Lt DC Home, VC                 Lt RH Shebbeare, VC

The Sikh Light Infantry comprising the Mazbhi and Ramdasia Sikh soldiers, well known for their dauntless daring, courage, loyalty and tenacity, is one of the oldest Regiments of the Army. It traces its origin to the middle of the nineteenth century when the first Mazbhi soldiers were recruited into British Indian Army. The first Corps of Mazhbi Sikh Pioneers, the fore bearer of the Sikh Light Infantry, was formed in 1850. The British had recognised the great fighting qualities and prowess of these soldiers in the Anglo-Sikh Wars. The stubborn and sustained resistance offered by them and their ability to maintain themselves frugally amazed them.

32 Sikh Pioneers    34 Sikh Pioneers    23rd Sikh

In June 1857 a Regiment of Sikh Pioneers from the Mazbhi and Ramdasia soldiers drawn mainly from the Punjab and the adjacent areas was raised by Lt DC Home, VC. The regular Regiment 15th (Pioneer), was raised at Lahore on September 15, 1857 by Lt RH Shebbeare, VC. After a number of changes this 15th (Pioneer) Regiment came to be known as the 23rd Sikh Pioneers in 1908. (The 32nd Sikh Pioneers followed this). The 23rd and 32nd Regiments gave such an excellent account of themselves, establishing outstanding standards, that it was decided to raise another Regiment of Sikh Pioneers from the 34th Fatehgarh Levy, which had been raised from Mazbhi and Ramdasia Sikh. Pioneers on March 28, 1887. Thus, the well-known trio of Sikh Pioneers that won undying fame through their deeds of glory was complete. Lt Gen Sir George Mac Munn, Commended the Regt for their memorable service, he wrote " The SIKH Pioneers were, for three quarters of a century, in the forefront of almost every campaign from the China Wall to the Flanders Rats." The troops of the Regiments were in China, Abyssinia, Afghanistan, Tibet and the erstwhile North West Frontier Province of India. A number of Battle Honours - "Taku Forts"; "Pekin, 1860"; "Abyssinia", "Peiwar Kotal"; "Charasia"; "Afghanistan 1878-79"; "Kabul, 1879"; "Kandahar, 1880"; "Charasia" were awarded to the Sikh Pioneers.

During the Great War, the 23rd, 32nd and 34th Sikh Pioneers, which were originally one battalion regiments were developed into three battalions each. Soon these battalions were tramping over the battlefields of Egypt, Europe, Palestine and Mesopotamia leaving indelible imprints wherever they went. Once again a number of Battle Honours -"Egypt 1916-17"; "Gaza"; "Megiddo"; "Sharon"; "Nablus"; "Palestine 1917-18"; and "Aden" emblazoned the glorious record of the Sikh Pioneers. There were ten battalions of Sikh Pioneers (including the Training Battalion) when the armistice was declared in 1919.

The 1/34th Sikh Pioneers won the coveted title of "Royal" during the Great War. They made a bronze screen from the driving bands of enemy shells. The unit armourer and blacksmith made this highly burnished screen, proudly displaying the magnificent achievements of the Sikh Pioneers as epitomized in their Battle Honors. The 34th Royal Sikh Pioneers presented this screen to King George V in 1933. It was through the personal intervention of Brig. F.R.L. Goadby (32nd Sikh Pioneers) and Lt Gen. Sir RA Savory, the first Colonel of the Regiment, that Queen Elizabeth- II presented the historic screen back to the Regiment on October 4, 1975. The screen was unveiled by Brig AK Chatterjee, VSM, Colonel of the Regiment, at a special Durbar on April 9, 1977.

   In Memory of World War-I

Another remarkable victory was registered on December 21, 1919, when two companies of the 3/34th Sikh Pioneers, alone on a hill top (Black Hill) with no more than a knee-high wall and a few strands of barbed wire in front, gallantly faced and repelled waves of attacks on them by hordes of Mahsuds. There was grim hand-to-hand fighting with Capt. B. L. Gupta (he was awarded the Military Cross), the Indian Medical Officer with the Battalion, tending the wounded under constant enemy fire. The Battalion was awarded one DSO, two Military Crosses and a Bar to Military Cross. Twelve Indian Viceroy's Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks received well-merited decorations.

That night General Skeen published a complimentary Column Order announcing that in honor of the gallant action of the 3/34th Sikh Pioneers, a stone from the unfinished Black Hill Picquet be brought to the camp and formed as the base for the PIONEER PICQUET memorial silverMess trophy. This trophy was presented by the 3/34th on their disbandment in June 1921, to the 1st Battalion of the 34th Royal Sikh Pioneers. When the Sikh Pioneers were disbanded in 1933, the curator of the British War Museum took this famous trophy.

                                                 Crafted on a stone from Black Hill Picquet

It was later given on a permanent loan to the SIKH LI and is housed in the Regimental Museum. As a result of the post-war reorganization of 1923, the battalions of the Sikh Pioneers were in 1929, reduced to a Corps HQ with one battalion from each of the three regiments.