45 Cavalry

45 Cavalry is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment distinguished itself in operations during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War winning one Maha Vir Chakra.

Raising
It was raised in April 1941 at Meerut, (originally from Sikhs & Pathans from the 13th Lancers, Scinde Horse & Guides Cavalry), and equipped with Stuart Tanks. They served in Burma as part of 50th Indian Tank Brigade, entered Burma in December 1944 in the Arakan, returning in March 1945 to India to upgrade to Sherman’s but were disbanded in April 1946.

It was reformed in 1965 and is currently stationed in Pathankot (Mamoon Cantt) India.

Operations
The unit took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in East Pakistan (now independent Bangladesh), under the command of 9th Infantry Division.

The regiment was then equipped with Russian PT-76 amphibious light battle tanks and fought in the Battles of Garibpur, Kushtia and Jessore

The Battle of Garibpur would go down in history as one of the few battles in which a Battalion (usually numbering around 350 - 600 men) was able to defeat a vastly numerically superior Brigade (usually numbering around 2000 - 3500 men). Both Sides were supported by tanks and aircraft.

In peacetime, the regiment was based at Kanchrapara in the 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, in its amphibious role, although "C" Squadron was re-equipped with T-55 Main Battle Tanks.

In due course, the aging warhorses, the PT-76 tanks, were phased out and the 45th Cavalry Regiment was finally fully re-equiped and subsequently converted all its squadrons to the up-gunned version of the T-55 MBT.