Categories
Category: Allies
2nd December 1878, the men of the 72nd “Duke of Albany’s Own “Highlanders found themselves in the darkness of night scaling the rocky heights of mountains in Afghanistan. They were about to play a decisive role in the Battle of Peiwar Kotal.
Part of the Kurrum Valley Field Force, the 72nd had been deployed to Afghanistan to help impose a British mission in Kabul in an attempt to counter the spreading influence of the Russian Empire in Central Asia. Sandwiched between the Russian Empire and British Raj, (Modern Day India and Pakistan), Afghanistan was a victim of the Great Game, as geopolitics were played out in the great seats of power in London and Moscow.
The concerns of their political masters were far from the minds of the Highlanders of the 72nd however, they had far more pressing thoughts. Chiefly how to overcome the Afghan position in front of them.
The expedition under Major General Frederick Roberts had barely arrived in Afghanistan and was already presented with a challenge. Afghan forces had taken a strong defensive position on the heights of Peiwar Kotal blocking the road to Kabul. A frontal attack would be suicide.
Thus, while Roberts and the main force held the attention of the Afghans, during the night the 72nd alongside the 5th Gurkhas scaled the surrounding mountains to outflank the enemy position. 
They made it to higher slopes that allowed them to take the Afghans from the side just as the sun began to rise. The stirring Afghans were taken utterly by surprise, as the Highlanders and Gurkhas fired a close-range volley and slammed home with the bayonet.
The Afghans were chased and driven from ridge to ridge along the range. Their flank broken, the main Afghan army pulled out and withdrew, opening the way to Kabul. Mission complete, the Highlanders and their Gurkha comrades settled down to bivouac upon the heights.
For gallantry and heroism performed during the battle, 6 Highlanders of the 72nd would subsequently be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Categories
Sunday Shoot-a-Round # 309
Categories
The Battle Of Gandamak
Towards the end of the 1842 retreat from Kabul, the last survivors of the 44th of Foot (East Essex Regiment) on the 13th of January 1842 made a heroic last stand against Afghan tribesmen.With General Elphinstone’s army mostly destroyed in the valleys between Kabul and safety, 20 officers and 45 soldiers tried to push on to the garrison at Jalalabad, but quickly found themselves surrounded.
Moving to a snowy hill outside the village of Gandamak, with limited muskets and shot, the heroic men refused to surrender. When pressed to give up by the Afghans, a British sergeant is said to have cried back “Not bloody likely”. In what was a most savage massacre of the army, one can only imagine what they had seen happen to the injured who fell behind and what could be done with by the sharp blades of the avenging Afghans.
Multiple charges were fought off by hand to hand fighting, but each time more and more men fell. Sniping also took a heavy toll, a skill the Afghans had perfected during this period, usual from the hilltops down into advancing columns of men.
When the final charge took place, a Captain Souter was taken captive rather than killed. This was due to him wearing the regimental colours of the 44th around his waist to protect them. This fanciful appearance, had him mistook for a general or higher-ranking officer. He was taken prisoner at the very end alongside a handful of others.
The remaining men fell on the hill, and it is believed that evidence of the battle could still be seen as late as the 1970’S, indeed even to the 2010’s. Being in such a remote and arid location, I could well imagine this being the case.
The Hood had no business what so ever by being around a monster like the Bismarck.What with a proven poorly designed armor system from WWI and the Battle of Jutland. Add to the mix some fantastic German marksmanship and this fight was a foregone conclusion. Grumpy