| 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1838 - 1947 |
| Country | British India |
| Allegiance | British Crown |
| Branch | British Indian Army |
| Type | Cavalry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of | Indian Cavalry Corps |
| Engagements |
Second Sikh War Second Afghan War World War I World War II |
5th Bombay Cavalry (Sind Horse). ~1895
The 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army it can trace its formation back to two regiments of Scinde Irregular Horse raised at [Hyderabad, Pakistan] in 1838. It was named after the province of Sindh in Pakistan, where it was raised to fight against the marauding Baluchi warriors. These two regiments were absorbed into the regular forces after the Mutiny of 1857 and became the 35th Scinde Horse and the 36th Jacob's Horse. They saw active service in Northern and Central India, Persia, Afghanistan on the North West Frontier and, during World War I, where they served in France and Palestine. The two regiments were amalgamated in 1922, as the present 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse which served in World War II. Scinde Horse is the only regiment known to honour its enemy till date (the Baluchi warrior on its badge) and has not changed its badge since its raising, unlike others who have done so-numerous times. At one point, the regiment carried 9 Standards while on parade (regiments normally hold 1), a unique privilege given to it for its valor. The regiment was the first Cavalry unit in the British Indian Army to get mechanized in the Indian sub-continent at Rawalpindi, in 1938. It was also the first Cavalry regiment to get the President of India's Standard post independence.
- 1st Scinde Irregular Horse
- in 1861 became the 5th Bombay Cavalry
- in 1903 35th Scinde Horse
- 2nd Scinde Irregular Horse
- in 1861 became the 6th Bombay Cavalry
- in 1903 36th Jacob’s Horse
In 1922 the two regiments were amalgamated as the 14th Prince of Wales’s Own Scinde Horse.
35th Scinde Horse[]
The 35th Scinde Horse saw service in the Second Sikh War where it was involved in the Battle of Gujrat and the Second Afghan War. During World War I the regiment remained in India
36th Jacob's Horse[]
Raised by Lieut. John Jacob of the Bombay Artillery, they served first in Southern Afghanistan and later under Sir Charles Napier in the taking of Scinde. They later were involved in the Second Sikh War and the Second Afghan War. During World War I the 36th Jacobs Horse was a part of the 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade, 1st Indian Cavalry Division which saw action in France on the Western Front and later moved to Egypt for the Palestine Campaign; the brigade formation was:
World War II[]
In World War II the 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse was attached to the newly formed 31st Indian Armoured Division, that had been raised in July 1940. The division trained extensively but with very few tanks — the tank Regiments assigned to 1st Indian Armoured Brigade had three M3 Stuart tanks each, though a number of the obsolete India Pattern light tanks were used for crew training. The final formation of the Division was the 252nd Indian Armoured Brigade and the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade Though lacking tanks, the 252nd Armoured Brigade was detached and sent to Iraq in January 1942. Division headquarters moved to Iraq in June 1942, where it took command of the shattered remnants of 3rd Indian Motor Brigade which had been detached and overrun by the Italians at the Battle of Gazala and the 252nd Indian Armoured Brigade, which still had no tanks.
Armor finally arrived in November, when one Regiment received M3 Stuart tanks and the other two received Grant medium tanks.
The Armourd Brigade formation was,
- 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse , Grant Tanks
- 4th Duke of Cambridge's Own Hodson's Horse , Stuart Tanks
- 14th/20th King's Hussars, Grants Tanks
31st Armoured Division never saw action as a unit, its closest brush with combat coming in April 1944 when it was rushed to Egypt to crush a mutiny among the Greek 1st Infantry Brigade. The Brigade received M4 Sherman tanks in November 1943, apparently in preparation for transfer to combat in Italy, but only drove them in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
After partition/independence of India and Pakistan, in 1947, the regiment was allotted to the new Indian Army.
References[]
The original article can be found at 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse and the edit history here.