Chandigarh
On the second day of 4th Military Literature Festival 2020, The 61st Cavalry, was very effectively showcased during the Clarion Call: JOSH AUR JASBAH session.
During the virtual show of this event, Major Bikramjeet Kanwarpal and Aradhika, members of organising committee of 4th MLF 2020, informed that main aim of this session is to highlight the saga of glorious trail blazed by the 61st Cavalry.
The documentary displayed the history of the regiment and showcased that prior to freedom, it had become a name to reckon with by exhibiting valour all across the globe and won the Battle Honour HAIFA (Israel) in the First World war.
At the time of Independence in 1947, the restructuring of the army began in the right earnest. Upon the integration of the State Forces into the regular Indian Army in 1951, the remaining horsed cavalry units were reorganized and reconstituted into the Gwalior Lancers,the Jodhpur/Kachhawa Horse, the Mysore Lancers, and B Squadron, 2nd Patiala Lancers. On 1 October 1953 the “New Horsed Cavalry Regiment” was established at Gwalior, with Lieutenant Colonel Phulel Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces as its first Commandant.
The new regiment was re-designated as the “61st Cavalry” in January 1954. Gwalior Lancers, formed by amalgamation of 1st and 2nd Gwalior Lancers, Jodhpur/Kachhawa Horse, formed by amalgamation of Dungal Lancers, Mangal Lancers, Jodhpur Lancers, Kachhawa Horse, Mewar Lancers, Rajendra Lancers and Sardar Rissalia, Mysore Lancers, B Squadron, 2 Patiala Lancers and Saurashtra Horsed Cavalry Squadron.
The 61st Cavalry served in the Ganganagar sector during the 1965 Indo-Pak war and it guarded the Rashtrapati Bhawan at the time of 1971 war. Notably, the Regiment also rendered exceptional services to the nation during the course of Operation Pawan in 1989, Operation Rakshak in 1990, Operation Vijay in 1999 and Operation Parakram in 2001-2002.
A special mention was made of the Horse named SHEHZADA who won 2 Gold Medals in the equestrian events in the 1982 Asian Games carrying Dafadar Raghubir Singh on his back. Dafadar Raghubir Singh was later awarded India’s fourth highest civilian honour Padma Shri and he is the only one from the regiment to have the honour in his kitty.
