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The Indian Army was the army of the state of India and was not to be confused with units of the British Army that happened to be in India.

That is my understanding, in fact I've not long finished reading the autobiography of a man who was a British officer in the Indian army at the time of partition (the oddly titled "Has anyone here been raped and speaks english?" or words to that effect) and the impression you get is of British officers very thinly spread - although that's a good decade of "Indianization" further on.

I'm still none the wiser as to whether the unit in question was British Indian Army, or British army though, and the link supplied suggests the latter. Ah well, I need to read some books!

Hi,

My Father in law recently helped my apply for his fathers service records, and I'm wondering if anyone can help me fill in the blanks. Essentially, we were well aware of his time with the RHA, and the history of his Battery through Dunkirk and North Africa has been easy to read up on, both in books and on the internet. However, it transpires that the first 8 years of his service was elsewhere, and I'm struggling to find out anything about one unit in particular:

1932: Joined 4 Light Battery 21 Mountain Brigade
1937: Unit became 22 Mountain Battery

I'm really struggling to find anything out about these units, either googling or searching the National Archives catalogs. I did find this web page http://orbat.com/site/cimh/india/army1939.html which suggested that the 22nd Mountain Battery were a unit of the Indian Army, but looking at the group photo I posted here http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,451224.0.html (4th Photo) it doesn't look like the Indian Army, i.e. plenty of British NCO's etc. However, the photo (which I always assumed was North Africa) could be them.

Could anybody know, or could  point me, at any info about this unit, be it books, websites or archives? Or would anyone know if they were involved in any of the conflicts along the NW frontier that seem to puntuate the 30's? Could the attached photo be from one of those forays?

Thanks in advance,

Paul.

And the last two . . .

Hi
I have my GGgrandparents marriage certificate Robert Graham and Margaret Armstrong married 25/12/1852 in the Church at Cockermouth. Both aged 26yrs. Father of Robert is David Graham blacksmith and Father of Margaret is George Armstrong labourer.

I did find David Graham a blacksmith in the 1841 census with his wife Margaret and children John, Thomas, Ann and Margaret.
I believe David Grahams Father to be Thomas Graham born c1760.  Most of the family seem to have been born in Torpenhow.
 
I also found a family on the IGI for a Thomas Graham c1760 and Eleanor Armstrong c1762 both born in Crossbanks,Lowfield and Kirkland with son David born c1792 in Torpenhow. Other children include John c1787, Jane c1789, Mary c1794 and Eleanor c1797 all born in Torpenhow.
Is there anyone else researching this family?
Regards Maria

Hi Maria,

A bit of a vague link here.  If you go to http://www.cloughie.com/www/indiI446.html you'll see one of my wifes ancestors, George Graham, and his details. He is brother to your David, uncle of your Robert. I haven't chased up the IGI references in the Torpenhow PR's yet, so I'm at the same stage as you, it's a bit speculative. But if you want to swap details on the siblings, feel free to PM me. It's always worth knowing who's looking at the same people, incase something crops up!

Cheers,

Paul.