After returning to Sydney in 1844, the regiment sailed for India. Part of the regiment again suffered shipwreck when the sailing ship ran aground on the Andaman Islands in November 1844. The regiment arrived in India just as the conflict in the Punjab later known as the First Anglo-Sikh War broke out. They fought at the Battles of Mudki and Ferozeshah in December 1845 and the Battle of Sobraon in February 1846. Ferozeshah became celebrated as a regimental anniversary on 21 December thereafter, and is still marked by the successor 3rd Battalion Mercian Regiment.