DEFENCE NOTES
1ST PUNJAB REGIMENT
Centre: 1923 JHELUM
1946 JHELUM
Class composition: 1923 1, 2, 3, and 5 Bns Punjabi Mussalmans, Sikhs and Rajputana Muslims
4 Bn Brahmans (United Provinces), Punjabi Mussalmans and Garhwali Brahmans
10 Bn Punjabi Mussalmans, Brahmans (United Provinces), Sikhs, Rajputana Rajputs and Garhwali Brahmans.
1946: Punjabi Mussalmans from the Punjab (less Ambala Civil Division), including Niazi and other Pathans of the Punjab, Hazarawalas of NWFP and Mussalmans from Jammu and Kashmir State and Gilgit Agency, Sikhs from the Punjab, Rajputs from Ambala Civil Division, United Provinces, Rajputana, Central India states and Bihar
The two senior infantry regiments of the Indian Army bore the territorial title of the area from which the majority of India's soldiers came but the constituent battalions of both the 1st and 2nd Punjab Regiments began life in the old Madras Army and all the eighteenth and nineteenth century battle-honours were gained by the Coast sepoys who had marched and fought under Lake and Wellesley.
However, with the apparent need to remove Madras units from the order of battle and to reinstate them as Punjab regiments, the 2nd 6th, 16th, 22nd and 24th Madras Infantry were all well on their way to conversion when the official changes of title became effective in 1903. Most of the native officers had already been replaced by Northerners. In 1903, the old Madras regiments, by adding sixty to their numbers, became the 62nd, 66th, 76th, 82nd and 84th Punjabis. Twenty years later, the 1st Punjab Regiment came into being, made up of the 62nd Punjabis (1st Bn), 66th Punjabis (2nd Bn), 76th Punjabis (3rd Bn), 1st Brahmans (4th Bn) - an exception as a Bengal regiment - 82nd Punjabis - (5th Bn) and the 84th Punjabis (10th Bn). An important change was that these previously individual regiments - mostly one-battalion regiments - became battalions of a large regiment. Thus, the old 62nd became the 1st Bn 1st Punjab Regiment, colloquially referred to as First First Punjab and so on.
FIRST WORLD WAR
62nd Punjabis - India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Aden. Among the Regiment's officers was a Captain C J E Auchinleck, later Field Marshal Sir Claude and Colonel-in-Chief of 1st Punjab Regiment.
66th Punjabis - Burma, Mesopotamia. Captured at Kut-al-Amara and spent the rest of the war in Turkish captivity.
2/66th Punjabis (raised in 1918) - India.
76th Punjabis - India, Egypt, Mesopotamia. Captured at Kut-al-Amara and spent the rest of the war in Turkish captivity.
2/76th Punjabis (raised in 1917) - India.
1st Brahmans - India, Aden.
2/1st Brahmans (raised in 1917) - India, Persian Gulf.
82nd Punjabis - India, Mesopotamia.
84th Punjabis - India, Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Russia.
Following the return home of Indian troops after the war, all the war-raised battalions were disbanded.
BETWEEN THE WARS
The badge chosen for the 1st Punjab Regiment was basically the Star of India with, superimposed upon it, the Elephant over a tablet 'Assaye', an honour gained by the 1st Bn (62nd Punjabis as the 2nd Madras Native Infantry) and the 10th Bn (84th Punjabis as the 24th Madras Native Infantry): below, a China Dragon gained by both the 1st and 2nd Bn (66th Punjabis as the 6th Madras Native Infantry), all surmounted by a crown.
The new structure for 1 Punjab was to be as follows:
1st Battalion - 62nd Punjabis
2nd Battalion - 66th Punjabis
3rd Battalion - 76th Punjabis
4th Battalion - 1st Brahmans
5th Battalion - 82nd Punjabis
10th Battalion - 84th Punjabis
By this reorganisation and redesignation, the battalions of the Regiment regained their correct seniority in the Indian Infantry, an issue disregarded in 1903.
In February 1923, eight units were selected for Indianisation and the 2nd Bn 1st Punjab Regiment was one of these. The experiment was not universally either popular or successful but several of 2/1 Punjab's young Indian officers ultimately reached general officer rank.
In addition to the six regular battalions, the 11th Bn, formed in 1921 was also based at Jhelum. It was originally the 1st (Territorial) Bn 62nd Punjabis but the title was changed in 1922 to the 11th 1st Punjab Regiment with no reference to its Territorial status. Only Punjabi Mussalmans were enlisted in the 11/1st.
All the regular battalions saw service on the Frontier during the between-wars years and the 4/1st spent a couple of years in China from 1927 in defence of British interests threatened by the Nationalist campaign against the Republicans. In December 1931, after 156 years of honourable existence, the 4/1st - the old 1st Brahmans - was disbanded as a result of retrenchment of the Indian Army. In the Great Mutiny of 1857 it was the only regiment of the old Bengal Line which remained loyal. In 1925 and again in 1928, attempts were made to transfer this battalion with its heavy loading of Garhwali Brahmans to the 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles but the prospective recipients of this windfall battalion declined to accept.
SECOND WORLD WAR
1st Battalion - India, Egypt, Iraq, Burma, Singapore, Dutch East Indies.
2nd Battalion - India, Burma. This battalion received more gallantry awards than any other Indian Army battalion during the war. The list comprised:
VC 1 DSO 4 MC 22 IOM 6 MM 23 GM 1 IDSM 12
3rd Battalion - India, Egypt, Italy. In June 1946, the battalion was nominated for training in a parachute role to join 2nd Indian Airborne Division: training was completed by the end of the year but, early in 1947, 3rd (Para) Bn 1st Punjab Regiment became engaged in operations in aid of the civil power, a situation which all soldiers hate and, in July, was detailed to join the Punjab Boundary Force, formed to keep the peace on the new East-West Punjab border.
5th Battalion - India, Burma, Japan. This battalion was posted after the end of the war to 268 Indian Infantry Brigade which went to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force.
6th Battalion - raised in Benares in August 1940. Captured in Singapore by the Japanese in February 1942.
7th Battalion - raised in Jhelum in April 1941. India, Andamans, Singapore. When Major Budh Singh MC took over command in March 1947, the 7th became the first battalion in the Regiment to have all Indian officers.
8th Battalion - raised in Jhelum in April 1941. In December that year, it was converted to a light anti-aircraft role and its officers mindful of their origins, were permitted to wear a small brass Elephant badge on their khaki helmets. Initially, the 6th (1st Punjab) LAA Regt, they suffered a further change in January 1945 when they began conversion to an airborne role as the 28th (Punjab) Para LAA Regt.
9th Battalion - in September 1939, the Territorial battalion the 11th, was mobilised and took over railway protection duties from the 2/1st. In June
1941, the 11/1st was disembodied and the 9/1st came into being. In February 1943, after a year on the Frontier, a request was received from the Royal Indian Navy for volunteers to transfer and as seven hundred signified their willingness, the battalion was transferred despite the fact that only very few of the men had ever seen the sea. The only other such transfer was of the 15/13th Frontier Force Rifles, also once a pre-war 11th Bn.
11th Battalion - the pre-war Territorial battalion was converted to active status in June 1941 and redesignated the 9/1st.
14th Battalion - raised in Jhelum in January 1942. India. Disbanded in July 1947.
15th Battalion - raised in Jhelum in July 1942. India. Disbanded in April, 1946.
16th Battalion - raised originally as the 25th Garrison Bn in August 1941, it became a training battalion and, in August 1943 was redesignated the 16/1st. Disbanded in March 1946.
25th Garrison Battalion - raised in Jhelum in August 1942. India. Redesignated the 16/1st in August 1943.
26th Garrison Battalion - raised in Jhelum in March 1942. India. Disbanded in 1943.
PARTITION
In August 1947, the 1st Punjab Regiment went to join the Pakistan Army. It was to be composed henceforth of Punjabi Mussalmans and Pathans from Hazara District. The Sikhs and Rajputs from the various battalions were transferred to units allocated to India whilst 1 Punjab received in their place, Punjabi Mussalmans previously serving in battalions going to India's Army. Transfers were effected as follows:
Received Transferred
1 Bn PMs from 3/2 Punjab Sikhs to 1 Sikh
Rajputs to 3 Raj Rif
2 Bn PMs from 2/2 Punjab Sikhs to 2 Sikh
Rajputs to 1 Raj Rif
3 Bn PMs from 1/2 Punjab Sikhs to 2 Sikh
Rajputs to 4 Raj Rif
5 Bn PMs from 2 Bn Sikhs to 3 Sikh
Rajputs to Raj Rif
7 Bn PMs from 1 Bn Sikhs to Sikh Regt
Rajputs to Raj Rif
Regtl PMs from 2 Punjab Sikhs to Sikh Regt
Centre Regtl Centre Rajputs to Raj Rif
The 5th and 7th Bns did not receive drafts from India-bound units but each received three platoons from the 1st and 2nd Bns.
BATTLE HONOURS
Sholinghur, Carnatic, Seringapatam, Mysore, Assaye, Laswarrie, Bourbon, Nagpore, Arakan, Ava, Bhurtpore, China, Burma 1885-87.
Suez Canal, Egypt 1915, Aden, Shaiba, Kut-al-Amara 1915-17, Defence of Kut-al-Amara, Ctesiphon, Tigris 1916, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1915-18, NW Frontier India 1915, Afghanistan 1919.
Agordat, Keren, Kissoue, Damascus, Sidi Barrani, Tobruk 1941, Omars, Alem Hamza, Gazala, Carmusa, Defence of Alamein Line, Ruweisat Ridge, El Alamein, Montone, Gothic Line, Lamone Crossing, Pideura, Singapore Island, Pyuntaza-Shwegyin, Yenangyaung 1942, Monywa 1942, Donbaik, Htizwe, North Arakan, Razabil, Mayu Tunnels, Ngakyedauk Pass, Imphal, Litan, Kohima, Defence of Kohima, Kennedy Peak, Meiktila, Taungtha, Rangoon Road, Shwemyo Bluff, Sittang 1945, Arakan Beaches, Ramree, Burma 1942-45.
BOOKS
'A brief history of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment' (Gale and Polden Ltd. Aldershot, 1927)
'The First Punjabis' by Major Mahommed Ibrahim Qureshi. (Gale and Polden Ltd. Aldershot, 1958) - i have this book. excellent read.
