Battle of Bagh (1919) | |||||||||
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Part of Third Anglo-Afghan War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Afghanistan | United Kingdom Indian Empire | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Amanullah Khan Mir Zaman Khan Nadir Khan | Gen. Andrew Skeen Gen. George Crocker | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
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The Battle of Bagh was fought between British and Afghan forces in British India's Northwest Frontier during the Third Anglo-Afghan War. On 3 May 1919, British troops suffered a setback in the northern theatre when Afghan forces captured the town of Bagh in Landi Kotal. Despite efforts to reinforce and launch a counterattack, the British failed to recapture Bagh on 9 May 1919. The attack, led by Brigadier-General George Crocker, involved the 1/15th Sikhs and the 1/11th Gurkha Rifles, but the majority of the brigade was held in covering positions and unable to support the advance effectively. As a result, the attack stalled, and the British forces had to dig in short of their objective. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The British regained the Tangi Springs, restoring water to Landi Kotal. In Peshawar, a planned uprising by Ghulam Haidar was thwarted by British Indian police, leading to Haidar and 22 rebels surrendering.
At Landi Kotal, General Fowler took command on 9 May. With 2 Infantry Brigade arriving on 10 May, Fowler launched an attack on 11 May, driving Afghan forces to retreat towards Loe Dakka. The retreating Afghans were bombed by 31 Squadron aircraft. British casualties were eight killed and 31 wounded, while Afghan losses were about 100 killed and 300 wounded. [1]
Related to 1896 in Afghanistan: Negotiations are going on between the Indian government and the amir tending to the appointment of a joint commission for determining the last 100 miles (160 km) of Indo-Afghan frontier yet unsettled, from Landi Kotal in the Khyber to Nawar Kotal on the Kunar River.
The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men. By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in August 1945. Serving in divisions of infantry, armour and a fledgling airborne force, they fought on three continents in Africa, Europe and Asia.
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The Second Anglo-Afghan War was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. The war was part of the Great Game between the British and Russian empires.
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Major-General Charles Astley Fowler, CB, CSI, DSO was an officer in the British Indian Army from 1886 to 1921, serving in both India and Europe. He commanded the 37th Brigade at the Battle of Loos in France in 1915 and was a Divisional Commander during the Third Afghan War in 1919.
Sir Richard Udny, KCSI was an official in British India, best known for his role in defining the border with the Emirate of Afghanistan. He took part in the border survey for the stretch between the Hindu Kush range in the north-east to Landi Kotal. This demarcation was the first stage in making the Durand Line of 1893 concrete in geographical terms, a process that lasted into the 20th century.