"British Indian Army standards for the 2nd Afghan War" Topic

Hello,
I know that some of the British regiments (the 66th for example) did carry their standards into the field.
Did the Bombay or other regiments carry their standards into the field as well?
Also, if they did, does anyone know of a source for such flags?
Thanks!

Actually, "standards" were NOT carried in the field in India pretty much after The Mutiny and were only left in the tent. The Indian Army was ahead of the rest of HM's Army in a number of ways due to almost constant experience in action.

And one of those lessons was not to carry Colors into battle.

You can find them via the Internet with a bit of sleuthing if you must, but as a purist (if not a pedant), I won't provide any more help than that. Colors just don't need to be part of an Indian Army collection for the 2nd Afghan and later wars.

TVAG

Here are some websites that might help with the flags – as noted above they were not carried in the field usually but – they're your minis!

link

armylists.org.uk/badges.htm

Oh, that's very interesting. So the 66th didn't have theirs at Maiwand?
It does make sense given the British and Indian's heavy experience on the NWF.
Thanks!

But . . . but . . . but . . . the Victorian print hanging on my wall clearly shows Bobby, and the 66th, and their color, as well as hordes of charging Afghans at Maiwand!

Grelber

The 66th most certainly did have both of their regimental colours/standards with them in action at Maiwand, where both the Queen's and Regimental Colours were lost to the enemy. As Patrick AKA: The Virtual Armchair General says, Indian units did not always carry their colours into battle, but they certainly did on occasion even after the Mutiny, Maiwand being just one definite example. Also as Patrick says, if you dig around the web you should be able to find a sampling of at least half-a-dozen contemporary images showing Bengal, Madras, and Bombay regimental standards in period photos, drawings, and paintings.

I was so focused on "correcting the record" re: the 66th actually having carried their standards into battle at Maiwand (a battle I've been obsessed with for many decades), that I forgot to supply more info on potential sources. Ironically, Patrick's own TVAG site has a good number of Indian Regimental flags in his Sikh Wars and Maratha Wars collections. Those campaigns were fought decades prior to the Second Afghan War, but some of the same Indian regiments were involved and some still carried the same flags…

LINK to TVAG Sikh Wars Flags: link

LINK to TVAG Maratha Wars Flags: link

The other commercial source I know of for at least a few Indian Army flags is The Flag Dude. He has very nice versions of both Queen's and Regimental colours for the 1st Bombay Native Infantry (Grenadiers) and 30th Bombay Native Infantry (Jacob's Rifles) which he created for me some 11 years ago, as seen in these 2 pics:

Flag Dude is currently in the midst of a long-running process of updating his website, which has been inactive for some time, but he can be reached using phone and/or email listed on the contact page of his site. He doesn't always pick up the phone, but at least in my experience, if you persist you can reach him.

LINK to The Flag Dude's contact page: flagdude.com/contact.do

Sorry to engage in a bit of threadnomancy, but, apart from the 66th, did any of the other British regiments carry their colours into battle during the 2nd Afghan War?

Cheers,
Dave

Yes they did. The 66 Regt of Foot (Berkshires) were just the only ones to lose their's in battle during the Second Afghan War. The official standing orders for British regiments to STOP carrying their standards into action (in order to prevent future losses of the same) came after the First Boer War battle of Majuba Hill, fought in early 1881. That one made for a trifecta of lost colours to Zulus at Isandlwanda in 1879… Afghans at Maiwand in 1880… and finally Boers in 1881. After that the War Office and/or Horse Guards decided enough was enough and better safe than sorry.

Not to be too pedantic, but the British didn't lose their colours at Majuba. They had stopped carrying them the previous month at Laing's Nek. From Wikipedia: Laing's Nek is memorable as the last occasion that a British regiment took its colours into action. The 58th were led up the hillside by Lieutenant Lancelot Baillie carrying the Regimental Colour and Lieutenant Alan Richard Hill carrying the Queen's Colour. Baillie was mortally wounded while Hill won the Victoria Cross bringing casualties down from the hillside. Hill passed the two colours to Sergeant Budstock for safe keeping; a necessary concession to the realities of late 19th century combat. Four officers in succession were shot down carrying the colours of the 58th.

It was indeed at Laing's Nek, not Majuba, and you were not being at all pedantic. Thank you for correcting my erroneous memory, Nick!