The 15th Punjab Regiment was a

infantry regiment 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 ...

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 ...

from 1922 to 1947 and of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

from 1947 to 1956. Following its allotment to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

after the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, it was amalgamated in 1956 with the

1st Punjab Regiment The 1st Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamate ...

, the 14th Punjab Regiment, and the 16th Punjab Regiment to form the present-day

Punjab Regiment Punjab Regiment may refer to the following existing units: *Punjab Regiment (India) *Punjab Regiment (Pakistan) From 1922 to 1947, the British Indian Army included 6 numbered Punjab Regiments: *1st Punjab Regiment * 2nd Punjab Regiment *8th Punj ...

.Rizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). ''Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759-1981''. Lahore: Wajidalis.

Early history

The regiment was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and

29th Punjabis The 29th Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 21st Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 29th Punjabis in 1903 and became 10th (Training) Battalion of 15th Punjab Regiment in ...

into the

. All five battalions were raised during the upheaval of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

by John Lawrence in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. The 27th Punjabis served in

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...

during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

in 1860–1862, while the 26th and 29th Punjabis participated in the

Bhutan War The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutan War) was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864–1865. It has been the only military conflict between the two states since 1774. Background Across the nineteenth century, British India commissioned ...

of 1864–1866. All battalions saw service on the North-West Frontier of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

) and took part in the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

of 1878–1880, while the 26th and 27th Punjabis also served in the

Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War ( my, တတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် – မြန်မာစစ်, Tatiya Anggalip–Mran cac), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance conti ...

of 1885–1887. In 1901, the 27th Punjabis were dispatched to

British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British Empire, British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Soma ...

to suppress the resistance movement led by

Diiriye Guure Diiriye may refer to: * Diriye Osman, Somali-British writer * Abdillahi Diiriye Guled, Somali scholar * Diiriye Guure, king of the Darawiish sultanate *Asha Gelle Dirie, activist for Puntite and Puntland women *Waris Dirie Waris may refer to: ...

of the

Dervish State The Dervish Movement ( so, Dhaqdhaqaaqa Daraawiish) was a popular movement between 1899 and 1920, which was led by the Salihiyya Sufi Muslim poet and militant leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, also known as Sayyid Mohamed, who called for independe ...

Formation

When the 15th Punjabis were formed in 1922, it was organized into 5 battalions (including additions until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

): * 1st Battalion, former 25th Punjabis * 2nd Battalion, former 26th Punjabis * 3rd Battalion, former 27th Punjabis * 4th Battalion, former 28th Punjabis * 10th (Training) Battalion, former

* 11th (Territorial) Battalion * 12th (Territorial) Battalion, formed 1939

World War II

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the 15th Punjab Regiment raised ten new battalions. Most of the active battalions were engaged in fighting the Japanese in the Far East except the 3rd Battalion, which fought in

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The performance of the 4th Battalion in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in particular was outstanding. The battalion suffered 921 casualties and was awarded numerous gallantry awards including two

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

es to Lieutenant Karamjeet Singh Judge and Naik

Gian Singh Gian Singh may refer to: * Giani Gian Singh Nihang (19th century), Indian Sikh scholar * Gian Singh Naqqash (1883–1953), Indian Punjabi artist * Gian Singh Rarewala (1901–1979), Indian politician * Gian Singh (soldier) (1920–1996), British I ...

. *1st Battalion - India,

. *2nd Battalion - India,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. The fighting withdrawal of the regiment is detailed, and they surrendered on 3 April 1942 to the Japanese and. *3rd Battalion - India, Somaliland,

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Became a Machine-Gun Battalion in 1946. *4th Battalion - India, Burma,

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

, Malaya. *5th Battalion - Raised in 1940. India. Disbanded 1946. *6th Battalion - Raised in 1941. India, Ceylon, Burma. Disbanded 1947. *7th Battalion - Raised in 1941. India, Burma. Disbanded 1946. *8th Battalion - Raised in 1941 by re-designation of the 11th (Territorial) Battalion. India. Disbanded 1946. *9th Battalion - Raised in 1941 by re-designation of the 12th (Territorial) Battalion. India, Burma. Disbanded 1947. *10th (Training) Battalion - Converted into the 15th Punjab Regimental Training Centre in 1943. *11th (Territorial) Battalion - Mobilized in 1939. Re-designated as 8/15th Punjab on conversion to active status in 1941. Disbanded 1946. *12th (Territorial) Battalion - Raised in 1939. Re-designated as 9/15th Punjab on conversion to active status in 1941. *14th Battalion - Raised in 1942. India. Disbanded 1943. *15th Battalion - Raised in 1942. India. Broken up into garrison companies in 1945. *16th Battalion - Raised in 1943 by re-designation of 25th Garrison Battalion on conversion to active status. India. Re-designated as 2/15th Punjab in 1946. *25th Garrison Battalion - Raised in 1941. On conversion to active status, became the 16th Battalion. India. *26th Garrison Battalion - Raised in 1942. India. Abu Atoll. Disbanded 1946. *27th (Jind) Garrison Battalion - Raised in 1943 in

Jind State Jind State (also spelled Jhind State) was a princely state located in the Punjab region of north-western India. The state was in area and its annual income was Rs.3,000,000 in the 1940s. Jind was founded and ruled by Jat Sikh rulers of Sidhu cla ...

. India. Disbanded 1946. *Machine-Gun Battalion - Raised in 1942. Transferred to the Indian Artillery to form the 15th Punjab Anti-tank Regiment. Disbanded 1944.

Post-independence history

On the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

of Pakistan in 1947, the 15th Punjab Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. At the time, the active battalions were 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Sikhs and Jats were transferred to the Indian Army and the regiment's new class composition was fixed as Punjabis and Pathans. The 2nd Battalion was reformed as a Medium Machine Gun battalion, moving to Kohat in early 1946; by the time of Partition in August 1947 all the British and non-Muslim officers had left, except for one Indian officer, the Adjutant and he left once all Indian Army personnel moved to India. The unit helped to escort the 3rd Grenadiers from Kohat to Rawalpindi, after they had been ambushed twice by Pathan tribes. Other references are the books by Kaushik Roy and Frederick Llewellyn Freemantle (listed below). The regiment's badge was also modified and the Sikh quoit was replaced by an Islamic star. In 1948, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions fought in the war with India in

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. In 1956, a major reorganization was undertaken in the Pakistan Army and larger infantry groups were created by amalgamating the existing infantry regiments. As a result, the 15th Punjab Regiment was amalgamated with the 1st, 14th and 16th Punjab Regiments to form one large Punjab Regiment. The four regimental centres were also merged and the combined centre moved to

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

. The line up of the new regiment was: 26th Punjabis, AC Lovett, 1910

*1 Punjab - 1/1st Punjab *2 Punjab - 2/1st Punjab *3 Punjab - 3/1st Punjab *4 Punjab - 5/1st Punjab *5 Punjab - 1/14th Punjab *6 Punjab - 2/14th Punjab (Duke of Cambridge's Own) *7 Punjab - 3/14th Punjab *8 Punjab - 4/14th Punjab *9 Punjab - 1/15th Punjab *10 Punjab - 2/15th Punjab *11 Punjab - 3/15th Punjab *12 Punjab - 4/15th Punjab *13 Punjab - 1/16th Punjab *14 Punjab - 2/16th Punjab *15 Punjab - 3/16th Punjab *16 Punjab - 5/14th Punjab (Pathans) *17 Punjab - 4/16th Punjab (Bhopal) *18 Punjab - 7/1st Punjab *19 Punjab - 7/16th Punjab *20 Punjab - 14/1st Punjab

Battle honours

China 1860–62, Ali Masjid, Peiwar Kotal, Charasiah, Kabul 1879, Ahmad Khel, Kandahar 1880, Afghanistan 1878–80, Burma 1885–87, Chitral, Somaliland 1901–04, Loos, France and Flanders 1915, Suez Canal, Egypt 1915, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine 1918, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1915–18, Persia 1918, NW Frontier, India 1917, Kilimanjaro, East Africa 1914–17, Berbera, Assab, Abyssinia 1940–41, Tug Argan, British Somaliland 1940, The Sangro, The Moro, Cassino II, Gothic Line, The Senio, Italy 1943–45, West Borneo 1941–42, South East Asia 1941–42, Rathedaung, Donbaik, Jail Hill, Naga Village, Kyaukmyaung Bridgehead, Mandalay, Fort Dufferin, Meiktila, Nyaungu Bridgehead, Capture of Meiktila, Taungtha, Myingyan, The Irrawaddy, Yenaungyaung 1945, Kama, Pyawbwe, Toungoo, Pegu 1945, Sittang 1945, Burma 1942–45.Rodger, Alexander. (2003). ''Battle Honours of the British Empire and Commonwealth Land Forces 1662-1991''. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press.

Early history

Formation

World War II

Post-independence history

Battle honours

See also

References

Further reading