Historical Record of 22nd Derajat Pack Battery

This unit was raised at Dera Ghazi Khan (India) on 18th May 1849 as 2nd Punjab Light Field Battery becoming in 1851 No3 Punjab Horse Light Field Battery, Punjab Frontier Force (PFF). After many changes of designation it became in the 1903 Indian Army reorganisation (under Kitchener) No 22 (Derajat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) and finally, in August 1920, it got the designation that forms the title of this book. This record spans seventy-one years and it is set out in diary form with a marginal note alongside each entry giving a sort of heading to the event described in the accompanying text, thus the marginal note against the paragraph recording operations with the Hazara Field Force reads: “1st Black Mountain Expedition” (Hazara), 1888. The entries cover every aspect of the Battery’s service, noting even individual officers (including the Indian Viceroy Commissioned Officers) reporting for duty, going on leave, being promoted, leaving the Battery and why and of course any casualty details. From December 1916 to December 1918 the Battery was engaged in operations in German and Portuguese East Africa and during this period the marginal notes consist of the dates of the actions being described. There is a list of expeditions and campaigns in which the Battery took part since its formation, a list of medals and clasps awarded over the same period and a summary of Casualties and Awards during the period the Battery was on active service 1916-1918.

Keywords: history, war, wwi, first world war, world war one, world war 1, ww1, battalion, regiment, army, soldiers, africa, battles, historical, ancestry, family history