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Revision as of 19:13, 25 September 2007 by Smuschiano215 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Frontier Force Regiment (commonly known as the Piffers) is a regiment of the Pakistan Army
Origins of the Regiment
The regiment in its present form was created in 1957 with the amalgamation of the Frontier Force Regiment, the Frontier Force Rifles and the Pathan Regiment. The first two of these regiments had been transferred to Pakistan on the Partition of India in 1947 whilst the Pathan Regiment had been raised after partition from the 4th battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment and the 4th and 15th battalions of the Frontier Force Rifles.
Prior to partition, both the Frontier Force Regiment and the Frontier Force Rifles were regiments of the British Indian Army: the 12th Frontier Force Regiment and the 13th Frontier Force Rifles.
The 12th Frontier Force Regiment’s origins lie in the four infantry regiments of the Frontier Brigade authorised in 1846 and raised by Colonel Henry Lawrence, the agent (and brother) of the Governor-General of the Punjab frontier region, John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, from veterans of disbanded opposition forces after the First Anglo-Sikh War. At the same time Lawrence also caused to be raised an irregular force of mixed cavalry and infantry under Lieutenant Harry D. Lumsden: the Corps of Guides. In 1823 the four Sikh regiments of the original Frontier Brigade joined the Trans-Frontier Brigade which was renamed the Punjab Independent Force (giving rise to the “Piffer” nickname which remains to the present day). In 1865 the Punjab Independent Force was renamed the Punjab Frontier Force. In the 1922 reorganisation of the British Indian Army the four Sikh regiments became the first four battalions of the newly-constituted 12th Frontier Force Regiment whilst the infantry element of the Corps of Guides became its 5th battalion.
The 13th Frontier Force Rifles’ origins lie in the 6 Punjab regiments of infantry raised by Lawrence in 1849, also from veterans of the disbanded opposition, after the Second Anglo-Sikh War. They formed part of the newly-created Trans-Frontier Brigade (which also included the Corps of Guides). In the 1922 reorganisation, the five remaining regiments of Punjab Infantry were amalgamated to form five battalions of the 13th Frontier Force Rifles (the 3rd regiment having been disbanded in 1882 after the Second Anglo-Afghan War).
Merged regiment's battalion origins
- 1st battalion: 6th bn Frontier Force Rifles; 59th Royal Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force)
- 2nd battalion: 5th bn Frontier Force Regiment; 1st bn QVO Corps of Guides (Frontier Force) Lumsden's Infantry
- 3rd battalion: 1st bn (PWO Sikhs) Frontier Force Regiment; 51st The Prince of Wales' Own Sikhs (Frontier Force)
- 4th battalion: 2nd bn (Sikhs) Frontier Force Regiment; 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)
- 5th battalion: 3rd Royal bn Sikhs Frontier Force Regiment; 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force)
- 6th battalion: 4th bn (Sikhs) Frontier Force Regiment; 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) (reraised in 1948)
- 7th battalion: 1st bn Frontier Force Rifles; 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force)
- 8th battalion: 2nd bn Frontier Force Rifles; 56th Punjabi Rifles (Frontier Force)
- 9th battalion: 4th bn Frontier Force Rifles; 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier Force)
- 10th battalion: 6th bn Frontier Force Rifles; 58th Vaughan's Rifles (Frontier Force)
- 11th battalion: 1st bn Pathan Regiment; 4th bn Frontier Force Regiment; 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force)
- 12th battalion: 3rd bn Pathan Regiment; 15th bn Frontier Force Rifles
- 13th battalion: 8th bn Frontier Force Regiment
- 14th battalion: 9th bn Frontier Force Regiment
- 15th battalion: 2nd bn Pathan Regiment; 4th bn Frontier Force Rifles; 57th Wilde's Rifles
Colonels in Chief
- General Muhamad Musa Khan HJ, HPk, HQA, MBE. August 31, 1964 - March 12, 1991
- General Abdul Wahid Kakar HI (M), SBt. May 18, 1993 - May 17, 1997
Colonel Commandants
- Major General Mian Hayauddin HJ, MBE, MC.
- Lieutenant General Khalid Masud Sheikh.
- General Muhammad Musa Khan HPk, HQA, MBE.
- Lieutenant General Altaf Qadir MBE.
- Lieutenant General M Attiqur Rahman HPk, HQA, MC.
- Lieutenant General Agha Ali Ibrahim Akram.
- Lieutenant General Khushdil Khan Afridi HI (M), SBt.
- Lieutenant General Ahmed Kamal Khan HI (M), SI (M), SBt.
- Lieutenant General Imranullah Khan HI (M), SI (M), SBt.
- Lieutenant General Mumtaz Gul HI (M), TBt.
- Lieutenant General Tahir Ali Qureshi HI (M), SBt.
- Lieutenant General Mushtaq Hussain HI (M).
- Lieutenant General Munir Hafiez.
- Lieutenant General Sabahat Hussain HI (M)
Regimental Center Commandants
- Colonel Malik Sher Afzal Khan
- Colonel Hamid Ullah Khan
- Colonel Mahboob Khan TQA
- Colonel G M K Junjua
- Colonel M Mumtaz Khan SJ
- Colonel Mir Ijaz Mahmood SJ
- Brigadier Mir Ijaz Mahmood SJ
- Brigadier Jahanzeb Khan
- Brigadier Muhammad Aslam
- Colonel K A Shamshad
- Brigadier R A S Bokhari
- Brigadier Fateh Khan
- Brigadier Ghulam Rabbani Khan
- Brigadier Jahanzeb Khan
- Brigadier Mir Abdul Nayeem
- Brigadier M Mumtaz Malik SJ
- Brigadier Salahuddin Rana
- Brigadier Muneeb-ur-Rehman Farooqui SI(M)
- Brigadier Zaffar Hayat
- Brigadier Fazle Qadir T.Bt
- Brigadier Muhammad Ehsan
- Brigadier Mansoor Hamid
- Brigadier Muhammad Ishaq
- Brigadier Arshad Shah
- Colonel Malik Abdul Ghaffar
- Brigadier Obaidullah Niazi
- Brigadier Sikander Javed
Alliances
- United Kingdom - The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders; 1st Bn
- United Kingdom - The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border); 1st Bn
- Canada - The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's); 1st Bn
- United Kingdom - The Rifles; 2nd and 13th Bn
- United Kingdom - The Royal Welsh; 3rd Bn
- United Kingdom - The Royal Anglian Regiment; 5th Bn
- United Kingdom - The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment); 9th Bn
- United Kingdom - The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border); 15th Bn
See also
- British Indian Army
- List of Regiments of the British Indian Army (1903)
- List of regiments of the British Indian Army (1922)
External links
- The Frontier Force, before the partition of India.
- Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: The Frontier Force Regiment
- Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: 12th Frontier Force Regiment
- Pakistan Military Consortium: 12th Frontier Force Regiment
- Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: 13th Frontier Force Rifles
- Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: The Pathan Regiment
- Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides (Frontier Force) (Lumsden's)