In Collaboration With Charles Griffin


Brief History
The Punjab regiments recruited in 1849 after the Second Sikh war by Sir Henry Lawrence were formed into the Trans-Frontier Brigade, becoming the Punjab Irregular Force two years later. As well as the 6 Punjab infantry regiments there were 4 Sikh infantry regiments, one Gurkha regiment, 5 Punjab cavalry regiments, 4 mountain batteries and one garrison battery. The 2nd Regiment marched from the Frontier to Delhi to help quell the Mutiny. From then on their battles were fought on the North-West Frontier. They were heavily engaged in the Second Afghan War and in 1894 were despatched to Waziristan with the 4th and 6th to punish an unprovoked attack on the boundary commission fulfilling treaty obligations with Afghanistan.

In 1903 the 2nd became the 56th Punjab Rifles, the only one of the five Punjab regiments (the 3rd had been disbanded) not to be named after a former commander. In 1914 they were stationed at Hangu with a detachment at Thal. During WW1 they were sent to Egypt and Mesopotamia, and in WW2 they were sent to Burma and the Dutch East Indies.

Badge
Badge
Uniforms
Post Mutiny
Principal Campaigns and Battles
Delhi
Lucknow
1878 - 79 Afghanistan
1878 Peiwar Kotal
Punjab Frontier
Tirah
Predecessor Units
2nd Punjab Infantry
(1849 - 1851)
2nd Punjab Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force
(1851 - 1865)
2nd Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
(1865 - 1901)
2nd Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
(1901 - 1903)
56th Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
(1903 - 1906)
Successor Units
2nd/13th Frontier Force Rifles
(1922 - 1947)
Post-Independence Fate
To Pakistan
Suggested Reading
A Matter of Honour
by Philip Mason

India's Army
by Donovan Jackson

Regiments and Corps of the British Army: A Critical Bibliography
by Roger Perkins

Sons of John Company
by John Gaylor

Armies of India
Painted by Lovett, Text by Macmunn

The Indian Army
by Boris Mollo

Forces of the British Empire
by E. Nevins and B. Chandler

Indian Army Uniforms - Infantry
by W. Y. Carman

Sergeant Pearman's Memoirs
by Anglesey, the Marquess of

Soldier Sahibs
by Charles Allen

The Bengal Native Infantry
by Dr Amiya Barat,

An Account of the War in India Between the English and French on the Coast of Coromandel, From the Year 1750 to the Year 1761
by Richard Owen Cambridge

Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army
by Lt Cardew

The Indian Army: The Garrison of British Imperial India
by Heathcote

Britain's Army in India from its Origins to the Conquest of Bengal
by James Lawford

The Battle Honours of the British and Indian Armies
by Leslie

Sikh Soldier; Battle Honours and Sikh Soldier; Gallantry Awards by Narindar Singh Dhesi

A Matter of Honour: An Account of the Indian Army, its Officers and Men
by P Mason

A History of Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from the Year 1745
by R Orme

From Sepoy to Subedar
by Sita Ram

Forty-one Years in India
by Earl Roberts

Wellington in India
by Weller

The Bengal Native Infantry
by Captain Williams


Armed Forces | Art and Culture | Articles | Biographies | Colonies | Discussion | Glossary | Home | Library | Links | Map Room | Sources and Media | Science and Technology | Search | Student Zone | Timelines | TV & Film | Wargames



by Stephen Luscombe