The 16th Punjab Regiment 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 ...

from 1922 to 1947. Upon 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: ...

, it was transferred to the newly-raised

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 ...

. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamated with the 1st, 14th and 15th Punjab regiments to form the

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 ...

, an existing infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army.Rizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). ''Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759-1981''. Lahore: Wajidalis.Lawford, Lt Col JP, and Catto, Maj WE. (1967). ''Solah Punjab: The History of the 16th Punjab Regiment''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.

Early history

The 16th Punjab Regiment was formed in 1922 by amalgamation of the 30th, 31st, 33rd and 46th Punjabis, and

9th Bhopal Infantry The 9th Bhopal Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army.It was raised by Nawab of Bhopal in 1818 near Sehore. It was re-raised in 1859, as the Bhopal Levy. The regiment was disbanned for participating in war against British ...

. Except for the 46th Punjabis, who were raised in 1900, the rest were raised during the upheaval of the

Indian Mutiny 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 ...

in 1857-59. The 30th and 31st Punjabis were raised in 1857, as the 22nd Regiment of Punjab Infantry and Van Cortlandt's Levy respectively. The 33rd Punjabis were also raised in 1857, as the Allahabad Levy, while the 9th Bhopal Infantry was raised in 1859, as the Bhopal Levy from the remnants of loyal elements of the Bhopal Contingent. The 30th and 31st Punjabis served 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 1864-66 and all the battalions saw service on the North West Frontier of India. The 30th and 31st Punjabis along with the 9th Bhopal took part in the

Second 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 ...

of 1878-80, while the 33rd Punjabis 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 1885-87.

First World War

The 30th Punjabis served with distinction in the

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

, while their 2nd Battalion served in the Palestine Campaign. The regiment raised a total of three new battalions during the war. Another regiment that raised three battalions was the 9th Bhopal Infantry, who were dispatched to the killing fields of

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and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

in 1914. The regiment suffered heavy losses at the Battles of

Neuve Chapelle Neuve-Chapelle ( vls, Nieuwkappel) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It was the site of a First World War battle in 1915. Geography Neuve-Chapelle is situated some northeast of Béthune and ...

Festubert Festubert is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert. Geography A farming v ...

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and the Second Ypres. In 1915, they arrived in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, where Sepoy Chatta Singh was awarded the

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 ...

for exceptional valour. By the time they returned home, only fifteen men remained of those who had sailed for France in 1914. 33rd Punjabis (15 Punjab) (PMs) 1910

*30th Punjabis - India,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. *2/30th Punjabis - Raised in 1918. India, Egypt,

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. *3/30th Punjabis - Raised in 1918. India. *4/30th Punjabis - Raised in 1918. India. *31st Punjabis - India,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. *33rd Punjabis - India, Egypt,

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. ...

, German East Africa. *2/33rd Punjabis - Raised in 1917. India. *9th Bhopal Infantry - India, France, Egypt, Mesopotamia. *2/9th Bhopal Infantry (The Delhi Regiment) - Raised in 1917. India, Mesopotamia. *3/9th Bhopal Infantry - Raised in 1917. India, Mesopotamia. *4/9th Bhopal Infantry - Raised in 1918. India. *46th Punjabis - India, Egypt. All war-raised battalions were disbanded after the war. In 1921-22, a major reorganization was undertaken in the British Indian Army leading to the formation of large infantry groups of four to six battalions. Among these was the 16th Punjab Regiment. The line-up of battalions for Solah Punjab was: * 1st Battalion - 30th Punjabis * 2nd Battalion - 31st Punjabis * 3rd Battalion - 33rd Punjabis * 4th Battalion -

* 10th (Training) Battalion - 46th Punjabis. The class composition of the new regiment was Punjabi Muslims, Sikhs and Dogras. The new regimental badge consisted of a Maltese cross with a Muslim crescent and a Sikh quoit, surmounted by a Tudor crown with a scroll below. The uniform was scarlet with white facings.

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

in the

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 ...

was chosen as the permanent station for the Training Battalion.

Second World War

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were captured by the Japanese at

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 ...

. The 1st, 5th and 7th Battalions fought 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 ...

, and the 4th Battalion's fought in Africa and Italy. Lance Naik Sher Shah of the 7th Battalion was awarded the

in Burma. During the war, the 16th Punjab Regiment suffered a total of 2744 casualties including 990 killed or died of wounds. *1st Battalion - India,

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. *2nd Battalion - India, Malaya. Captured by the Japanese at

in February 1942. They would end up on a Japanese "hell ship" ''Buyo Maru''. Unit re-raised in 1945. *3rd Battalion - India, Malaya, Singapore. Captured by the Japanese in February 1942. Re-raised in 1946 as 3rd (Para) Battalion. *4th Battalion - India,

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Seco ...

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 ...

. *5th Battalion - Raised in 1940. India,

. Re-designated as 2/16th Punjab in 1945. *6th Battalion - Raised in 1941. India,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Re-designated as 3/16th Punjab in 1946. *7th Battalion - Raised in 1941. India, Burma, Malaya. Disbanded January 1948; re-raised October 1948. *9th Battalion - Raised in 1943 by re-designation of 25th Garrison Battalion on conversion to active status. India. Disbanded 1945. *25th Garrison Battalion - Raised in 1941. India. Redesignated as 9/16th Punjab in 1943 on conversion to active status. India. *26th Garrison Battalion - Raised in 1942. India. Disbanded 1946.

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 ...

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 ...

in 1947, the 16th Punjab Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. At the time, the active battalions were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th. Jats, Sikhs and Dogras were transferred to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and the regiment's new class composition was fixed as Punjabis and Pathans. In 1948, the 1st, 3rd and 4th 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 16th Punjab Regiment was amalgamated with the 1st, 14th and 15th 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: *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

Afghanistan 1879-80, Burma 1885-87, Chitral, Tirah, Malakand, Punjab Frontier, La Bassee 1914, Messines 1914, Armentieres 1914, Festubert 1914, Givenchy 1914, Ypres 1915, St Julien, Aubers, Loos, France and Flanders 1914-15, Macedonia 1918, Suez Canal, Egypt 1915-16, Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1918, Aden, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1915-18, NW Frontier India, 1915, 1916–17, Behobeho, Narungombe, Nyangao, East Africa 1917-18, Afghanistan 1919, Mescelit Pass, Mt Engiahat, Massawa, Abyssinia 1940-41, Sidi Barrani, Omars, Benghazi, El Alamein, Mareth, Akarit, Djebel Garci, Tunis, North Africa 1940-43, Cassino I, Italy 1943-45, Kroh, Jitra, Gurun, Ipoh, Kampar, The Muar, Singapore Island, Malaya 1941-42, Fort White, North Arakan, Kaladan, Maungdaw, Ngakyedauk Pass, Imphal, Tamu Road, Litan, Arakan Beaches, Burma 1942-45, Kashmir 1948.Rodger, Alexander. (2003). ''Battle Honours of the British Empire and Commonwealth Land Forces 1662-1991''. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press.

Early history

First World War

Second World War

Post-independence history

Battle honours

See also

References

Further reading