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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=56 Field Regiment
|image=
|caption=
|dates= 1964 – present
|country={{flag icon|India}} [[India]]
|allegiance=India
|branch= [[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|24px]] [[Indian Army]]
|type= [[File:Regiment of Artillery Insignia (India).svg|20px]] [[Artillery]]
|role=
|size= Regiment
|command_structure=
|equipment=

|Past Commanders=
|ceremonial_chief=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|notable_commanders=

|identification_symbol=56 Fd Regt
|identification_symbol_label=Abbreviation

|nickname=
|patron=
|motto= Sarvatra, Izzat-O-Iqbal<br/>(Everywhere with Honour and Glory).
|colors= Red & Navy Blue
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=
|anniversaries=15 April – Raising Day
|decorations=
|battle_honours= Jitra
}}
'''56 Field Regiment (Jitra)''' is part of the [[Regiment of Artillery (India)|Regiment of Artillery]] of the [[Indian Army]].

== Formation ==
The regiment was raised on 15 April 1964 at [[Aurangabad]] as '''56 Mountain Composite Regiment (Pack)'''. Lieutenant Colonel [[Kailas Prasad Pandey|Kailas Prasad (Tom) Pande]] was first commanding officer. The unit is presently a field regiment.<ref name="56FdAPOcover">{{cite web|url=https://samsshopping.com/product/56-fd-regt-jitra/|title=56 Field Regiment Golden Jubilee APO postal cover|date=2014-04-15|access-date=2022-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000417/cth3.htm#6|title=Jitra celebrates raising day|date=2000-04-16|access-date=2022-01-06}}</ref>

==Batteries==
[[Image:RML7pounderMountanGunHazaraBattery1895.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph, circa 1895 showing a [[RML 7-pounder Mountain Gun|7-pounder mountain gun]] of No. 4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery listing the crew's ranks]]
At the time of formation, the regiment had the following three batteries<ref name="56FdAPOcover"/> -
;[[24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)|4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)]]
This battery joined the regiment from [[22 Medium Regiment (India)|22 Mountain Regiment]] is one of the oldest and most decorated mountain batteries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110522/spectrum/main5.htm|title=From fame to notoriety|date=2011-05-22|access-date=2022-01-06}}</ref> It was formed at [[Haripur, Pakistan|Haripur]] (presently in Hazara, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan) from a small body of Hazara gunners raised by Major [[James Abbott (Indian Army officer)|James Abbott]] for local defence between 1848 and 1849. The troop nucleus of a native officer and twenty men was from the artillery of Shaikh Imam-ud-din, who was the governor of the [[Sikh Empire|Sikh province of Kashmir]]. On 2 April 1851, Lieutenant G.G. Pearse, [[Madras Army#Artillery|Madras Artillery]] was appointed in charge of the Hazara Mountain Train, in addition to his duties as the Assistant Commissioner.<ref>{{cite book|last=|first=|title= The Historical Record of No. 4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force|publisher=Punjab Government Press, Lahore|year=1888}}</ref>

The battery has gone through many name changes<ref>{{cite book|last=|first=|title=The Quarterly Indian Army List for October 1933|publisher=Army Headquarters, India|date=1933|page=283}}</ref> -
*Hazara Mountain Train
*In 1856, Hazara Mountain Train Battery, Punjab Irregular Force
*In 1865, Hazara Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force
*In 1876, No. 4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force
*In 1901, Hazara Mountain Battery
*In 1903, 24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)
*In 1920, 24th Hazara Pack Battery (Frontier Force)
*In 1921, 104th (Hazara) Pack Battery (Frontier Force)
*In 1927, 4th (Hazara) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)
*In 1932, 4th (Hazara) Mountain Battery, R.A., F.F.

The battery has the won the following battle honours-
*[[Battle of Ali Masjid|Ali Masjid]]
*[[Second Anglo-Afghan War|Kabul, 1879]]
*[[Second Anglo-Afghan War|Afghanistan, 1878-80]]
*[[Third Anglo-Burmese War|Burma 1885–87]]
*[[Chitral Expedition|Chitral]]
*[[East African campaign (World War I)|E.Africa 1917-18]]
*[[Battle of Jitra|Jitra]]
;145 Mountain Battery (Pack)
This battery joined the regiment from [[52 Medium Regiment (India)|52 Mountain Regiment (Pack)]]. It was incidentally raised in 1952 by Lieutenant Colonel KP Pande, the first commanding officer of the regiment.
;563 Mountain Battery
This youngest battery was raised along with the regiment in 1964.

==Operations==
The regiment has taken part in the following operations<ref name="56FdAPOcover"/> –
;[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]
[[File:Banoob71.PNG|thumb|right|Deployment of troops in the eastern sector during the 1971 war]]
The regiment was part of 95 Mountain Brigade deployed in the northern sector for the liberation of [[Bangladesh]]. It was equipped with [[76 mm mountain gun M48|76 mm guns]].
On 3 November 1971, the regiment provided artillery support to [[Rajputana Rifles|13 Rajputana Rifles]] in the capture of Telikhali (east of Jamalpur-Tura-Sherpur road). The regiment lost one gunner (Gunner Raja Gopal Pandurang) and two officers wounded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/archives/OfficialHistory/1971War/1971Chapter06.pdf|title=1971 War History, Chapter 6|access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref>

The regiment took part in the battles at [[Jamalpur District|Jamalpur]] and [[Baksiganj Upazila|Kamalpur]]. At Kamalpur, it provided accurate artillery support to [[Maratha Light Infantry|1 Maratha Light Infantry]] and [[Brigade of the Guards|13 Guards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/BaatCheet/English/Feb%202020%20.pdf|title=Battle of Jamalpur in ‘Bathcheet’, February 2020|date=2020-02-01|access-date=2022-01-07}}</ref> During the capture of Kamalpur on 4 December 1971, Captain Vijai Pratap Singh of 4 Hazara Battery was the [[Artillery observer|Forward Observation Officer]] with 13 Guards. Once the company commander of 13 Guards got injured, he too charge. But soon after, he along with his radio operator Gunner Hans Raj were killed by enemy fire. Bahadur Singh, the technical assistant took over the role and directed fire on the enemy. The enemy surrendered on the evening of the same day.<ref name=" Khullar 2017">{{cite book|last= Khullar|first= Darshan |title= Themes of Glory: Indian Artillery in War|date=2017|publisher= VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd|isbn=978-9385563973}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Katoch|first1=Maj Gen Dhruv C|last2=Zahir|first2=Lt Col Quazi Sajjad Ali|title= Liberation: Bangladesh – 1971|publisher= Bloomsbury India|year=2015|isbn= 978-9384898564}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/archives/OfficialHistory/1971War/1971Chapter13.pdf|title=1971 War History, Chapter 13|access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref>

The regiment won the following gallantry awards –
*[[Vir Chakra]] – Captain Vijai Pratap Singh (posthumous)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1972/O-1320-1972-0025-58795.pdf|title=Gazette of India, No 25|date=1972-05-17|access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref>
*[[Mentioned in dispatches]] –Captain Charan Singh Bahara<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1974/O-1253-1974-0019-55503.pdf|title=Gazette of India, No 19|date=1974-05-11|access-date=2022-01-07}}</ref>

;Other operations –
*[[Operation Brasstacks|Operation Trident]]
*[[Sumdorong Chu standoff|Operation Falcon]]
*[[Insurgency in Punjab|Operation Rakshak]] – the regiment took part in counter insurgency operations in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] between 1991 and 1992.
*[[Assam separatist movements|Operation Rhino]] – counter insurgency operations in [[Assam]] between 2000 and 2003.
*[[Operation Meghdoot]] – the regiment was posted in the highest battlefield in the world, [[Siachen Glacier]] between 2008 and 2010.

==Honours and achievements==
*4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force), which was then part of [[22 Medium Regiment (India)|22 Mountain Regiment]] took part in the [[Battle of Jitra]] from 11 to 13 December 1941. This battle was fought between the invading Japanese and Allied forces during the [[Malayan campaign]] of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The battery was awarded the battle honour ''Jitra'' and the regiment continues to carry this honour title.<ref name="Mountain">{{cite book|last=Graham|first=Brigadier General C.A.L.|title=The history of the Indian Mountain Artillery|publisher=Gale and Polden Ltd|year=1957|page=}}</ref>
*The first commanding officer of the regiment, Brigadier KP Pande was awarded the [[Maha Vir Chakra]] for his gallant actions, while commanding 61 Mountain Brigade Group during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gallantryawards.gov.in/awardee/1448|title=Brig Kailas Prasad Pande|date=|access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref>

==Affiliation==
1st Battalion, [[5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)]], popularly known as FASFIF is affiliated to 56 Field Regiment (Jitra).

==See also==
* [[List of regiments of the Indian Army#Artillery|List of artillery regiments of Indian Army]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite web| title=The Historical Record of No. 4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force, Punjab Government Press, Lahore, 1888|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278775/mode/2up|access-date=2022-01-08}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1964]]
[[Category:Artillery regiments of the Indian Army after 1947]]

56 Field Regiment India - Revision history

Bot at 11:36, 4 November 2022