128th Pioneers

January 2020 January 2020 128th Pioneers 1846–1922 British India 23px British India 23px Bombay Army (to 1895)Bombay Command Red; faced pale yellow, 1882 yellow Second Anglo-Burmese WarSudan CampaignTirah CampaignWorld War I The 128th Pioneers were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1846, when they were raised as the 28th Bombay Native Infantry. The regiments first action was in Afghanistan during the Second Afghan War in the Battle of Kandahar. In 1885, they were sent to Egypt to take part in the Sudan Campaign. They played an active part in the Battle of Tofrek and the Battle of Suakin. On their return to India, they were part of the force gathered for the Tirah Campaign in 1897. thumb|left|Officers of the 128th Pioneers, Quetta, 1908. During World War I, they were sent to Egypt, to guard the Suez Canal from Turkish forces. They were originally attached to the 10th Indian Division but moved to the 11th Indian Division in 1916. After World War I, the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.Sumner p.15 In 1922, the 128th Pioneers became the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Bombay Pioneers. The regiment was disbanded in 1932. William St. Lucien Chase William St. Lucien Chase was awarded the Victoria Cross when a lieutenant in the 28th Bombay Native Infantry during the Second Afghan War when, on 16 August 1880, at Deh Khoja, near Kandahar, Afghanistan, Chase, with the help of Private Thomas Elsdon Ashford, rescued and carried, for a distance of over 200 yards, under enemy fire, a wounded soldier who had taken shelter in a block house. Several times they were compelled to rest, but they persevered and finally brought the wounded man to a place of safety. Predecessor names 28th Bombay Native Infantry - 1846 28th Bombay Infantry - 1885 28th (Pioneer) Regiment of Bombay Infantry - 1888 28th Bombay Pioneers - 1901 128th Pioneers References Barthorp Michael Burn Jeffrey 1979 Indian infantry regiments 1860-1914 Osprey Publishing 0-85045-307-0 Rinaldi Richard A 2008 Order of Battle British Army 1914 Ravi Rikhye 978-0-9776072-8-0 Sharma Gautam 1990 Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army Allied Publishers 81-7023-140-X Sumner Ian The Indian Army 1914-1947 2001 Osprey Publishing 1-84176-196-6 Moberly Frederick James History of the Great War Based on Official Documents The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914–1918 I 1927 1923 HMSO London 772784341 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210666 Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments Category:Bombay Presidency Category:Military units and formations established in 1846 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 Category:1846 establishments in British India