128th Pioneers

Known as the 28th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry in the Bombay Army
Known as the 128th Pioneers in the Indian Army

Chronology

• 1846 raised as 28th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry
• 1885 became the 28th Regiment of Bombay Infantry
• 1888 became the 28th (Pioneer) Regiment of Bombay Infantry
• 1901 became the 28th Bombay Pioneers
• 1903 became the 128th Pioneers
• 1922 became the 3rd/2nd Bombay Pioneers
• 1929 became The Corps of Bombay Pioneers
• 1933 disbanded

First World War

"G. L. Tomkins… is acting as Adjutant at the Depot, 128th Pioneers, Meerut, prior to being taken on the strength. He writes: " I hope to get out to Mesopotamia eventually, but have to pass two language exams in Hindustani before they will let me go. There is just a chance of my going out sooner than usual, as the Pioneers do all the trench-digging and bombing out there. We send a draft out every month, and have about 350 recruits here altogether. Their training is a matter of much patience, for they are nearly all men who come from tiny villages, and can't even read and write, whilst quite a number don't talk Hindustani even. These are mostly Pathans, whose language is Pushtu. They are fine men, though, who come from the frontier, and have been able to shoot from childhood, to keep themselves from being shot by their enemies. Others are men who have lived by farming all their lives, and are soon taught trench-digging, which they do splendidly".

External Links

• 128th Pioneers Wikipedia
  
• 128th Pioneers British Empire website
• 2nd Bombay Pioneers Wikipedia (retrieved 29 April 2014)

Historical books online

• History Of The Bombay Pioneers 1777-1933 by Lieut. Colonel W B P Tugwell 1938. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. This book is also available in a reprint edition