101st Grenadiers

The 101st Grenadiers was a regiment of the British Indian Army.

The beginning

The Regiment was first formed in 1778 after 6 grenadier companies (two companies each from the three battalions of the Bombay Army) were combined to form a composite battalion. The Regiment took part in the First Mahratta War against the Mahratta Empire and fought in a number of engagements against them, including the Battle of Talegoan where they fought with distinction. As a consequence of the unit's impressive performances it was formally created into a permanent unit as the 8th Regiment of Bombay Sepoys.

In 1783 the regiment's title was altered to become the 8th Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Sepoys, and was also known simply as the Bombay Grenadiers. The Regiment claimed that it was the oldest grenadier regiment in the British Empire; the British Army Grenadier Guards did not gain its Grenadier title until 1815 after its actions against the French grenadiers at the Battle of Waterloo.

Meanwhile, the Regiment took part in the numerous Mysore Wars. In 1783 the Regiment was part of the Mangalore garrison that was besieged by the Tipu Sultan and his vastly numerically superior Mysore forces. The British-Indian garrison distinguished itself during the siege of Mangalore, holding out for 9 months before they eventually negotiated a settlement that permitted the garrison to have safe passage to rejoin British forces. For the Regiment's actions during the siege it gained, despite it being a defeat, the Battle Honour "Mangalore". The Regiment later gained the White Horse of Hanover -- the symbol of King George III and his Royal House -- as its badge. The last of the Mysore wars that the regiment took part in, took place between 1789-1792 and the Regiment won the Honour "Mysore" for its involvemnent.

In 1798 the Regiment became the 1st Battalion upon the raising of a 2nd Battalion. The regiment's title was also changed to the 1st Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. The 2nd Battalion was later separated from the 1st Grenadiers to become a regiment itself -- the 2nd Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry (later the 102nd King Edward's Own Grenadiers) -- in 1824. In December 1825 the Siege of Bharatpur began, which the 1st Grenadiers took part in; the siege did not conclude until 18 January 1826 with the capture of Bharatpur by British forces. In 1843 the 1st Grenadiers took part in the Scinde War, seeing action at Hyderabad in March -- the war would see Scinde annexed and absorbed into British-controlled India. The Regiment saw further service in the First Sikh War after Sikh forces invaded Indian territory. It was involved in a number of engagements in the conflict, including the last battle of the war at Sobraon in February 1846. The battle saw the Sikh forces resoundingly defeated.

The Second Afghan War began in 1878 and the regiment were employed in the vicinity of the Bolan Pass in 1879, until finally moving up to Kandahar in March 1880. Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, they were part of a British-Indian column intended to assist an Afghan Army in quelling a revolt led by Ayub Khan, the ruler of Herat, who sought to depose the newley-appointed British-backed Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan. The Regiment took part in the Battle of Maiwand on 27 July 1880. At the battle the British-Indian column, which was composed of just under 2,600 troops and led by Brigadier Burrows, fought an Afghan force of about 25,000.

The British began the battle with an artillery barrage that the Afghans responded to via their own artillery at about 11:20am; the Grenadiers were on the left flank of the British-Indian force and were in an exposed position that saw them take the brunt of the Afghan barrage, sustaining significant casualties. Shortly after noon, the Afghan infantry began the attack and the Grenadiers were heavily involved in the attempts to repulse the constant attacks, inflicting heavy casualties on the Afghans. At about 1:00pm the "Grenadiers" confronted a large group of Afghans and at about 2:30pm. two companies of Jacob's Rifles, who had been positioned to the left of the Grenadiers, were attacked; they eventually wavered in the face of such an ovewhelming force, straight into the ranks of the Grenadiers. The battery of the Royal Horse Artillery subsequently withdrew and the Grenadiers, as-well as the rest of the Indian forces, fled towards the 66th Foot, the sole British infantry regiment present. The column's cavalry attempted to restore some stability to the situation but to no avail. Parts of the Grenadiers and Jacob's Rifles withdrew to Mahmudabad while the 66th Foot and the rest of the Grenadiers withdrew towards Khig; there, the 66th made a gallant last stand in a garden, fighting to the last man.

The battle had been a devastating defeat for the British-Indian forces: over 1,100 casualties had been sustained, but they had inflicted over 7,000 casualties upon the Afghan forces. The Grenadiers commanding officer (CO) was severely wounded during the battle and his life was saved by Risaldar Dhonkhul Singh of the 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry. The British-Indian survivors eventually made it back to British-held Kandahar. The city was soon besieged by Afghan rebels until a relief force, led by Major-General Roberts, arrived from the capital city, Kabul, on 31 August.

In 1885 the Regiment took part in the Third Burmese War -- the last war between the British and Burma. The war saw Upper Burma annexed and the end of Burmese independence. The Regiment gained its last Theatre Honour of the 19th Century for its involvement in the war, "Burma 1885-87".

In 1901 the Regiment deployed to the British territory of Aden (now part of the Yemen), also having its name changed to the 1st Grenadier Bombay Infantry. In 1903 the Regiment was renumbered to become the 101st Grenadiers. Elements of the Regiment saw service during operations in 1902-05 to quell an uprising by Dervishes, led by Mohammad bin Abdullah Hassan (known to the British as the 'Mad Mullah'). During operations in Somliland, Captain George Murray Rolland won the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions at Daratoleh on 22 April 1903. The operations against the 'Mad Mullah' did not conclude until 1905 with the signing of a peace agreement -- the Mullah gained some territory in Italian Somaliland. The Mullah reneged on this agreement when he resumed hostilities against the British in 1907, and would continue to do so until 1920.

First World War

The First World War began in August 1914, a war that pitted the British Empire, France and their Allies against Germany and its allies. During the conflict, the Regiment saw service in Africa and the Middle East. The 101st raised a 2nd Battalion in 1917 which saw service in Egypt; it was disbanded in 1921.

The Regiment took part in operations in German East Africa from the beginning of the campaign there in November 1914. There, the British encountered a formidable opponent in the form of Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck. The 101st took part in the initial landings and the Battle of Tanga, a German victory, that saw the British and Indian forces, including the 101st, sustain significant casualties that compelled them to retreat back to their ships. In January 1915, a company of the 101st took part in the Battle of Jassin that saw both sides sustain heavy casualties which compelled von Lettow-Vorbeck to avoid pitched battles with the British forces. Due to this defeat, the British garrison in Jassin surrendered, after no relief force had arrived, with nearly 300 British and Indians troops taken prisoner, including the company of the 101st, but were subsequently released on parole with the pledge that they would have no further participation in the war.

One company of the Regiment acted with the 5th Light Infantry in another attempt to capture Tanga in July 1916. The port -- which had, for the most part, been abandoned -- was, indeed, successfully captured. Some of von Lettow-Vorbeck's forces had remained to snipe at the Indian forces; these snipers proved to be quite a deadly nuisance that required intense patrolling to remove the threat. For the "Regiment's" involvement in the campaign it was awarded the Theatre Honour "East Africa 1914-16".

The 101st later saw service in the Middle East in the Palestine theatre -- this theatre was the second largest, in terms of troop numbers, after the Western Front. Their opposition was the Ottoman Empire that controlled Palestine, and was an ally of Germany. The Regiment took part in the attempts to capture the important port of Gaza and by the end of December 1917 the Allies were in control of much of Palestine, including the symbolic capture of Jerusalem. In July 1918 the "Regiment" took part in the Ghurabeh raid that saw intense fighting and over 100 Ottomans taken prisoner. The Regiment later took part in the Megiddo Offensive -- the WWI equivalent of the German Blitzkrieg during World War II -- and took part in the attempts to capture Nablus. The Ottomans signed an Armistice with the Allies on 30 October. The First World War finally ended on 11 November 1918 with the signing of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany.

Post-War

The Regiment would have no respite in the aftermath of WWI -- they deployed to British Somaliland to take took part in operations against the 'Mad Mullah' once more. The campaign was known as the Combined Forces Operation as the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Air Force (RAF) also contributed forces; the RN provided five warships, including the carrier HMS "Ark Royal", while the RAF provided a flight of DH9 bombers. The campaign succeeded in defeating the 'Mad Mullah' - who had fought the British in Somaliland since 1900 - and forcing him and his followers to flee to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), where he died the following year.

In consequence of the Indian Army reforms of 1922, the Regiment amalgamated with 5 other regiments to form 5 battalions of the 4th Bombay Grenadiers; the 101st Grenadiers became the 1st Battalion of the new regiment. The battalion had the distinction of being allowed to have its own cap badge. After Indian became independent from the British Empire, the 4th Grenadiers were allocated to the Indian Army, becoming simply The Grenadiers. The Battalion that was once the 101st was transferred to the Brigade of the Guards in 1952, becoming its 2nd Battalion (2 Guards).

Battle honours

*Mangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, Kandahar 1880, Afghanistan 1878-80, Burma 1885-87, Somaliland 1901-04
*"First World War":
**Africa: East Africa 1914-16
**"Middle East": Egypt, Gaza, Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1917-18