The 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force) was an infantry regiment 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 was raised in 1846 as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 2nd Battalion (Sikhs)

12th Frontier Force Regiment The 12th Frontier Force Regiment was formed in 1922 as part of the British Indian Army. It consisted of five regular battalions; numbered 1 to 5 and the 10th (Training) Battalion. During the Second World War a further ten battalions were raised. ...

in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to 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 ...

, where it continues to exist as 4th Battalion The

Frontier Force Regiment The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...

.Condon, Brig WEH. (1962). ''The Frontier Force Regiment'', Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd.North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846-1924''. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press.

Early history

The regiment was raised on 22 December 1846 at Kangra as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade by Major JWV Stephen. It was composed mostly of

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

s, with some

Pathans Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

and

Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recru ...

, which prompted its title of 'Hill Corps'. In 1847, it was designated 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry, becoming the 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry in 1857. In 1851, the regiment became part of the

Punjab Irregular Force The Punjab Irregular Force (PIF) was created in 1851 to protect the NW frontier of British India. It was termed "Irregular" because it was outside the control of the Regular British East India Company Presidency armies of the three Presidencies o ...

, which later became famous as the Punjab Frontier Force or The Piffers. The Piffers consisted of five regiments of cavalry, eleven regiments of infantry and five batteries of artillery besides the Corps of Guides. Their mission was to maintain order on the Punjab Frontier; a task they performed with great aplomb. The 2nd Sikh Infantry took part in numerous frontier operations besides the

Second Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company, British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab r ...

of 1848-49 and the Great

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 ...

of 1857–58, when it served in Hazara and Murree Hills. During 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 l ...

of 1878–80, the regiment fought in the Battles of Ahmad Khel and

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. In 1902, it went 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 ...

52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)

Subsequent to the

reforms Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

brought about in the Indian Army by Lord Kitchener in 1903, the regiment's designation was changed to 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force). In 1914, the regiment's class composition was three companies of Dogras, two each of Pathans and

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

s, and one of Punjabi Muslims. During

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 regiment joined the

18th Indian Division The 18th Indian Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army that saw active service in the First World War. It took part in the Mesopotamian campaign and formed part of the occupation force for Iraq post-war. The division was n ...

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 ...

in 1917 and fought in the

Battle of Sharqat The Battle of Sharqat (October 23–30, 1918) was fought between the British and the Ottoman Empire in the Mesopotamian Campaign in World War I, which became the last conflict between the belligerents before of the signing of the Armistice of Mud ...

. It moved to

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

in 1919 and took part in suppressing the

Iraqi Revolt The Iraqi revolt against the British, also known as the 1920 Iraqi Revolt or the Great Iraqi Revolution, started in Baghdad in the summer of 1920 with mass demonstrations by Iraqis, including protests by embittered officers from the old Ottoman ...

of 1920.

Subsequent History

After the First World War, the 52nd Sikhs were grouped with the 51st, 53rd and 54th Sikhs, and the two battalions of

Guides Infantry The Guides Infantry, or 2nd Battalion (Guides) The Frontier Force Regiment, is an infantry battalion of the Pakistan Army. It was raised in 1846 as part of the famous Corps of Guides. Historical Overview The Corps of Guides was raised at P ...

to form the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. The 52nd Sikhs became 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) of the new regiment. 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 ...

, 2 FF fought with distinction in the

Malayan Campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

, where its Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel

Arthur Edward Cumming Brigadier Arthur Edward Cumming VC OBE MC (18 June 1896 – 10 April 1971) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwe ...

, 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 outstanding valour. The battalion was captured by the Japanese after the British surrender 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 ...

in February 1942. It was re-raised in 1946. In 1947, the Frontier Force Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. 2 FF was back in action in 1948, when it fought in the Kashmir War against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 1956, the Frontier Force Rifles and the

Pathan Regiment The Pathan Regiment was an infantry regiment of Pakistan Army now merged into Frontier Force Regiment. It was raised after the independence of Pakistan on November 1, 1948 from the strength of 12th Frontier Force Regiment and 13th Frontier Force ...

were merged with the Frontier Force Regiment, and 2 FF was redesignated as 4 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion fought in the

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

Sector, while during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, it fought with great courage in the

Battle of Hilli The Battle of Hilli or the Battle of Bogura was a major battle fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. It is generally regarded as the most severe pitched battle that took place in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The battle of Hilli took place ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. For exceptional valour, Major

Muhammad Akram Major Muhammad Akram (; 4 April 1938 – 5 December 1971) was a military officer in the Pakistan Army who was cited with the Nishan-e-Haider posthumously after the military confrontation took place in railway station in Hilli, East-Paki ...

and Major

Shabbir Sharif Major (United States), Major Rana Muhammad Shabbir Sharif ( ur, ; c. 28 April 1943 – 6 December 1971) was a military officer in the Pakistan Army who was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Haider during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He is ...

were awarded the

Nishan-i-Haider Nishan-e-Haider (NH; ), is the highest military gallantry award of Pakistan. The Nishan-e-Haider is awarded posthumously and only to members of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It recognises the highest acts of extraordinary bravery in the face of ...

, Pakistan's highest gallantry award.Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). ''The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947-71''. Lahore: Wajidalis.

Genealogy

*1846 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade *1847 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry *1857 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry *1857 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force *1865 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force *1901 2nd (or Hill) Sikh Infantry *1903 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force) *1922 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment *1945 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) The Frontier Force Regiment *1947 2nd Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment *1956 4th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment

Early history

52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)

Subsequent History

Genealogy

References

Further reading

See also