Its final designation 5th Light Infantry was a result of the Kitchener Reforms of the Indian Army, when all the old presidency titles (Bengal) were removed.
[3] As the 42nd Bengal Native (Light) Infantry the regiment carried as battle honours "Arakan, Afghanistan and Kandahar 1842", "Ghunze 1842", and "Kabul and Moodkee, Ferozeshah and Sobroan 1857".
[6] Following the entry of Turkey into the War in October 1914 the loyalty of the Muslim troops who made up a large proportion of the Indian Army came under some strain.
[7] However the 5th Light Infantry had, since its arrival in Singapore, been plagued by internal discord and there were intelligence reports that agents of the Indian revolutionary group Ghadr were trying to foment rebellion amongst Muslim soldiers from Bengal, Delhi and UP areas.
[10] Garrison duties in Singapore included guarding German internees who attempted with some success to persuade the Indian soldiers that Britain was losing the War.
Some of the sepoys attended a mosque where the resident local Maulvi preached that Turkey was the seat of the Khalifa of Islam and that no Muslim should fight against him.
Sepoys who rallied to their officers at Colonel Martin's bungalow overlooking the barracks, were registered and ordered to disperse "to a safe place" to avoid nighttime confusion between mutineers and loyalists.
[18] On 3 July 1915 the remnants of the 5th LI – seven British and Indian officers and 588 other ranks – sailed from Singapore to West Africa where they arrived in time to see active service in the German Cameroons.
[20] In spite of its credible performance in Africa during 1915–17, the 5th Light Infantry was amongst those regiments disbanded after the war as part of a general restructuring of the Indian Army.