WW2 17th Dogra Regiment, British Indian Army

17th Dogra Regiment brass tunic button, J.R. Gaunt & Son Ltd, London

A 20mm brass tunic button of the 17th Dogra Regiment, British Indian Army. The domed face carries a King's crown above the numeral 17, with a scroll beneath reading DOGRAS. The reverse is maker-marked J.R. GAUNT & SON LTD LONDON ENG around a brass shank.

The "17th Dogra" title was only used between 1922 and 1945, so this button dates to the interwar and Second World War period.

The regiment was formed in 1922, when the Indian Army moved from single-battalion regiments to larger multi-battalion ones. Three older regiments were brought together. The 37th (Prince of Wales's Own) Dogras became the 1st Battalion, the 38th Dogras the 2nd, and the 1st Battalion 41st Dogras the 3rd. The 2nd Battalion 41st Dogras became the 10th (Training) Battalion. The Dogras were recruited from the hills of Jammu and Kashmir and the Punjab, and had a long reputation for courage and endurance.

Between the wars the regiment served on the North West Frontier, with medals to the 2nd Battalion for 1930-31 and the 3rd Battalion for 1937-39.

In the Second World War the regiment saw hard service against the Japanese. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were sent to Kota Bharu in Malaya in December 1940. In the early hours of 8 December 1941, the 3rd Battalion was defending the Kota Bharu beaches when the Japanese landed, roughly an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was among the very first Allied units to fight in the Pacific war. The Dogras sank a Japanese ship and inflicted heavy casualties before being forced back. The 2nd Battalion fought through the Malayan campaign and surrendered at Singapore on 15 February 1942, and many men died as prisoners of war.

The 1st Battalion fought in the Arakan in Burma, including the battles around Cox's Bazar and the Admin Box. The regiment's Second World War battle honours include Kota Bharu, Malaya 1941-42, Donbaik, Nunshigum, Magwe, Kennedy Peak and Burma 1942-45. In 1945 Lord Mountbatten inspected the 17th Dogras in Singapore after the Japanese surrender.

The "17th" was dropped from the title in 1945, and in 1947 the regiment went to India as the Dogra Regiment, which still serves today.

A good example from a London maker, with honest wear to the face and some verdigris to the reverse.