The units that were formed in this predecessor of the INA numbered about 200. They were volunteers from within the British Indian soldiers captured in Malaya. They were issued rifles and given armbands bearing the letter "F". They were organised into units and trained and worked along with those already under Pritam Singh in Malaya and Thailand. They were further tasked to work amongst fighting British-Indian Army units to foment dissent and encourage defection. Before the fall of Singapore, these troops grew to number nearly 2,500. There was significant deviation from the British Indian Army. Officers were organised into a single class, a common kitchen (opposed to caste-based kitchen as had been the norm), common slogans were adopted. All these efforts attempted to bridge any communal and casteist rivalries that were accepted or even institutionalised in the British army.