North West Frontier Campaigns

North West Frontier Campaigns
1849-1947
Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
[[Image:|250px| ]]
Location:
Combatants:
East India Company and British Army	North West Frontier tribes
Result: Suppression of border incursions
Medals: India General Service medal 1854 India Medal 1895-1902
Links:
Category: Category:North West Frontier Campaigns

From 1849 when the East India Company annexed the Punjab it became necessary to prevent incursion by the frontier Pakhtun tribes. Successive punitive expeditions subdued particular areas until further outrages occurred. Control of the region depended to a large extent on the Punjab Frontier Force recruited from local tribesmen commanded by British officers.

North West Frontier Expeditions

For a list of campaigns in order see

• Chronological list of North West Frontier Campaigns

Medals

• From www.northeastmedals.co.uk
  • The India General Service Medal 1854-1895 with bars
    • North West Frontier 3rd December 1849- 22nd October 1868
    • Individually named campaigns including Umbeyla, Hazara, Waziristan
  • India Medal 1895
  • NWF VCs 1895-1898
  • India General Service Medal 1908 with details of eligibility for the clasps "North West Frontier 1908" to "North West Frontier 1935" (a total of twelve clasps, most for the North West Frontier)
  • India General Service Medal 1936-1939 with details of eligibility for the clasps "North West Frontier 1936-37" and "North West Frontier 1937-1939"
• Also see Medal Rolls

British Library holdings

India Office Records, which may be located by using the British Library Search include:

• Collection 391 North West Frontier Operations 1897 IOR/L/MIL/7/15855-15939 1897-1923
• Collection 403 Frontier and Overseas Expeditions IOR/L/MIL/7/16820-16978 1901-1944
• War Diary [Collection], Army Headquarters India, Frontier Operations. GSI, 1914-20. 56 vols. IOR/L/MIL/17/5/4066-4121. Printed volumes from the Military Library. At least one, possibly more, is thought to be available in the library subscription website "The Indian Army and Colonial Warfare on the Frontiers of India, 1914-1920", see Subscription websites-online newspapers, journals and directories.
• Political and Secret Department Library IOR/L/PS/20 1757-1952. A very large and varied collection of confidential prints, official publications and commercially published works, analogous to the Military Library (see under L/MIL/17), it largely consists of military reports, gazetteers, summaries of correspondence, handbooks etc. dealing with the Indian States, the frontier regions and neighbouring countries. There is a separate index. Includes
  • Political and Secret Department Library: 'B' Books IOR/L/PS/20/B 1834-1944. Covers Afghanistan, Baluchistan, North West Frontier of India, Jammu and Kashmir and Northern Frontier of India
  • Political and Secret Department Library: 'D' Books 1865-1949. Covers Assam, Bhutan, Burma (including Shan States, Chin Hills etc), Burma-China Frontier, China (except Chinese Turkestan, for which see L/PS/20/A), Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, North East Frontier of India, Siam, South East Asia and Far East

Imperial War Museums holdings

The Imperial War Museums are a source of information about operations in Waziristan. Search the catalogue.

Catalogue entry for the publication Bibliography of sources in the Departments of Documents, Photographs, Printed Books and Sound Records at the Imperial War Museum on military operations in Waziristan on the North West Frontier of India 1917-1937, published c 1979.

Also see

• Royal Air Force

Recommended Reading

• John Archibald Hislop was an officer in the Indian Army, 2nd Battalion 9th Jat Regiment from 1933. He had a series of postings on the North West Frontier. Subsequently he was GS02 Waziristan District until c.August 1943. His memoirs A Soldier’s Story-From the Khyber Pass to the Jungles of Burma: The Memoir of a British Officer in the Indian Army 1933-1947 were published by his daughter in 2010 and reviewed in FIBIS Journal 26.

External links

• North West Frontier Military History Wikipedia
• Pink’s War 1925 Wikipedia

Maps

• 1893 North West Frontier Map Rootsweb
• 1909 NWF Map Digital South Asia Maps
• Map: an outline of the N.W. Frontier of India digital page 573 The History of the Sikh Pioneers, (23rd, 32nd, 34th) by Sir George MacMunn [1936] Archive.org.
• 1938, March. Sketch Map of Waziristan British Library catalogue reference IOR/L/PS/12/1960, f 258. Qatar Digital Library.

Histories

• 'Passing it on' : the army in India and the development of frontier warfare 1849-1947 by Timothy Robert Moreman. 1996 PhD Thesis King’s College London. A book was subsequently published. British Library’s EthOS e-theses online service. Alternative link to pdf download King's College, London.
• Afghanistan & North West Frontier (pdf) by Michael E. Lambert, now an archived webpage. The presentation is in three parts: "The History" relates Britain’s involvement in the North West Frontier, "The Medals" discusses the Afghanistan Medal, the Kabul to Kandahar Star, and the India General Service Medal through its multiple issues, "The Album" presents early twentieth century photographs of soldiers and soldiering.
• "British Policy in Tribal Areas: A Case Study of Waziristan" by Dr.Fazlur Rahman Pakistan Journal of History and Culture Vol.XXV No.1 Jan-Jun 2004. Includes statistics about the cost of operations.
• 'Military Operations in Waziristan: From a Historical Perspective (1849-1947)" by Col. (Retd.) Muhammad Yahya Effendi Issue 62, [2008?] Central Asia Research Journal of the Area Study Center, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, now archived.
• The British Factor and Asia in the Twentieth Century. Chapter V: "British India’s North West Tribal Territories" by Maj (Retd) Raja Muhammad Sarwar Dhuddy. The Defence Journal January 2001 (Karachi, Pakistan), now archived.
• "Why was the North-West frontier of India the scene of so much conflict in the period 1849-1901?" by R.A. Johnson from Soldiers of the Queen issue 97, Victorian Military Society, now archived.
• "The 1897 Revolt and Tirah Valley Operations from the Pashtun Perspective" by Robert A Johnson November 2009 Tribal Analysis Center
• "Khyber during the Frontier Uprising of 1897: Lessons to Learn from the British Policy in the Tribal Areas" by Dr Javed Iqbal Central Asia Journal No. 64 [c 2009?] University of Peshawar, now archived.
• "An Historical Analysis of the ‘Incessant Disputes in the Tribal Areas’ (of the North-West Frontier) against the British (and the British Indian Army) from 1893 to 1939" by Colonel Graeme Sligo, Australian Army. October 2012. defence.gov.au
• The British Colonial Experience in Waziristan and Its Applicability to Current Operations by Matthew W Williams 26 May 2005. Monograph [thesis] produced for School of Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Archive.org
• British Governance of the North-West Frontier (1919 to 1947): A Blueprint for Contemporary Afghanistan? by Major Andrew M. Roe British Army, 17 June 2005. A thesis as part of the requirements for a degree of Master Of Military Art And Science, US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Archive.org.
• Ever present danger: a concise history of British military operations on the north-west frontier, 1849-1947 by Matt M Matthews. Occasional Paper 33, June 2010. Combat Studies Institute Press, US Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Archive.org.
• Inter-war, inter-service friction on the North-West frontier of India and its impact on the development and application of RAF doctrine by Andrew John Charles Walters 2018. University of Birmingham. Ph.D. Air power’s potential was never fully exploited.
• Harry’s Sideshows by Harry Fecitt (kaiserscross.com) detail many NWF campaigns.
• "Tribal Belt and the Defence of British India: A Critical Appraisal of British Strategy in the North-West Frontier during the First World War" (html version) by Dr. Salman Bangash, University of Peshawar, Pakistan. A paper presented at the 23rd European Conference on South Asian Studies, University of Zurich (Switzerland) 
23 to 26 July 2014. Alternatively, scroll down for a pdf download of the paper. Direct pdf download
• The Life and Death of Lieutenant Neville Rudd Thompson of the 21st (Empress of India’s) Lancers, by Ross Dix-Peek. Lieutenant Thompson and the 21st Lancers, and their part in the Battle at Shabkadar on the 5 September 1915 on the North West Frontier.
• War in the Switzerland of Asia: Swat Valley. Online papers from part of the collection of General Sir Frederick Campbell charting two key campaigns in Swat 1915. King’s College London Collections: The Serving Soldier.
• Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal 48 2010. html version, pdf rafmuseum.org.uk. raf.mod.uk version. Includes "Substitution or Subordination? The Employment of Air Power over Afghanistan and The North-West Frontier, 1910-1939" by Clive Richards pages 63-87.
• House of Lords Debate 31 May 1921: Defence of North-West Frontier An overview of the then current situation. hansard.millbanksystems.com
• The Bombing of Waziristan (c 1924-1939) by Graham Chandler Air & Space magazine, July 2011
• "“Good God, Sir, Are You Hurt?” The Realities and Perils of Operating over India’s Troublesome North-West Frontier" by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Roe Air Power Review Volume 14 Number 3 Autumn/Winter 2011 Centre for Air Power Studies, Royal Air Force, pages 61-82 (computer file pages 72-93),
• "Air/Ground Cooperation between the RAF and the Indian Army in Waziristan 1936-1937" by Simon Coningham, British Commission for Military History, Summer Conference 2012–Indian Armies, now archived.
• A Story of War blog recording the diaries kept by Colin Diarmid Campbell Dunford Wood (of the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment) from early 1939. Waziristan Campaign.
• The kidnapping of Mollie Ellis from Kohat cantonment by Afridi tribesmen from the Khyber Pass region 14 April 1923 and the rescue expedition which included Mrs Lilian Starr matron at the Peshawar Mission Hospital. Photographs from the Illustrated London News (26 May 1923) on Flickr. An account of her rescue mission Tales of Tirah and Lesser Tibet by Lilian A Starr was published 1924, which is available online, refer below.
• "Waziristan's last soldier" by Zubeida Malik BBC 8 November 2008 with a slideshow of photographs. Frank Leeson spent two years commanding 1,000 Khassadars- Waziri soldiers- between 1946 and 1948, the last surviving British officer to have served in North Waziristan.
• Waziristan 1894 britishbattles.com

Photographs

• Photograph of camels carrying wounded men to safety on the North West Frontier of India 1917 Imperial War Museum
• emmyeustace's Northwest Frontier Photograph Collection flickr.com Contains 105 photographs taken from 1888 to c 1933
• reddin68's photostream on flickr.com taken by a member of the RFC [Royal Flying Corps] 31 Squadron in the NWFP during and after WW1.
• Randolph Bezzant Holmes Photographs, 1910-1919. Northern India and the North-West Frontier Province Duke University Libraries

Historical books online

• Report Showing the Relations of the British Government with the Tribes, Independent and Dependent, on the North-West Frontier of the Punjab, from Annexation in 1849 to the Close of 1855 In the series Selections from the Records of the Government of India (Foreign Department) No XII, published 1856. Google Books
• Mountain Warfare: an essay on the conduct of Military Operations in Mountainous Countries by Lieut. Charles Metcalfe MacGregor 2nd edition 1866 Google Books.
• "The North-West Frontier of India" by George Campbell, Bengal Civil Service, page 217 Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Volume XIII 1870 Google Books.
• My service in the Indian Army – and after by General Sir John Luther Vaughan 1904 Archive.org. In 1850 he was appointed to the 2nd Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force He was subsequently appointed to the command of the 5th Punjab Infantry. He had to retire c 1870 as there was no position for him. At the start of the 2nd Afghan War he became special military correspondent for the war for The Times
• Nine Years on the North-West Frontier of India from 1854 to 1863 by Sir Sydney Cotton 1868 Google Books
  
• "Central Asia, and our military position on the North-West Frontier of India" by Colonel John Adye RA. 20 January 1870. Page 389 Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume VI, 1870 Archive.org
• A Record of the Expeditions Undertaken against the North-West Frontier Tribes. Compiled from the military and political despatches, Lieut.-Colonel McGregor's gazetteer, and other official sources, by Lieutenant-Colonel W.H. Paget, Commandant 5th Panjab Cavalry 1874 Google Books
  • Lieut.-Colonel McGregor's gazetteer is possibly the three volumes in the series Central Asia by C M MacGregor: Part 1. North-West Frontier of British India. 3 vol. Central Asia Part-I Vol-II] by C M Macgregor. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title: Central Asia Part I: A contribution towards the better knowledge of the topography, ethnology, resources, & history of the North-West Frontier of British India complied (for political and military reference). Volume II, published 1873. Other volumes are available at the British Library, catalogue record IOR/L/MIL/17/14/72.
• The Punjaub and North-West Frontier of India 
by An Old Punjaubee. 1878 Archive.org
• Across the Border : or Pathan and Biloch by Edward E Oliver 1890 Archive.org
• With the Zhob Field Force, 1890 by Captain Crawford McFall KOYLI 1895 Archive.org
• Sir Robert G. Sandeman K.C.S.I., peaceful conqueror of Baluchistan by A.L.P. Tucker 1921 Archive.org. Born 1835, he joined the Bengal Army in 1856 and the Civil Service in 1859, working in the North West from 1861 until his death in 1892.
• The Forward Policy and its Results; or, Thirty-five Years' Work amongst the Tribes on our North-Western Frontier of India by Richard Isaac Bruce, formerly Political Agent, Beluchistan, and late Commissioner and Superintendent Derajat Division, Punjab, India. 1900 Archive.org. The author arrived in India in 1862 and retired 1896. The Forward Policy was initiated by Sandeman, refer book above.
• "Mountain Warfare as applied to India" by Captain F C Carter, Northumberland Fusiliers, page 414 Journal of the United Service Institution Of India Volume XXII 1893. Archive.org
• Indian frontier policy: an historical sketch by General Sir John Adye 1897 Archive.org
• The Pathan Revolt in North-West India by H. Woosnam Mills 1897 Archive.org
• "Field Operations - Tochi". The London Gazette September 7, 1897
• "Despatches: The operations of the Malakand and Mohmand Field Forces" The London Gazette January 11, 1898.
• Military Operations on the North-West Frontiers of India. Papers regarding British relations with the neighboring tribes on the north-west frontier of India, and the military operations undertaken against them during the year 1897-1898. HMSO 1898. Volume I HathiTrust Digital Library. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Volume II Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• The Risings on the North-west Frontier being a complete narrative, with specially prepared maps of the various risings of the frontier tribes in the Tochi Valley, the Swat Valley, the country of the Mohmands and Mamunds, and the country of the Afridis and Orakzai... from the middle of June, 1897 to the end of January, 1898 Special War Correspondence of the "Pioneer" 1898 (archive.org)
  • with a Map of the Area of Disturbance and a Sketch map: Afridi and Orakzai country
• Tirah, 1897 by Colonel C E Callwell 1911 Hathi Trust Digital Library. A book in the series Campaigns and their Lessons.
• Indian Frontier Warfare by Captain and Brevet- Major G J Younghusband, Assistant-Quartermaster-General 1898 Archive.org. The Third Volume of The Wolseley Series.
• A Frontier Campaign; a Narrative of the Operations of the Malakand and Buner Field Forces, 1897-1898 by the Viscount Fincastle, Lieutenant, 16th (Queen’s) Lancers and PC Eliott- Lockhart, Lieutenant “Queen’s Own” Corps of Guides. 2nd Edition 1898 Archive.org
• A Dictionary of the Pathan Tribes on the North-West Frontier of India Assistant QMG Intelligence Branch 1899 Archive.org

1910 edition Archive.org

• The Story of the Malakand Field Force: an Episode of Frontier War by Winston L. Spencer Churchill 1916 First published 1898 Archive.org
  
• The Indian Frontier War being an account of the Mohmund and Tirah expeditions, 1897 by Lionel James 1898 Archive.org
  
• Sketches on service during the Indian frontier campaigns of 1897 by Major E.A.P. Hobday. Containing fifty-seven full page engravings from original drawings, and fourteen photographic portraits of the commanding officers and their staffs. 1898 Archive.org
• "Summary of Operations on the North-West Frontier of India, from 19th June 1897 to 6th April 1898" by Surgeon General AA Gore MD page 446 Army Medical Department Report for the Year 1897 Volume 39 1898 Archive.org
• "The N. W. Frontier Campaign" pages 227-284, Battles of the Nineteenth Century, Volume V, Campaigns of the Nineties by A Hilliard Atteridge . With Illustrations. 1901. Covers the period from 1897.
• Eighteen years in the Khyber, 1879-1898 by Colonel Sir Robert Warburton KCIE CSI 1900 Archive.org
• The Indian Borderland, 1880-1900 by Colonel Sir T. Hungerford Holdich, late of the Indian Survey Department 1901 Archive.org
• Wars and Military Operations on or beyond the borders of British India in which the Government of India have been engaged since the year 1849. Presented to Parliament. Her Majesty's Stationery Office [HMSO], London 1900. This document is a listing of the operations, with only minimal details. Pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India].
• Frontier Warfare 1901 Official publication Simla. "Notes... written for the assistance of commanders when operating in broken and mountainous ground and are based on the experience gained in late frontier campaigns". Archive.org
• Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice by Colonel C. [Charles] E. [Edward] Callwell. General Staff - War Office. Third Edition, revised 1906. His Majesty's Stationery Office, London. (First edition 1896) ”It is recommended to officers as a valuable contribution on the subject of the conduct of small wars.” HathiTrust Digital Library. Archive.org. A transcribed version Naval History and Heritage Command, an official U.S. Navy web site. Wikimedia.org pdf. All 1906 editions.
  • Sangars page 469.
• East India (North-West Frontier). Mahsud-Waziri Operations 1902 His Majesty's Stationery Office, London . A report to Parliament, covering correspondence 1899-1902. Pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India]. Also available HathiTrust Digital Library, where the pages may be rotated if required.
• "Despatch on the recent operations on the Mohmand border, in the Khyber, and the country of the Mohmands" London Gazette Supplement August 14, 1908.
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: Volume 1 Tribes north of the Kabul River by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1907 Archive.org. There is a supplement with full title Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 1, supplement A: Operations against the Mohmands (including operations in the Khaiber, 1st-7th May) available under the title Operations against the Mohmands 1908. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Unfortunately the file is somewhat unsatisfactory. There is no Contents page and many pages are duplicated. For Chapter 2, go to digital file page 21, and for Chapter 3, df p29. At least the following pages appear to be missing in addition to the Contents: (actual) p 34-35 and Appendix page i. The supplement Operations against the Mohmands is also available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. This edition possibly may be better quality than the DLI edition. If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books'.
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 2. North-West Frontier Tribes between the Kabul and Gumal Rivers by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1908 is available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books'. It is also available 1908 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India ; 2004 reprint edition, Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. There is a supplement Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 2 Supplement A, Operations against the Zakka Khel Afridis Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1908 catalogued as "Frontier And Overseas Expeditions From India(Vol Ii)" 1908 Archive.org version mirror from Digital Library of India. This supplement is also available as a pdf download, Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, (if the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books'), and as an additional version on Archive.org which probably is the same digital file as the DLI version.
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: Volume 3 Baluchistan, and the First Afghan War. Compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Army Headquarters India. 1910 Archive.org
• Some Principles of Frontier Mountain Warfare by Brevet-Major W. D. Bird 1909 Archive.org
• Frontier Warfare. A series of Ten Lectures by “Frontier”. Published Bombay. Archive.org. Also available at Digital Commons @UNO (University of Nebraska Omaha), where the publication date is given as 1910.
• Handbooks for the Indian Army: Pathans by Major R. T. I. Ridgway, 40th Pathans. 1910. Archive.org, mirror from Granth Sanjeevani Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
• Prevention of Disease and Inefficiency, with special reference to Indian Frontier Warfare by Lieut.-Col. Patrick Hehir IMS, Officiating Principal Medical Officer, Burma Division. 2nd Edition - Illustrated and Revised.1911 Archive.org
• Campaigns on the North-West Frontier by Capt H.L.Nevill DSO 1912 Archive.org
• From the Black Mountain to Waziristan being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the North-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the past by H. C. Wylly 1912 Archive.org
• The Problem Of The North-West Frontier 1890-1908 by Collin C Davies 1932 is available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. It is also available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, (if the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').
• The Pathan borderland: a consecutive account of the country and people on and beyond the Indian frontier from Chitral to Dera Ismail Khan by C.M. Enriquez 1910 Archive.org. With Map [top half only]. 2nd edition 1921 Archive.org
• Gun-running and the Indian north-west frontier by the Hon. Arnold Keppel 1911 Archive.org
• "Operations in the Tochi Valley 7th January (Spina Khaisora) and 26 March 1915 (Miramshah)" The London Gazette Supplement (17 March 1916), Supplement 20 March 1916. Supplement: 29514 Page: 3037.
• "Punishing the Bunerwals" [1915] , page 217 Under ten viceroys the reminiscences of a Gurkha by Major-General Nigel Woodyatt 1922 Archive.org. Includes the actions at Rustam, and rather briefly Shabdakr in 1915. Also see London Gazette of despatches to 9th March 1916 below, which includes brief details of the 1915 campaigns.

'The Defence of India' by F. A. McKenzie, from The Great War edited by H.W. Wilson, volume 7, chapter 128. greatwardifferent.com, now an archived website. Scroll down to the section about the North West Frontier including Shabkadar.

Report from Major General F. Campbell, C.B., D.S.O., General Officer Commanding, 1st (Peshawar) Division on the Operations on the Swat, Buner and Mohmand Borders, 19th June – 25th October, 1915. See the partial transcription of WO 106/732, The National Archives [UK] below, part of 1915 reports TNA WO 106/732-740.

• "War Operations In India" page 268, War in the Air: being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume VI by H A Jones 1937 Archive.org. Part of the series History of the Great War based on Official Documents.
• "The Frontier and the War" page 154 The Indian Year Book 1918, (which appears to have been published at the beginning of the year). The report covers the period 1914-1917. Archive.org
• "Despatches on the operations against the Mahsuds, March-August, 1917" London Gazette Supplement 12 April 1918
• Despatches on military operations in the Indian Empire since the outbreak of the First World War. Includes the North West Frontier London Gazette Supplements.
  • To 9th March 1916 LGS 4 July 1916. Includes details of operations on the Swat, Buner and Mohmand Borders, based on reports by Major General F. Campbell, one of which is transcribed; To 31st March 1917 LGS 31 October 1917; To 31st May 1918 LGS 17 March 1919; To 30 April 1919 LGS 5 August 1920
• See 3rd Afghan War 6 May – 8 August 1919.
• Unofficial History by Field Marshal Sir William Slim 1962, first published 1959. Archive.org Lending Library.

"Aid to the Civil" page 75. “This narrative…is a composite one, made up from the events on three occasions on which the military aided the civil power” (footnote, page 75). Probably c 1919. He was based at Gurampur Fort which is probably a fictional name.

"Student’s Interlude" page 101 . On operations Autumn 1920. "A Brigade Column, operating from Thal in the Kurram … took punative action against the village of Panch Pir in Waziristan". (Not known whether this is the actual, or a fictional name).

• "A report on the operations in Waziristan during the period 3rd November 1919 to 7th May 1920". London Gazette 8 December 1920.
• Operations in Waziristan, 1919-1920 (Confidential) Compiled by the General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1921 Archive.org
  
• Waziristan 1919-1920 by H De Watteville 1925 (one of eight in the series Campaigns and Their Lessons) is available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• "N.W. Frontier 1919-1920" page 273 The Post Office of India in the Great War edited by H.A. Sams Published 1922 Archive.org
• Indian Frontier Organisation published by the Pioneer 1920. Pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India].
• Official History of Operations on the N.-W. Frontier of India, 1920-35 by General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1945. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.

Available in a reprint edition which in turn is available as part of an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3.

• "A report on the operations of the Waziristan Force for the period 1st April to 31st December, 1921" London Gazette Supplement 1 December 1922.
• "A report on the operations in Waziristan for the period 1st January, 1922 to the 20th April, 1923" London Gazette Supplement 27 February 1924
• "Final despatch on the operations of Waziristan Force covering the period 21st April, 1923, to 31st March, 1924" London Gazette Supplement 18 November 1924
• Tales of Tirah and Lesser Tibet by Lilian A Starr, published 1924 is available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Includes general comments about the Pathans, based on the author's experience in the Mission Hospital at Peshawar. Also available on the Hathi Trust Digital Library, and as pdf download, from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, (if the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').
• "An account of the recent operations by the Royal Air Force against certain recalcitrant sections of the Mahsuds in March, April and May, 1925". London Gazette Supplement 20 November 1925.
• The Romance Of The Indian Frontiers by Lt-Gen Sir George MacMunn, Colonel-Commandant Royal Artillery 1931 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.

Turmoil and Tragedy in India, 1914 and After by Lieut.-General Sir George MacMunn 1935. It is catalogued as Turmoil The Tragedy In India 1914. It is available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.

• "The North West Frontier", page 9 India in 1930-1931 A statement prepared for presentation to Parliament. Government of India Central Publication Branch 1932. Archive.org.
• Passing It On: Short Talks on Tribal fighting on the North-West Frontier of India by General Sir Andrew Skeen , 3rd edition 1934 (originally published 1932) is available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. A 2010 reprint edition with annotations titled Passing It On: Fighting the Pushtun on Afghanistan's Frontier was published by the Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworh Kansas. Archive.org version, pdf fmso.leavenworth. Note: some of the text may not have been included, at least one probable whole page has been noted.
• Hired to Kill: Some Chapters of Autobiography by Charles John Morris 1960. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, (if the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books'). John Morris was an officer with the 3rd Gurkha Rifles from 1918 until 1934 in Palestine, Afghanistan (the Third Afghan War in 1919), Waziristan and the North West Frontier of India.
• "Roads And Motor Transport In India" by Brigadier-General Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Adviser on Mechanical Transport Services in India, 1915-19. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts Vol. 68, No. 3529 (July 9, 1920), pp. 541-552 jstor.org. Available to read for free on JSTOR, but first you must register, see Miscellaneous tips. Includes roads in the frontier region, and their military importance.
• The Loe Agra and Mohmand Campaigns of 1935 are briefly mentioned in two chapters in India in 1934-35, from page 86 and page 109 Archive.org. Also see Mohmand Campaign 1935.
• "The Changing Nature of Operations on the North-West Frontier" by "Shpagwishtama" page 102 USI [United Service Institution of India] Journal Vol LXVI 1936. Archive.org
• "Defence in the North-West Frontier Province" by General Sir Kenneth Wigram Page 73 Journal Of The Royal Central Asian Society - Vol. 24, Pt. 1 1937. A lecture given on November 18, 1936. Archive.org
• Official History of Operations on the N.W. Frontier of India, 1936-37 by General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1943. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.

Available in a reprint edition which in turn is available as part of an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3.

• Waziristan 1936- 1937: The problems of the North-West Frontiers of India and their Solutions by Lieut Colonel C. E. Bruce 1938 Archive.org. Missing the "Bibliography" at the end of the book, page 80 onwards. Also available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India, but this appears to be the same digital file, with missing end pages. Also available in a seemingly complete file as a download from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset which contains a [short] bibliography, also two maps. If the download button does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent/1938.
• "Report on Operations in Waziristan, 25th November 1936 to 16th January 1937 (1st Phase)" London Gazette Supplement 2 November 1937
• "Report on Operations In Waziristan, 16th January 1937 to 15th September 1937 (Second Phase)" London Gazette Supplement 18 February 1938
• "Report on Operations in Waziristan, 16th September 1937 to 15th December 1937 (Final Phase)" London Gazette Supplement 14 June 1938
• "Report on Operations in Waziristan, 16th December, 1937 to the 31st December, 1938" London Gazette Supplement 18 August 1939
• Imperial Policing by Major-General Sir Charles W Gwynn 1939 Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. Includes Chapter 10, "Peshawar District 1930", page 253 and Chapter 14, "Waziristan 1937" page 394. Also available Archive.org (pdf) another digital file, may be slow to open.
• Bugles and a Tiger by John Masters Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India; or another Archive.org version mirror from Digital Library of India, the latter is the 1965 edition. The original edition Bugles and a Tiger; a Volume of Autobiography published in 1956 is available to read online through the Internet Archive (Archive.org) Lending Library. The main restriction is that only one person can see a particular book at one time (so the book may be "on loan'). For more details see Online books-Archive.org. Also see the page John Masters.

Pathan social customs pages 212-213, including the wearing, by men, of roses in their hair.

• India’s North-West Frontier by Sir William Barton 1939 Archive.org mirror version mirror from Digital Library of India. The author was in the Indian Civil Service and Indian Political Service for 35 years. It is also available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, (if the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books'). William Pell Barton Wikipedia.
• The Indian Sappers and Miners by E. W. C Sandes [Edward Warren Caulfeild] 1948. (726p). nzsappers.org.nz. Covers the period from the pioneers in 1759 to the prelude to the Second World War and includes operations on the North West Frontier at various periods prior to WW2.
• Actions in Waziristan continued during WW2, including the Ahmedzai Campaign, which took place from February to May 1940 elsewhere referred to as the Ahmadzai Salient operations against the Faqir of Ipi. Generally not many WW2 details are known, but see brief extracts from the regimental history Unfaded Glory: The 8th Punjab Regiment 1798-1956 by Major Rifat Nadeem Ahmad & Major General Rafiuddin Ahmed 2006. Also see various histories of the Frontier Scouts, below. Awards appearing in the London Gazette Supplements indicate some of the regiments involved. There were also awards to RAF personnel.1939 LGS 25 October 1940, 1940 LGS 20 June 1941, 1942 LGS 15 December 1942, 1943 LGS 25 November 1943
• The History of the Indian Mountain Artillery by Brigadier-General C A L Graham 1957 Archive.org.
• The Pathans 550 B.C.-A.D. I957 by Olaf Caroe 1958 Archive.org. Contents. Index. Unfortunately missing illustrations and most maps. Also available as additional Archive.org Books to Borrow versions. Also available as a pdf download, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books'). The author was Governor of the N-W Frontier Province 1946-1947.
• The Frontier 1839-1947: the Story of the North-West Frontier of India by Major-General J G Elliott 1968. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Khyber, British India's north west frontier : the story of an imperial migraine by Charles Miller 1977. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The Frontier Scouts by Charles Chenevix Trench 1985. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR - Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset (MCADD). If the download button does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent/1985. Also available Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

Also see Category:Frontier Scouts.

• God's Terrorists : the Wahhabi cult and hidden roots of modern Jihad by Charles Allen 2006. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Brief Gazetteer of Most Important and Useful Place Names in Waziristan District 1935 is available to download as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').

Routes

• Routes on the North-West Frontier compiled (for political and military reference) under the orders of the Quarter Master General in India, in the Intelligence Branch, in 1887 ; brought up to date in October 1892 by W.R. Robertson. Confidential.Volume I, Volume 2 Pdf downloads, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').
• 1890 Military Routes to the Indo-Afghan Frontier by Lessar (secret)] Notes: At head of title: Secret. "From Russian official "records" of geographical, topographical and statistical materials on Asia. Collected by the Military Scientific Committee of the Headquarters Staff, 1890. Translated for the Intelligence Division of the War Office". HMSO. Author: P. M. Lessar, (Pavel Mikhailovich) Pdf download, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').
• 1893 Routes from Russian Territory toward Afghanistan and India - the Pamir line of Advance by Robertson (confidential). Full title: Routes from Russian Territory in Central Asia towards Afghanistan and India. Section 1, The Pamir line of advance compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General's Department in India by W.R. Robertson. 1893. Contents: pt. 1. Short military report on the Ferghana province, Kashgar, the Pamirs and Upper Oxus Afghan provinces ... - pt. 2. Includes all routes leading from the Chimkend Kuldja postal road to the Hindu Kush between the Dorah and the Karakorum Passes. Pdf download, Pahar- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').
• Strategical Epitome of Routes on and beyond the North-West Frontier of India by General Staff India (confidential) 1912 Pdf download, Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If the catalogue entry does not have a download, look under 'Books').

Fiction

• The Air Patrol: A Story of the North-West Frontier by Herbert Strang 1913. Gutenberg.org. An adventure story for younger readers.
• The Border of Blades : an Anglo-Indian Romance by Captain Bedford Foran 1916 Archive.org. Author is cataloged as William Robert Foran. Set in Peshawar and the North West Frontier. W. Robert Foran Wikipedia. W R Foran (aussiehunter.org) indicates he was in India with the British Army for a short time in the early 1900s.
• "The Wolf of Kabul" Rover and Wizard January 25th 1964. britishcomics.20m.com. This appears to be a reprint, first published in the 1930s in Wizard, a weekly magazine for boys published by DC Thomson of Dundee . Story involving Bill Samson (“His real job is surveying the frontier and making maps of the mountains and passes”) and his offsider Private Chung whose weapon was the Clicky-Ba. Wolf of Kabul Wikipedia.
• "Ants" by W J Blackledge, page 471 Fifty Amazing Hairbreadth Escapes c 1937. Stated to be an extract from Hell’s Broth Militia [1936] Archive.org

"Company of the Damned" by Captain W J Blackledge. An Inside Picture of the Hunted Men’s Militia [Kurram Militia] in India. The story of Digger Craven, second in command. Appeared in issues of the weekly magazine Liberty from v13n14 1936-4-4. Part 1, part 2, part 3 Archive.org. Further episodes are not available online.

An examination of Part 1 shows it is an abridged version of "Ants" which in turn is an extract from Hell’s Broth Militia. Note some classify the latter as biography. For more about this author, see Mesopotamia Campaign - Historical books online - Fiction.

• The Leopard and the Cliff by Wallace Breem 1978 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Set in the time of the 3rd Afghan War in 1919.