The 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) were 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 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 4th 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 6th 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 1 January 1846 at

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

as the 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade by Captain C Mackenzie from men transferred from the

Umballa Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

Police Battalion and the 6th and 11th Regiments of Bengal Native Infantry. In 1847, it was designated 4th Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry, becoming the 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry in 1857. In 1851, it 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. In 1852, the regiment volunteered for service in the

Second Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese Empire and British Em ...

1852-53, returning to

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 1854. On the outbreak 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, the regiment marched from

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

; 560 miles in thirty days in an Indian June, going into action soon after their arrival. In 1895, it served in the Chitral Campaign.

54th 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 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force). In 1914, the regiment's class composition was four companies of Sikhs, two of Punjabi Muslims, and one each of Pathans and Dogras. 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 regiment remained deployed on the North West Frontier of India. In 1918, it moved to

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 ...

to take part in the Palestine Campaign and fought in the Battle of Megiddo, which led to the annihilation of Turkish Army in Palestine. After serving in the

Russian Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

and

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 ...

, it returned to India in 1920. In 1917, the 54th Sikhs raised a second battalion, which served in the

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

of 1919. The 2/54th Sikhs was disbanded soon after.

Subsequent History

After the First World War, the 54th Sikhs were grouped with the 51st, 52nd and 53rd 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. Soldiers of the 54th Sikhs formed part of the command of Brigadier General

Reginald Dyer Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, CB (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927) was an officer of the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began serving briefly in the regular British Army before tra ...

which fired into the crowd at the

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence ...

. The 54th Sikhs became 4th 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 ...

, 4/12 FF served with great distinction in the Burma Campaign 2 very distinguished officers from the Battalion were Maj (Later Field Marshal) Sam Maneckshaw of the Indian Army and Maj (Later Lt Gen) Attiq ur Rahman of the Pakistan Army, both winners of the Military Cross. In 1947, the Frontier Force Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. 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 4/12 FF was redesignated as 6 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion distinguished itself the advance towards

Akhnur Akhnoor is a city and municipal committee, near city of Jammu in Jammu district of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It lies 28 km away from Jammu city. Akhnoor is on the bank of the Chenab River, just before it enters the Pa ...

and then in the

Battle of Chawinda {{Infobox military conflict , width = 380px , image = File:Sculpture showing Indo-Pak war.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Sculpture showing the Indo-Pakistani War {{clear {{OSM Location map , co ...

. In 1971, 6 FF served at Sulemanki, where Major

Shabbir Sharif 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 the only person ever ...

was 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 for valour. Maj Shabbir Shareef's brother Raheel Shareef was later Commissioned into the Battalion and rose to the rank of General and became the COS of the Pakistan Army.Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). ''The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947-71''. Lahore: Wajidalis. The battalion has the distinction of having a

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

, albeit in 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- ...

Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...

who was commissioned in the 4th/12th FFR in 1934, later winning a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1942 in the Burma campaign during

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 ...

Genealogy

4-12 (6 FF) attacking the Seywa village, Battle of Meiktila 1945

*1846 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade *1847 4th Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry *1857 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry *1857 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force *1865 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force *1901 4th Sikh Infantry *1903 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) *1922 4th Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment *1945 4th Battalion (Sikhs) The Frontier Force Regiment *1947 4th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment *1956 6th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment

Early history

54th Sikhs (Frontier Force)

Subsequent History

Genealogy

See also

References

Further reading