Recent Pakistani military operations against the Taliban have once again thrust the historically volatile region of Pakistan's North-West Frontier into the international limelight. Matthews provides a brief historical background of the British in India, geography of the North-West Frontier, the Pashtun tribes, and provides a short interpretation of the First Afghan War; he discusses British military operations from 1849-1900, the Punjab Irregular Force (PIF), its efforts to stop Pashtun raids into Punjab, and early corrective expeditions into the North-West Frontier. Matthews further explores British attempts to capture the lessons of the 1897-1898 Pashtun revolt through new training manuals, new training programs, and folding the irregular forces into the British and Indian Regular Army. He observes the successes of these programs (the 1908 Khel and Mohmand campaigns), the consequences of their abandonment prior to the 1919-1921 Waziristan Campaign, and the challenges confronting the British and Indian Army on the North-West Frontier during the 1920s and 1930s. He discusses British attempts to "Pass It On" or include the past lessons of "hill warfare" as well as the results of new tactical adjustments that can be explored by examining the 1935 Mohmand campaign, the 1936-1937 Waziristan campaign, and British efforts to track down and kill the elusive Faqir of Ipi. Finally, Matthews offers an analysis of lessons learned by the British on the North-West Frontier and their relevance for the US Army and its allies.
About the Author: Matt M. Matthews joined the Combat Studies Institute (CSI) in July 2005. For 16 years he was a member of the World Class Opposing Forces (OPFOR) of the Battle Command Training Program (BCPT) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Enlisting in the Army at age 17, he served in the light infantry from 1977 to 1981. Mr. Matthews also served as a Cavalry officer in the US Army Reserve from 1983 to 1986 and as an Armor Officer in the Kansas Army National Guard from 1986 to 1991. He graduated from Kansas State University in 1986 with a BS in History and continued his graduate studies there. Mr. Matthews is the author of several CSI Press publications including The Posse Comitatus Act and The United States Army: A Historical Perspective, Operation AL FAJR: A Study in Army and Marine Corps Joint Operations, The US Army on the Mexican Border: A Historical Perspective, and We Were Caught Unprepared: The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War. He also contributed the chapter titled "Hard Lessons Learned: A Comparison of the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War and Operation CAST LEAD: A Historical Overview" in the CSI publication Back to Basics: A Study of the Second Lebanon War and Operation CAST LEAD. Matt has coauthored numerous scholarly articles on the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi with Kip Lindberg, including "Shot All to Pieces: The Battle of Lone Jack," "To Play a Bold Game: The Battle of Honey Springs," "Better Off in Hell: The Evolution of the Kansas Red Legs," and "It Haunts Me Night and Day: The Baxter Springs Massacre." Mr. Matthews is a frequent speaker at Civil War Roundtables and recently appeared on the History Channel as a historian for Bill Kurtis' Investigating History program. Mr. Matthews is a former mayor of Ottawa, Kansas. He is currently writing a biography of Kansas Civil War General James G. Blunt and a book, on the Kansas Red Legs.