This Day in History: 1937-08-27

At 06.50 hrs a picquet provided by the 1st Battalion at Gardai, North Waziristan, was attacked by a force estimated at 30 tribesmen resulting in the wounding of two Gurkha riflemen. Lieutenant M Ryan (recently posted from the 2nd Battalion) immediately rushed to the scene and after a detour succeeded in surprising the enemy in a nullah, killing two. His forward section then seized a hillock while the other two sections pursued the tribesmen down the nullah, but a further two Gurkhas were killed from close range. Ryan’s platoon was soon reinforced by two platoons from B Company (Major Wingfield). However they were unsuccessful in surrounding the enemy who managed to evade capture although a search the following day revealed evidence of casualties which were afterwards confirmed from intelligence sources.