Dakka camp on the Kabul River, 1919 (c)

Photograph by Randolph Bezzant Holmes (1888-1973), 3rd Afghan War, 1919 (c).

Dakka was situated in Afghan territory to the west of the Khyber Pass. It was occupied by the British on 13 May 1919, but Brigadier-General Guy Baldwin's choice of camp location, near Loe Dakka, was poorly suited for defence and he failed to secure the surrounding heights. Two days later, Major-General Charles Fowler arrived at Dakka and assumed command. He ordered the camp to be moved two miles further west and made an effort to picquet the hills to the south and west of the camp. But before all of these improvements could be made, the camp came under artillery barrage and then an infantry assault. This Afghan attack was defeated and the British launched a counter-attack the following day.

From an album of 43 photographs, 1920 (c)-1925 compiled by Major G A Clarke, 12th Pioneers (The Kelat-i-Ghilzie Regiment).