The 102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. It could trace its origins to 1796, when it was raised as the 13th Battalion, Bombay Native Infantry. The Grenadiers were part of the Indian army which was sent to Egypt in 1801, to fight against the

Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...

in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. In 1818, the regiment's soldiers fought in the Peshwa Wars, distinguishing themselves at the Battle of Koregaon in the Third Anglo-Maratha War. In 1824 when it became a regiment in its own right, when it was named the 2nd or Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. In 1840, it took part in the First Afghan War and then the

1868 Expedition to Abyssinia The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, t ...

which was a punitive expedition carried out by armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. In 1880, the unit took part in the Battle of Maiwand during the Second Afghan War. The regiment was stationed in Mhow, when in October 1902 it was order to go to Berbera, to fight in the Somaliland Campaign. World War I began with it being stationed at Muscat, Oman and served in the

Mesopotamia Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

with the

14th Indian Division The 14th Indian Division was formed during World War I, for service in the Mesopotamian Campaign. It was composed of battalions of the Regular British Army, the British Territorial Force and the British Indian Army. History The Division now pa ...

, taking part in the

Second Battle of Kut The Second Battle of Kut was fought on 23 February 1917, between British and Ottoman forces at Kut, Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). The battle was part of the British advance to Baghdad begun in December 1916 by a 50,000-man British force (main ...

and the Fall of Baghdad (1917). A second battalion was raised in 1917 that served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. After World War I the Indian government reformed the army, moving from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments.Sumner p.15 In 1922, the 102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers became the 2nd Battalion,

4th Bombay Grenadiers The Grenadiers is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, formerly part of the Bombay Army and later the pre-independence British Indian Army, when the regiment was known as the 4th Bombay Grenadiers. It has distinguished itself during the tw ...

Soldiers of the 2nd Bombay Grenadiers of the Indian Army in Hampton Court Camp

Designations

References

* * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. {{ISBN, 1-870423-30-5 British Indian Army infantry regiments Bombay Presidency Grenadier regiments