Capture of Amir Thana
On 2nd/3rd June 1919 Thal had been relieved and the Kurram Militia with 22 Battery Motor Machine Guns took the battle back across the Durand Line and invaded Afghanistan. The attack had been planned on 1st June and at 1800 hours on 2nd June Maj Percy Dodd, Commandant of the Kurram Militia, led a column out of Parachinar and up to Kharlachi, arriving after dark. The column consisted of 100 infantry and 50 mounted infantry of the Kurram Militia, No 2 Section of 22 MMG, a company of 3rd Guides, 2 troops of 37th Lancers, a section of guns from No 28 Mountain Battery and 2 light trench mortars from 57th Wilde's Rifles, the last commanded by Lt Jack Maude.
The Machine Gun Section and the Guides company then occupied a ridge overlooking the Afghan fort at Amir Thana. At dawn on 3rd June the guns opened fire and under their cover the Kurram Militia assaulted the fort which surrendered. The advance continued and the Afghans abandoned their HQ at Mir Kalai. In total 2 Afghan forts and 6 villages were burnt. The Kurram Militia lost 2 killed and 5 wounded, the last including Lt Carter.
0 Comments
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now