The 9th (Secunderabad) Division was an infantry division formation of the British Indian Army. It was part of the Southern Army and was formed in 1904 after Lord Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India between 1902 and 1909. He instituted large-scale reforms, including merging the three armies of the Presidencies into a unified force and forming higher level formations, eight army divisions, and brigading Indian and British units. Following Kitchener's reforms, the British Indian Army became "the force recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers." The Division remained in India on internal security duties during World War I, but some of its brigades were transferred to serve with other units. The 9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade traveled to France and served on the Western Front as part of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division. The 27th (Bangalore) Brigade served in East Africa as part of the Indian Expeditionary Force B. Force B was broken up in December 1914 and its units used for the defence of East Africa.

Composition in 1914

At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the division was commanded by Major-General A. Phayre and had the following composition:

Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade

Commander: Brigadier-General F.W.G. Wadeson

1st Secunderabad Infantry Brigade

Commander: Major-General P.S. Wilkinson

2nd Secunderabad Infantry Brigade

Commander: Brigadier-General E.H. Rodwell

Bangalore Brigade

Commander: Brigadier-General Richard Wapshare The brigade was reformed as 27th (Bangalore) Brigade and joined Indian Expeditionary Force B for service in British East Africa. The formation was:

Southern Brigade

Commander: Brigadier-General W.G. Hamilton

Engineers