WW2 Printed Indian Army 34th Corps formation signs.

Matching pair of printed formation signs, uncut from the issuing store in great condition.

XXXIV (34th) Indian Corps — WW2 history

 Formed: Raised in 1945, assigned to Fourteenth Army under Lieutenant-General Ouvry Lindfield Roberts, after the Burma reconquest was largely won and the Fourteenth Army returned to India to plan the next phase of retaking Southeast Asia.

 Core, disbanded Chindit units: Interestingly, the Chindits were disbanded in February 1945, and several brigade HQs plus many Chindit veterans went to form the 44th Airborne Division, while the force headquarters and signals units formed the core of XXXIV Indian Corps — so this corps has a real link to the famous Wingate long-range penetration force.

Intended role: It was earmarked for an amphibious assault on the western coast of Malaya, codenamed Operation Zipper, part of the planned reconquest of Malaya and Singapore.

No combat action: Japan’s surrender forestalled Zipper, so the corps did not see wartime combat — the invasion never had to happen.

Occupation duty instead: Operation Zipper went ahead anyway after the surrender, as the fastest way to get occupation troops into Malaya. By September 1945, XXXIV Corps was active in Malaya with HQ 2nd British Infantry Division, 25th Indian Division, 50th Indian Tank Brigade, and 150th Indian Infantry Brigade (the last en route to Hong Kong).