29,525
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
*'''1929''' became The Corps of Bombay Pioneers
*'''1933''' disbanded
==First World War==
"G. L. Tomkins… is acting as Adjutant at the Depot, 128th Pioneers, Meerut, prior to being taken on the strength. He writes: " I hope to get out to Mesopotamia eventually, but have to pass two language exams in Hindustani before they will let me go. There is just a chance of my going out sooner than usual, as the Pioneers do all the trench-digging and bombing out there. We send a draft out every month, and have about 350 recruits here altogether. Their training is a matter of much patience, for they are nearly all men who come from tiny villages, and can't even read and write, whilst quite a number don't talk Hindustani even. These are mostly Pathans, whose language is Pushtu. They are fine men, though, who come from the frontier, and have been able to shoot from childhood, to keep themselves from being shot by their enemies. Others are men who have lived by farming all their lives, and are soon taught trench-digging, which they do splendidly".<ref> Page 59 [http://www.worldwar1schoolarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/1916_071.pdf ''The Denstonian'' July, 1916. No. 241. Vol. XL. No 4]. .worldwar1schoolarchives.org</ref>
== External Links ==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/128th_Pioneers 128th Pioneers] Wikipedia<br>
