The 5th Horse is an armoured

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. It was previously known as the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse, which was a regular cavalry regiment of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. It was formed in 1921 by the amalgamation of the 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) and the 12th Cavalry.

11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse)

The regiment known as 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) was originally raised on 1 August 1857 by Captain Frederick Wale as Wale's Horse during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

and served at

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. Captain Wale was killed in action on 1 March 1858, while leading the regiment in the pursuit of rebels, and was replaced by Major

Dighton Probyn General Sir Dighton Macnaghten Probyn, (21 January 1833 – 20 June 1924) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Co ...

, VC. In 1860 the regiment was dispatched to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to take part in the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

. It participated in the advance on

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and returned to India in 1861 with a good reputation. The regiment saw service in the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the ...

of 1878-80 and then took part in the Black Mountains Expedition; it went to Chitral and formed part of the

Malakand Field Force The siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province.Nevill p. 232 The British faced a force of Pashtun tribesmen whose tribal lands ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the regiment served in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

.Boyle, Maj CA. (1929). ''The History of Probyn's Horse (5th King Edward's Own Lancers)''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden. *1857 Wale's Horse *1857 1st Sikh Irregular Cavalry *1858 1st Sikh Irregular Cavalry (Probyn's Horse) *1861 11th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry *1864 11th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry (Lancers) *1874 11th Regiment of Bengal Lancers *1876 11th (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Bengal Lancers *1901 11th (Prince of Wales's Own) Bengal Lancers *1903 11th Prince of Wales's Own Lancers *1904 11th Prince of Wales's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) *1906 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) 11 Lancers (Probyn's)

Uniform

The Lancer's uniform of Probyn's Horse was topped by cap-line worn unattached. Shoulder epaulettes were covered with gilt curb-chains, and plus the Mameluke scimitar. Mussullmen were unique in wearing a ''kulla'', a pointed cap under the puggaree. Made of heavy khaki cloth it gave good protection against the sun, and became popular, even with British officers, who's adopted the puggaree as part of their dress.

12th Cavalry

The 12th Cavalry was also raised during the

, by Captain PR Hockin in October 1857. It formed part of the

1868 Expedition to Abyssinia The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, t ...

(

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

) and served in the

of 1878-80. During the First World War, the regiment fought in the

Mesopotamian Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Powe ...

. *1857 2nd Sikh Irregular Cavalry *1861 12th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry *1901 12th Bengal Cavalry *1903 12th Cavalry

Probyn's Horse (5th King Edward VII's Own Lancers)

After the First World War, the number of Indian cavalry regiments was reduced from thirty-nine to twenty-one. However, instead of disbanding the surplus units, it was decided to amalgamate them in pairs. This resulted in renumbering and renaming the entire cavalry line. The 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) and the 12th Cavalry were amalgamated at Meerut on 28 August 1921 to form 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse. The uniform of Probyn's Horse was blue with scarlet facings. The new regiment's badge consisted of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

's plumes. Its class composition was one squadron each of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

i Muslims,

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

s and

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

s. The regiment was mechanised in 1940. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the regiment served with great distinction in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. On the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, Probyn's Horse was allotted to Pakistan. In 1956, Pakistan became a republic and all titles pertaining to British royalty were dropped. The regiment's new designation was 5 Horse, although informally, it continues to be known as the Probyn's Horse. During the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

, 5 Horse fought in the Battle of Khem Karan. *1921 11th/12th Probyn's Horse (amalgamation) *1922 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse *1927 Probyn's Horse (5th King Edward's Own Lancers) *1937 Probyn's Horse (5th King Edward VII's Own Lancers) *1956 5 Horse

Battle honours

Lucknow,

Taku Forts The Taku Forts or Dagu Forts, also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary in the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban center. History The f ...

, Pekin 1860, Abyssinia, Ali Masjid, Peiwar Kotal, Charasiah, Kabul 1879, Afghanistan 1878–80, Chitral, Malakand, Punjab Frontier, Mesopotamia 1915-18, Meiktila, Capture of Meiktila, Defence of Meiktila, Taungtha, Rangoon Road, Pyawbwe, Pyinmana, Toungoo, Pegu 1945, Burma 1942–45, Khem Karan 1965.Rodger, Alexander. (2003). ''Battle Honours of the British Empire and Commonwealth Land Forces 1662-1991''. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press.

References

External links

Probyn's Horse (5th King Edward VII's Own Lancers) by John Gaylor at The Defence Journal
{{British Indian Army Cavalry Regiments 1903 - 1946 Military units and formations established in 1857 British Indian Army cavalry regiments Honourable East India Company regiments Armoured regiments of Pakistan 1857 establishments in India R