20 Lancers (India)

20th Lancers is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.[2] The regiment distinguished itself in operations with its defence of Chhamb in Jammu and Kashmir during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War and won one Maha Vir Chakra.[3] It has provided one Chief of Army Staff and two Army Commanders.[4][5]

This article is about the Indian Army unit. For other regiments of the same name, see 20th Lancers (British Indian Army) and 20 Lancers (Pakistan).

20th Lancers
Active1857 – 1937, 1956 – present
Country British India
 India
Branch British Indian Army
Indian Army
TypeArmour
SizeRegiment
EquipmentT-72 tanks
Commanders
Colonel of
the Regiment		Lieutenant General Alok Singh Kler, PVSM, VSM[1]
Notable
commanders		General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, PVSM, ADC
Lt Gen Gurbachan Singh (Buch) PVSM
Lt Gen Pradeep Khanna, PVSM, AVSM, ADC
Insignia
Abbreviation20 L

Origin

The regiment was formed in 1921 by amalgamating 14th Murray's Jat Lancers (raised 1857) with 15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) (raised 1858). The regiment served till 1937, when it was removed from the order of battle and deactivated. It was converted into a training regiment of the 3rd Indian Cavalry group with a permanent station at Lucknow.[6] This eventually evolved into the Indian Armoured Corps Training Centre at Lucknow. Following the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the regiment was allotted to India. The centre moved in 1948 to Ahmednagar and merged with other establishments to become the Armoured Corps Centre and School.[2]

The regiment was re-raised by the Indian Army on 10 July 1956 at Jodhpur, Rajasthan.[2] The first Commanding Officer of the re-raised regiment was Lieutenant Colonel Umrao Singh.[2] The regiment was equipped with AMX-13 tanks.[2] When the regiment was re-raised, the Officer's Mess Silver of the old 20th Lancers was handed over to it. The troops on raising were from the Sikhs of the 6th DCO Lancers which were transferred to 8th Light Cavalry and half of the squadron of the Jodhpur Lancers which were transferred to the 7th Light Cavalry.[2] The present class composition is Jats and Rajputs.[7]

The Pakistan Army raised an armoured regiment called 20th Lancers on 20 June 1956, which it considers to be the successor of the old 20th Lancers of the British Indian Army.[8]

Regimental Insignia

The Regimental insignia consists of crossed lances with pennons in red and white, overlaid with the Ashoka Lion Capital above and the Roman numeral "XX" below and a scroll at the base with the words ‘Lancers’.

Operations
Sino-Indian War

To counter the Chinese offensive against Indian forces in the western sector, it was decided to send six AMX-13 tanks (two troops) of the 20 Lancers to Chushul in south-eastern Ladakh using Antonov An-12 transport aircraft. The first batch of tanks were loaded on to An-12 aircraft in Chandigarh on the intervening night of 24 and 25 October 1962 and landed in Chushul – 15,000 feet above the sea level – on the morning of 25 October 1962. The second batch was loaded the following night and airlifted to Chushul on 26 October. The troops were part of the 114 Infantry Brigade. The army deployed tanks at the base of Gurung Hill, a towering feature on one side of the Spanggur Gap to deny the approach of the advancing Chinese Army and secure the crucial approaches leading to Chushul and Leh. The effectiveness of the Indian tanks prevented the Chinese advance towards the Chushul airfield, located between Chushul village and Gurung Hill.[9][10]

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

The regiment saw action in Chhamb-Jourian in Jammu & Kashmir. 20 Lancers was under command of the 10th Infantry Division during the 1965 operations. Pakistan's surprise attack on 1 September, 1965 (Operation Grand Slam) fell on 191 Infantry Brigade, which was supported by 'C' Squadron of the regiment under Maj Bhaskar Roy.[11] The armoured attack comprised two regiments of medium tanks, M-48 Pattons and M-36 Sherman B-2 tank destroyers.[12] The attack began at 0805 hours and was strongly resisted. During the initial phases of the attack, Roy destroyed 6 Pattons, 3 recoil-less guns and captured a jeep. A second attack was launched by Pakistani armour at 1100 hours and contested by the AMX-13s of 20 Lancers, which despite being outgunned and outnumbered, destroyed a total 13 tanks that day and prevented the encirclement of 191 Infantry Brigade.[3] The regiment later fought in the defence of Jaurian under 41 Infantry Brigade.[13][14] For the defense of Chhamb-Jaurian, the regiment was awarded a theatre honour and Maj Bhaskar Roy was awarded Maha Vir Chakra for his leadership in this action.[3][15]

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The regiment had moved from Akhnoor to Jaisalmer in 1967. It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Bawa Guruvachan Singh and was under 12 Infantry Division of Southern Command and equipped with AMX -13 tanks.[16] The regiment took part in the Battle of Longewala, which began on night of 4th December 1971, halting the Pakistani attack and then advancing into Pakistani territory.

Battle honours

The battle honours of the regiment are:[17]

Pre-World War I[nb 1]

Charasiah - Kabul 1879 - Afghanistan 1878-80

World War I

Neuve Chapelle - France and Flanders 1914-15 - Kut al Amara 1917 - Sharqat - Mesopotamia 1916-18 - Persia 1916-19 - NW Frontier India - 1915

Indo-Pak Conflict 1965[nb 2][nb 3]

Jammu and Kashmir 1965

Other awards and honours
President’s Standards

The regiment was presented the President’s Standards on at Sangrur, Punjab 1978 by the then President of India, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.[18]

Maha Vir Chakra
Major Bhaskar Roy[19]
Vir Chakra
Captain Ashwani Kumar Dewan,[20] Daffedar Harbir Singh[nb 4][21]
Sena Medal
Acting Lance Daffadar Pritam Singh,[22] Naib Risaldar Richhapal Singh
Mentioned in dispatches
Lieutenant Kuldeep Singh, Lance Daffadar Bhanwar Singh, Sowar Kushal Singh, Sowar Mohan Singh[23]

Notable personnel
Notes
  1. Pre-World War I and World War I battle honours awarded to the 14th Murray's Jat Lancers and 15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) and inherited by the unit.
  2. Awarded to the regiment after re-raising.
  3. Theatre honours are shown in italics.
  4. Troop Daffedar of 20 Lancers AMX troop of 80 Armoured Delivery Regiment.

References
  1. "Gazette of India, No 11" (PDF). 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  2. Nath, Ashok (2009). Izzat: historical records and iconography of Indian cavalry regiments, 1750-2007. Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, United Service Institution of India. pp. 581–583. ISBN 978-81-902097-7-9.
  3. Chakravorty, B. (1995). Stories of Heroism: PVC & MVC Winners. Allied Publishers. p. 114. ISBN 978-81-7023-516-3.
  4. Abidi, S. Sartaj Alam; Sharma, Satinder (1 January 2007). Services Chiefs of India. Northern Book Centre. p. 83. ISBN 978-81-7211-162-5.
  5. "Lt Gen Khanna to relinquish command today". The Indian Express. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. Jackson, Donovan (1940). India's Army. Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd. p. 164-169.
  7. Guatam, PK (2016). Indigenous Historical Knowledge: Kautilya and His Vocabulary, Volume III. IDSA/Pentagon Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-81-8274-909-2.
  8. Nath (2009), pp. 731–732.
  9. "Battle Of Chushul: Reminiscences Of 20 Lancers". 3 December 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. "Battle of Eastern Ladakh : 1962 Sino-Indian Conflict". 1 April 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. Singh, Harbaksh (2012). War Despatches: Indo-Pak Conflict 1965. Lancer Publishers LLC. ISBN 978-8170621171.
  12. Singh, Jogindar (1993). Behind the Scene: An Analysis of India's Military Operations, 1947-1971. Lancer Publishers. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-897829-20-2.
  13. Bajwa, Kuldip Singh (2008). India's National Security: Military Challenges and Responses. Har-Anand Publications. pp. 225–235. ISBN 978-81-241-1389-9.
  14. "Revisiting the 1965 War" (PDF). 1 April 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  15. "Cross Swords Division pays tribute to Param Vir Chakra Major Roy". 1 September 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  16. Gill, JH (2003). An Atlas Of 1971 India Pakistan War - Creation of Bangladesh. National Defense University, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. p. 88.
  17. Singh, Sarbans (1993). Battle Honours of the Indian Army 1757 - 1971. New Delhi: Vision Books. pp. 261, 262, 309. ISBN 8170941156.
  18. "President N.S. Reddy presenting colours to 20 Lancers, Sangrur, Punjab". Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  19. "Bhaskar Roy, MVC". Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  20. "AK Dewan, VrC". Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  21. "Harbir Singh, VrC". Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  22. "Gazette of India, No 7" (PDF). 16 February 1963. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  23. "Gazette of India, No 45" (PDF). 5 November 1966. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  24. "New Appointments in Army" (PDF). 19 May 1978. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  25. "How 20th Lancers flew tanks into battle". 4 May 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  26. "Appointments". 9 February 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
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