Indian Air Force in WW2

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Winston didn't have a lot of say at times. The Ishapore Arsenal dates to 1907, a factory for the manufacture of gun carriages (artillery) dates to 1904. The tubes were manufactured elsewhere?
Ishapore outproduced Lithgow in terms of MK III enfield production (and usually introduced changes a few years earlier) but in relation to the size of the population of the countries, then Indian production was tiny.
IWM-E-10355-ACV-IP-19420410.jpg

over 4600 made on imported chassis's.

Granted it is small potatoes indeed in terms of WW II production and Indian military (and indeed major industrial production of any kind) may have been kept small but it was not nonexistent.

Winston could not order existing factories to shut down in the middle of a war no matter how he felt about keeping colonies dependent.
 
It wasn't so much Churchill, whose attitude towards Indian independence probably helped the Japanese recruit for the Indian National Army, as a long-standing policy to force colonies to be reliant on manufacturers from the British Isles. This predated Churchill's birth and was exemplified by things like banning cotton cloth manufacture in India.
 
It wasn't so much Churchill, whose attitude towards Indian independence probably helped the Japanese recruit for the Indian National Army, as a long-standing policy to force colonies to be reliant on manufacturers from the British Isles. This predated Churchill's birth and was exemplified by things like banning cotton cloth manufacture in India.

Best of all. After WW2, the RAF reckoned India needed 24 squadrons to defend itself with no enemies in sight. Pre WW2, next to nothing, end WW2, 12 squadrons. Lots of cheap troops to defend the Empire though.
 

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