The 26th Jacob's Mountain Battery was an artillery unit of the British Indian Army. The battery can trace its origins back to Golandauze Battalion (1826). In 1843 it became the 10th Company Golandauze Battalion of Bombay Foot Artillery, and became the 26th Jacob's Mountain Battery in 1903. In 1947, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army, where it exists as the 1st Jacob's Battery (Baloch) of The First (SP) Medium Regiment Artillery (Frontier Force).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottabad: The Baloch Regimental Centre.

History

The battery was raised in 1826 and renamed as the 10th Company Golandauze Battalion Bombay Foot Artillery in 1843. The Golandauze Battalion was the first native artillery unit of the

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all presidencies to the d ...

. The gunners were dressed in blue uniforms with red facings. The manpower consisted of Muslims,

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

s and Purbeeas. In 1846, the Golandauze Battalion was split into two, and the battery was re-designated as the 3rd Company 4th Battalion Bombay Foot Artillery. During the Great

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 ...

, the battery mutinied at Shikarpur and was disbanded. In 1862, it was re-raised and in 1864, it was re-designated as No. 2 Company Bombay Native Artillery. Meanwhile, in 1858, General John Jacob raised a unit of mountain artillery in

Jacobabad Jacobabad ( ur, and sd, جيڪب آباد; formerly Khanger or Khangarh) is a city in Sindh, Pakistan, serving as both the capital city of Jacobabad District and the administrative center of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative tehsil, subdi ...

, Sindh, called the Jacobabad Mountain Train for service on the Sindh frontier. The Jacobabad Mountain Train was manned by men of Jacob's Rifles. In 1876, the guns of Jacobabad Mountain Train were taken over by No. 2 Company Bombay Native Artillery, which was re-designated as the No. 2 Bombay Mountain Battery.Cadell, Sir Patrick. (1938). ''History of the Bombay Army''. Longmans & Green. The Jacob's Battery saw service on the Northwest Frontier of India and fought 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. It also took part in the

Lushai Expedition The British Indian Army Lushai Expedition of 1871 to 1872 was a punitive incursion under the command of Generals Brownlow and Bourchier. The objectives of the expedition were to rescue British subjects who had been captured by the Lushais in ...

of 1889 and served 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 ...

from 1889 to 1893 where it took part in operations against the Shans and Kachins. In 1890, the battery was designated as No. 6 (Bombay) Mountain Battery, becoming Jullundur Mountain Battery in 1901 and 26th Jacob's Mountain Battery in 1903. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the 26th Jacob's Mountain Battery fought with great distinction at Gallipoli,

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 Medit ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. After the war, it again saw service on the Northwest Frontier. 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 opposi ...

, it fought in the Burma Campaign as part of the 17th Indian Division. In 1944, it became an exclusively Punjabi Muslim unit. In 1947, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army, where it became the senior battery of 1 Mountain Regiment, Royal Pakistan Artillery. The battery fought in the

Kashmir War 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 encompass ...

of 1948. In 1954, Jacob's Battery was affiliated with the Baluch Regiment due to its old links and common origins with the Jacob's Rifles. In 1957, the battery was equipped with 105 mm Self Propelled Field guns and the 1st Mountain Regiment was re-designated as the 1 (SP) Field Regiment, Artillery. The regiment fought gallantly in the Battle of Chawinda during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

, the regiment served in the Zafarwal Sector. In 1980, it was re-equipped with M109A2 self-propelled medium guns.

Battle honours

Afghanistan 1878–80, Suez Canal, Egypt 1915–16, Mesopotamia 1916–18, Persia 1918, Anzac, Landing at Anzac, Defence of Anzac, Suvla, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915.

Genealogy

*1843 – 10th Company Golandauze Battalion Bombay Foot Artillery The Bombay Artillery 1890

*1846 – 3rd Company 4th Battalion Bombay Foot Artillery *1857 – Mutinied at Shikarpur and disbanded *1862 – Re-raised *1864 – No. 2 Company Bombay Native Artillery *1876 – No. 2 Mountain Battery, Bombay Artillery (amalgamation of No. 2 Company Bombay Native Artillery & Jacobabad Mountain Train – raised 1858) *1876 – No. 2 Bombay Mountain Battery *1890 – No. 6 (Bombay) Mountain Battery *1901 – Jullundur Mountain Battery *1903 – 26th Jacob's Mountain Battery *1920 – 26th Jacob's Pack Battery *1921 – 106th (Jacob's) Pack Battery *1922 – 106th (Jacob's) Pack Battery (How)Howitzer *1924 – 106th (Jacob's) Pack Battery, Royal Artillery (How) *1927 – 6th (Jacob's) Indian Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery (How) *1928 – 6th (Jacob's) Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery (How) *1939 – 6th (Jacob's) Mountain Battery, Indian Artillery *1942 – 6th (Jacob's) Indian Mountain Battery, Indian Artillery *1945 – 6th (Jacob's) Indian Mountain Battery, Royal Indian Artillery *1947 – 1st (Jacob's) Mountain Battery, Royal Pakistan Artillery *1954 – 1st (Jacob's) Mountain Battery, Royal Pakistan Artillery (Baluch) *1956 – 1st (Jacob's) Mountain Battery, Artillery (Baluch) *1957 – 1st Jacob's (SP) Field Battery, Artillery (Baluch) *1980 – 1st Jacob's (SP) Medium Battery, Artillery (Baluch) *1991 – 1st Jacob's (SP) Medium Battery, Artillery (Baloch)

Affiliations and alliances

* The

Baloch Regiment The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of ...

References

{{reflist Artillery regiments of Pakistan Indian World War I regiments Artillery units and formations of British India 1843 establishments in British India Military units and formations established in 1826