INDIAN REGIMENTS IN WWI.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Standing Orders of the Poona Horse. First edition thus, revised at the outset of the First World War. The front board is signed by "G. Kirkbride" and dated February 1919, possibly referring to Major George Kirkbride (1894-1966). According to the In Flanders Field Museum, Kirkbride served with the regiment in France and Belgium in 1915. We have traced no other copies institutionally or in commerce.At the time of publication the 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse had received 12 battle honours over its 100-year history and campaigned in most Indian wars of the 19th century. During the First World War they fought at Ypres, the Somme, Givenchy, and Cambrai. As the introductory remarks state: "In September 1914 the Regiment proceeded to France as part of the Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade, to take part in the Great War. Up to the time of sending these orders to Press, it had suffered very heavily in casualties and had been three times mentioned in despatches for distinguished conduct" (p. 3). In the years after the publication of these orders, the regiment served in Palestine and Mesopotamia. In September 1918 they were tasked with patrolling the road from Homs to Damascus, where they mistakenly charged at a group of Arabs and one European officer, T. E. Lawrence.

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