Battle Honours

The RAJPUTANA RIFLES is the senior most rifle regiment of the Indian Army. Its first battalion was raised as far back as Jan 1775. The regiment as is stands today was formed in 1921-22 during general re-organisation of the Indian Army.

Most of its battalions had a long and glorious past. They have taken part in some of the bloodiest battles in many theatres of the world. The RAJPUTANA RIFLES has a unique honour of having won the first Victoria Cross of the Indian Army in 1856. This was awarded to Capt John Augustus Wood of the 2nd Battalion in the battle of Reshire in Persia.

During the WW II, the battalions of the regiment fought in every theatre in which the Indian Army was involved. Three of them, the first, fourth and the medium machine gun battalions fought in Eritrea and Italy as part of famous 4 Indian Division, whose fighting record was amongst the finest in WW II. It was the fighting in Keren in Eritrea that Sub Richhpal Ram won a Victoria Cross posthumously, the first VC of the battalion and that of the Division in WW II. The second Victoria Cross of the regiment, during WW II was won by Company Havildar Major Chhelu Ram at Djebel in Tunisia, at the end of the North African Campaign. One battalion alone won nearly eighty gallantry awards including two Victoria Crosses in a five year campaign.

The outbreak of hostilities in Kashmir again saw the RAJPUTANA RIFLES in the thick of battle. Company Havildar Major Piru Singh earned for the regiment its first Param Vir Chakra at Tithwal. During the brief period of the Jammu and Kashmir operations the regiment was awarded one PVC, two MVCs, 14 VrCs and 49 Mentioned-in-Despatches. In 1970, Captain Umed Singh Mahra of a young battalion, won for the regiment its first Ashok Chakra in Counter Insurgency Operations.

Pre Independence

Mysore, Seringapatnam, Bourbon, Kirkee 1817, Beni Boo Ali, Meeanee 1943, Hyderabad, Aliwal l846, Mooltan, Punjab, Reshire, Bushire 1856, Khooshab, Persia, Central India, Kandahar-I880, Chitral, Afghanistan, Burma, British East Africa, China, Afghanistan 1919, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapel, Aubers, Festubert, France and Flanders, Egypt, Gaza, Nebi Samwell, Jerusalem, Tel Asur, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine, Basra, Shaiba, Defence of Kut-al-Amara, Tigris 1916, Ctesiphon, Baghdad, Mespotamia, Persia, Abbyssinia 1940-41, Syria-1941, North Africa 1940-1943, Italy 1943-1945, Malaya 1941-42 and Burma 1942-45.

Post-lndependence

Punch, Asal Uttar, Charwa, J&K 1965, Basantar and Mynamati