Sub-units of the Frontier Force Regiment
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The Frontier Force Regiment consists of battalions with their own history. Most were formed after independence, but some are much older.
They are known as Piffers in reference to the former Punjab Irregular Force (PIF) formed by the British in 1851. The PIF consisted of five regiments of cavalry, eleven regiments of infantry and five batteries of artillery besides the Corps of Guides. Their mission was to maintain order on the Punjab Frontier. Most of them were allotted to Pakistan at the time of the independence of Pakistan. Only the 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force), and the 2nd (Derajat) and 4th (Hazara) Mountain Batteries went to India. The present Piffers include the Frontier Force Regiment, seven armoured regiments and the 1st (SP) Medium Regiment, Artillery of Pakistan Army.
Frontier Force Regiment Battalions
Since formation in 1956, the battalions have been known officially by their ordinal number followed by the legend "FF". However, since many of the original fifteen battalions were from prior regiments, they were raised under different names, which are indicated. In some cases the battalion may be better known by the original name or nickname. 2 FF for instance is known better as "Guides Infantry" after the fact it was drawn from the infantry component of the Corps of Guides when that unit was disbanded. Some memenbers of 15 FF, still call their battalion, "2 Pathan" which was the designation the battalion had as a unit of the Pathan Regiment.
Unit | Raised As | Raising Day | Place of Raising | Raised by | Motto |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 FF (Garbar Unath)[1] | Scinde Camel Corps | December 1, 1843 | Karachi | Lt Robert Fitz Gerald | Ready Aye Ready |
2 FF | Corps of Guides | December 14, 1846 | Mardan | Lt Harry Burnett Lumsden | Rough & Ready |
3 FF | 1st Regiment of Infantry, the Frontier Brigade / 1st Sikh Local Infantry |
December 10, 1846 | Hoshiarpur | Capt J S Hodgson | |
4 FF | 2nd Regiment of Infantry, the Frontier Brigade / 2nd (Hill Regiment) Sikh Local Infantry |
December 22, 1846 | Kangra | Capt James William Stephen | Tunpur Bawanja |
5 FF | 3rd Regiment of Infantry, the Frontier Brigade / 3rd Sikh Local Infantry |
January 1, 1847 | Ferozpur | Capt F Winter | |
6 FF | 4th Regiment of Infantry, the Frontier Brigade / 4th Sikh Local Infantry |
December 14, 1846 | Ludhiana | Capt Colin Mackenzie | |
7 FF | 1st Punjab Infantry (Coke Paltan) | May 18, 1849 | Peshawar | Capt John Coke | Chattak Pachwanja |
8 FF (Bhaiband) | 2nd Punjab Infantry, 56 Frontier Force Rifles, 2/13 Frontier Force Rifles. (Johnston Ki Paltan) | April 2, 1849 | Mianwali | Lt J. C. Johnston | Bhaiband Chhewanjah |
9 FF (Sust) | 4th Punjab Infantry (Denniss Ki Paltan) | April 19, 1849 | Lahore | Capt George Gladwin Denniss[2] | Barhe Challo |
10 FF (Dastoori 58) | 5th Punjab Infantry (Vaughan Ki Paltan) | March 1, 1849 | Layyah | Capt James Eardley Gastrell[3] | Fattah Ya Shahadat |
11 FF | 11th Territorial Bn 12th Frontier Force Regiment | March 11, 1922 | Nowshera | Sir John Loader Meffay | Fast & Furious |
12 FF | 11th Territorial Bn 13th Frontier Force Rifles | March 12, 1922 | Campbellpore | Lt Sher Muhammad | Warriors |
13 FF | 8th Bn 12th Frontier Force Regiment | April 1, 1941 | Bareilly | Lt Col J. E. Redding | |
14 FF | 9th Bn 12th Frontier Force Regiment | April 1, 1941 | Jhansi | Lt Col J. A. Blood | NAUBARA |
15 FF | 14th Bn 13th Frontier Force Rifles | April 1, 1941 | Jhansi | Lt Col A. Felix Williams | Fighting Fifteen |
16 FF | 16th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | September 12, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Lt Col Qazi Abdul Majid Khan | |
17 FF | 17th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | September 12, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Iftikhar Ahmed Rana | Aik Saath |
18 FF | 18th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | September 19, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Ghous Muhammad Malik | Old and Bold |
19 FF | 19th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | September 26, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Ayub Afridi | PIFFER Tigers |
20 FF | 20th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 1, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Anwar ul Haq | Tayyar Har Dam Tayyar |
21 FF | 21st Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 1, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Nur ul Haq | Khail Ullah's |
22 FF | 22nd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 23, 1965 | Shinkiari | Lt Col Tariq Muhammad Mir | Janbaz |
23 FF | 23rd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 25, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Mir Ijaz Mehmood (SJ) | Jarrar |
24 FF | 24th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | November 22, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Akbar Khan | Al Badar |
25 FF | 25th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | November 22, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Safdar Iqbal | Lajawab |
26 FF | 26th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | November 22, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Abdullah Saeed | Khaara Shagaaf |
27 FF | 27th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | January 22, 1965 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Luqman Mehmood | |
28 FF | 28th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | February 22, 1966 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Hayat Ullah | God and Our Bayonets |
29 FF | 29th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | November 30, 1966 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Ghulam Hussain | ZARB-E-HADEED |
30 FF | 30th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 10, 1969 | Abbottabad | Major Abdul Shakoor Jan (SJ) | Dhulloi Tigers |
31 FF | 31st Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 15, 1970 | Lahore | Lt Col Jahan Gul | Karrar |
32 FF | 32nd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 1, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Rahmatullah Khan | Al Jannisar |
33 FF | 33rd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 8, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Feroz Alam Khan | Chhamb Battalion |
34 FF | 34th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 1, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Khalid Manzoor Khan | Raiders |
35 FF | 35th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 19, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Akram Raja (HJ) | Charging Bulls |
36 FF | 36th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 19, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Murad Khan Nayyar | Volunteers |
37 FF | 37th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 10, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col C. K. Shinwari | Al Barq |
38 FF | 38th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 28, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Saeed Ullah Khan | Sangi |
39 FF | 39th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 11, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Ijaz Ahmed | Fit & Fine |
40 FF | 40th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | October 11, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Imran Ullah Khan | shooter's |
41 FF | 41st Bn Frontier Force Regiment | December 6, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Akram | Zarb-e-Haider |
42 FF | 42nd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | December 7, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Iqbal | |
43 FF[4] | 43rd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | December 9, 1971 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Ajmal | Allah Hoo |
44 FF | 44th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | March 1, 1972 | Karachi | Lt Col Z. S. Usmani | Fighting Four |
45 FF | 45th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | February 15, 1983 | Havelian | Lt Col Muhammad Mohsin | Saf Shikan |
46 FF | 46th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | September 1, 1983 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Khan Adeeb Ahmed Umarzai | Sher-E-Yazdan |
47 FF | 47th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | March 9, 1985 | Havelian | Lt Col Javed Iqbal Khan | Jeedar |
48 FF | 48th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 11, 1985 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Muhammad Arif Bangash | Paish Rau |
49 FF | 49th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 9, 1988 | Kohat | Lt Col Abdul Rashid Malik | Farz Shanas |
63 FF | 53rd Bn Frontier Force Regiment | January 10, 1991 | Abbottabad | Lt Col Arshad Shah | TRAITH TARWANJA - SHAIR KA PANJA |
64 FF (Churanja Chaunth) | 54th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | April 2, 1994 | Quetta | Lt Col Rashid Ali Bangash | "ZABARDAST" |
65 FF | 55th Bn Frontier Force Regiment | March 30, 1994 | Malakand | Lt Col Inayat Ullah Khan Niazi | Taza Dam |
Armoured and Artillery Regiments with historic links to the Frontier Force Regiment
These regiments are separate from the Frontier Force Regiment, but have historical links
Unit | Raising Day | Place of Raising | Raised by | Motto |
---|---|---|---|---|
Guides Cavalry | December 14, 1846 | Peshawar | Lt H. B. Lumsden | |
11 Cavalry (FF) | May 18, 1849 | Peshawar | Lt H. D. Daly | |
12 Cavalry (FF) | April 15, 1849 | Lahore | Lt S. J. Browne | |
23 Cavalry | June 4, 1962 | Kharian | Lt Col Ghulam Muhammad Khan | |
24 Cavalry | June 7, 1962 | Lahore | Lt Col Muhammad Afzal Khan | Charging 24 |
25 Cavalry | June 9, 1962 | Kharian | Lt Col Nisar Ahmad Khan | Men of Steel |
41 Horse | October 24, 1982 | Kharian | Lt Col Zia ul Ghaffar | |
1 SP Regiment, Artillery | April 10, 1826 | Peshawar/Bannu | Capt Brougham / Lt Hammond | Pur Azam Ba Waqar |
Footnotes
- ^ "The Frontier Force Regiment, Pakistan Army". Allied Regiments. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ Quarterly Indian Army List January 1919, p.1251; Correspondence of Lt.Col. G.G.Denniss(1821-1862), 1st European Bengal Fusiliers, Ed. P.Chantler, South Molton, Devon, UK, 2010.
- ^ 13th Native Bengal Infantry Regiment, Lt.Col. by 1865. Applied for cadetship in EIC Armies 1833/4
- ^ Arshad Qureshi, Hakeem (2002). The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier's Narrative. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0195797787.