History Of The 4th Regiment, Punjab Infantry

Rare history of a hard-fighting Indian Army regiment (INDIAN ARMY.) History of the 4th Regiment, Punjab Infantry. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co., I894 A very good copy. First and sole edition of this rare regimental history, this with a particularly enticing provenance: neat marginal pencil markings at pages 28, 30 and 31 draw attention to a amadar Jowalla Singh, who during the storming of Lucknow was mentioned in despatches when he "distinguished himself considerably in leading on his men to the capture of a gun". He was also singled out for praise and awarded the Indian Order of Merit during the attack on Fort Ruiya (given here as Ruyaghari) in April 1858 and the desperate assault on the ditch (in which action two VCs were awarded to men of the 93rd Highlanders) when he was involved in the rescue of the body of Lieutenant Willoughby.

The 4th Punjabis were raised in 1849, renamed as 57th Wilde's Rifles in Igo3 and following Partition designated 9th Battalion Frontier Force Regiment, Pakistan Army. They saw much action during the Mutiny, were involved in the Second Afghan War, and campaigned extensively on the North West Frontier, recorded in the many expeditions of that region, including the Waziri (1859-6I), Bizoti (1869), Jowaki (1877-78). Second Mahsud-Waziri (1881), Takht-i-Suleiman (1883), Zhob Valley (1884), Black Mountain (1888), and First Miranzai (189I). This slim history includes a list of British officers, with references to their awards, which Perkins says "is probably the publication's best feature" (Perkins). We have traced two locations only, British Library and Minnesota, from an online search of institutional libraries; Roger Perkins, in his thorough regimental bibliography.

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