102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers explained

Unit Name:102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers
Dates:1759 - 1922
Country: British India
Branch: British Indian Army
Type:Infantry
Size:Regiment
Command Structure:Bombay Army (to 1895)
Bombay Command
Colors:Red; faced white
Colors Label:Uniform
Battles:French Revolutionary Wars
Third Anglo-Maratha War
First Afghan War
1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
Second Afghan War
World War I

The 102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It could trace its origins to 1796, when it was raised as the 13th Battalion, Bombay Native Infantry.

The Grenadiers were part of the Indian army which was sent to Egypt in 1801, to fight against the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt in the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1818, the regiment's soldiers fought in the Peshwa Wars, distinguishing themselves at the Battle of Koregaon in the Third Anglo-Maratha War.

In 1824 when it became a regiment in its own right, when it was named the 2nd or Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry.

In 1840, it took part in the First Afghan War and then the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia which was a punitive expedition carried out by armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. In 1880, the unit took part in the Battle of Maiwand during the Second Afghan War. The regiment was stationed in Mhow, when in October 1902 it was order to go to Berbera, to fight in the Somaliland Campaign.[1]

World War I began with it being stationed at Muscat, Oman and served in the Mesopotamia Campaign with the 14th Indian Division, taking part in the Second Battle of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad (1917). A second battalion was raised in 1917 that served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.

After World War I the Indian government reformed the army, moving from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments.[2] In 1922, the 102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers became the 2nd Battalion, 4th Bombay Grenadiers.

Designations

YearDesignation
179613th Battalion, Bombay Native Infantry
17971st Battalion, 5th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry
17982nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry
18182nd Battalion, Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry
18242nd or Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry
18762nd (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry (Grenadiers)
18852nd (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Bombay Infantry (Grenadiers)
19012nd (Prince of Wales's Own) Bombay Grenadiers
1903102nd Prince of Wales's Own Grenadiers
19222nd Battalion, 4th Bombay Grenadiers
19472nd Battalion, The Grenadiers

References

Notes and References

  1. Latest intelligence - Reinforcements for Somaliland. 22 October 1902 . 3 . 36905.
  2. Sumner p.15