PRINCE OF WALES’S OWN, THE SCINDE HORSE
A history of a distinguished Indian cavalry regiment’s service in the Great War in which it saw action in Mesopotamia, Festubert, Ypres, the Somme and Cambrai before aiding Allenby’s advance on Damascus.
Description
The book was first published soon after the amalgamation, in 1921, of 35th Scinde Horse with 36th Jacob’s Horse.Both component Regts had long and distinguished records. Their unification was totally logical because Jacob’s Irregular Horse of 1839 vintage had been expanded by him into two Regts – the 1st and 2nd (later the 35th and 36th) in 1846. Maunsell deals briskly with their origins, early battles, and later 19th century campaigns. He leaves it to the reader to consult Jacob’s own book (vide preceding page) for the finer details. He does devote one complete chapter to the disaster at Maiwand when 3rd Scinde Horse was mishandled by the Cavalry Brigadier, but the bulk of his pages are devoted to the events of the early 20th Century. During WWI, 35th Scinde Horse remained in India, policing theNWF and finding drafts for service overseas. Then, in 1920, the Regt itself went overseas.It moved to Mesopotamia and won much acclaim for its rearguard action in ‘the Manchester Disaster’. The 36th Jacob’s Horse, on the other hand, went to France in 1914 with the Indian Corps and fought dismounted at Festubert (January 1915), at Ypres, and on the Somme (1916). Its greatest battle was Cambrai (1917) when it repeatedly counter-attacked the advancing enemy. In 1918, the 36th moved to Palestine. It fought in Allenby’s great final cavalry operations (the actions at Sharan Megiddo, Abu Naj, and the advance to Damascus). The Turks defeated, the Regt was kept in Syria as a garrison force until 1921 and then returned to India for the amalgamation. Apart from the usual daily incidents, this book provides many interesting commentaries upon the practical incompetence of senior officers in France, the inadequacies of pre-war Cavalry training, relationships with the French Army and civilian population, and much else of value to the historian (both military and social).
45 mono phots, 22 maps, 5 line drawings, index, apps: Roll of Honour (British and Indian Officers kIA, WIA and MIA) list of former COs, idem former officers, idem officers who served in WWI, notes on Battle Honours, idem the titles of the Regt, precis of the history of the Regt printed in Gurmukhi and Urdu (as hung in every Barrack Room, notes on the sillidar system
Additional information
| Author/Editor | Colonel E. B. Maunsell |
|---|---|
| Product Code | 8445 |
| Delivery | Usually despatched within 2-5 Days |
| Format | SB xx+348pp. Portraits, plates, maps, 2005 N&MP Reprint of 1926 Original Edition |
| ISBN | 9781845741891 |
