1st Battalion, Sindh Regiment

1st Battalion, Sindh Regiment
13th Battalion, Baloch Regiment
6th Battalion, 8th Punjab Regiment
Regimental cap badge
Founded1940 / 1956 / 1980
Country Pakistan
Allegiance British India (1940 - 47)
 Pakistan (1947 - onwards)
Branch British Indian Army
 Pakistan Army
RoleLine infantry
Size1 battalion
Part ofSindh Regiment
Regimental centreHyderabad, Sindh
EngagementsSecond World War 1940-45 (Malaya, Dutch East Indies)
Kashmir War 1948

The 1st Battalion, Sindh Regiment is an infantry battalion of the Sindh Regiment of the Pakistan Army.

History

The battalion was originally raised in 1940 as the 6th Battalion (Machine Gun), 8th Punjab Regiment in the British Indian Army. It initially served on the North West Frontier in:[1]

From May to October 1945 the battalion participated in the Burma campaign as part of 23rd Indian Infantry Division.[2] Its companies provided machine gun support to the 1st, 37th, and 49th Indian Infantry Brigades.[3] The battalion was then sent with the 23rd Division to Central Java in November 1945.[4] From April 1946 it transferred to the Buitenzorg Brigade when the remainder of the division returned to India.[5]

After the war, in 1946, most of the war-raised battalions of the 8th Punjab were deactivated except the 6th and 8th Battalions.[6]

Upon the independence of India and Pakistan in August 1947, the battalion was assigned to the Pakistan Army together with the rest of 8th Punjab and several other infantry regiments including the 10th Baluch Regiment and the Bahawalpur Regiment. Sikhs and Gujars in the battalion were exchanged with Muslims from units allocated to the Indian Army. In January 1948 the battalion was deactivated but was raised again in October 1948, in response to the Kashmir War with India.

In 1956, Pakistan merged the 8th Punjab with the 10th Baluch and the Bahawalpur Regiments to form the Baloch Regiment. The 6th Battalion was re-designated as 13th Battalion, Baloch Regiment.[6]

Since independence, the Pakistan Army had been dominated by Punjabis, with as much as 77% of army personnel being from that group.[7] A specific regiment was created to address concerns of underrepresentation of Sindhis.[8][9] This was done on 1 July 1980 by the transfer of eleven battalions from the Punjab Regiment and ten battalions from the Baloch Regiment.[10] The 13th Battalion, Baloch Regiment was re-designated as 1st Battalion, Sindh Regiment. After 1989 the proportion of Sindhis in the regiment was increased to over 50%.

Battle honours

Alliances and affiliations

References

  1. ^ Gaylor, John (1991). Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–91. Spellmount.
  2. ^ a b Francis Albert Eley Crew (1956). The Army Medical Services: Campaigns. Vol. 5. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. p. 579.
  3. ^ McMillan, Richard (2006). "Appendix I". The British Occupation of Indonesia: 1945-1946. Taylor & Francis.
  4. ^ a b Woodburn Kirby, Stanley (1969). The War Against Japan: The Surrender of Japan. Vol. 5. M. R. Roberts, G. T. Wards, N. L. Desoer. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. p. 321.
  5. ^ Woodburn Kirby, Stanley (1957). The War Against Japan: The surrender of Japan. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
  6. ^ a b Ahmad, Maj RN, and Ahmed, Maj Gen Rafiuddin. (2006). Unfaded Glory: The 8th Punjab Regiment 1798-1956. Abbottabad: The Baloch Regimental Centre
  7. ^ Das, Suranjan (2001). Kashmir and Sindh: Nation-building, Ethnicity and Regional Politics in South Asia. Anthem Press. ISBN 9781898855873.
  8. ^ Far Eastern Economic Review. Far Eastern Economic Review Limited. 1986. p. 27.
  9. ^ "Foreign Affairs Pakistan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan). 2000. p. 30.
  10. ^ "Sind Regiment: History". Pakistan Army. Retrieved 28 November 2022.