Cap badge, 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier Force), 1903-1922

White metal badge in the form of the regimental number, '57', with blue enamel backing, within a circlet inscribed with the unit title, 'Wilde's Rifles', surmounted by a King's Crown.

The 4th Punjab Infantry Regiment was formed by the British in 1849 as part of a new force used to guard the border between the annexed territory of Punjab and Afghanistan. Lieutenant Alfred Thomas Wilde took command of the Regiment in 1851. The Regiment remained loyal during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) and fought in the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880) and the 3rd China War, or Boxer Rebellion, in 1900.

In 1903 the unit was renamed 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier Force) and went on to fight, with a second battalion, on the Western Front and in East Africa during World War One (1914-1918). In 1922 the Regiment became the 4th Battalion (Wilde's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles. The Regiment served in the Middle East and North Africa during World War Two (1939-1945). With the Partition of India in 1947, the unit became part of the Pakistan Army.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.