Yes, "Chain of Command" in Waziristan

Bengal Sapper and Miners bastion in Sherpur cantonment, Kabul, Second Afghan War

Yes, the picture is about the Second Afghan War, but I like it a lot.

About this entry, I have, finally, written a pair of Army Lists for the Third Afghan War to use with my new rulebook, "Chain of Command". I have read some very interesting AAR´s in different blogs that are not based in the WWII, and I have seen that the rules works very well. So I have prepared a List for the British Indian Army and another for the Afghan Forces.

Empress Miniatures Afghan Tribesmen

First one, the Afghan Forces. I have written a list to use with the Afghan regular troops and also the tribesmen. I have used the information I have and, also, a pair of Army Lists for the Spanish Civil War there are in the Too Fat Lardies Yahoo Group. They are very useful for anyone interested in the first months of that conflict. 

Afghan Army List 1919

Woodbine Design Miniatures Indian Troops

Second one, the British Indian Army List. I have also used some ideas from those Spanish Civil War lists. I think this list is very useful to represent small patrols or garrisons.

 British-Indian Army List 1919

Both lists are, in this moment, "work in progress", but I expect to use them as soon as I have some more Indian models. I don´t like these from Woodbine, and I´m awaiting the new models from Empress, but, probably, I will buy another section from Woodbine, to have a solid patrol, at least.

On the other hand, I am reading a new book about this war:

A very nice book, really, really useful for me.Highly recomendable, IMHO.







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"...

 

The Road to War (UPDATED)

Amanullah Khan

It´s time to begin with the history of the war. I pretend to write some entries dedicated to the first steps to the war and the war itself. I am reliing principally in Brian Robson´s book "Crisis on the Frontier", but I have found (or am waiting) some other sources. My idea is to update these entries with the new information, in blue letters.

As we have seen, the Amanullah´s attack against India could be perfectly a dangerous gamble, but it had some elements in his favour.

In that moment, there was in India an intense Muslim feeling aroused by the defeat of Turkey in the Great War, a dangerous one, because the 40% of the Indian Army had a Muslim component. There was also a difficult internal situation because of the shortages of food and other goods caused by the war-time mobilization and the enlistment of so many men in the Indian Army, something that had led to a massive increases in prices. These wartime sacrifices had increased also the pressures for an Indian self-government.
At the begining of 1919, these factors combined finally to produce a wave of riotings and destruction, particularly extreme in the Punjab, that led to the tragedy of Amristar. Amanullah was very well informed on all this, but some of his information was a bit exaggerated, as the likelihood of an uprising in India, where "there were thousands of Hindus and Muslims ready to give their lives for the Amir".
Como ya hemos visto, el ataque de Amanullah contra la India podía ser perfectamente una apuesta peligrosa, pero tenía algunos elementos a su favor.
En ese momento, había en la India un intenso sentimiento pro-musulmán debido a la derrota de Turquía en la Gran Guerra, y que podía ser peligroso al tener el Ejército Indio un componente musulmán del 40%. Había también una situación interna muy difícil debida a las privaciones de comida y otros bienes causadas por la movilización para la guerra y el alistamiento de tantos hombres en el Ejército Indio, algo que había llevado a un incremento masivo de los precios. Los sacrificios debidos a la guerra habían incrementado también los deseos de la India de tener su propio gobierno.
A principios de 1919 estos factores se combinaron finalmente para producir una oleada de manifestaciones violentas y de destrucción, particularmente extremas en el Punjab, que llevaron a la tragedia de Amristar. Amanullah estaba muy bien informado de todos esos hechos, aunque parte de dicha información era un tanto exagerada, como la de la posibilidad de un levantamiento en la India donde " había miles de hindúes y musulmanes listos para dar sus vidas por el Emir".

With his own forces totally inadequated for the task of defeating the Indian Army, the most important element for Amanullah Khan to attack India was the attitude of the cis-border tribes. They were really annoyed by the defeat of Turkey in the war against the angrezi, and were also better armed than before, so they were really a powder keg and very dangerous if properly coordinated. But the tribes were notorious for their independence and unreliability. It was impossible to organize and coordinate an uprising of all the tribes in the Frontier, so Amanullah could only hope that a declaration of war followed by some initial success would ignite a general tribal uprising.
Con sus propias fuerzas totalmente inadecuadas para la tarea de derrotar al Ejército Indio, el elemento más importante en el plan de ataque de Amanullah era la actitud de las tribus situadas a ambos lados de la frontera. Éstas estaban realmente molestas por la derrota de Turquía a manos de los ingleses, y estaban también mejor armadas que nunca antes, por lo que eran en realidad un inestable barril de pólvora, muy peligrosas si se conseguía coordinarlas. Pero las tribus eran famosas por su independencia y poca fiablidad. Era imposible organizar y coordinar un levantamiento de todas las tribus de la Frontera, por lo que Amanullah sólo podía confiar en que una declaración de guerra y algunos éxitos iniciales precipitaría un levantamiento general espontáneo.

In the early part of 1919, Amanullah issued a firman to the tribes of both sides of the border, calling on them to be ready to support an uprising in India; in spite of his many presents of weapons and ammunition, the result would prove disappointing due to the opportunistic nature of the tribes, except in Waziristan.
En la primera parte de 1919, Amanullah convocó a todas las tribus de ambos lados de la frontera para que estuvieran listas para apoyar un levantamiento en la India; a pesar de muchos regalos de armas y municiones, el resultado iba a ser decepcionante debido a la oportunista naturaleza de las tribus, excepto en Waziristán.

Hill tribesmen

Amanullah and his advisers never formulated a clear-cut set of objetives, and too much depended upon success in raising the tribes and upon the development of the situation in India (an armed rising). It had neccessarily to be a war of limited objetives. Three of them had been inherited by Amanullah from his father and grandfather and were witihin the bounds of practicality:
The first one was the rectification of the Durand Line, traced by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand in 1893, in Afghanistan´s favour this time.
Amanullah y sus asesores nunca llegaron a formular una clara lista de objetivos para la guerra, y demasiado se dejó en manos de un posible levantamiento de las tribus y del desarrollo de la situación en la India. Tenía que ser por necesidad una guerra de objetivos limitados y tres de ellos habían sido heredados por Amanullah de su padre y su abuelo, estando además dentro de los límites de lo práctico.
El primero era la rectificación de la Línea Durand, trazada por Sir Henry Mortimer Durand en 1893, en favor de Afganistán esta vez.

The second was the recovery of territory and influence over areas in which Afghanistan had exercised sway before the Second Afghan War of 1878. But the main objetive, the one that had the heart of Amanullah, was regaining control of Afghan external affairs, to make the country fully independent from the British influence. Besides, nothing could be better calculated to unite all sections of Afghan society. For the national regeneration, both social and economic of Afghanistan, Amanullah would need the help from other countries, and he need to be able to negiotiate with completely free hands.
El segundo era la recuperación de territorio e influencia en áreas en las que Afganistán había ejercido su voluntad antes de la Segunda Guerra Afgana de 1878. Pero el objetivo principal, el que tenía todo el apoyo de Amunallah, era la recuperación del control de los asuntos externos del pais para hacer que Afganistán fuera totalmente independiente de la influencia británica. Además, nada podía estar mejor calculado para unir a todos los sectores de la sociedad afgana. Para la regeneración social y económica de Afganistán Amanullah iba a necesitar la ayuda de otros paises, y necesitaba ser capaz de negociar con ellos con sus manos totalmente libres.

Amanullah had also some hope of Bolshevik support, but it was not in place before the begining (and the end) of the conflict, because the war came, finally, with a remarkable speed and caught not only the Bolsheviks, but also the Indian authorities napping. Lord Chelmsford (Jr), Viceroy of India, did not expect troubles with Afghanistan and the Army was not taking precautions for it (in fact, it was demobilizing units from the war establishment).
At the begining of May, Amanullah issued a public firman saying that he believed that the peoples of India had been badly rewarded for their loyalty during the Great War and were justified in rising against the British. On the other hand, because he was afraid that those disturbances might spread into Afghanistan, he sent his Commander in Chief, Saleh Muhammad, with troops to the eastern frontier. On 2 May, Chelmsford reported that Saleh Muhammad, "on a frontier tour", had arrived at Dakka (Afghan territory) with two companies of Infantry and two guns, and was quickly followed by another 2,000 regular troops; 1,500 men were despatched to Kandahar and 2,000 to Khost to join there Nadir Shah, the old Commander in Chief under Habibullah, probably the best Afghan General.
Amanullah también tenía cierta esperanza de ayuda por parte de los Bolcheviques, pero esto no pudo cuajarse antes del comienzo (y el final) del conflicto, debido a que la guerra llegó, finalmente, con notoria rapidez y cogió por sorpresa no sólo a los bolcheviques, sino también a las autoridades de la India. Lord Chelmsford (hijo del famoso), Virrey de la India, no esperaba problemas con Afganistán y el Ejército no estaba tomando precauciones (de hecho, estaba desmovilizando a sus fuerzas del nivel de guerra).
A comienzos de mayo, Amanullah declaró publicamente que creía que los pueblos de la India habían sido malamente recompensados por su lealtad durante la Gran Guerra y que estaban justificados en alzarse contra los británicos. Pero, como le preocupaba que tales disturbios se extendieran dentro de Afganistán, envió a su Comandante en Jefe, Saleh Muhammad, con tropas a la frontera oriental.
El 2 de mayo, Chelmsford informó que Saleh Muhammad había llegado a Dakka, en territorio afgano, con dos compañías de Infantería y dos cañones, y que fue rapidamente seguido por otros 2000 hombres; 1500 fueron enviados a Kandahar y 2000 a Khost para reunirse con Nadir Shah, anterior Comandante en Jefe bajo  Habibullah, probablemente el mejor General afgano.

Dakka, 1919

From Dakka, Saleh Muhammad moved on to Bagh, in what the Indian Government considered as Indian territory (it was a point that the Durand Line had never formally demarcated), to made a personal inspection of the springs... that provided the water supply for the British post at Landi Kotal. On 4th May, his Afghan troops took up their positions in the area.

Desde Dakka, Saleh Muhammad avanzó hacia Bagh, en lo que el Gobierno de la India consideraba territorio propio (éste era un punto en el que la Línea Durand no había sido formalmente demarcada), para realizar una inspección personal de los pozos... que proporcionaban agua al puesto militar británico en Landi Kotal.

On 3rd May, a party of Khyber Rifles detailed to escort a caravan through the Khyber Pass, was met and turned back by picquets of armed tribesmen under the command of a notorious raider, Zar Shah. Then, 150 Afghan regulars occupied Kafir Kot ridge and Bagh village, on the British side of the frontier. On the 4th May, further reinforcements of Khassadars and Shinwaris reached Bagh and cut the water supply of Landi Kotal. On the 5th May, further reinforcements of Afghan regulars arrived at Bagh whilst a column of two Indian infantry companies, a section of mountain artillery and one section of sappers and miners reached Landi Kotal as reinforcements.
El 3 de mayo, un grupo de los Khyber Rifles enviado a escoltar una caravana por el Paso de Khyber fue detenido y rechazado por piquetes de guererros tribales bajo el mando de un notorio bandido, Zar Shah. 150 regulares afganos ocuparon entonces Kafir Kot y la aldea de Bagh, ambos en el lado británico de la frontera. El 4 de mayo, nuevos refuerzos de Khassadar y Shinwaris llegaron a Bagh y cortaron el suministro de agua a Landi Kotal. El día 5 llegaron aun más refuerzos a Bagh mientras una pequeña columna formada por dos compañías de infantería India, una sección de artillería de montaña y una sección de zapadores llegarona Landi Kotal también como refuerzo de la guarnición.

In the Kurram, Jafis and Afghan regulars had commenced to build fortifications on the Peiwar Kotal, so British regular troops were asked to protect the Turi inhabitants, and a column left Thal on the 5th of May.
The next day, general mobilization was ordered and war was declared on Afghanistan.
En el Kurram, Jafis y tropas regulares afganas habían comenzado a construir fortificaciones en el Peiwar Kotal, por lo que se solicitó la presencia de tropas británicas para proteger a los Turi locales, y una columna dejó Thal el día 5 de mayo.
El siguiente día, se ordenó una movilización general, y se declaró la guerra a Afganistán.

About the figures, in spite of this terrible summer, I have painted some more of them:

Indian Army figures from Woodbine Design



Afghan Tribesmen from Empress Miniatures

I need to paint other 30 Indian troops for the scenario, the mountain gun and the mules and the command group for the Afghan side; then, some civilians, more tribesmen for the possible reinforcements and some terrain elements... It never ends!!!

The First Scenario

SCENARIO 1: GUMATTI´S AFFAIR.

This was, originally, a punitive expedition against a notorious bandit that took place in 1903, near Bannu District in the North-West Frontier and I have written about it a past entry. Because my main area of interest is the Third Afghan War, I have adapted this small action and put it in 1917, also in an smaller scale (in the part of the British forces). This one can be a very good scenario to test the rules, no complex and without too many figures (that I need to paint, all of them...).

I have reproduced here a first hand account of the original action wrote by Michael O´Dwyer, a typical British traveller that accompanied the expedition to chase Sailgi. It is, in my humble opinion, a very interesting narration.

Extract from "India as I knew it: 1885-1925", by Michael O´Dwyer.

A very pleasant feature of Frontier life was the close and constant contact with the soldier and his work. In November 1902, I had the pleasure of taking part - unofficially - in a typical Frontier "scrap". I was dinning at the Station Mess in Bannu and I sat between Colonel Tonnochy, VC, the officer commanding the 53th Sikhs, and Captain White, the Adjuntant (both were killed next day). I discovered that Tonnochy was taking up a column next morning to attack and blow up the trans-border fort of Gumatti, for many years the headquarters of a desperate band of outlaws who, led by the notorious Sailgi, had committed many murders and dacoities within our border. Donald (now Sir John), the Deputy Commissioner, was going with them as Political Officer, and I decided to accompany him.

The column consisted of five hundred men of the 53th Sikhs, eighty sabres of the 21th (Punjab) Cavalry and two mountain guns, not howitzers unfortunately. We started about 2 a.m. and advanced cautiously through the Gumatti Pass under cover of pickets thrown out on the hills on both sides. Fortunately we met with no resistance in this Thermophylae where a dozen men could have held up a Brigade. We got into the open ground surrounding the bandit´s fort about nine o´clock, and the cavalry scoured the plain to round up possible enemies. Some "friendlies" told us that Sailgi was in the fort with some half-dozen comrades, but would never surrended. We wished, if possible, to effect our object without bloodshed.

Donald, under a flag of truce, went to parley with the outlaws, pointing out the futility of resistance, and promising them a fair trial by a British officer (they asked that it should be Donald himself) if they gave themselves up. The negotiations broke down because they insisted inter alia that their stronghold should be spared and that they should not be submitted to the indignity of being handcuffed! We were not prepared to take any risk, as there was every likelihood of our being followed up and attacked on our way back by hostile bands who, from the hills around, were watching our movements. After due warning, the two guns began to play on the fort at 11.30 from one thousand yards. I well remember the old Subadar-Major of the 53th Sikhs, when he heard them begin, shouting to his men in Punjabi: "Hoorah, boys, here´s a chance of a medal!". Unfortunately, the Viceroy decided that the operation must be only a blockade so we had not true artillery. The little mountain guns made little impression on the massive mud walls of the fort, and the outlaws now and again appeared on the parapet shouting menaces or derision.

The guns were brought up to one hunderd yards into a well protected position, and there was another parley with Sailgi, who was, however, still obdurate. The troops then closed in on all sides, taking such cover as they could find, and directed a steady fire on the loopholes to check the outlaw´s fire while awaiting a breach in the walls by the guns. At this stage, the outlaws located the guns. A Sikh gunner was killed and another wounded while serving them. Donald had a narrow escape. I was with Tonnochy, and we moved forward to see if a breach just then made in the bastion was feasible. Bullets came whistling around us. Tonnochy was shot through the abdomen and fell mortally wounded. I hastily threw myself under the shelter of a bhusa (chopped straw) stack and fell upon the protecting circle of thorns. The Sikhs, under cover in the ravine just below, roared with laughters at my predicament. Then, recovering from my fright, I helped Donald and a party of Sikhs to bring the striken Commandant to a place of safety. A Major of the 53th Sikhs took command. The situation was an anxious one. The guns had failed us. The storm of the fort before a feasible breach had been made would involve very heavy losses. A withdrawal to Bannu, wich some suggested, would be a confession of defeat, and we should certainly have severe casualties in returning through the pass in the approaching darkness. We held a Council of War. I supported Donald and others in pressing for the attack, and this was decided on.

Lieutenant Brown, RE, with a party of Sappers, made a dash for the fort under cover of a strong fire from our side, threw himself into the ditch, laid two time-fuses to explode the gun-cotton and by a miracle, all got back unharmed. It was a gallant act and won him the D.S.O., for he had to run the risk twice, as the first fuses failed to work. The second attempt was successful; there was a tremendous explosion and a great hole was blown in the side of the bastion. The storming party, under White, made a rush for this and though the Sikh Subadar was shot down, they got into the bastion. The outlaws driven out of the bastion took cover under a traverse in the enclosure, and kept up a brisk fire on our men. White, the Adjuntant, a cheery and gallant fellow, had made a bet that he would avenge his Colonel and get Sailgi that day. He raised his head just over the parapet to take aim and his skull was shattered by a bullet. Meantime, other breaches had been effected; troops poured in on all sides and soon fnished off the few remainig outlaws. When we entered, all were lying dead; some very buried deep beneath the debris of the explosions, and among these was Sailgi, with his teeth clenched and his hands gripping his Martini-Metford so tightly that it took two men to unloose it.

His wife, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, and his mother were in the fort and fortunately, unharmed. They were made over to some "friendlies" who were relations of Sailgi, and told an interesting history. When the parley with Donald had broken down early in the day, owing to Sailgi´s refusal to be handcuffed in the presence of his women-folk, and Donald had turned his back on the fort, Sailgi raised his rifle and took aim at Donald saying: "I have got to die today, I may as well have another Faringhi (he probably said Kafir, unbeliever) to my credit". His mother struck down the rifle saying: "No, Sailgi. The Sahib has given you no cause. He has spoken you fair". And Sailgi obeyed. He was a brave man and not without his own sense of honour.

Our success at Gumatti was fortunately completed just before darkness set in. Otherwise, our position would have been very precarious, as we should have been sniped all night by Sailgi´s sympathizers outside, and he and his band would probably have slipped through our cordon in the darkness.

We encamped in and around the fort during the night and even then were sniped. Davis of the 53th Sikhs was wounded.

Next morning at five o´clock I started off for Bannu with the convoy bringing in the dead and wounded. Later that day, a terrible explosion sent Gumatti fort "sky high" and announced all along the border that the hand of the Sirkar was as strong as it was long.

The Scenario.

Bannu District, North-West Frontier. March 1917.

A notorious bandit from the other side of the border has been marauding Bannu area for the last few months, taking advantage of the chaos produced in the British garrisons by the Great War. Finally, the British District Officer has sent against the bandit, Sailgi Akhbar Khan, an small force with orders to kill or capture him in his redoubt, an old fort sited in Gumatti, eight miles from Bannu.

This scenario has been written to use with the "Through the Mud and the Blood" rulebook, adding some necessary adaptations to represent this particular area of operations. I have taken as a base of this scenario one written by Max Maxwell as part of his very interesting article "Insurrection in Mesopotamia".
The link to the scenario is in the side of this entry, in "Interesting PDF´s".

 I have painted some more figures to use in this scenario and in my project:

Afghan tribesmen. These are the first four figures from Empress Miniatures I have painted. I like a lot these models from the prolific Paul Hicks; they are wonderful and full of character. Paint them has been a pleasure!

Indian Infantry. These are figures from Woodbine Design I have painted as member of the 20th Duke of Cambridge (Punjab) Infantry. They are not of the same quality as the Empress models but are not bad figures, easier to paint!