| Battaglione Azad Hindoustan | |
|---|---|
| Italian: Battaglione India libera | |
 Muhammad Iqbal Shedai is at the sixth from left, in a white turban, with Lt Col. Massimo Invrea at eight, Ajit Singh at fourteenth and other officers of Battalion Azad Hindustan | |
| Active | May 1942 – November 1942 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Italy |
| Branch |  Royal Italian Army |
| Type | |
| Size | c. 400 (maximum)[1] |
| Garrison/HQ | Rome |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
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Battaglione Azad Hindoustan (in Italian: Battaglione India libera - "Free India Battalion") was a foreign legion unit formed in Fascist Italy under the Raggruppamento Centri Militari in July 1942. The unit, raised initially as Centro I, was headed by Mohammad Iqbal Shedai[2] – a long term Indian resident of Rome – and was formed of Indian ex-prisoners-of-war from British India.[1]
Raised along with units dedicated to Tunisia (Centro T) and the Arabs (Centro A), it was tasked with intelligence gathering and sabotage operations behind enemy lines. A part of Centro I was renamed Battaglione Azad Hindoustan in August 1942 when the Raggruppamento Centri Militari itself was redesignated as Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse ("Red Arrows group").[3] By the time of its disbandment in November 1942, Battaglione Azad Hindoustan came to be between three hundred and fifty[2] and four hundred strong.[1]
Units of the Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse were intended to infiltrate on the ground, from submarines and by parachute. Accordingly, a further unit was raised within the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan to form the plotone paracadutisti ("parachute platoon"). The chosen troops were sent for paratroop combat training to the parachute school at Tarquinia.[3]
- ^ a b c Lundari 2005, p. 90.
- ^ a b Borra R. Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian National Army, and the war of India's liberation. J Hist Rev.Winter, 1982; vol. 03 no. 4: p. 407.
- ^ a b Lundari 2005, p. 99.