Cap badge 16th Punjab Regiment

First World War

The 30th Punjabis served with distinction in the German East Africa, while their 2nd Battalion served in the Palestine Campaign. The regiment raised a total of three new battalions during the war. Another regiment that raised three battalions was the 9th Bhopal Infantry, who were dispatched to the killing fields of France and Flanders in 1914. The regiment suffered heavy losses at the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Festubert, Givenchy and the Second Ypres. In 1915, they arrived in Mesopotamia, where Sepoy Chatta Singh was awarded the Victoria Cross for exceptional valour. By the time they returned home, only fifteen men remained of those who had sailed for France in 1914

Second World War

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were captured by the Japanese at Singapore. The 1st, 5th and 7th Battalions fought in Burma, and the 4th Battalion's fought Africa and Italy. Lance Naik Sher Shah of the 7th Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross in Burma. During the war, the 16 Punjab Regiment suffered a total of 2744 casualties including 990 killed or died of wounds