On March 9, 1925, the British Royal Air Force began operations in South Waziristan against Mahfud tribesmen called Pink’s War, the first independent such operation by the RAF and to date the only operation named after an RAF commander. (Not after the 21st Century rock star!) Conducted in what is now the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the aerial attack against the Mahfud, a Pashtun people, went on for 53 days, ending on May 1, 1925. Joining other goofy named wars such as The War of Jenkin’s Ear, The Soccer War, The Whiskey Rebellion, War of the Oranges, Pastry War, Gun War (by this point in History, we would think ALL wars were “gun wars”), Pig War, Phony War, Dirty War (as opposed to “Clean War?”), and all these are “real” wars, not media and commercial events such as “The War on Christmas,” “The War of the Sexes,” “The Current Wars,” “The Cola Wars,” “Star Wars,” or “The War on Drugs.”
Digging Deeper
Located in the Northwest portion of British controlled India, long before Pakistan was created, the Pashtun border area between India and Afghanistan was difficult to control by government authorities, much as it is today. Rough terrain and rough people did not lend themselves to easy control. Militant tribesmen in the area had been conducting raids against government entities and were resisting British rule, resulting in ongoing operations against such militants. Most restless tribes had been pacified, but the Abdur Rahman Khel tribe along with 3 of their allied tribes stubbornly remained defiant. Raids against British and colonial army posts continued, a situation that had to be addressed.
