Machine gun section in action, 1937 (c)

Photograph, India, North West Frontier, 1937 (c)

Soldiers of the 2nd Royal Battalion (Ludhiana Sikhs), 11th Sikh Regiment, open fire with their Vickers machine gun during operations against the Fakir of Ipi's tribal irregulars in Waziristan. The tribesmen were skilled at guerrilla warfare. During an April 1937 attack a British convoy of vehicles, escorted by six armoured cars, was ambushed in a narrow defile at Shahpur Tangi. Seven officers and 45 men were killed, while another 47 were wounded.

From an album of 50 photographs associated with 2nd Royal Bn (Ludhiana Sikhs), 11th Sikh Regiment, Waziristan, 1920-1937.