54th Sikhs ( Frontier Force ) The 54th Sikhs ( Frontier Force ) were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army . It was raised in 1846 as the 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade . It was designated as the 54th Sikhs ( Frontier Force ) in 1903 and became 4th Battalion ( Sikhs ) 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922 . In 1947 , it was allocated to the Pakistan Army , where it continues to exist as 6th Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment . Early History . The regiment was raised on 1 January 1846 at Ludhiana as the 4th Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade by Captain C Mackenzie from men transferred from the Umballa Police Battalion and the 6th and 11th Regiments of Bengal Native Infantry . In 1847 , it was designated 4th Regiment of Sikh Local Infantry , becoming the 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry in 1857 . In 1851 , it became part of the Punjab Irregular Force , which later became famous as the Punjab Frontier Force or The Piffers . The Piffers consisted of five regiments of cavalry , eleven regiments of infantry and five batteries of artillery besides the Corps of Guides . Their mission was to maintain order on the Punjab Frontier ; a task they performed with great aplomb . In 1852 , the regiment volunteered for service in the Second Burmese War 1852 - 53 , returning to India in 1854 . On the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 , the regiment marched from Abbottabad to Delhi ; 560 miles in thirty days in an Indian June , going into action soon after their arrival . In 1895 , it served in the Chitral Campaign . Subsequent to the reforms brought about in the Indian Army by Lord Kitchener in 1903 , the regiment ' s designation was changed to 54th Sikhs ( Frontier Force ) . In 1914 , the regiment ' s class composition was four companies of Sikhs , two of Punjabi Muslims , and one each of Pathans and Dogras . During the First World War , the regiment remained deployed on the North West Frontier of India . In 1918 , it moved to Egypt to take part in the Palestine Campaign and fought in the Battle of Megiddo , which led to the annihilation of Turkish Army in Palestine . After serving in the Russian Transcaucasia and Turkey , it returned to India in 1920 . In 1917 , the 54th Sikhs raised a second battalion , which served in the Third Afghan War of 1919 . The 2 / 54th Sikhs was disbanded soon after . Subsequent History . After the First World War , the 54th Sikhs were grouped with the 51st , 52nd and 53rd Sikhs , and the two battalions of Guides Infantry to form the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 1922 . The 54th Sikhs became 4th Battalion ( Sikhs ) of the new regiment . During the Second World War , 4 FF served with great distinction in the Burma Campaign . In 1947 , the Frontier Force Regiment was allotted to Pakistan Army . In 1956 , the Frontier Force Rifles and the Pathan Regiment were merged with the Frontier Force Regiment , and 4 FF was redesignated as 6 FF . During the Indo - Pakistan War of 1965 , the battalion distinguished itself the advance towards Akhnur and then in the Battle of Chawinda . In 1971 , 6 FF served at Sulemanki , where Major Shabbir Sharif was awarded the Nishan - i - Haider , Pakistan ' s highest gallantry award for valour . The battalion has the distinction of having a field marshal , albeit in the Indian Army , Sam Manekshaw who was commissioned in the 4th / 12th FFR in 1934 , later winning a Military Cross in 1942 in the Burma campaign during World War II .