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45 Cavalry is an armoured regiment in the
Armoured Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armou ...
of the
Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...
. The regiment distinguished itself in operations during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War winning one
Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...
.


Raising

The first 45th Cavalry was formed in August 1918 from *a squadron of
20th Deccan Horse The Deccan Horse or 9 Horse is one of the oldest and most decorated armoured regiments of the Indian Army. The Royal Deccan Horse (9th Horse), which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army was formed from the amalgamation of tw ...
*a squadron of
34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse The Poona Horse is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment, known before independence as The Poona Horse (17th Queen Victoria's Own Cavalry), was raised as a regular cavalry regiment in the Bombay Presidency ar ...
*a squadron of
36th Jacob's Horse The 36th Jacob's Horse were a unit of cavalry of the British Indian Army. Origins They were raised by Lieut. John Jacob of the Bombay Artillery, as a unit of Irregular Horse, originally in 1839 (reformed 1846) to patrol the area of 'Scinde' ( ...
*a squadron of
38th King George's Own Central India Horse The Central India Horse (formerly the 21st King George V's Own Horse, also known as Beatson's Horse) was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps. Formation The regiment was ra ...
It was disbanded in 1919. It was re-raised in April 1941 at
Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
under Major CPJ Prioleau. The troops were Sikhs, Pathans and Dogras drawn from the
13th Lancers The 13th Lancers is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1923 as 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers by the amalgamation of 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers and 32nd Lancers. On Partition of India in 1947, the regiment wa ...
,
Scinde Horse The Scinde Horse is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment, known before independence as the 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the Bombay Army, and later the British Indi ...
&
Guides Cavalry The Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army which was raised in 1846 as The Corps of Guides. During more than a hundred and fifty years of military service, the regiment has earned the reputation of one of ...
and equipped with Stuart light tanks. They served in Burma as part of
50th Indian Tank Brigade The 50th Indian Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed for service in the Burma Campaign of World War II from units of the British Army and the British Indian Army. The brigade's forma ...
, entering Burma in December 1944 in the Arakan and returning in March 1945 to India to upgrade to Sherman tanks. Post war, the regiment was disbanded in April 1946. The Regiment was raised again as an Indian Cavalry Regiment at Kandahar Lines, Delhi Cantonment by Lt Col SK Candade on May 16, 1965.


Composition

The troops of the regiment presently comprises two thirds South Indian Classes (SIC) and one third Others Indian Communities (OIC).


Equipment

Between 1941 and 1946, the regiment had the Stuart light tanks followed by the Sherman tanks. On re-raising, it was equipped with the amphibious
PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet Union, Soviet amphibious vehicle, amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported ...
tanks. B squadron was converted to
T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tank ...
tanks. In due course, the aging warhorses, the PT-76 tanks were phased out, the regiment re-equipped and subsequently converted all its squadrons to the up-gunned version of the T-55 main battle tanks. The regiment is presently equipped with the
T-90 The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank. It uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard protective measures include a blend of steel and comp ...
tanks.


Operations

;
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 ...
During the 1965 war it was designated as an Armoured Delivery Regiment of the Indian Army. ;
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
The unit took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in
East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...
(now independent
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
). The regiment with its B and C squadrons were under the command of 9th Infantry Division, whereas A squadron was under 4 Mountain Division . The regiment was then equipped with Russian
PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet Union, Soviet amphibious vehicle, amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported ...
light battle tanks and fought in the Battles of Garibpur, Kushtia and Jessore. The
Battle of Garibpur The Battle of Garibpur was a battle that was fought by the Pakistan Army against the Indian Army on 20–21 November 1971. This battle was fought 12 days before India officially joined the war against Pakistan. The battle started after an Indian ...
fought on 20 – 21 November 1971 by the 14th Battalion, the Punjab Regiment (Nabha Akal) along with ‘C’ Squadron, 45 Cavalry would go down in history as one of the few battles in which a
Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...
(usually numbering around 350 - 600 men) was able to defeat a vastly numerically superior
Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...
(usually numbering around 2000 - 3500 men). Both sides were supported by tanks and aircraft. For conspicuous gallantry the Regiment was awarded Battle Honour Darsana and Theatre Honour East Pakistan. The gallantry award winners include - *
Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...
: Maj D S Narang MVC (Posth.) *
Vir Chakra Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy on the battlefield and is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards a ...
: Ris RP Singh, VrC *
Sena Medal The Sena Medal is awarded to members of the Indian army, of all ranks, "for such individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the Army." Awards may be made posthumously and a bar is authorized for s ...
: 2Lt S Chandravarkar SM (Posth), Maj H S Puri SM *
Mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
: Capt Balram Singh Mehta, Dfr Gopalan Nair Sisupanan, Swr Mohan Singh, Nb Ris Athinarayanan ;Other operations: The regiment has taken part in counter insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir.


Achievements

The Regiment holds the proud distinction of being the first armoured regiment to be bestowed with both the 'Guidon' and the 'Standard' for meritorious service to the nation in both war and peace. The Regiment had the honour of participating in the
Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...
parade in 2019 with their
T-90 The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank. It uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard protective measures include a blend of steel and comp ...
tanks.


Regimental Insignia

The cap badge of the regiment between 1941 and 1946 consisted of the numeral ‘45’ with a scroll above with the words ‘Indian Armoured Corps’ and one below with the word ‘Cavalry’. The present insignia consists of the PT-76 tank with a scroll below, inscribed with the regimental motto. The motto of the regiment is वीर भोग्या वसुंधरा (Veer Bhogya Vasundhara), which translates to ‘The World is for the Brave’.


References


Bibliography

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External links

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Indian World War II regiments Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations established in 1965 R