The 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force) was a regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1849 as the 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 1st Battalion (Coke's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 7th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment.

History

1849–1880

The regiment was formed on 18 May 1849 as the 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry by Captain John Coke. It was one of five such regiments raised by Colonel Henry Lawrence, the agent (and brother) of the Governor-General of the Punjab frontier region, John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, to form the infantry element of the Trans Frontier Brigade. The men were recruited from veterans of disbanded opposition forces after the British annexation in 1848 of the Punjab during the Second Sikh War. In 1851 the regiment was retitled as the 1st Regiment of Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force when the Trans Frontier Brigade, tasked with policing the volatile North-West Frontier, was expanded and renamed the Punjab Irregular Force (PIF), giving rise to the "Piffer" name adopted by the officers and men of the regiments of the PIF and still used to this day by their successor regiments. In 1948, 1 FF Rifles fought in the Kashmir War against India. The battalion fought with great gallantry at Chakothi in the Jhelum Valley, and foiled all Indian attempts to advance towards Muzaffarabad. In 1956, the Frontier Force Rifles and the Pathan Regiment were merged with the Frontier Force Regiment, and 1 FF Rifles was redesignated as 7th Battalion (Coke's) The Frontier Force Regiment or 7 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion again distinguished itself in the Battle of Chawinda.

Battle Honours

Delhi 1857, Lucknow, Peiwar Kotal, Charasiah, Kabul 1879, Afghanistan 1878–80, Tirah, Punjab Frontier, China 1900, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Festubert 1914, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres 1915, St. Julien, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, France and Flanders 1914–15, Suez Canal, Egypt 1915–17, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jerusalem, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine 1917–18, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916–18, Persia 1918–19, Aden, East Africa 1916–18, NW Frontier India 1917, Baluchistan 1918, Afghanistan 1919, North Malaya, Kota Bahru, Johore, Gemas, The Muar, Singapore Island, Malaya 1941–42, Kashmir 1948, Lahore 1965

References

Further reading

  • Condon, Brig WEH. (1953). The Frontier Force Rifles. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.
  • Young, Brig WHH. (1945). Regimental History of the 13th Frontier Force Rifles. Rawalpindi: The Frontier Exchange Press.
  • North, REFG. (1934). The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846–1924. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press.
  • Hayauddin, Maj Gen M. (1950). One Hundred Glorious Years: A History of the Punjab Frontier Force, 1849–1949. Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press.
  • Dey, RSBN. (1905). A Brief Account of the Late Punjab Frontier Force, From its Organization in 1849 to its Re-distribution on 31st March 1903. Calcutta.
  • Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947–71. Lahore: Wajidalis.
  • Khan, Maj Muhammad Nawaz. (1996). The Glorious Piffers 1843–1995. Abbottabad: The Frontier Force Regimental Centre.
  • Gaylor, John. (1991). Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903– 1991. Stroud: Spellmount.
  • Barthorp, M, and Burn, J. (1979). Indian Infantry Regiments 1860–1914. London: Osprey.
  • Sumner, Ian. (2001). The Indian Army 1914–1947. London: Osprey.

See also

  • The Frontier Force Regiment
  • 13th Frontier Force Rifles
  • Punjab Irregular Force