The 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force) was a

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 ...

. It was raised in 1849 as the 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 1st Battalion (Coke's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles 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 7th 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. (1953). ''The Frontier Force Rifles''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd.North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846–1924''. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press.

History

1849–1880

The regiment was formed on 18 May 1849 as the 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry by Captain

John Coke Sir John Coke (5 March 1563 – 8 September 1644) was an English civil servant and naval administrator, described by one commentator as "the Samuel Pepys of his day". He was MP for various constituencies in the House of Commons between 1621 an ...

. It was one of five such regiments raised by Colonel Henry Lawrence, the agent (and brother) of the Governor-General of the Punjab frontier region,

John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, (4 March 1811 – 27 June 1879), known as Sir John Lawrence, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was an English-born Ulsterman who became a prominent British Imperial statesman who served as Viceroy ...

, to form the infantry element of the Trans Frontier Brigade. The men were recruited from veterans of disbanded opposition forces after the British annexation in 1848 of 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 ...

during 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 ...

. In 1851 the regiment was retitled as the 1st Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force when the Trans Frontier Brigade, tasked with policing the volatile North-West Frontier, was expanded and renamed 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 ...

(PIF), giving rise to the ''"Piffer"'' name adopted by the officers and men of the regiments of the PIF and still used to this day by their successor regiments. In 1857 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 ...

began and the regiment, like many other

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 ...

n units, remained loyal to the British. During the British-Indian siege of rebel-held

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 ...

(begun on 30 May) the 1st Punjab Infantry was part of the 3rd Column, commanded by Col. Campbell. On 14 September the column was tasked with storming the Kashmiri Gate—a part of the walled defences of Delhi—which they successfully achieved. Fierce fighting, however, ensued and Delhi was not fully retaken until 20 September. The rebellion was finally quelled by July 1858. In 1863 the 1st Punjab Infantry took part in the

Umbeyla campaign The Ambela campaign (also called Umbeyla; Umbeylah; Ambeyla) in 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Punjab Province of British India (this area was formally renamed to North-West Frontie ...

in the North-West Frontier. At the Crag Picquet the regiment saw fierce fighting on 30 October, to such an extent that the regiment was compelled to withdraw from the hill; it was retaken shortly afterwards and 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 (VC) were later awarded. One of the VC recipients was

Henry William Pitcher Henry William Pitcher VC (20 December 1841 – 5 July 1875) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross. Details Pitcher was born at Kamptee in British India, the second son of Vincent Pitcher and Rose Mary le Geyt, daughter of Admiral Ge ...

of the 4th Punjabis, who later joined the 1st Punjab Infantry and was killed in 1875 at

Dera Ghazi Khan Dera Ghazi Khan (), abbreviated as D.G. Khan, is a city in the southwestern part of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population. Lying west of the Indus River, it is the headquarters of Dera Ghazi Khan District and ...

. Further fighting took place at Crag Picquet in November, which involved the regiment. In 1865 the Punjab Irregular Force was renamed the Punjab Frontier Force and the regiment's title was consequently changed to become the 1st Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force. In 1878, 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 ...

began and the regiment participated as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Kandahar Field Force, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Donald Stewart. The force captured the city of

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 ...

on 8 January 1879. The regiment was awarded the

Theatre Honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

"Afghanistan 1878–79" for their participation in the initial campaign of the war. The conflict did not conclude until 1880.

1880–1922

The 1890s saw the 1st Punjab Infantry involved in several major operations against the hostile

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

s on the North-West Frontier of India. These included Maizar, and

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

on 10 June 1897, when the regiment was ambushed in an action that signified the beginning of a large tribal uprising against the British. The beginning of the 20th century gave the regiment no respite, and it took part in further operations in Waziristan in 1901. That same year it became, simply, the 1st Punjab Infantry. In 1903, the regiment was designated a

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

regiment and retitled as the 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force), named in honour of the regiment's founder. In 1908, the Regiment took part in the Mohmand expedition on the North-West Frontier. 1st Punjab Rifles 1889

The 55th did not serve abroad 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 ...

but the regiment—which comprised companies of

Afridis The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...

, Punjabi

Musulman Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

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

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Sulim ...

s—saw active service on the North-West Frontier for the duration of the war, fighting many of the numerous marauding tribes that populated the area. Many men of the regiment did, however, see service abroad during the war while attached to other units. In 1915, Jemadar

Mir Dast Mir Dast, (3 December 1874 – 19 January 1945) was an Indian soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross for action during the First World War, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Comm ...

, while attached to the 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier Force), was awarded the 55th's first (and only) Victoria Cross for his distinguished actions at Wieltie,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Mir Dast's brother, Mir Mast, had deserted from his regiment—the 58th—to the Germans. It is rumoured that Mir Mast received the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

while fighting for them.

1922–47

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 13th Frontier Force Rifles, formed by grouping the 55th Coke's Rifles with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 56th Punjabi Rifles, the 57th Wilde's Rifles, 58th Vaughan's Rifles and

59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) The 59 Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was one of the most reputed outfits of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1843, as the Scinde Camel Corps. In 1856, it was incorporate ...

. The Coke's new designation was 1st Battalion (Coke's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles. The 55th's uniform of rifle green colour was adopted as the uniform 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 ...

, the 1/13th Frontier Force Rifles (Coke's) was part of the 9th Indian Division based on the west coast of Malaya. The battalion fought in the disastrous

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 ...

against the Japanese, which led to the surrender of British forces 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 ...

on 15 February 1942. The battalion was re-raised in 1946. In 1945, 13th Frontier Force Rifles dropped its regimental number "13" to become Frontier Force Rifles.

1947 onwards

Upon 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 ...

in 1947, the Frontier Force Rifles was allotted to Pakistan Army. In 1948, 1 FF Rifles fought in the Kashmir War against

. The battalion fought with great gallantry at Chakothi in the Jhelum Valley, and foiled all Indian attempts to advance towards

Muzaffarabad Muzaffarabad (; ur, ) is the capital and largest city of Azad Kashmir, and the 60th largest in Pakistan. The city is located in Muzaffarabad District, near the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by the Pak ...

. 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 R ...

were merged with the

, and 1 FF Rifles was redesignated as 7th Battalion (Coke's) The Frontier Force Regiment or 7 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion again distinguished itself 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 ...

Battle Honours

Delhi 1857, Lucknow, Peiwar Kotal, Charasiah, Kabul 1879, Afghanistan 1878–80, Tirah, Punjab Frontier, China 1900, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Festubert 1914, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres 1915, St. Julien, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, France and Flanders 1914–15, Suez Canal, Egypt 1915–17, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jerusalem, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine 1917–18, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916–18, Persia 1918–19, Aden, East Africa 1916–18, NW Frontier India 1917, Baluchistan 1918, Afghanistan 1919, North Malaya, Kota Bahru, Johore, Gemas, The Muar, Singapore Island, Malaya 1941–42, Kashmir 1948, Lahore 1965Rodger, Alexander. (2003). ''Battle Honours of the British Empire and Commonwealth Land Forces 1662–1991''. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press.

History

1849–1880

1880–1922

1922–47

1947 onwards

Battle Honours

References

Further reading

See also