However, during World War II, all the three major Axis Powers, at some stage of their campaign against Britain, sought to support/exploit the armed revolutionary activities within India and aided the recruitment of a military force from disaffected Indian prisoners-of war captured while serving with the British Commonwealth forces and Indian expatriates, of which the most famous, and successful, was probably the Indian National Army that came into being with Japanese Support in the Far East. Italy had in 1942 created the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan, with ex-Indian Army personnel and Italians previously resident in India and Persia, that ultimately served under Ragruppamento Centri Militari. However, these efforts proved unsuccessful, given the overtly propagandist nature of their efforts that ultimately found little acceptance among the constituent soldiers, and the lack of a leadership that would deemed legitimate by the troops. By November 1942, following the defeats in El Almein, the Italian efforts had failed.

However at this time in India, although the Congress Party had passed resolutions conditionally supporting the fight against fascism, Indian public opinion was more hostile at Britain's unilateral decision to declare India a belligerent on the side of the allies. Among the more rebellious amongst Indian political leaders of the time was  Subhash Chandra Bose, who was viewed as a potent threat enough that when the war started, the British Raj put him under arrest, and later, house arrest. Bose escaped from under British surveillance at his house in Calcutta  on January 19, 1941, with the help of family members, members of his party- the Forward Bloc and later the  Abwehr, he made his way through Afghanistan to the Soviet Union. Once in Russia the NKVD transported Bose to  Moscow where he hoped that Russia's traditional enmity to British rule in India would result in support for his plans for a popular rising in India. However, Bose found the Soviets' response disappointing and was rapidly passed over to the German Ambassador in Moscow, Count von der Schulenberg, who arranged for Bose to be sent to Berlin at the beginning of April where he met Ribbontrop and later, Hitler. In Berlin, Bose set up the Azad Hind Radio and the Free India Centre which commenced broadcasting to Indians in short wave frequencies. The Azad Hind Radio  broadcasts were estimated to have regularly been received by 30,000 Indians who possessed the requisite receiver. However, soon, Bose's aim became to raise an army that he imagined would march to India's NWFP with German forces through the Caucasus and trigger the downfall of the Raj.

 Origin

Recruits of the Free India Legion at Königsbrück.

Initially a core group of 27 officers were selected in May 1941 and flown to Berlin. A larger PoW camp of about 10,000 was also set up in Annaburg where Subhash Bose met Indian PoWs. From these, a group of approximately 6,000 men were transferred to the Frankenburg Camp, from which a further core of 300 soldiers were sent to Konigsbruck for training and induction. It was at Königsbrück that uniforms were issued, in German feldgrau with the badge of the Leaping Tiger of Azad Hind. The formation of the Indian National Army was announced by the German Propaganda Ministry in January 1942 . It did not, however, take oath until 26 August 1942, as the Legion Freies Indien of the German Army. By May of 1943, the numbers had been swelled, aided by the enlistment as volunteers of Indian expatriates in Germany.

Organization

The British Indian Army, possibly as an extension of the divide and rule policy, organized regiments and units on the basis of religion and regional identity. Bose, from very early on, sought to eradicate this practice to build on an unified Indian identity. Consequently, the Free India Legion was organized as mixed units so that Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs, Jats, Rajputs, Marathas and Garhwalis all served side-by- side. Approximately two-thirds of the Legion's members were Muslim and one- third Hindu and other religions, including a large number of Sikhs. That Bose's idea of developing a unified nationalist identity was successful is evident from the fact that when Himmler proposed in late 1943- after Bose's Departure to the Far East- that the Muslim soldiers of the I.R. 950 be recruited into the 13th SS Volunteer Bosnian-Herzegovinian Mountain Division (Croatia) that was formed at the time, the head of the SS Head office Gottlob Berger was obliged to point out that while the Bosnians perceived themselves as people of an European identity, the Muslims perceived themselves as Indians.

Uniform and Standard

Troop of the Legion Freies Indien. The badge of the Leaping Tiger can be seen on the uniform.

The standard of the Legion Freies Indien. The same design came to be adopted as the flag of Azad Hind

Structure and Units

Free India Legion was organized as a standard German army infantry regiment of three battalions of four companies each, with, at least initially all the commissioned officers German. It has been later referred to as Panzergrenadier Regiment 950 (indische), indicating the unit was partially motorized. It was equipped with 81 motor vehicles and 700 horses. In this structure, the legion came to consist of

• I. Bataillon |Infanterie Kompanien 1 to 4
• II. Bataillon |Infanterie Kompanien 5 to 8
• III. Bataillon |Infanterie Kompanien 9 to 12
• 13th Infanteriegeschütz Kompanie (Infantry-Gun Company |consisting of six 7.5cm leichtes Infanteriegeschutz 18)
• 14th Panzerjäger Kompanie (Anti-tank Company | consisting of six  Panzerabwehrkanone)
• 15th Pionier Kompanie (Engineer Company)
• Ehrenwachkompanie (Honour Guard Company)

It also consisted of Hospital staff and Training & Maintenance Staff (Ausbildungs und Betreutungsstab )