Cap badge, 74th Punjabis, 1903-1922

Brass badge depicting a left facing dragon.

Originally raised as the 14th Carnatic Battalion in 1776, it became the 14th Madras Native Infantry in 1824. The battalion fought in the Carnatic, Mysore and Maratha wars, as well as the 1st China War (1839-1842) (for which the China dragon was awarded) and the 3rd Burma War (1885-1887).

In the 1903 reorganisation of the Indian Army, the regiment was renamed the 74th Punjabis, as recruitment became increasingly from northern rather than southern India. During World War One (1914-1918) the regiment garrisoned Hong Kong, followed by service on the North West Frontier and in Palestine in 1918.

In 1922 further reorganisation of the Indian Army led to the regiment becoming the 4th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment. The battalion was allowed to continue using the Chinese dragon insignia, apart from officers attached to the 10th Training Battalion. However the battalion was disbanded in 1939, after a sepoy ran amok on the North West Frontier in the previous year, killing four British officers and three Viceroy's Commissioned Officers.

From the Field Marshal Chapple Indian Army Collection.