The Bannu Brigade was formed after the 1903 reforms of the British Indian Army by Herbert Kitchener when he was Commander-in-Chief, India. The brigade was part of the Northern Army and deployed along the North West Frontier.^[1] In 1914 at the start of World War I the composition of the brigade was:

• Commander Major General Hugh O'Donnell
  • 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force)
  • 33rd Punjabis
  • 52nd Sikhs (Frontier Force)
  • 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force)
  • 29 Mountain Battery^[2]

The brigade was involved in the Operations in the Tochi between November 1914 and March 1915 when it was commanded by Major-General Vere Bonamy Fane.^[3]