North-Western Railway Battalion
The North-Western Railway Battalion were an auxiliary regiment. They comprised staff of the North Western Railway.
Chronology
- 1886 raised as 3rd or Sind, Punjab and Indus Valley Railways Volunteer Rifle Corps on 5th March[1]
- 1888 designation changed to 3rd Punjab (North-Western Railway) Volunteer Rifle Corps[1]
- 1892 became the North-Western Railway Volunteer Rifles on 27th July[1]
- 1917 1st April, became the 24th North-Western Railway Battalion[1]
- 1920 1st October, redesignated North-Western Railway Regiment[1]
- 1933 renamed North-Western Railway Battalion on 1st April[1]
Details
In 1901:[2]
- Headquarters - Lahore
- Uniform - Khaki serge or drill
By 1940:[1]
- Uniform - Khaki
- Badge - N.W. Railway
History
Regularly supported the regular forces during the troubles on the North West Frontier by manning armoured trains.
Volunteer regiments were formed during the First World War. Indian Volunteers in the Great War East African Campaign gives details of The North-Western Railway Volunteers, who served in East Africa, although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission classifies them as an East African Protectorate unit in its records.
There is also reference to service in Mesopotamia, and perhaps Persia,[3] but it is not known whether this was by an individual officer, perhaps doing survey type work, or whether other volunteers from the Battalion were also deployed there.
FIBIS resources
- "The North-Western Railway Volunteer Rifles in East Africa in the First World War" by Noel Clark FIBIS Journal Number 32 (Autumn 2014), pages 30-33. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals.
External links
- First page only of "Armoured Trains in British India" by Colonel A. A. Phillips C.I.E., V.D Royal United Services Institution. Journal Volume 113, Issue 651, 1968 pages 254-257. In 1912 the author joined the 1st Battalion of the North-Western Railway Regiment, which then had an armoured train in Lahore. The 2nd Battalion at Karachi also had one. There is mention of the armoured train crew from the Regiment sent to East Africa during the First World War. They operated until the railway lines were safe from German attacks and then manned a tug on one of the Great Lakes.
- Also see Punjab Rifles for the 1919 photograph of an armoured train which seems likely to be the same armoured train mentioned above.
- 6-car armoured train at the National Rail Museum, New Delhi from Outdoor Exhibits, (page 2) National Rail Museum (scroll down) Irfca.org
Historical books online
- "North-Western Railway Volunteer Rifles" page 259 Quarterly Civil List for the Punjab: Corrected up to 1st October 1898
- It is advised there were twelve companies containing 1143 "Efficient" at 1 September 1898. These companies were possibly located at Lahore, and Amritsar, Jhind (Jind), Karachi, Khost (Baluchistan), Kotri, Mooltan, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Saharanpur, Sealdah, near Calcutta and Umballa
Notes