Commemorative plaque, Captain Edward Ponsonby Watts. 3rd Sikhs, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, and his wife, Elsie, 1923

Commemorative plaque, from the Punjab Frontier Force Memorial Wall S10, 'Erected by his Brother Officers', 1923.

After the Partition of India in August 1947 the Frontier Force units were divided between the Indian and Pakistan Armies. It was then decided that the memorials to the Punjab Frontier Force, the 'Piffers', erected in the garrison churches should be relocated to England, and in 1951 they were installed in the Parish Church of St Luke's, Chelsea.

Watts and his wife were 'murdered by outlaws' at Parachinar on 8 November 1923. An article, entitled 'Indian Outrage', in the Adelaide newspaper, 'The Register', on 13 November 1923, reported the murder. It records that reports indicate 'the captain made a most gallant fight to prevent the abduction of his wife', and that 'Death was due to stabbing'. A later report in the same publication reports that the 'Abe Shahzada and other Sangukhel outlaws' were involved, and that the alarm was raised when the intruders shot the officer's dog.