The 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force) was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1846 as the 1st Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 3 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 10 December 1846 at

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1809, it was occupied b ...

as the 1st Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade by Major JS Hodgson. It was composed of Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims,

Pathan 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 ...

s and

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, Himacha ...

s, mostly recruited from the disbanded regiments of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

following the

First Anglo-Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 in and around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession o ...

. In 1847, it was designated 1st Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry, becoming the 1st 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 1st 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 of 1857–58, when it fought in Rohilkhand and

Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...

in North India. 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 ...

of 1878–80, the regiment took part in the capture of

Ali Masjid Ali Masjid (Pashto and ) is the narrowest point of the Khyber Pass. It is located in Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is around east of the city of Landi Kotal (West of Peshawar) and has an elevation of . The width of the Kh ...

and the advance to

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

. In 1900, it went to China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion.

51st 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 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force). In 1914, the regiment's class composition was four companies of Sikhs, two of Pathans, and one each of Punjabi Muslims and Dogras. 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 remained part of the 28th Indian Brigade. In 1915, it served in

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 ...

and Aden (Yemen), moving to

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 ...

in December. Here, it fought with great gallantry in the bloody battles for the Relief of

Kut al Amara Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It ...

on the Tigris Front in 1916–17, the capture of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

and in operations north of Baghdad at Istabulat, Daur and Tikrit. In 1918, the regiment moved to Palestine and took part in the Battle of Megiddo, which led to the annihilation of Turkish Army in Palestine. It returned to India in 1920. For their excellent performance in the war, in which they suffered heavy losses and were awarded a large number of gallantry awards, the 51st Sikhs were made Prince of Wales's Own in 1921. Next year, the regiment raised an all-Pathan Territorial Battalion at Nowshera. The 1st (Territorial) Battalion 51st (The Prince of Wales' Own) Sikhs (Frontier Force) would eventually go on to become 11th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment in 1956.

Subsequent history

After the First World War, the 51st Sikhs were grouped with the 52nd, 53rd and

54th Sikhs The 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. 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 Battalio ...

, 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 51st Sikhs became 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own 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 opposi ...

, 1 FF saw active service in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and Syria before moving in 1943 to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where it again served with distinction. In 1947, the Frontier Force Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. In 1956, the Frontier Force Regiment, 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 into the Frontier Force Regiment, and 1 FF (Prince of Wales's Own) was redesignated as 3 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion fought in the Battle of Chawinda, while during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 it participated in the Battle of Chhamb in Kashmir.Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). ''The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947–71''. Lahore: Wajidalis.

Genealogy

*1846 1st Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade *1847 1st Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry *1857 1st Regiment of Sikh Infantry *1857 1st Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force *1865 1st Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force *1901 1st Sikh Infantry *1903 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force) *1921 51st The Prince of Wales's Own Sikhs (Frontier Force) *1922 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment *1945 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own Sikhs) The Frontier Force Regiment *1947 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own) The Frontier Force Regiment *1956 3rd Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment

Early history

51st Sikhs (Frontier Force)

Subsequent history

Genealogy

See also

References

Further reading