History of Pakistan Army

[ghazi52]

No.4 Company Bombay Sappers And Miners Workshop, Maidan, Tirah Valley, 1897-98 (c).

Many serious defects were exposed in the organisation, equipment and particularly the training of the Army in India throughout the 1897–98 frontier risings. During the most serious outbreak of resistance to British rule since the Mutiny, nearly the entire strength of the Field Army was mobilised, involving the deployment of over 59,000 regular troops, 4,000 Imperial Service Troops, and 118 guns in parts of the Pathan borderland that were still virtually terra incognita.

1) Imperial troops suffered 470 dead, 1,524 wounded and ten missing in action during the extended fighting, losses exceeding those suffered during the Second Afghan War.

2) Despite the benefits of Dum-Dum bullets, machine guns, search lights, a rocket battery, field and mountain artillery, the large Anglo-Indian force encountered serious, albeit uncoordinated, resistance from the trans-border Pathan tribes. The Tirah Campaign proved the most difficult and protracted military operation during the rising costing the Army in India 287 dead and 853 wounded. despite initial expectations in many quarters that British and Indian troops would only be opposed by lashkars still reliant on hand-to-hand combat supported by limited jezail or occasional rifle fire.

3) In his final report dated 24th February 1898 Major-General Sir William Lockhart summed up the difficulties encountered by imperial troops: "No campaign on the frontiers of India has been conducted under more trying and arduous circumstances than those encountered by the Tirah Expeditionary Force".

Article Reference - The Army In India And The Development Of Frontier Warfare, 1849–1947 By T. R. Moreman, Published 1998.

 

[RescueRanger]

(Late) Lt Col (R) Abdul Rabb Niazi of 7FF. SJ

In his own words:
On night 10/11 Sep, his unit while on its way to Sialkot from Khem Karan, was asked on the last moment to reinforce Lahore where situation was dangerous. He was Second-in-Command of his battalion but voluntarily took over a company which had no officer other than a young Second Lieutenant.
Without any maps or any reconnaissance of the area, they reached the location and took positions at BRB canal.

All night battle with Heavy Machine Guns of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) of the Company on full song repulsed Indians who took APCs as tanks and thought that Pakistan has reinforced position with armour. The situation was stabilised which otherwise could have been of grave consequences. He was recommended for a gallantry award.

The unit was awarded Battle Honour and the singular distinction to celebrate 10 Sep as Lahore Day every year.

Moving on to Sialkot, Company went in to an attack on 19 Sep to capture Jassoran, a place near Chawinda. It was a strong company position. With tanks in support being pinned down and the other company losing direction, virtually a company versus company were pitched. Under heavy fire of medium machine gun (MMG), the Company reached target almost unharmed.

The Indians panicked and deserted their defences. The same MMG was turned on to fleeing Indians who were taken for a duck shoot at dusk. A large amount of weapons including anti-tank weapons and automatics were seized. 35 were made prisoners.

The then Major Abdul Rabb Niazi was immediately recommended for Sitara-i-Jurrat. In the morning, he was called upon by General Officer Commanding Sahibzada Yaqub Khan who remarked that you have literally butchered the Indian company. He was locally called as 'Victor of Jassoran' in the formation. The Indian MMG still rests as a war trophy in the unit.

In 17 days war, he along with his unit traveled over 200 miles, took part in three major war fronts and was awarded Sitara-i-Jurrat.

He holds place in the Army and Regimental Roll of Honour. His portrait and uniform hangs in his unit of which; he's considered as an icon. He later commanded it for a record three consecutive years.

 

[ghazi52]

Kakul Camp, Abbottabad, 1910's (c).

Abbottabad was founded in 1853 by Major James Abbott, the first Deputy Commissioner of the Hazara District.
This district ran from the Himalayas in the north towards Rawalpindi in the south. Abbottabad was a cantonment, or permanent Army base, for the region; the garrison consisted of four Gurkha battalions and four mountain batteries.

General View Of Abbottabad, 1860's (c).

Photograph of Abbottabad, now in Pakistan, from the Macnabb Collection, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1860's.

.........
One Of The Earliest Photographs Of Cricket In British India.
19th Century Cricket at Kohat, a photograph by Major Charles Patton Keyes of the 1st Punjab Infantry, between 1862-1865 (c).
© Charles Patton Keyes

Many of the first cricket matches played in northern British India during the 19th Century were instigated by the British Army who were stationed there.

Kohat is described by Edward Emmerson in his book 'Across the Border' published in 1890, as a 'picturesque town'. He noted that Kohat boasted a church, an assembly room, a library, racket courts, a cricket ground, polo field and racecourse all within a ring fence "so that society can take its exercise, or afternoon tea, without going beyond the range of the mess; that Garrison mess whose doors are open to every one, whom duty or pleasure carries in its direction".
The British introduced cricket to India in the 18th century. Initially, Indians were only spectators to contests played between Army and Navy units, but by the late 19th century the game had acquired popular appeal. Both Hindu and Muslim native soldiers took up cricket with enthusiasum. For the British, cricket was part of their colonising mission.

The cricketing historian Cecil Headlam, travelling in India during the 1903 Delhi Durbar, reflected on its place in the imperial scheme: 'First the hunter, the missionary, and the merchant, next the soldier and the politician, and then the cricketer - that is the history of British colonisation. And of these civilizing influences the last may, perhaps, be said to do least harm. The hunter may exterminate deserving species, the missionary may cause quarrels, the soldier may hector, the politician blunder - but cricket unites, as in India, the rulers and the ruled. It also provides a moral training, an education in pluck, nerve and self-restraint valuable to the character of the ordinary native'.

Like their British counterparts, Indian Army regiments took part in competitions against both Indian and British units stationed on the sub-continent. Today, Pakistan and India are both cricket-mad nations.
© Charles Patton Keyes

 

[Fatman17]

The month of December has not augered well for Pakistan. We had the Tradegy of 1971 and much later we also had the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
Lt. Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi was the Commander of the Eastern Command during 1971 and had the dubious and shameful honour to surrender on 16th December to the invading Indian forces.
He was from the Punjab Regiment 5th Battalion. He was the CO in the mid 50s and my father was his 2iC.
He visited us much later after his release as POW. Meanwhile he had penned his version of the events in his book.
If you read the book you get the impression that GHQ had basically abandoned him and his command and we all know how it all ended. View attachment 4096View attachment 4097

I'm trying to upload more pics but unfortunately getting messages that the pictures are too large size wise. Maybe please adjust the uploading limit if possible. Thanks

 

[ghazi52]

An Infantry In Action Against Afridis In Khajuri Plains, Circa 1930.

The Afridi Redshirt Rebellion was a military campaign conducted by British and Indian armies against Afridi tribesmen in the North West Frontier region of the Indian Empire, now in Pakistan in 1930–1931. The Afridi are a Karlani Pashtun tribe who inhabit the border area of Pakistan, notably in the Spin Ghar mountain range to the west of Peshawar and the Maidan Valley in Tirah.

The Afridis often clashed with the British and Indian Armies during India’s expansion towards the Afghan border, notably during the Anglo-Afghan Wars.

In the summer of 1930 a rebellion by dissident Afridi tribesmen, known as Redshirts, broke out. As this threatened the security of Peshawar, two Brigade Groups were sent to occupy the Khajuri Plain, west of Peshawar and south of the Khyber Pass. Their role was to open up the area by constructing roads and strong points.

This would help prevent any future tribal infiltration towards Peshawar as well as being a punitive measure, since the Afridis had been accustomed to pasture their flocks on this low ground during the winter months.

On 17 October 1930 the British-led force crossed into the Tirah Valley at Bara, six miles from Peshawar, and advanced a further seven miles to Miri Khel. Here a fortified camp was constructed from which operations against the Afridis were conducted. On 16 January 1931, the force was withdrawn, having accomplished its objective.

British and Indian Army forces that took part in the campaign received the India General Service Medal with the clasp North West Frontier 1930-31.

 

[ghazi52]

Fort Gulistan, Tirah Valley, North-West Frontier, 1897-98 (c).

The Battle of Saragarhi was fought before the Tirah Campaign on 12 September 1897 between Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army and Pashtun Orakzai tribesmen. It occurred in the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).

The British Indian contingent comprised 21 Sikhs of the 36th Sikhs (now the 4th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment), who were stationed at an army post attacked by tribesmen. The Sikhs, led by Havildar Ishar Singh, chose to fight to the death, in what is considered by some military historians as one of history's greatest last-stands. The post was recaptured two days later by another British Indian contingent.

Sikh military personnel commemorate the battle every year on 12 September, as Saragarhi Day.

Note - The Tirah Campaign proved the most difficult and protracted military operation during the rising costing the Army in India 287 dead and 853 wounded, despite initial expectations in many quarters that British and Indian troops would only be opposed by lashkars still reliant on hand-to-hand combat supported by limited jezail or occasional rifle fire.

3 In his final report dated 24th February 1898 Major-General Sir William Lockhart summed up the difficulties encountered by imperial troops, "No campaign on the frontiers of India has been conducted under more trying and arduous circumstances than those encountered by the Tirah Expeditionary Force".

 

[ghazi52]

Karachi 1920-
Barracks...

 

[RescueRanger]

General Sir Douglas David Gracey KCB, KCIE, CBE, MC was second Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army from 1948 until 1951.

Upon his retirement he was presented these embroiled insignia by the President of Pakistan 1953.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

Governor-General of Pakistan Khawaja Nazim Ud Din (c) with the Army Officer.
Year: 1950

Seated left to right: (2nd) Maj. Gen. Ishfakul Majid, GOC, 9 Infantry Division (NWFP); (3rd) Gen. Sir Douglas Gracey, C-in-C, Pakistan Army; (4th) Khawaja Nazimuddin, Governor-General of Pakistan and (5th) Lt. Gen. Sir Ross Cairns McCay, CGS, Pakistan Army and others, Peshawar, Pakistan,

 

[ghazi52]

One Of The First Large Building Complaxes in Karachi,
Napiar Barracks was built for British Soldiers,
KARACHI, 1847,,, Still in use by Army..

 

[ghazi52]

An Aerial Image of KARACHI, 1920,,
Napiar Barracks were clearly visible, Karachi Cantt area and present Sharah i Faisal..

 

[ghazi52]

Double Deckers Peshawar Cantt, 1935-40 (c).

 

[ghazi52]

1938, A Convoy of Army Vehicles at Rest in Bannu, KPK.

 

[ghazi52]

Kohat Cantonment, North-West Frontier, 1930 (c).

Photograph taken by Ernest Schoedaack in 1930 of Hodson's Horse (Bengal Lancer regiment stationed at Kohat on the North-West West Frontier in India)