40th Regiment of Pathan Infantry

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Known as 40th Pathans

Chronology

  • 1858 raised as the Shahjehanpur Levy
  • 1861 became the 40th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 1864 became the 40th (Shahjehanpur) Bengal Native Infantry
  • 1885 became the 40th (Shahjehanpur) Bengal Infantry
  • 1890 became the 40th (Baluch) Bengal Infantry
  • 1892 became the 40th (Pathan) Bengal Infantry
  • 1901 became the 40th Pathan Infantry
  • 1903 became the 40th Pathans
  • 1922 amalgamated with the 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 24th Punjabis to become 5th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment
  • 1947 allocated to Pakistan on Partition and renamed the Punjab Regiment

Regimental histories

  • The 40th Pathans In The Great War, published 1921, Lahore. Available at the Imperial War Museums. Also available in a reprint edition,[1] which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, see below.
  • History of the 5th Battalion-Pathans-14th Punjab Regiment, formerly 40th Pathans-“the Forty Thieves.” by Major R. S. Waters. [With plates.] London 1936. Available at the British Library and the Imperial War Museums.

First World War service

The regiment served on the western front in France and Flanders during the First World War. On arrival at the front from Hong Kong in April 1915, the 40th Pathans took part in the 2nd Battle of Ypres, suffering 320 casualties on one day alone. Later that year they took part in the battles of Aubers Ridge and Loos before leaving in December for East Africa and the campaign against the German force commanded by Lettow-Vorbeck. The unit suffered a total of 800 casualties in the war, and a further 1,066 officers and men were invalided out of service due to sickness. At the end of the war in 1919 they saw service in the Third Afghan war.[1]

External Links

Historical books online

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 40th Pathans In The Great War Naval & Military Press reprint edition.