The 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery unit of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1853 as the Peshawar Mountain Train. It became the 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) in 1903. In 1947, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army, where it exists as the 3rd Peshawar Battery (Frontier Force) of The First (SP) Medium Regiment Artillery (Frontier Force).

History

The 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery was raised at

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

by Captain T Broughman in January 1853 as the Peshawar Mountain Train. Initially, it was manned by European gunners of the 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion Bengal Artillery but in 1854, Europeans were replaced with Indian gunners. One of the first officers of the unit was Lieutenant FS Roberts, later Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar. The battery was equipped with four 3-pounder guns and four 4.5-inch

howitzers A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like oth ...

. In 1858, it became part of the

Punjab Irregular Force The Punjab Irregular Force (PIF) was created in 1851 to protect the NW frontier of British India. It was termed "Irregular" because it was outside the control of the Regular British East India Company Presidency armies of the three Presidencies o ...

(Piffer). The Punjab Irregular Force, later designated as the Punjab Frontier Force, earned legendary fame for its exploits on the Northwest Frontier of India. The Peshawar Battery saw extensive service on the Frontier and took part in numerous operations including the

Umbeyla Campaign The Ambela campaign (also called Umbeyla; Umbeylah; Ambeyla) in 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Punjab Province of British India (this area was formally renamed to North-West Frontie ...

of 1863 and the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the ...

of 1878-80. In 1871-72, it took part in the

Lushai Expedition The British Indian Army Lushai Expedition of 1871 to 1872 was a punitive incursion under the command of Generals Brownlow and Bourchier. The objectives of the expedition were to rescue British subjects who had been captured by the Lushais in ...

.Graham, Brig Gen CAL. (1957). ''The History of the Indian Mountain Artillery''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846-1924''. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery fought with distinction in the

Mesopotamian Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

, where it took part in the capture of Basra and the Battle of Shaiba. In 1916, it was engaged on the Tigris Front, as the British made desperate efforts to raise the Siege of Kut al Amara; fighting in the Battles of Sheikh Sa'ad, the Wadi, Hanna and Dujaila Redoubt. On returning to India, it operated against

Mahsuds The Mahsud or Mehsood ( ps, محسود), also spelled Maseed ( ps, ماسيد), is a Karlani Pashtun tribe inhabiting mostly the South Waziristan Agency in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, now merged within Khyb ...

in 1917 and against Marri and Khetran tribes in 1918. After the war, it again saw service on the Northwest Frontier during the

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

in 1919 and in

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

during 1919-24. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, it fought in the Burma Campaign and then served in Malaya and

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

in 1946. In 1944, it became an exclusively Punjabi Muslim unit. In 1947, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army, where it became part of the 1 Mountain Regiment, Royal Pakistan Artillery. The battery fought in the

Kashmir War Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompass ...

of 1948. In 1957, it was equipped with 105 mm Self Propelled Field guns and the 1st Mountain Regiment was re-designated as the 1 (SP) Field Regiment, Artillery. The regiment fought with great gallantry in the Battle of Chawinda during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

, the regiment served in the Zafarwal Sector. In 1980, it was re-equipped with medium guns. The battery is affiliated with the

Frontier Force Regiment The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...

Battle honours

Afghanistan 1878-79, Basra, Shaiba, Tigris 1916, Mesopotamia 1914-16, North West Frontier, India 1917, Baluchistan 1918, Afghanistan 1919.

Genealogy

*1853 - Peshawar Mountain Train *1858 - Peshawar Mountain Train, Punjab Irregular Force *1862 - Peshawar Mountain Train Battery, Punjab Irregular Force *1865 - Peshawar Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force *1876 - No. 3 Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force *1879 - No. 3 Peshawar Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force *1890 - No. 3 (Peshawar) Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force *1901 - Peshawar Mountain Battery *1903 - 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) *1920 - 23rd Peshawar Pack Battery (Frontier Force) *1921 - 103rd (Peshawar) Pack Battery *1922 - 103rd (Peshawar) Pack Battery (Frontier Force) (How)Howitzer *1924 - 103rd (Peshawar) Pack Battery, Royal Artillery (Frontier Force) (How) *1927 - 3rd (Peshawar) Indian Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery (Frontier Force) (How) *1928 - 3rd (Peshawar) Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery (Frontier Force) (How) *1939 - 3rd (Peshawar) Mountain Battery, Frontier Force, Indian Artillery *1942 - 3rd (Peshawar) Indian Mountain Battery, Frontier Force, Indian Artillery *1945 - 3rd (Peshawar) Indian Mountain Battery, Frontier Force, Royal Indian Artillery *1947 - 3rd (Peshawar) Mountain Battery, Frontier Force, Royal Pakistan Artillery *1956 - 3rd (Peshawar) Mountain Battery, Frontier Force, Artillery *1957 - 3 Peshawar (SP) Field Battery, Artillery (FF) *1980 - 3 Peshawar (SP) Medium Battery, Artillery (FF)

References

{{reflist Pakistan Army Artillery Corps Artillery batteries Military units and formations of India in World War I Artillery units and formations of British India Military units and formations established in 1853