Punjab Frontier Force

Military Strength

Following the Sikh Wars the British annexed the frontier territory which was to become the North West Frontier Province in 1901. To maintain the peace of the border a special force was raised which consisted of 5 regiments of cavalry, the Corps of Guides, 5 regiments of infantry, 3 light field batteries, 2 garrison batteries, 2 companies of Sappers and Miners, and the Sind Camel Corps.

Chronology

• 1846 Corps of Guides raised by Lt Harry Lumsden with one troop of Cavalry and two companies of infantry
• 1846-7 The Frontier Brigade formed by Lt Col Henry Lawrence with 1st-4th Sikh Infantry Regiments
• 1849 The Transfrontier Brigade formed by Lt Col Henry Lawrence with five infantry and five cavalry regiments
• 1851 amalgamation of the Corps of Guides, the four regiments of Sikh Local Infantry, the Transfrontier Brigade, and five batteries of artillery to form the Punjab Irregular Force (Piffers)
• 1865 renamed the Punjab Frontier Force
• 1903 the Piffer regiments lost their irregular status, and were thenceforth numbered in sequence with the other regiments of the Indian Army. However they retained their Frontier Force designations.

Biographies

Entries in the Dictionary of Indian Biography 1906
John Coke (1806-1897)
Henry Lawrence (1806-1857)
Harry Lumsden (1821-1896)

External Links

• Punjab Frontier Force Victorians at War
  
• Punjab Frontier Force Wikipedia
  
• NWF Province Wikipedia
• Photograph: PFF, Dera Ismail Khan, Punjab 1890 emmyeustace’s photostream on flickr.com

Historical books online

• My service in the Indian Army –and after by Sir John Luther Vaughan 1904 Archive.org
• Reminiscences of an Indian Cavalry Officer by Colonel John Sutton Edward Western 1922 Archive.org. Born in India in 1857, he returned after schooling in England in 1876 , the greater part of his service being with the Punjab Frontier Force.