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{{EngvarB|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=54th Sikhs (Frontier Force)
| image=54th Sikhs badge.jpg
| image_size = 170
|caption=
|dates=1846 - 1922
|country={{flag|British India}}
|branch={{army|British India}}
|type=Infantry
|size=2 Battalions
|command_structure=
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=Burmah Paltan
|motto=
|colors=Drab; faced emerald green
|colors_label=Uniform
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[North-West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier of India]]<br>[[Second Burmese War]] 1852-53<br>[[Indian Mutiny]] 1857-58<br>[[First World War]] 1914-18<br>[[Third Afghan War]] 1919
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}
The '''54th Sikhs (Frontier Force)''' were an infantry regiment of the [[British Indian Army]]. It was raised in 1846 as the 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 4th Battalion (Sikhs) [[12th Frontier Force Regiment]] in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the [[Pakistan Army]], where it continues to exist as '''6th 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 1 January 1846 at [[Ludhiana]] as the 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade by Captain C Mackenzie from men transferred from the [[Umballa]] Police Battalion and the 6th and 11th Regiments of Bengal Native Infantry. In 1847, it was designated 4th Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry, becoming the 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry in 1857. In 1851, it 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 [[Corps of Guides (British India)|the Corps of Guides]]. Their mission was to maintain order on the Punjab Frontier; a task they performed with great aplomb. In 1852, the regiment volunteered for service in the [[Second Burmese War]] 1852-53, returning to [[British India|India]] in 1854. On the outbreak of the [[Indian Mutiny]] in 1857, the regiment marched from [[Abbottabad]] to [[Delhi]]; 560 miles in thirty days in an Indian June, going into action soon after their arrival. In 1895, it served in the Chitral Campaign.<ref name="Condon 1962"/><ref name="North 1934"/><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>

==54th 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 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force). In 1914, the regiment's class composition was four companies of Sikhs, two of Punjabi Muslims, and one each of Pathans and Dogras. During the [[First World War]], the regiment remained deployed on the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier]] of India. In 1918, it moved to [[Egypt]] to take part in the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|Palestine Campaign]] and fought in the [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Battle of Megiddo]], which led to the annihilation of Turkish Army in Palestine. After serving in the [[Russian Transcaucasia]] and [[Turkey]], it returned to India in 1920.<ref name="Condon 1962"/><ref name="North 1934"/> In 1917, the 54th Sikhs raised a second battalion, which served in the [[Third Afghan War]] of 1919. The 2/54th Sikhs was disbanded soon after.<ref name="North 1934"/><ref name="Gaylor 1991"/>

==Subsequent History==
After the First World War, the 54th Sikhs were grouped with the [[51st Sikhs (Frontier Force)|51st]], [[52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)|52nd]] and [[53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force)|53rd Sikhs]], and the two battalions of [[Guides Infantry]] to form the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922. Soldiers of the 54th Sikhs formed part of the command of Brigadier General [[Reginald Dyer]] which fired into the crowd at the [[Jallianwala Bagh Massacre]].<ref name="archive.org">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/punjabdisturbanc01lahouoft|title=Punjab disturbances, April 1919; compiled from the Civil and military gazette|date=9 April 2018|publisher=Lahore Civil and Military Gazette Press|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
The 54th Sikhs became 4th Battalion (Sikhs) of the new regiment. During the [[Second World War]], 4/12 FF served with great distinction in the [[Burma Campaign]] 2 very distinguished officers from the Battalion were Maj (Later Field Marshal) Sam Maneckshaw of the Indian Army and Maj (Later Lt Gen) Attiq ur Rahman of the Pakistan Army, both winners of the Military Cross.<ref name="Condon 1962"/> In 1947, the Frontier Force Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army. In 1956, the Frontier Force Rifles and the [[Pathan Regiment]] were merged with the Frontier Force Regiment, and 4/12 FF was redesignated as 6 FF. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the battalion distinguished itself the advance towards [[Akhnur]] and then in the [[Battle of Chawinda]]. In 1971, 6 FF served at Sulemanki, where Major [[Shabbir Sharif]] was awarded the [[Nishan-i-Haider]], Pakistan's highest gallantry award for valour. Maj Shabbir Shareef's brother Raheel Shareef was later Commissioned into the Battalion and rose to the rank of General and became the COS of the Pakistan Army.<ref>Attiqur Rahman, Lt Gen M. (1980). ''The Wardens of the Marches – A History of the Piffers 1947-71''. Lahore: Wajidalis.</ref>
The battalion has the distinction of having a [[field marshal]], albeit in the [[Indian Army]], [[Sam Manekshaw]] who was commissioned in the 4th/12th FFR in 1934, later winning a [[Military Cross]] in 1942 in the [[Burma campaign]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="Sood (2006)">{{cite book |title=Leadership : Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw|last=Sood |first=S.D. |year=2006 |publisher=SDS Publishers |location=Noida, Delhi|isbn=81-902828-4-0 }}</ref>

==Genealogy==
[[File:4-12 (6 FF) attacking the Seywa village, Battle of Meiktila 1945.jpg|thumb|right|4th Battalion 12th Frontier Force Regiment attacking the village of Seywa, Burma, during the [[Battle of Meiktila]], 1945.|350px]]
*1846 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade
*1847 4th Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry
*1857 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry
*1857 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force
*1865 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
*1901 4th Sikh Infantry
*1903 54th Sikhs (Frontier Force)
*1922 4th Battalion (Sikhs) 12th Frontier Force Regiment
*1945 4th Battalion (Sikhs) The Frontier Force Regiment
*1947 4th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment
*1956 6th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment<ref name="Condon 1962"/>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Shirley, Capt SR. (1915). ''History of the 54th Sikhs, Frontier Force, Previously Designated 4th Sikhs, Punjab Frontier Force 1846 to 1914''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd.
* 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 AliKhan, 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}}

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

54th Sikhs Frontier Force - Revision history

Bot at 21:23, 9 December 2021