The 8th Indian Infantry Division is a division of the Indian Army which specialises in tactics and operations in mountainous territory. The division was formed in Meerut on 25 October 1940 under Major-General Charles Harvey as part of the Indian Army during World War II. It served in the Middle East in the garrisoning of Iraq and then the invasion of Persian to secure the oil fields of the area for the Allies. A brigade was detached to the Western Desert to reinforce the Eighth Army as it withdrew before the Axis forces. Following training in the Near East, the division entered the Italian Campaign landing at Taranto on mainland Italy.