The 21st Kohat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery battery of the British Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

. Its classed as the premier Indian Mountain Battery being raised at Bannu

Bannu

Bannu is the principal city of the Bannu District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is an important road junction and market city. Bannu is a very old city, founded in ancient times; however, the present location of the downtown Bannu was founded by Sir Herbert Edwardes in 1848,...

 in 1851, from disbanded Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

 artillerymen following the Second Sikh War of 1849.

The Battery saw action keeping the North West Frontier

North-West Frontier (military history)

The North-West Frontier was the most difficult area, from a military point of view, of the former British India in the Indian sub-continent. It remains the frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and separating the...

 quiet during the Indian rebellion of 1857

Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

, and would see continuous action in the small campaigns there throughout the 19th Century. During the Second Afghan War of 1878-80, the 1st (Kohat) Battery served with Lord Roberts

Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts

Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...

 at the Battle of Peiwar Kotal

Battle of Peiwar Kotal

The Battle of Peiwar Kotal was fought on November 28-29 1878 between British forces under Sir Frederick Roberts and Afghan forces under Karim Khan, during the opening stages of the Second Anglo-Afghan War...

, and would see heavy action at Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

. During the Great 1897 Frontier uprising

Siege of Malakand

The Siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province...

, the Battery would be on strength with the Tirah Field Force during the Tirah Campaign

Tirah Campaign

The Tirah Campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah Expedition, was an Indian frontier war in 1897–98. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country.-Rebellion:...

. To honour the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Indian they took part in the Rawalpindi Parade 1905

Rawalpindi Parade 1905

The Rawalpindi Parade 1905 was a parade by the British Indian Army held in Rawalpindi, India on 8 December 1905 to honour the Prince and Princess of Wales. The troops were under the Command of Horatio Herbert, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum, G.C.B., O.M., G.C.M.G., Commander-in-Chief India...

.

World War I

In the early stages of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the 21st helped defend Egypt from Turkish aggression in the First Suez Offensive

First Suez Offensive

The First Suez Offensive took place between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I...

, and was the sent as part of the Indian Expeditionary Force G to serve in the Gallipoli Campaign where with 26th (Jacobs) Mountain Battery of the 7th Indian Mountain Brigade they would support the Australians and New Zealanders with their BL 10 pounder Mountain Gun

BL 10 pounder Mountain Gun

The Ordnance BL 10 pounder mountain gun was developed as a BL successor to the RML 2.5 inch screw gun which was outclassed in the Second Boer War.-History:...

s until the eventual withdrawal. Over the course of the Gallipoli campaign, the 21st fired a total of 12,248 rounds. Casualties amounted to 11 men killed and 134 wounded. The Battery also lost 35 pack mules killed and another 119 wounded. The Battery earned 3 Distinguished Service Medal

Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Service Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy and members of the other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service...

s, 1 Order of British India

Order of British India

The Order of British India was a medal and chivalric order which was bestowed by the East India Company for "long, faithful and honourable service", beginning in 1837. The Company's powers were removed after the Indian Mutiny, and the Order was incorporated into the British honours system in 1859...

, 4 Indian Order of Merits, 5 Indian Distinguished Service Medal

Indian Distinguished Service Medal

The Indian Distinguished Service Medal was a military decoration awarded by the British Empire to Indian citizens serving in the Indian armed forces and police...

s and 25 Mentions in Dispatches. The Battery was then sent to Mesopotamia and Persia in the Mesopotamia Campaign, where it would finish the war. During the inter-war years, the Battery saw service in the Waziristan campaign 1919–1920

Waziristan campaign 1919–1920

The Waziristan campaign 1919–1920 was a military campaign conducted in Waziristan by British and Indian forces against the fiercely independent tribesmen that inhabited this region...

 and the Waziristan campaign 1936–1939.