24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)

The 24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery battery of the British Indian Army. The battery was raised in 1851, at Haripur in order to help defend the Hazara District of the North West Frontier. The 4th soon saw action in numerous small campaigns on the North West Frontier. In 1878, the 4th took part in the Second Afghan War at the Battle of Ali Masjid, and later took part in the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment, where it remained as part of the garrison when the rest of the force marched on Kandahar. In 1885, the Battery took part in the Second Burmese War. It was at Hunza during the campaign in 1891. In 1895, the Battery was back fighting on the Frontier as part of the Chitral Expedition.To honour the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Indian they took part in the Rawalpindi Parade 1905. During World War I, the 4th left India in 1917, for East Africa where it would remain until the Armistice. Between the wars, the Battery saw service in the Third Afghan War of 1919, the Afridi and Red Shirt Rebellion (1930–1), the Mohmand and Bajaur Operations (1933), and operations against the Fakir of Ipi in the Waziristan campaign 1936–1939. It was deployed to Singapore at the opening of World War II, and entered Japanese captivity with the rest of the garrison.

Photograph, circa 1895 showing a 7pdr Mountain gun of Hazara Battery in Hazara listing the crew's ranks in the caption.

References

• Rinaldi, Richard A (2008). Order of Battle British Army 1914. Ravi Rikhye. ISBN 0-9776072-8-3. 
• Sharma, Gautam (1990). Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army. Allied Publishers. ISBN 81-7023-140-X. 
• Sumner, Ian (2001). The Indian Army 1914-1947. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-196-6. 
• Moberly, F.J. (1923). Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign, Imperial War Museum. ISBN 1-870423-30-5