Spin Baldak, 1919

Photograph, 3rd Afghan War (1919).

The Afghan fortress of Spin Baldak was situated just across the frontier from Chaman in British Baluchistan and guarded the strategically vital road to Kandahar. A British-Indian force, under the command of Lieutenant-General Richard Wapshare, successfully stormed it on 27 May 1919. Over 200 of its 500-strong garrison of Afghan regulars, many of whom were armed only with single shot Martini-Henry rifles, were killed in the action. The British lost 18 killed and 40 wounded.

From an album of 367 photographs compiled by W K Fraser-Tytler (later Ambassador at Kabul.