domingo, 11 de agosto de 2013

20th Duke of Cambridge´s Own Infantry (Brownlow´s Punjabis)

20th Duke of Cambridge´s Own Infantry in Egypt, 1882
I have chosen this British Indian Army regiment as the first one of my own collection of units for my project... but it didn´t participate in the Third Afghan War!
No problem; all of them are very similar.
 
This regiment was raised in 1857 as the 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry and was designated as the 20th Duke of Cambridge´s Own Infantry in 1904. Today, it is the 6th Battalion, The Punjab Regiment in the modern Pakistan Army.
 
The regiment was raised on August 1857 by Lieutenant Charles Henry Brownlow from drafts of the 4th and 5th Punjab Infantry as a part of the army raised to suppress the Great Indian Mutiny. After this bitter war, the Regiment took part in the Second Opium War against China, taking part in the assault to the Taku Forts in 1860. In 1861, the regiment become part of the line as the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry but was renumbered as the 20th Regiment later in the year.
In 1863, it took part in the Umbeyla Campaing in the North-West Frontier, in the first of its many engagement against the Pathan tribes. In 1864, the regiment was designed as the 20th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry and took part in the Black Mountain Expedition.
 
Painting by Walter Fane, 1868
The regiment took part in the Second Afghan War, advancing into the Khyber Pass to clear Afghan forces at Ali Masjid fortress. In 1882, the regiment was dispatched to Egypt as part of the expeditionary force to suppress the revolt of Arabi Pasha, taking part in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. In honour of its service in Egypt, the Duke of Cambridge was appointed as its honorary colonel in 1883 and the regiment was retitled (again) as the 20th (Duke of Cambridge´s Own) (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry.
In 1891 and 1897, the regiment took part in new expeditions in the North-West Frontier and in 1900 was sent to China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion.
 
After the reforms brought about in the Indian Army by Lord Kitchener, the regiment received a new designation, 20th Duke of Cambridge´s Own Punjabis in 1903 and then 20th Duke of Cambridge´s Own Infantry (Brownlow´s Punjabis) in 1904.
 
During the Great War, the regiment saw active service in Mesopotamia and Palestine, taking part in the capture of Kut-al-Amara in September 1915. In May 1918 it returned finally to India.

30rd Punjabis and 2oth Duke of Cambridge
In 1921-22 there was a major reorganization in the British Indian Army, grouping four to six battalions in a same regiment. In this way, the 14th Punjab Regiment was formed by grouping the 20th Punjabis with the 19th, 21th, 22th and 24th Punjabis and the 40th Pathans. The new designation of the battalion was 2nd Battalion (Duke of Cambridge´s Own) 14th Punjab Regiment. During the Second World War, the battalion was part of the British garrison of Hong Kong but, after a siege of 18 days, the battalion surrendered and spent the rest of the war in Japanese captivity.
In 1947 the battalion was allocated to Pakistan Army and fought, in 1948, in the war with India in Kashmir and in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965.
 
And this is the history of this interesting Regiment.
 
I like a lot the green touch in the kullahs, and perhaps it is the main reason to choose this unit for painting my first Indian Army figures. I have painted some more figures for this unit:
 
 

They are, again, from Woodbine Design and this time I have painted the LMG team and one of the British officers.
 
I have also painted another of my old Foundry figures from the North-West Frontier range:
 

 
It is an Afghan regular soldier for the Second Afghan War. Perhaps I will use him as a Khassadar militiaman, or an "old timer"...
 

12 comentarios:

  1. Absolutely gorgeous, some of my favourite yet.

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  2. Nice history and the figures look very good. Something for me to aspire to.

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  3. It is an interesting regiment. I expect to use the figures also in games based in Palestina.

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  4. Great miniatures once again. Very interesting post. Thanks.

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  5. These are beautiful Juan - what a great site!!

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  6. That is a very nice regimental history you have compiled. Like the figures. The idea of using the foundry figure as a militiaman is smart. Like what you are doing with those Woodbines, you are definitely bringing out the best in them. Two minor things- I believe the mattock style entrenching tools were all blackened iron.
    Not sure the Officer is the right figure for a unit of Indian infantry. In WW I British officers(those who survived) found out that if they looked vastly different to the other ranks they were quickly targeted. Swords, swagger sticks and even revolvers were quickly dropped in favour of carrying a rifle to blend in. I also believe that in many Indian regiments Officers stopped wearing Solar Toppes, Wolsleys etc and wore turbans like their own troops. If that officer was mine I would be tempted to use him as a battery commander.

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    Respuestas
    1. Thank you a lot for the recomendations. I'm going to re-paint the entrenching tools.
      About the officer, I wanted to represent the "rookie" for the first scenario... and I like a lot the pose! But a battery commander is a great idea...

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    2. Hadn't thought of using him as a "newb", but is an ideal solution to how to identify a new boy.
      Whilst following the various links through the internet came across http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indianinfantry/20thpunjabis.htm
      Among other things it details the composition of the regiment at the start of WW I. It was a mixed composition regiment consisting of 4 companys of Pathans and two each of Dogras and Sikhs. There is no reason to think the composition would have changed by 1919, so if you are intending to put together several companys from this regiment you'll be able to mix them up a bit.
      I also found the following information on the National Army museum site regarding the Lovett painting of the 30th & 20th you show above;
      "Awan (Punjabi Musalman) Sepoy of the 30th Punjabis, and a Lance Naik Malikdin Khel (Afridi) of the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis), 1908 (c).

      Watercolour by Major Alfred Crowdy Lovett (1862-1919), 1908 (c).

      The Lance Naik (in background) wears traditional sandal footwear while the sepoy wears standard army boots. Both men are armed with the Short Magazine Lee Enfield Rifles (SMLE). Both of these regiments had arrived on the North West Frontier of India in February 1908, having previously taken part in the Allied intervention in China during the 3rd China War (Boxer Rebellion) of 1900."

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    3. Great!!! In this way, I can put together the Sikhs and Hindu figures from Woodbine Designs!
      I´m expecting that the new figures from Empress come with sandals (at least, some of them). It would be fantastic that Paul Hicks made some Khyber Rifles too.

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  7. Daily news Visit
    http://themodernpakistan.blogspot.com/

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