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When
war came, and as the crucial nature of the struggle in Europe
became evident and the vast majority of the people of India emphatically
declared their loyalty to the Empire, British troops in India
were reduced in number, Territorial battalions replaced Regular
ones, and the primary task continued to be the guarding of the
North-West Frontier where there was recurrent trouble throughout
the war. Four Territorial battalions of the Surrey regiments arrived
in India at the end of 1914. They were the 1/4th and 1/5th Queen’s
and the 1/5th and 1/6th Surreys.
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1/5th
Queen’s was stationed initially at Lucknow before leaving
India for Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in December 1915. 1/5th Surreys
spent most of the war at Nowshera and Peshawar before also moving
to Mesopotamia in 1917. Both battalions had previously sent drafts
to the Royal Norfolk Regiment in that country. 1/6th Surreys were
stationed at Rawalpindi in 1915 and 1916. They spent 1917 with
the Aden Field Force before returning to India in January 1918.
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Only
1/4th Queen’s spent the whole of the war in India. They
were engaged in operations against the Mohmands in the Khyber
area, and notably on 15th November 1915 were supported by aircraft
for the first time in India. They were stationed at Mian Meer
in 1916 when heavy garrison duties were compounded by the need
to provide instructors for the training of India Defence Units
raised at Lahore. In early 1917 a large force of Mahsuds began
to raid convoys in South Waziristan and 1/4th Queen’s moved
to Tank to join the Waziristan Field Force and take the field
against them. Sadly, however, the battalion was so stricken by
illness that soon after its arrival it was withdrawn and despatched
to Dagshai and Jutogh in the Simla Hills to recover. It moved
to Lahore in the spring of 1918 and was stationed there when World
War One ended.
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The
Band 1/6th Bn The East Surrey Regiment taken during their
stay at Agra, India 1918.
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Signal
Platoon, 1/5th Bn The Queen’s Royal Regiment, Lucknow, India
1915.
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