Malakand Field Expedition

Malakand Field Expedition
7 August-6 December 1897
Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
Location: Malakand, NWF
Combatants:
British & Indians	Various Swat Valley tribes
Result: Submission of tribes
Medals: India General Service Medal (1895-1902) Clasps: Malakand 1897
Links:
Category: North West Frontier Campaigns

Summary

Increasing unrest culminated in a general uprising under a Pashtun fakir named Saidullah. The British forces at Malakand Camp and Chakdara were attacked but were relieved by forces from Nowshera. The Malakand Field Force fought a series of actions pushing into the Swat and Mohmand Valleys.

Earlier Actions

See also Battle of Malakand Camp 1897 and Battle of Chakdara.
These two actions resulted in the Malakand Field Expedition.

Malakand Field Force

Commanded by Maj Gen Sir Bindon Blood KCB
First Brigade
Brig Gen W.H.Meiklejohn CB CMG

• 1st Batt Royal West Kent Regt
• 24th Punjab Infantry
• 31st Punjab Infantry
• 24th Sikhs
  

Second Brigade
Brig Gen P.D.Jeffreys CB

• 1st Batt East Kent Regt
• 35th Sikhs
• 38th Dogras
• Guides Infantry
  

Third Brigade
Brig Gen J.H.Wodehouse CB CMG

• 1st Batt Royal West Surrey Regt
• 2nd Batt Highland Light Infantry
• 22nd Punjab Infantry
• 39th Garhwal Rifles
  

Divisional Troops

• 10th Bengal Lancers (1 Squadron)
• 11th Bengal Lancers (1 Squadron)
• 10th Field Battery Royal Artillery
• No1 Mountain Battery Royal Artillery
• No7 Mountain Battery Royal Artillery
• No8 Bengal Mountain Battery
• No3 Coy Bombay Sappers & Miners
• No4 Coy Bombay Sappers & Miners
• No5 Coy Bombay Sappers & Miners
• 21st Punjab Infantry
• 1 Section British Field Hospital
• 2 Sections Native Field Hospitals
  

External Links

Wikipedia - North West Frontier Military History
NWF Expeditions
Malakand Field Force Queensroyalsurreys.org

Historical books online

• The Story of the Malakand Field Force by Winston L Spencer Churchill.1916 First published 1898 Archive.org (A portrait of Maj Gen Bindon Blood KCB provides a frontpiece to this edition)

A Roving Commission My Early Life by the Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill 1930 Archive.org. He arrived in India 1896, as an officer with the 4th Hussars, who were based in Bangalore. He took leave from his regiment to join the Malakand Field Force as a correspondent. He resigned from the Army and left India 1899.

• A frontier campaign: a narrative of the operations of the Malakand and Buner field forces, 1897-1898 by the Viscount Fincastle and P. C. Eliott-Lockhart 2nd edition 1898 Archive.org
• Campaigns on the North-west Frontier by Hugh Lewis Nevill 1912. Archive.org. “The Operations of the Malakand Field Force” commences page 231
• Sketches on service during the Indian frontier campaigns of 1897 by Major E.A.P. Hobday. Containing fifty-seven full page engravings from original drawings, and fourteen photographic portraits of the commanding officers and their staffs. 1898 Archive.org
• Isacke Diaries (1897 part 5) Handwritten online document. This final part of the 1897 Isacke diary covers the period 1 August until 31 December. It describes Hubert Isacke's involvement in the Malakand Field Force Expedition of July-August 1897 and also describes a long period of illness or injury and hospitalisation in India. The long voyage home includes a stop at Suez. King’s College London Collections: The Serving Soldier
  
• Siege of Malakand and Relief of Chakdarra archive.org

Recommended Reading

Campaigns of the North-West Frontier by Capt H.L.Nevill DSO 1916
Reprinted by The Naval & Military Press Ltd 2005
ISBN 1-845741-87-0