The 2nd Derajat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery battery in the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

. The battery was raised in 1851, from disbanded

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

artillerymen following the

Second Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

. In 1857, one detachment saw service against mutineers in

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

and Bundlekand in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. The

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai ...

(1878–80) saw the Derajat Mountain Battery serve with General Roberts throughout the war, and were present at the battles of Peiwar Kotal and Charasiab, the

siege of the Sherpur Cantonment The siege of the Sherpur Cantonment was a battle fought in December 1879, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. British forces were besieged by Afghan troops, then repulsed an assault. Background On 3 September 1879 Sir Pierre Cavagnari, the B ...

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, and then on the march to south Afghanistan and the Battle of Kandahar. After the war, in addition to numerous minor Frontier campaigns, the 2nd took part in the 1895

Chitral Expedition The Chitral Expedition (Urdu:چترال فوجی مہم) was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral, which was under siege after a local coup following the death of the old ruler. An interve ...

. Two years later it took part in the operations of the Tirah Campaign. To honour the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to India, they took part in the

Rawalpindi Parade 1905 The Rawalpindi Parade 1905 was a parade by the British Indian Army held in Rawalpindi on 8 December 1905 to honour the Prince and Princess of Wales. The troops were under the Command of Horatio Herbert, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum, G.C.B., O.M., ...

. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the 2nd in 1916 joined the

Indian Expeditionary Force B The Indian Army, also called the British Indian Army, was involved in World War I as part of the British Empire. More than one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom more than 60,000 died during the war. In World War I the Indian Army ...

in the campaign against the Germans in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

, where it would remain until the Armistice. After the war, the Battery saw service during the

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War was a short war which began on 3 May and ended on 8 August 1919. The new Amir of the Emirate of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan declared a Jihad against the British in the hope to proclaim full independence, as well as ...

of 1919, the Mohmand and Bajaur Operations (1933), Mohmand Campaign (1935) and operations in Waziristan against the

Fakir of Ipi Haji Mirzali Khan Wazir (), commonly known as the Faqir of Ipi (), was a tribal chief and adversary to the British Raj from North Waziristan in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. After performing his ''Hajj'' pilgrimage in 1923, Mirzali ...

from 1936. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

they were part of the force sent to the East African Campaign. On the partition of India in 1947, the battery was allocated to the new

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

References

* * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. {{ISBN, 1-870423-30-5 Royal Indian Artillery batteries Indian World War I regiments Indian World War II regiments Military units and formations established in 1851 1851 establishments in India