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
• 1898 reconstituted 1st Battalion, Calcutta Volunteer Rifles, 24th March
• 1917 became 5th Calcutta Battalion, 1st April
• 1920 became the Calcutta Battalion, 1st October
• 1926 amalgamated with the Presidency Battalion to become the Calcutta and Presidency Battalion, 23rd July

Presidency Battalion

• 1888 raised as the Presidency Volunteer Reserve Battalion, 30th March
• 1891 became the Presidency Volunteer Rifle Battalion
• 1898 became Presidency Battalion, Calcutta Rifle Volunteers, 24th March
• 1901 redesignated 2nd (Presidency) Battalion, Calcutta Volunteer Rifles by GGO No.868 of 1901
• 1917 became 37th Calcutta Presidency Battalion
• 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
• 1901 redesignated 3rd (Cadet) Battalion, Calcutta Volunteer Rifles by GGO No.868 of 1901

Details

Headquarters - Calcutta, for all three battalions

Uniform

In 1901:

• 1st Battalion - Khaki
• 2nd and 3rd Battalions - Khaki drill

By 1940:

• 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 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 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.
• "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)”
• "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).