Conclusion Frontier Warfare in Retrospect and Prospect, September 1939–August 1947

Abstract

When the Second World War broke out in September 1939 the Army in India had had 90 years of sustained extensive experience of conducting military operations in tribal territory. Despite repeated punitive campaigns and various attempts to pacify tribal territory the now heavily armed trans-border Pathans still remained fiercely independent and an insistent threat to the security of the settled areas. Apart from where roads had penetrated the hills, the main distinguishing characteristics and tactics of frontier warfare still remained essentially unchanged from those initially encountered in 1849 with large mobile columns reliant on pack transport moving protected by a ring of piquets. Yet Indian Army officers were not dyed-in-the-wool reactionary conservatives clinging to outmoded methods long past their usefulness. The minor tactics employed to counter elusive guerrillas on the frontier remained essentially those originally developed by the PFF, and later disseminated to the rest of the Army in India after the 1897–98 Tirah Campaign, as they were more dependent on the terrain and tribal military characteristics than any other factors. Despite criticism in some quarters for being anachronistic, they still remained effective.