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by N. M. Geoghegan (Author), M. H. a. Campbell (Author), John Wilson (Editor)
The 89th Punjabis had a most distinguished record of service during the First World War. They have the unique distinction of claiming to have served in more theatres of war than any other unit of the British Empire in that conflict. These included: Aden (Yemen), Egypt, Gallipoli, France, Mesopotamia, North West Frontier of India, Salonika (Greece), and the Russian Transcaucasia, where they served from 1918-20 as part of the British Expeditionary Force.
They are perhaps remembered unfortunately for their short deployment to Gallipoli, where after only two weeks they were withdrawn. The official reason given in the Official History was that the Brigade commander Maj. Gen. Sir H. V. Cox was opposed to the use of Mohammedan troops against the Turks. Sir Ian Hamilton in a letter to Lord Kitchener reinforced this on 2nd May by saying, "I do not propose to use the Mahametan Companies in the first fighting". Hamilton on the 14th of May followed this up in another cablegram, "sending back 69th and 89th Punjabis today as Cox does not think it wise to employ them in the firing line so close to Constantinople."
