The 64th Pioneers was a 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 ...

. Originally serving as regular infantry it evolved into a specialist military pioneer unit performing engineering and construction tasks.

History

The 64th Pioneers could trace their origins to 1758, when they were the 5th Battalion Coast Sepoys. Over the years the regiment was known by a number of different titles the 5th Carnatic Battalion 1769–1770, the 4th Carnatic Battalion 1770–1784, the 4th Madras Battalion 1784–1796, 1st Battalion, 4th Madras Native Infantry 1796–1824, the 4th Madras Native Infantry 1824–1883, the 4th Madras Native Infantry (Pioneers) 1883–1901, the 4th Madras Infantry (Pioneers) 1901–1903 and finally after the

Kitchener reforms 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 cou ...

of the Indian Army when the names of the presidencies were dropped the 64th Pioneers. During

World War I 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 was part of the Mandalay Brigade in the

Burma Division The Burma Division was a static formation of the British Indian Army. It was created as part of the 1903 reforms of the Indian Army by Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener then Commander-in-Chief, India. The task of such formations was to over ...

. After

the Indian Government reformed the army again moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.Sumner p.15 Following these reforms the 64th Pioneers became the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Madras Pioneers in 1922, and then in 1929 they joined the

Corps of Madras Pioneers Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

. The regiment was finally disbanded for economic reasons in 1933.

Campaigns

Carnatic Wars The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763. The conflicts involved n ...

Second Anglo-Mysore War The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in ...

Battle of Sholinghur The Battle of Sholinghur was fought on 27 September 1781 at Sholinghur, West of Chennai (Madras), between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore led by Hyder Ali and East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. Haider Ali's forces were surpris ...

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, ...

Battle of Assaye The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British forc ...

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 ...

References

* * British Indian Army infantry regiments Military history of the Madras Presidency Military units and formations established in 1758 Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 {{Mil-unit-stub