18th Cavalry (India)
| 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1921-present |
| Country | India |
| Allegiance |  British India India |
| Branch | British Indian Army Indian Army |
| Type | Cavalry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of | Indian Cavalry Corps |
| Patron | King Edward VII |
| Engagements | Gwalior Campaign First Anglo-Sikh War Third Ango-Burmese War 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War World War I Second Mohmand Campaign World War II |
| Battle honours | Punniar Moodkee Ferozeshah Sobraon Egypt 1882 Tel-El-Kebir Punjab Frontier |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel of the Regiment | Walter Cowan |
The 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry was a regular cavalry regiment in the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1921 by the amalgamation of the 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry and the 7th Hariana Lancers. These regiments served the British Crown from before the Indian Mutiny to World War II.
World War II
In World War II the regiment was mechanised in December 1940 and attached to the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade which as initially part of the 31st Indian Armoured Division.[1] The brigade was sent to Egypt and the Western Desert Campaign and was attached to a number of different formations including the 2nd Armoured Division, 7th Armoured Division and the 9th Australian Division who they were with at the Siege of Tobruk.[1] It also supplied men for the Indian Long Range Squadron. The brigade was later overrun by the Italians during the Battle of Gazala and took some days to reform.
The brigade formation was:
- 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse), equipment Cavalry Carrier – 2 x Recon Sqn, 1 x AT Sqn.[2]
- 11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force) equipment Cavalry Carrier - 2 x Recon Sqn, 1 x AT Sqn.[2]
- 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry, equipment Cavalry Carrier - 2 x Recon Sqn, 1 x AT Sqn.[2][3][4]
However the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade part of the desert war was over. On 30 June the brigade was ordered to hand over 50% its vehicles to the 8th Army. The brigade was dispersed in July, initially allotted to the defence of the Delta then ordered to perform guard duties however it was reformed in August. It travelled overland to Sahneh in Persia via Baghdad, again under the command of 31st Indian Armoured Division where it remained until late November, when they moved to Shaibah, seven miles 7 miles (11 km) from Basra. From here the regiment returned to India in January 1943 and the brigade was reconstituted as the 43rd Indian Infantry Brigade (Lorried) at Shaibah at the end of January 1943.
When in India it moved to Rawalpindi in the middle of 1943 and commenced conversion and reorganisation as a light cruiser regiment. By the end of the year the regiment successfully converted into a light cruiser tank regiment. The regiment was split up after that, serving in different parts of India when the Japanese surrender came in August 1945.
Battle honours
The regiment was awarded the following battle honours:[5]
- awarded to 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry
Punniar, Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Sobraon, Egypt 1882, Tel-el-Kebir, Punjab Frontier[6]
- awarded to 7th Hariana Lancers
- First World War
Awarded in 1926 for services of predecessor regiments
Somme 1916, Morval, Cambrai 1917, France and Flanders 1914–18, Megiddo, Sharon, Damascus, Palestine 1918, Shaiba, Kut-al-Amara 1915, Ctesiphon, Tigris 1916, Mesopotamia 1915–16
- Second World War
El Mechili, Defence of Tobruk, The Kennels, North Africa 1940–43
- Independent India
Jammu and Kashmir 1965, Tilkapur-Muhadipur, Punjab 1965
References
- ^ a b "mod.nic". Retrieved 6 July 2008.
- ^ a b c Mackenzie (1951), p. 71
- ^ "axisforam". Retrieved 6 July 2008.
- ^ "rothwell". Retrieved 6 July 2008.
- ^ Archived 2007-04-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Archived 2007-08-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Archived 2007-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Kempton, C (1996). A Register of Titles of the Units of the H.E.I.C. & Indian Armies 1666–1947. Bristol: British Empire & Commonwealth Museum. ISBN 978-0-9530174-0-9
- Gaylor, J (1992). Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–1991. Stroud: Spellmount Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-0-946771-98-1
- Bengal Cavalry Regiments 1857–1914 By R. G. Harris, Christopher Warner. ISBN 978-0-85045-308-9
- Gurcharn Singh Sandhu, I serve ("Ich dien"): saga of the Eighteenth Cavalry, Lancer International, 1991 (Original from the University of California) Digitized 4 Sep 2008, ISBN 81-7062-104-6, ISBN 978-81-7062-104-1
External links
Follow this link to view the uniforms of the late 19th Century