24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)
The 24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery battery of the British Indian Army.
Photograph, circa 1895 showing a 7pdr Mountain gun of Hazara Battery in Hazara listing the crew's ranks in the caption.
The Battle of Ali Masjid, which took place on 21 November 1878, was the opening battle in the Second Anglo-Afghan War between the British forces, under Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel James Browne, and the Afghan forces, under Ghulam Haider Khan. The perceived offence of an Afghan general's refusal to allow a British envoy entrance to the country was used as an excuse to attack the fortress of Ali Masjid, as the opening battle in the war. Despite numerous setbacks, including half the troops getting lost or delayed and missing the battle entirely, the British were lucky that the Afghans abandoned their position overnight.
The interior of Ali Masjid, following the battle.
The Afghan guns, abandoned during retreat.
British troops camped on the Shagai ridge
Men of the Yorkshire Infantry, in the Fourth Brigade