63rd Cavalry (India)

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63rd Cavalry
Active

1957 present

Country

India

Allegiance

India

Branch

Indian Army

Type

Cavalry

Size

Regiment

Nickname(s)

Tresath

Commanders
Notable

Lt Gen Shamsher Singh Mehta, PVSM,

commanders

AVSM & Bar, VSM

Lt Gen Kamal Jit Singh, PVSM, AVSM &
Bar

63rd Cavalry is an armoured regiment of the Indian Army.

Contents

1Raising

2Independent squadron

3Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

4Presentation of Guidon

5References

Raising[edit]
It was raised on 2 January 1957 at Alwar, Rajasthan. Lt Col Harmandar Singh (now Brigadier
retired) was the first commanding officer.[1] The third armoured regiment to be raised under the
government sanctions of 1956, the regiment was initially equipped with two squadrons of Stuart Mk
VI tanks and a squadron of Humber Mk 4 armoured cars.[2] In April 1958 the Humber squadron
proceeded to Khanabal in Kashmir for a tour of duty till July 1959.

Independent squadron[edit]
The Humber squadron was later hived off as an independent reconnaissance squadron and the
integral squadron re-raised with Daimler armoured cars.[2] The independent squadron of 63rd Cavalry
served in 1960-61 in the Congo Crisis as part of 99th Indian Infantry Brigade under
the ONUC peacekeeping mission of the United Nations.[3]

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971[edit]

In 1971 the regiment was re-equipped with T-55 tanks and PT-76 amphibious tanks, participating in
combat operations in the Bangladesh front of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, entering Dacca in the
final stages of the campaign.[2] The tendency of 63rd Cavalry's tanks to appear from any of the
four cardinal directions led to the enemy giving it the epithet of the "ghost" regiment. [4][5]
Bogra was an important road and rail hub in the northwest of erstwhile East Pakistan defended by
troops of Pakistani 16 Infantry Division. Bogra was assaulted by formations of 20 Infantry Division of
the Indian Army. A squadron of 63rd Cavalry supported the successful assault of the 2nd
battalion, 5th Gorkha Rifles in the cantonment area on 14 and 15 December 1971, for which the
regiment was awarded the battle honour "Bogra" and the theatre honour "East Pakistan 1971". [6] It
won 8 gallantry awards for the 1971 operations. To date, troops of 63rd Cavalry have earned more
than 50 awards including the Vir Chakra and Sena medal for gallantry under fire and the Param
Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.[4]

Presentation of Guidon[edit]
The regiment celebrated its silver jubilee in 1982 on which occasion it was presented with
a guidon by the then President of India, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. A first day cover was released
during the golden jubilee celebrations in Roorkee.[4]

References[edit]
1.

^ "63 Cavalry celebrates golden jubilee". OneIndia News. Greynium

Information Technologies. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2014.

2.

^ a b c Sandhu, Gurcharn Singh (1987). The Indian Armour: History of

the Indian Armoured Corps, 1941-1971. Vision Books.
p. 312. ISBN 978-81-7094-004-3.

3.

^ Chowdhuri, Sudeep. "The Indian Army in Congo, 1961-64". Bharat

Rakshak. Retrieved 30 March 2014.

4.

^ a b c "The Golden Ghost". Sainik Samachar. Indian Army. 1 February

2007. Retrieved 30 March 2014.

orse)

orse)

rse)

rse)

rse)

5.

^ "63 Cavalry celebrates 1971 victory". Chandigarh: The Tribune

(Online edition). 16 December 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.

6.

^ Singh, Sarbans (1993). Battle Honours of the Indian Army 1757 1971. New Delhi: Vision Books. pp. 261, 262, 309. ISBN 8170941156.

Armoured Corps of the Indian Army

Categories:

Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947

Military units and formations established in 1957

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This page was last modified on 29 October 2016, at 15:55.

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