Dum Dum
| Dum Dum | |
|---|---|
| [[Image:|250px| ]] | |
| Presidency: Bengal | |
| Coordinates: | 22.62°N 88.42°E |
| Altitude: | 11 m (36 ft) |
| Present Day Details | |
| Place Name: | Dum Dum |
| State/Province: | West Bengal |
| Country: | India |
| Transport links | |
| Eastern Bengal Railway | |
Dum Dum was a British cantonment town north of Calcutta that now constitutes a suburb of that city. It was the headquarters of the Bengal Artillery until this transferred to Meerut in 1853.
There were only artillery troops stationed at Dum Dum until the end of the end of the second Sikh War (c 1849)[1], when other regimental troops were additionally garrisoned there.
Churches
- St Stephen (Anglican). This church is now the location of St Stephen's School.
- St Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic). Built in 1823, partly with the help of Irish Fusiliers, partly by contribution from Kolkata Catholics led by Mr. Joseph Baretto; initially intended for Irish soldiers stationed at Dum Dum with resident military chaplain.[2]
The Bengal Artillery and ammunition factory
The Bengal Artillery were at Dum Dum from 1775 and an ammunition factory was established in 1846.
Bandopadhyay's History of Gun and Shell Factory, Cossipore: Two Hundred Years of Ordnance Factories Production in India explains that the small arms cartridges known as 'Dum Dum' bullets were made at the Dum Dum factory and that the pre-Indian Mutiny trouble regarding greased cartridges started in this area. By 1858, the workshops at Dum Dum had merged to become the Cartridge and Precision Cap factory.[3] HIS Kanwar's Memories of Dum Dum provides further information on this topic.[4]
Second World War
There was an RAF Base at Dum Dum during WW2. It is now an Indian Air Force Station in Western Air Command and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, which serves nearby Kolkata
External links
- Photograph: Dum Dum Church [St Stephen's] by Captain R. B. Hill 1850s. Metropolitan Museum of Art New York. Probably Richard Barton Hill 1835-1873, who joined the Bengal Army in 1853.
- Photograph: St. Patrick's Church, Dumdum Cantonment, Kolkata panoramio.com
- Ordnance Factory Dum Dum: History
- Dum Dums Dum Dum bullets. thegunzone.com (retrieved 9 June 2014)
- RAF Stations- Letter D Scroll down to RAF Dum Dum. Lists the main units based there during WW2
Historical bools online
- "East India Stations No. IX: Dum Dum", p166 The Saturday Magazine, Volume 8 1836 Google Books.Taken from the Asiatic Journal and Bishop Heber’s Journal.
References
- ↑ Page 355 "The British Soldier in India" by Dr Mouat Surgeon-Major HM Bengal Army. Journal of the Royal United Service Institution Volume X 1867
- ↑ Calcutta Archdiocese : 24 Parganas (N) Deanery. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ Professor Arun Bandopadhyay History of Gun and Shell Factory, Cossipore: Two Hundred Years of Ordnance Factories Production in India (New Delhi, 2002)
- ↑ Hari Inder Singh Kanwar, Memories of Dum Dum (Reprinted from Bengal: Past and Present) (1961) The articles originally appeared 1953-1959.