Chakdara Fort and the Swat River, North West Frontier Province, 1905

Photograph, India, October 1905.

Chakdara Fort, now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, was built by the British in 1896, on the site of a sixteenth century Mughal fort. The position guarded the strategically important bridge over the Swat River and the routes into the Swat Valley and Chitral via the Lowari Pass. The fort was besieged during the Malakand Rising of 1897.

From a photograph album compiled by Lieutenant Hugh Stephenson Turnbull (1882-1973), 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier Force), including, 'Snapshots and Views' in India and Egypt, 1903-1906.

According to the Hodson Index of Indian Army officers, Turnbull was commissioned in 1902 but only served in India for six years due to the climate being unsuitable for his health. He joined the Irish Constabulary in 1912 but returned to the Army during World War One (1914-1918), serving with the Gordon Highlanders. He was appointed Chief Constable of Cumberland and Westmorland in 1922, and became Commissioner of the City of London Police in 1926. He retired in 1950 and died in 1973.