Andy J2022 - My apologies, yes, I was referring to John. It makes sense that there would be no war diaries for the India service. I won't be in a position to get to TNA anytime soon, and as you say, there isn't much chance of any revelations I think. I'm very grateful for your help with this, so thank you once again.
Red Tom,
As you can't get to TNA to view the war diaries concerning the 1st South Lancs Regiment, perhaps this summary of operations during the Third Anglo-Afghan War may help.
Despite German and Turkish agitation, Afghanistan remained neutral during the war, thanks in large part to British subsidies (instituted as a settlement of the second Afghan war). The end of the war brought renewed Russian interest in Afghan affairs. After the assassination of Amir Habibullah Khan (19 Feb. 1919), the army and Young Afghan Party installed his third son Amanullah as Amir. Amanullah, suspected of having plotted his father's death, diverted attention from local problems by proclaiming a jihad against Britain on 3 May 1919, capitalising on existing anti-British nationalist feeling in India. Rioting had broken out in the principal towns of the Punjab in March, including Amritsar, where on 13 Apr. 1919 Brig-Gen. Dyer had ordered Gurkha troops to open fire on an unarmed crowd. That massacre horrified not only India but much of the British public. (Dyer was dismissed after the Afghan war.) Taking advantage of the paucity of British troops, Amanullah also sought to regain the North West Frontier Province lost to Sikh expansionism in 1820-34.
British regular forces in India consisted of only two cavalry regiments and eight infantry battalions. The rest of the British garrison were Territorial Army battalions which had been sent during the First World War to relieve regulars for the fighting on the Western Front. With the end of the war these were eager to return to civilian life, and the Commander-in-Chief India had to intervene directly to forestall the threat of mutiny.
Chronology
1919.02.19 Habibullah Khan assassinated
1919.02 Amanullah Khan installed as Amir
1919.05.03 Amanullah Khan declares jihad on Britain
1919.05.04 Afghan forces cross the Indian border, occupying a few towns
1919.05 British and Indian forces immediately mobilised and launch a massive land and air punitive campaign to reclaim the Indian towns and invade Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass; the force applied has been likened by some historians to hitting a mosquito with a sledgehammer
1919.05.31 Amanullah sues for an armistice
1919.08.08 Treaty of Rawalpindi: Britain recognises Afghan independence and ends subsidies
1921.02.28 Afghan treaty of friendship with Russia
Aftermath
By the Treaty of Rawalpindi (8 Aug. 1919, amended 22 Nov. 1921) Britain recognised Afghan independence, assured that British Indian empire would never extend beyond Khyber Pass, and ceased British subsidies to Afghanistan. Afghanistan almost immediately signed a treaty of friendship with the new Bolshevik government in Russia (28 Feb. 1921), and upgraded this on 31 Aug. 1926 to a neutrality and nonaggression pact. This pact was renewed in 1931 and 1955, but Afghanistan did not again engage in war with British India and its independent successor states.
Source: Regiments.org
Other sources:
There is a Wikipedia article on the subject:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Afghan_WarAnd this summary from
1919 - The Third Afghan War by Paul Hinson
Sadly none of these paint a detailed picture of what the 1st Battalion South Lancs were involved in. For this you would need to see the 15 Infantry Brigade war diary.
Further reading.
If you can find a copy, this regimental history is likely to cover the period in more depth: Colonel B.R. Mullaly
The South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers). 1955 Bristol: White Swan Press.
And as I mentioned earlier in the thread the regimental museum will be an invaluable source:
https://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/
