The 6th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, created on 1 March 1941 in Secunderabad. On 11 September 1941 it was shipped to the Iraq and later Iran. During 1942 and 1943 it was part of the Tenth Army. The division remained in the Middle East where it was disbanded on 15 October 1944 in Basra, Iraq. During World War II its commanders included Maj.Gen. J.N. Thomson, Major General A.W.W. Holworthy, and Maj.Gen. B.H. Chappel.
After the Partition of India, the post-independence Indian Army reraised the 6th Division as the 6th Mountain Division in 1963. The division headquarters was initially at Naini Tal. The division is now headquartered at Bareilly and is part of the I Corps.
The Garuda Division as it is known has been commanded amongst others by Maj Gen S K Korla, DSO and Maj Gen R Z Kabraji, AVSM, ADC. Kabraji succeeded Korla and was GOC from December 1966 to January 1969. Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) D K Chandorkar took over from Kabraji.
The division commander was tried and dismissed for corruption in late 2006. Major General Gur Iqbal Singh was commanding the division when the scam was detected in 2005. At that time, G. Illangovan commanded the 99 Mountain Brigade at Chaubatia and D.S. Grewal commanded the 69 Mountain Brigade in Pithoragarh, both in Uttarakhand. Both brigadiers reported to Singh. As of June 2007, both brigadiers were accused of misdirection of monies.
Component units as of 3 March 1941
In addition, the 24th Indian Infantry Brigade was assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II.