23rd Punjab Pioneers

Chronology

• 1857 raised as 15th (Pioneer) Regiment of Punjab Infantry Lt R H Shebbeare VC
• 1861 became 23rd Bengal Native Infantry
• 1864 became 23rd (Punjab) Bengal Native Infantry (Pioneers)
• 1885 became 23rd (Punjab) Bengal Infantry (Pioneers)
• 1901 became 23rd Punjab Pioneers
• 1903 became 23rd Sikh Pioneers
• 1922 became 1st Battalion 3rd Sikh Pioneers
• 1929 became Corps of Sikh Pioneers
• 1933 disbanded
• 1941 re-raised as The Sikh Light Infantry
• 1947 allocated to India on Partition

Regimental history

The History of the Sikh Pioneers, 23rd, 32nd, 34th by Sir George MacMunn ; assisted by Captain Spurgin. 1936. Available online, see below.

External links

• 23rd Sikh Pioneers British Empire Website
• 23rd Sikh Pioneers Wikipedia (retrieved 29 April 2014)
• 3rd Sikh Pioneers Wikipedia (retrieved 29 April 2014)
• Sikh Light Infantry Wikipedia (retrieved 29 April 2014)
• History of the Sikh Light Infantry sikhli.info, now an archived website (retrieved 29 April 2014)
• Regimental Histories sikhli.info, now an archived website (retrieved 29 April 2014)
• Letters of forgotten VC winner found. 27 February 2008 The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 August 2014. Brevet Captain Robert Shebbeare won his medal during the infamous siege of Delhi in September 1857. Afterwards he put together a Sikh regiment, the 15th Punjab, which later saw action in China. Includes photograph with officers of his 15th Punjab regiment, "taken by Mr Beato in the British camp at Talien Hwan, Manchuria, on either 10 or 11 July 1860". Indian Mutiny and Beyond: The Letters of Robert Shebbeare VC edited by Arthur Littlewood sample pages, Google Books
  • Robert Shebbeare Wikipedia
• "23 Sikh Pioneers Kisangule Expedition" by Norman Brown, page 44 The Pioneer Newsletter April 2015 (The newsletter of the Royal Pioneer Corps Association). issuu.com. Award of the Central Africa Kisangule Expedition December 1891 Indian Order of Merit to Havildar Nand Singh 23rd Bengal Sikh Pioneers. Includes an account by H H Johnston, also see Historical books online, below. Also see below for more about his medals.

Central Africa Medal awarded to Sepoy Ram Singh of the 23rd Bengal Infantry, part of the Indian Contingent in Africa. fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

• "The British Campaign in Aden, 1914-1918" by Mark Connelly Journal of the Centre for First World War Studies Vol. 1, No. 3, 2005. pages 65-96. now an archived web page. Includes brief mention of 23/Sikh Pioneers.

Historical books online

• The History of the Sikh Pioneers, (23rd, 32nd, 34th) by Lieut.-General Sir George MacMunn, assisted by Captain Spurgin. [1936] Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi] Digital Repository.
  • Map: An outline of the N.W. Frontier of India (digital page 573).
• "Chapter V" page 57, Memories of Seven Campaigns: a record of thirty-five years' service in the Indian Medical Department in India, China, Egypt, and the Sudan by James Howard Thornton, Deputy Surgeon General, Indian Medical Service, late Principal Medical Officer Punjab Frontier Force. 1895 Archive.org. (The author was in the Bengal Medical Service 1856-1891). He was appointed to the 15th Regiment of Punjab Infantry, later called 23rd Pioneers, who departed for China in 1860.
• Page 98 British Central Africa; an attempt to give some account of a portion of the territories under British influence north of the Zambezi by Sir Harry H Johnston 1897 Archive.org. A Small force of Indian troops was engaged as a nucleus for the police force in Central Africa, from the 23rd and 32nd Pioneers, and Haiderabad Lancers.
• "A rare ‘Kisangule’ I.O.M. awarded to Havildar Nand Sing, 23rd Bengal Infantry" [with image] Item 441 (digital page 51) Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria Auction catalogue by Dix Noonan Webb 19th September 2013. Archive.org
• With Mounted Infantry In Tibet by Brevet Major W J Ottley, 34th Sikh Pioneers 1906 Archive.org. The dedication mentions members of the 23rd Pioneers.