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{{EngvarB|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)
| image=Badge of 52nd Sikhs (FF), 1903-22.jpg
| image_size = 180
|caption=
|dates=1846–1922
|country={{flag|British India}}
|branch={{army|British India}}
|type=Infantry
|size=1 Battalion
|command_structure=
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=Dogra Paltan, Tunpur Bwanja
|motto=
|colors=Drab; faced scarlet
|colors_label=Uniform
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[North-West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier of India]] [[Second Sikh War]] 1848-49 [[India Mutiny]] 1857-58 [[Second Afghan War]] 1878-80 Expedition to [[Somaliland]] 1902-03 [[First World War]] 1914-18 [[Iraqi revolt against the British|Iraqi Revolt]] 1920
|notable_commanders=Brig [[Arthur Edward Cumming|AE Cumming]], [[Victoria Cross|VC]], OBE, MC
|anniversaries=
}}
The '''52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)''' was an infantry regiment of the [[British Indian Army]]. It was raised in 1846 as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) [[12th Frontier Force Regiment]] in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the [[Pakistan Army]], where it continues to exist as '''4th Battalion The [[Frontier Force Regiment]]'''.<ref name="Condon 1962">Condon, Brig WEH. (1962). ''The Frontier Force Regiment'', Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd.</ref><ref name="North 1934">North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846-1924''. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press.</ref>

==Early history==
The regiment was raised on 22 December 1846 at [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]] as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade by Major JWV Stephen. It was composed mostly of [[Dogra]]s, with some [[Pathans]] and [[Gurkhas]], which prompted its title of 'Hill Corps'. In 1847, it was designated 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry, becoming the 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry in 1857. In 1851, the regiment became part of the [[Punjab Irregular Force]], which later became famous as the Punjab Frontier Force or '''The Piffers'''. The Piffers consisted of five regiments of cavalry, eleven regiments of infantry and five batteries of artillery besides the [[Corps of Guides (British India)|Corps of Guides]]. Their mission was to maintain order on the Punjab Frontier; a task they performed with great aplomb. The 2nd Sikh Infantry took part in numerous frontier operations besides the [[Second Sikh War]] of 1848-49 and the Great [[Indian Mutiny]] of 1857–58, when it served in Hazara and Murree Hills. During the [[Second Afghan War]] of 1878–80, the regiment fought in the Battles of Ahmad Khel and [[Battle of Kandahar (1880)|Kandahar]]. In 1902, it went to [[British Somaliland]] to suppress the resistance movement led by [[Las Anod#Diiriye Guure|Diiriye Guure]]<ref name="scr">{{cite book |last1=Omar |first1=Mohamed |title=The Scramble in the Horn of Africa |date=2001 |page=402 |quote=This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta}}</ref> of the [[Dervish state|Dervish State]].<ref name="Condon 1962"/><ref name="North 1934"/>

==52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)==
Subsequent to the [[Kitchener Reforms|reforms]] brought about in the Indian Army by [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] in 1903, the regiment's designation was changed to 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force). In 1914, the regiment's class composition was three companies of Dogras, two each of Pathans and [[Sikh]]s, and one of Punjabi Muslims. During [[First World War]], the regiment joined the [[18th Indian Division]] in [[Mesopotamian Campaign|Mesopotamia]] in 1917 and fought in the [[Battle of Sharqat]]. It moved to [[Kurdistan]] in 1919 and took part in suppressing the [[Iraqi revolt against the British|Iraqi Revolt]] of 1920.<ref name="Condon 1962"/><ref name="North 1934"/>
[[File:A Group of Soldiers 52nd-Sikh-Regiment.jpg|thumb|Indian Officers, 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force), [[Kohat]], 1905.]]
[[File:52nd Sikh-Regiment soldiers with Flag.jpg|thumb|With regimental flags, [[Kohat]], 1905.]]

==Subsequent History==
After the First World War, the 52nd Sikhs were grouped with the [[51st Sikhs (Frontier Force)|51st]], [[53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force)|53rd]] and [[54th Sikhs (Frontier Force)|54th Sikhs]], and the two battalions of [[Guides Infantry]] to form the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. The 52nd Sikhs became 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) of the new regiment. During the [[Second World War]], 2 FF fought with distinction in the [[Malayan Campaign]], where its Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel [[Arthur Edward Cumming]], was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for outstanding valour. The battalion was captured by the Japanese after the British surrender at [[Battle of Singapore|Singapore]] in February 1942. It was re-raised in 1946.<ref name="Condon 1962"/><ref name="Gaylor 1991">{{cite book|last=Gaylor|first=John|title=Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–91|publisher=Stroud: Spellmount|year=1991}}</ref> In 1947, the Frontier Force Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. 2 FF was back in action in 1948, when it fought in the Kashmir War against [[India]]. In 1956, the Frontier Force Rifles and the [[Pathan Regiment]] were merged with the Frontier Force Regiment, and 2 FF was redesignated as 4 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion fought in the [[Sialkot]] Sector, while during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, it fought with great courage in the [[Battle of Hilli]] in [[East Pakistan]]. For exceptional valour, Major [[Muhammad Akram]] and Major [[Shabbir Sharif]] were awarded the [[Nishan-i-Haider]], Pakistan's highest gallantry award.<ref>Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). ''The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947-71''. Lahore: Wajidalis.</ref>

==Genealogy==
*1846 2nd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade
*1847 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry
*1857 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry
*1857 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force
*1865 2nd (or Hill) Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
*1901 2nd (or Hill) Sikh Infantry
*1903 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)
*1922 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment
*1945 2nd Battalion (Sikhs) The Frontier Force Regiment
*1947 2nd Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment
*1956 4th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment<ref name="Condon 1962"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* May, Capt CW. (1933). ''History of the 2nd Sikhs, 12th Frontier Force Regt 1846-1933''. Jubblepore: Mission Press.
* ''The Historical Record of the 2nd (or Hill) Sikh Infantry Punjab Frontier Force''. (1888). Lahore: Punjab Government.
* Condon, Brig WEH. (1962). ''The Frontier Force Regiment'', Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd.
* North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846-1924''. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press.
* Jafar Ali Khan, Maj Gen M. (1950). ''One Hundred Glorious Years: A History of the Punjab Frontier Force, 1849-1949''. Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press.
* Dey, RSBN. (1905). ''A Brief Account of the Late Punjab Frontier Force, From its Organization in 1849 to its Re-distribution on 31st March 1903''. Calcutta.
* Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). ''The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947-71''. Lahore: Wajidalis.
* Khan, Maj Muhammad Nawaz. (1996). ''The Glorious Piffers 1843-1995''. Abbottabad: The Frontier Force Regimental Centre.
* Gaylor, John. (1991). ''Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903- 1991.'' Stroud: Spellmount. {{ISBN|978-0-946771-98-1}}
*Barthorp, M, and Burn, J. (1979). ''Indian Infantry Regiments 1860-1914''. London: Osprey. {{ISBN|978-0-85045-307-2}}
*Sumner, Ian. (2001). ''The Indian Army 1914-1947''. London: Osprey. {{ISBN|1-84176-196-6}}

==See also==
*[[Frontier Force Regiment|The Frontier Force Regiment]]
*[[12th Frontier Force Regiment]]
*[[Punjab Irregular Force]]

[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Frontier Force Regiment]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1846]]
[[Category:1846 establishments in British India]]

52nd Sikhs Frontier Force - Revision history

Bot at 14:04, 27 July 2022