29th Indian Infantry Brigade & Indian Artillery at Gallipoli

29th Indian Infantry Brigade:
- 14th Bn. Ferozepur Sikhs
- 1st Bn. 5th Gurkha Rifles
- 1st Bn. 6th Gurkha Rifles
- 2nd Bn.10th Gurkha Rifles
  - 69th Punjabi Battalion
  - 87th Punjabi Bn.
  - 89th Punjabi Bn.
  - Burma Military Police
  - Patiala Imperial Service Infantry Bn.

Although some Indian Army infantry troops were not generally well regarded by the British, this unit was an exception as it consisted predominantly of Gurkha troops, rounded out with a unit of Sikhs.

This Brigade can be considered a unit of elite infantry.

<<< The Units in red were short stay units at Gallipoli and went on to France.

Normally a British or Dominion Division contains three brigades.
- At the time of the landing at Anzac Cove, the intention had been to complete the NZ & Australian Division with the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade, commanded by Major General Vaughn Cox, however as the situation at the Helles landing deteriorated, General Sir Ian Hamilton directed Cox's brigade there to support the British 29th Division.

The term Gurkha (Gurkhas, Gorkhas, Ghoorkhas) usually referred to soldiers of Nepalese origin who, over many generations, served in the legendary British Brigade of Gurkhas. Other regiments designated as Gurkha still served in the Indian Army as of 1991.

Some one hundred thousand Gurkhas enlisted in regiments of the Gurkha Brigade in WW1. They fought and died in France and Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Gallipoli, Palestine and Salonika. A battalion of the 8th Gurkhas greatly distinguished itself at Loos, fighting to the last, and in the words of the Indian Corps Commander, found its Valhalla.

The 6th Gurkhas gained immortal fame at Gallipoli during the capture from the Turks of the feature later known as Gurkha Bluff.

At Sari Bair they were the only troops in the whole campaign to reach and hold the crest line and look down on the Straits, which was the ultimate objective.

Painting by Terence Cuneo of the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles, storming the crest of the Sari Bair - the highest point of the Gallipoli Peninsular on 09 August 1915. Triumph soon turned into tragedy when a salvo of shells from an unknown source caused havoc and left the unsupported Gurkhas unable to hold their ground. (Note that some Gurkha units wore a slouch hat turned up on the right hand side)

To quote from Field Marshal Sir William Slim's introduction to the second volume of the 6th Gurkhas history:

"I first met the 6th Gurkha Rifles in 1915 in Gallipoli. There I was so struck by their bearing in one of the most desperate battles in history that I resolved, should the opportunity come, to try to serve with them. Four years later it came, and I spent many of the happiest, and from a military point of view the most valuable, years of my life in the Regiment."

<<< 10th Gurkha Rifles.

The 1st Battalion 6th Gurkhas fired their first shots in anger for 24 years at Kantara on 26th January 1915 when the Turks attempted to seize the Suez Canal. But they were shipped to Gallipoli later that year.

The 1/6th were the first Gurkhas to arrive at Gallipoli and take part in Sir Ian Hamilton's ill-fated campaign. The regiment was commanded by the Honourable Charles Bruce. Within 2 weeks they were leading the assault in their first major operation to take out a Turkish high point that was covered in machine-gunners doing untold damage to the Allied troops. The Marines and the Dublin Fusiliers had tried and been driven back, now it was the turn of 1/6th Gurkhas. The 300 ft. almost vertical slope caused these practiced hillmen little trouble and they put the Turks to flight. After the fight 12 of the enemys' corpses were found to have been cleanly decapitated. Later on, the ridge was shelled by the Royal Navy by mistake and the Turks saw and took the chance to regain the heights. This place is called Gurkha Bluff to this day in memory of the great bravery shown by the 6th.

At that stage, the survivors of the battalion were commanded by their medical officer. They were observed by a young Captain W J (Bill) Slim (later Field Marshal The Right Honourable William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (6 August 1897 – 14 December 1970), British military commander and 13th Governor-General of Australia) who was in the 9th Royal Warwicks. He decided then that these were the men with whom he would like serve if he were lucky enough to survive the campaign. He did, and he served with them until 1937.

7th Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade at Gallipoli

7 Indian Mountain Artillery Bde.
- 21st (Kohat) Battery
- 26th (Jacob's) Battery
- 2nd Indian Field Ambulance
- 2nd Ammunition Column and Supply Detachment

21st (Kohat) Mountain Battery in Gallipoli, by Brig-Gen. Graham

Many acts of gallantry were performed. For instance; on the 19th May, while Captain Rawson's section of the Kohat Battery was being heavily shelled, Lance-Naik Karm Singh was detailed to pass fire orders from the O.P.

It was noticed that he was covering his eyes with his hand, though at no time was there any delay or interruption in the transmission of orders.

Later, during a lull, it was found that a bullet had passed behind both eyes and he was quite blind. Karm Singh stuck to his duty until forcibly removed.

For his bravery, he was awarded the Indian Order of Merit.

The same award was made to Naik Jan Mohammad in Captain Thom's section for maintaining fire as ordered at enemy embrasures after his emplacement had been blown in by a high-explosive shell which knocked out Captain Thom.

He fired seventeen rounds and knocked out two guns. Driver Naryan Singh of the same battery was awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal for many instances of bravery while mending telephone lines under fire.

Card No.25 Indian Mountain Artillery (1914/18)
The Indian Mountain Artillery batteries, which number twenty-one, are units of the Royal Artillery, and their number is on the increase, as new batteries are formed to take the place of the Light Batteries which are disappearing from the British Army. In the rough country of the Indian frontiers, where hills are steep and roads are few, there is still room for artillery carried on mules, which can cover ground impassable to mechanized or horse-drawn guns. There is in addition an Indian Regiment of Artillery which came into being in 1935 and which consists at present of one field brigade. This will ultimately be officered entirely by Indians. Our illustration shows a Subadar Major in Full Dress.

'Anzac, Gallipoli, 1915' by Col. A.C. Fergusson, 21st (Kohat) Mountain Battery.

...The only other point worth mentioning before the Suvla Push is the communications. Owing to losses among signalers, and the battery being split up into three bits, each with a distant P.O., we were soon reduced to one signaler per phone who was on duty day and night, always sleeping with his instrument in his ear. The headquarters phone was run by the Mess Orderly, Pyara Singh, in addition to his other duties. We had one linesman only who managed to keep alive during the whole war in some wonderful way. He was always out repairing lines in dangerous places, and two or three times brought back chits from Australian Officers to say they had seen him repairing lines under heavy fire. His name was Narain Singh and he got an Indian Distinguished Service Medal.

Medals & Awards available only to Indian troops
The normal Campaign medals were awarded to the men of the Indian forces but they also had some other medals, some based on British awards, that were available only to them.

Indian Order of Merit Oldest gallantry award in the British Empire, introduced by the East India Company for its native troops in 1837. Originally in three classes. Was at first called the Order of Merit but the name was changed to Indian Order of Merit in 1902 to distinguish it from the newly instituted (Imperial) Order of Merit.	Indian Distinguished Service Medal. Instituted in 1907 as an award to recognise distinguished services of Indian Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers, extended in 1929 to the Royal Indian Marine and in 1940 to the Indian Air Force.