45th Rattray's Sikhs | |
---|---|
Active | 1856–1922 |
Country | Indian Empire |
Branch | Army |
Type | Infantry |
Part of | Bengal Army (to 1895) Bengal Command |
Nickname(s) | Rattray's Sikhs |
Colors | 1859 Drab; faced blue 1870 Red; faced light buff 1886 white |
Engagements | 1857–1859 Indian Mutiny Defence of Arrah 1858 Afghanistan 1878 Ali Masjid Punjab Frontier Malakand |
The 45th Rattray's Sikhs was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to the 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion raised in April 1856, at Lahore, by Captain Thomas Rattray originally consisting of a troop of 100 cavalry and 500 infantry. The initial class composition of the troops was 50% Sikhs and 50% Dogras, Rajputs and Mussulmans (Muslims) from the Punjab and the North-West Frontier. It is said that he went through the villages challenging men to wrestle with him on the condition that they had to join up. [1] Whatever the case, the regiment was raised and trained and developed as an elite corps, which soon saw action in Bihar (then part of Eastern Bengal) in the Sonthal 'parganas'. After sterling service in Bihar, Bengal and Assam, and during the 1857 Mutiny, the cavalry portion was eventually disbanded in 1864 and the infantry section was taken into the line of Bengal Native Infantry as the '45th (Rattray's Sikh) Native Regiment of Infantry'. [2]
After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. [3] In 1922, the 45th Rattray's Sikhs became the 3rd Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment. The regiment was allocated to the new India on independence and is now the 3rd Battalion, the Sikh Regiment, with its headquarters at Ramgarh, Jharkhand (formerly part of Bihar state), India.
The battle honour Defence of Arrah was awarded to the Bengal Military Police Battalion for their conduct during the Siege of Arrah, when a party of 68 men (including 50 from this unit) held out for 7 days against an estimated 2000–3000 mutinying sepoys and rebellious citizens, suffering only one casualty. [4] [5]
The regiment was posted to the North West Frontier Province several times. In 1897, it saw action in Malakand (Landikai), Bajour in Mamund and the Bara valley in Tirah. In 1901, it saw action in Waziristan and in 1908 in Zakka Khel. [6]
During World War I, the regiment was deployed to Mesopotamia/Iraq for periods of 1916-1921.
Subedar Labh Singh was wounded and awarded the Military Cross on 26th May, 1919. Nineteen soldiers in the regiment were awarded the Indian Order of Merit over the course of the campaign. [6]
On 27 September 1858 a party of Cavalry commanded by Lieutenant Charles George Baker (Commandant of Cavalry for the Bengal Military Police Battalion), consisting of 69 men from the Bengal Military Police Battalion and 56 men from the 3rd Sikh Irregular Cavalry defeated a force of around 1000 mutinying Bengal Native Infantry soldiers. Only one man from Lt. Baker's force was killed during this operation. For this action, Lieutenant Baker received the Victoria Cross. [7]
During the 1857–59 Indian Mutiny the Bengal Military Police Battalion appears in official paperwork with the following names:
The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the 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 and what subsequently became the North-West Frontier Province, by the East India Company.
Major General and Lewa Pasha Charles George Baker was a British Merchant Navy officer, a Bengal Army officer, a Turkish Army officer, and head of the Egyptian Police.
George Bell Chicken VC was a British sailor and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was one of only five civilians to be awarded the VC, and was awarded the medal for actions while serving ashore as a volunteer in the Indian Naval Brigade during the Indian Mutiny in 1858. In 1860, he returned to sea, and died while in command of schooner Emily which was lost in a storm in the Bay of Bengal.
The Sikh Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Sikh regiment is the highest decorated regiment of the Indian Army and in 1979, the 1st battalion was the Commonwealth's most decorated battalion with 245 pre-independence and 82 post-independence gallantry awards, when it was transformed into the 4th battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment. The first battalion of the regiment was officially raised just before the partial annexation of the Sikh Empire on 1 August 1846, by the British East India Company. Currently, the Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
Clan Rattray is a Highland Scottish clan.
The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.
The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing into law of the Government of India Act 1858. At this latter point control of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency passed to the British Government. The first locally recruited battalion was raised by the East India Company in 1757 and by the start of 1857 there were 74 regiments of Bengal Native Infantry in the Bengal Army. Following the Mutiny the Presidency armies came under the direct control of the United Kingdom Government and there was a widespread reorganisation of the Bengal Army that saw the Bengal Native Infantry regiments reduced to 45.
The 11th Sikh Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1922, when after World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. The regiment was formed from the:
The 15th Ludhiana Sikhs was an infantry regiment in the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1846, when they were known as the Regiment of Ludhiana. During the Indian Mutiny they were relied upon to hold Benares throughout the period of the Mutiny. In 1861, they became the 15th Bengal Native Infantry and shortly afterwards to the 15th (Ludhiana) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry in 1864. Further changes in title followed they became the 15th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry in 1885, the 15th (Ludhiana) Sikh Infantry in 1901 and the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army in 1903. To honour the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Indian they took part in the Rawalpindi Parade 1905.
The 22nd Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 22nd Punjabis in 1903 and became 3rd Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 7th Battalion The Punjab Regiment.
The 25th Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 17th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 25th Punjabis in 1903 and became 1st Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 9th Battalion The Punjab Regiment.
The 26th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 18th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 26th Punjabis in 1903 and became 2nd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 10th Battalion The Punjab Regiment.
The 51st Sikhs 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 in 1903 and became 1st Battalion 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 30th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 22nd Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 30th Punjabis in 1903 and became 1st Battalion 16th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 13th Battalion The Punjab Regiment.
The 52nd Sikhs was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1846 as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 52nd Sikhs in 1903 and became 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 4th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment.
The 53rd Sikhs was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1847 as the 3rd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 53rd Sikhs in 1903 and became 3rd Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 5th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment.
The 54th Sikhs 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 in 1903 and became 4th Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 6th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment.
Muhammad Habib Khan Tarin, Risaldar-Bahadur, CSI, was a cavalry officer of Tarin descent, who lived in the Hazara region on the Punjab Frontier, in British India.
The siege of Arrah took place during the Indian Mutiny. It was the eight-day defence of a fortified outbuilding, occupied by a combination of 18 civilians and 50 members of the Bengal Military Police Battalion, against 2,500 to 3,000 mutinying Bengal Native Infantry sepoys from three regiments and an estimated 8,000 men from irregular forces commanded by Kunwar Singh, the local zamindar or chieftain who controlled the Jagdishpur estate.