View source for Calcutta and Presidency Battalion

The '''Calcutta and Presidency Battalion''' were an [[auxiliary regiment]] formerly known as the '''Calcutta Volunteer Rifles'''.

==Chronology==
===Calcutta Battalion===
*'''1863''' raised as the '''Calcutta Volunteer Rifle Corps''' on the 3rd February<ref name=IAL />
*'''1898''' reconstituted '''1st Battalion, Calcutta Volunteer Rifles''', 24th March<ref name=Jack>Jackson, Major Donovan ''India's Army'' (1940)</ref>
*'''1917''' became '''5th Calcutta Battalion''', 1st April<ref name=Jack />
*'''1920''' became the '''Calcutta Battalion''', 1st October<ref name=Jack />
*'''1926''' amalgamated with the Presidency Battalion to become the Calcutta and Presidency Battalion, 23rd July<ref name=Jack />

===Presidency Battalion===
*'''1888''' raised as the '''Presidency Volunteer Reserve Battalion''', 30th March<ref name=Jack />
*'''1891''' became the '''Presidency Volunteer Rifle Battalion'''
*'''1898''' became '''Presidency Battalion, Calcutta Rifle Volunteers''', 24th March<ref name=Jack /><ref name=IAL />
*'''1901''' redesignated '''2nd (Presidency) Battalion, Calcutta Volunteer Rifles''' by GGO No.868 of 1901<ref name=IAL />
*'''1917''' became '''37th Calcutta Presidency Battalion'''<ref name=Jack />
*'''1920''' became the '''Calcutta Presidency Battalion''', 1st October
*'''1926''' amalgamated with the Calcutta Battalion to become the Calcutta and Presidency Battalion, 23rd July

===Cadet Battalion===
*'''1863''' raised as the cadet battalion of the '''Calcutta Volunteer Rifle Corps''' on the 3rd February<ref name=IAL />
*'''1901''' redesignated '''3rd (Cadet) Battalion, Calcutta Volunteer Rifles''' by GGO No.868 of 1901<ref name=IAL />

==Details==
Headquarters - [[Calcutta]], for all three battalions

===Uniform===
In 1901:<ref name=IAL>''Indian Army List'' 1st Sept 1901</ref>
*1st Battalion - Khaki
*2nd and 3rd Battalions - Khaki drill

By 1940:<ref name=Jack />
*Uniform - Khaki 
*Facings - White
*Badge - Arms of Calcutta surmounted on crossed rifles
*Motto - ''Per Ardua Stabilis Esto''

==External links==
*India-British-Raj  post by Chris Woods <ref>Original URL was <nowiki>http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ/2013-11/1385284442</nowiki> indicating it was dated November 2013, however it cannot be now located in the current [https://mlarchives.rootsweb.com/listindexes/emails?searchemails=Chris+Woods&listname=india-british-raj&searchsender=on&page=1 Rootsweb  Archives for the India British Raj Mailing List] searching for sender Chris Woods.</ref>   about the Calcutta Volunteer Rifles.
**2nd. Batt. Calcutta V.R. Motor Cycle Machine Gun Detachment (1913): 
::35 Europeans with (15) motor cycles including 'Triumph' 3½h.p, 'Indian' 1912 V-Twin and an American 'Rambler', plus 4 motor cars, with .303 Maxim machine guns, personal arms being the Mk III Short Rifle. Designed as a mobile detachment. "Details from the Journal of the Institute of Military Historical Research", [probably the article available online, below].
:*23rd July 1925 consisting of 4 Infantry companies, 1 Armoured Car Section, 2 Light Motor Patrols, 1 Motor Cyclist Platoon
*Photograph<ref>[https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintage-cars-classics-india/162572-pre-war-military-vehicles-india-9.html#post4759048 Post 127, page 9 "Pre-War Military Vehicles in India"] Team-BHP.com.</ref>   of Rolls Royce Silver Ghost armoured cars of the Calcutta Presidency Battalion Auxiliary Force that assisted the Calcutta Police in 1919 for over 2 months in curbing the disturbances that occurred then. Seen outside the battalion garage.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090806235242/http://geocities.com/cdferree/history/longido.html "Battle By Accident: The Battle For Longido Mountain, 3 - 4 November 1914"] [East Africa] by Dennis L. Bishop and Holger Dobold.   Contains a brief reference to  “a section of the Calcutta Volunteer Maxim Battery (2 machineguns)”
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44231002 "1694. An unusual Motor Cycle and Machine Gun detachment of the AF(I)"] by W. Y. Carman and Alan Harfield ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research''  Vol. 81, No. 328 (Winter 2003), pp. 384-392 (9 pages) jstor.org. Register with jstor.org, and read online for free. (Limit per month applies).

==Notes==
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[[Category:Auxiliary Force (India)]]