Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Saraghari, 1897, in which 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs, armed with Martini-Henry Mark IV rifles, fought to the last man, last round, against 6,000-10,000 Pashtun tribesmen during one of the many campaigns on the North-West Frontier of Imperial India.
The bravery of the twenty one defenders was recognised by the posthumous award to each of the Indian Order of Merit, equivalent to the Victoria Cross.
