49th Bengali Regiment

Raised as the 49th Bengal Infantry on 1 July 1917, but the title was changed to the 49th Bengali Regiment, or 49th Bengalis (49th Bengalees)

Bengal responded positively to the war effort, in the form of an ambulance corps, a signal company and an infantry regiment , the 49th Bengalis.

Uniquely, the Regiment consisted entirely of Bengalis, and also uniquely recruited soldiers from Bhadralok (upper and middle class) families.

On the 7th August, 1916, the Government finally permitted the formation of two companies, also called the Bengali Double company which was commanded by Lt S G Taylor

The regiment was sent to Punjab for training and the regiment was finally officialy raised in Karachi on 1 July 1917. The 49th Bengalis were sent to Mesopotamia (Iraq) after the surrender of the British forces in Iraq to the Turkish Army. They reached Baghdad in September 1917 and were assigned to garrison duties . The unhealthy climate took their toll and large numbers of the troops fell sick. The regiment did not see any combat, however , being on garrison duties or guard duties during the war. The regiment was one of the first to be demobilised after the war and it ceased to exist on 31 August 1920

There is a memorial to those who died, in College Square, Calcutta, which also includes the Districts from which the men came.

Also see

• Bengal Ambulance Corps

External links

• Bangali Paltan by Muhammad Lutful Huq. Banglapedia (National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh)
• The Bengali Regiment 10 August 1920 Hansard. Retrieved 21 September 2014
• "The bhadralok goes to war" by Sujan Dutta January 1 , 2014 The Telegraph, Calcutta, now an archived webpage.
• "Kurdistan 1919: Military Operations in Mesopotamian Kurdistan: South Kurdistan, May–June 1919" by Harry Fecitt. From Harry's Sideshows kaiserscross.com