Depot Medical Stores
- Naval force
- HMS Dalhousie (Royal Indian Marine)
- HMS Espiegle
- HMS Lawrence
- HMS Ocean
- HMS Odin
- Comet
- Lewis Pelly
- Miner
- Shaitan
- Sirdar-i-Naphte
- Mashona
- Blosse Lynch, Malamir and Majidieh (Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Co., unarmed)
- Shihab, Shurur and Sumana (Societe des Transports Fluviaux)
- Salami and six small launches (local)