1st Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force

Known as the 1st Punjabis and Coke's Rifles. Stationed at Dera Ismail Khan in 1902.

Chronology

• 1849 raised as 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry by Captain John Coke
• 1851 retitled as the 1st Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force
• 1865 became the 1st Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
• 1901 became 1st Punjab Infantry
• 1903 became 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force)
• 1922 amalagmated with six other regiments to form the 6-battalion 13th Frontier Force Rifles, the 55th becoming the 1st Battalion (Coke's)
• 1946 became 1st Battalion (Coke's), Frontier Force Rifles
• 1946 allocated to Pakistan
• 1956 amalgamated with the Pathan Regiment and the Frontier Force Regiment forming The Frontier Force Regiment and known as the 7th (Coke's) Battalion

Regimental history

• The Frontier Force Rifles by Brigadier W E H Condon 1953. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01001795360 . Also available in a reprint edition, with a slightly different title, which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, see below.
• A Summarised History of the 13th Frontier Force Rifles, Indian Army, during the Second World War, 1939-1946 by [A.D. FitzGerald]. 1985. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01011838679 .

First World War

1/55th Rifles were part of the Bushire Field Force in 1918 and are mentioned in Operations in Persia. See the Fibiwiki page Norperforce.

External links

• Jemadar Uniform 1897 British Empire Website
  
• John Coke (East India Company officer) Wikipedia
  
• Jemadar Mir Dast VC Wikipedia
  • Mir Dast - the man behind the plaque brightonmuseums.org.uk. He was admitted to the Royal Pavilion Hospital, Brighton, England and it was here that he learned that he was to be awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in Ypres.
• Details of catalogue entries for some WW1 War Diaries available at the National Archives. Kew, England. Note: "It is not guaranteed to be complete". In fact it shows no entries. The War Diaries available at the British Library may be a possible alternative source.
  • 1st Battalion 55th Coke's Rifles, Indian
  • 2nd Battalion 55th Coke's Rifles, Indian collaborativecollections.org
• Frontier Force Regiment defence.pk
• The regiment was based in Kohat in 1860, so the following photograph may be in respect of the regiment: Photograph: c 1860: Cricket at Kohat, with St Augustine's Church newly completed in the background. From the National Army Museum.

Historical books online

• Digest of Services of the 1st (Coke's) Regiment, Punjab Infantry by Colonel Theo Higginson. Published Simla, 1888. Archive.org mirror version, from Digital Library of India.
• The Frontier Force Rifles by Brigadier W E H Condon, originally published 1953, is available in a reprint edition, which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3 (located in Military Books/Britain). The reprint edition appears to have pages 298-299 missing which may be accessed below.
• "A Winter’s Night in the Malakand" by Captain A E Mahon 55th Coke’s Rifles, Frontier Force. Page 266 The Empire Review, catalogued as The Commonwealth & Empire Review, Volume 27 1914. Archive.org
• Letters of a Once Punjab Frontier Force Officer to his Nephew Giving his Ideas on Fighting on the North West Frontier and in Afghanistan by Colonel J P Villiers-Stuart (John Patrick), late Coke’s Rifles PFF. 1925. Archive.org version mirror from Central Secretariat Library (CSL) Digital Repository; Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset version. (If the catalogue entry does not display a download, look under 'Books/Indian Subcontinent).