Jabalpur 25.11.1981 - The Grenadiers

This lovely cover with the special postmark  was issued by the APS as two new Battalions, namely, the 18^th and the 19^th Grenadiers were to be presented Colours on 25.11.1981 by Gen KV Krishna Rao the then Chief of the Army Staff in recognition of their having attained maturity and battle worthiness. During that happy occasion the whole Regiment also held its Sixth Reunion at their Regimental Centre in Jabalpur.

The Grenadiers are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, formerly part of the Bombay Army and later the pre-independence Indian Army, when the regiment was known as the 4th Bombay Grenadiers. It has distinguished itself during the two world wars and also since the Independence of India. The regiment has won many battle honours and gallantry awards, with three Param Vir Chakra awardees in three different conflicts.

The oldest grenadier regiment of the armies in the Commonwealth belongs to the Indian Army. The concept of 'Grenadiers' evolved from the practice of selecting the bravest and strongest men for the most dangerous tasks in combat. The Grenadiers have the longest unbroken record of existence in the Indian Army.

The history of the Indian Grenadiers is linked to the troops recruited for the Army of the Bombay Presidency. The very first mention of a grenadier company hails back to 1684, when a little army of English troops, which had taken possession of the island of Bombay and comprising three companies of Europeans and local Christians, had a grenadier company, but nothing was heard about this unit subsequently. In 1710, the Bombay Army consisted of five companies of "Europeans, topasses, and coffrees (African slaves)" of which the first company was a European grenadier company. This company was merged into the Bombay European Regiment, which was later disbanded. In 1757, Robert Clive had raised the1st Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry of which two companies were grenadier companies, however, no regiments of grenadiers were formed from the Bengal Army until a battalion was formed in 1779.