The 18th Cavalry is a cavalry regiment of the armoured corps of the Indian Army. The regiment was created in , as the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry of the British Indian Army, through the amalgamation of the 7th Hariana Lancers and 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry.
Formation
Tracing its origins from , the regiment was formed in 1921 by the amalgamation of the 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry and the 7th Hariana Lancers to form the 6th/7th Cavalry. This was quickly changed in 1922 to 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry.
These two regiments themselves had undergone many changes: 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry : 1842 – raised at Fatehgarh as 8th Regiment of Bengal Irregular Cavalry, 1861 – 6th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry, 1883 – 6th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Bengal Cavalry, 1901 – 6th (Prince of Wales's) Bengal Cavalry, 1903 – 6th Prince of Wales's Cavalry, 1906 – 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry; 7th Hariana Lancers : 1846 – raised at Cawnpore and Meerut as 16th Regiment of Bengal Irregular Cavalry, 1847 – 17th Regiment Bengal Irregular Cavalry, 1861 – 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry, 1900 – 7th Regiment of Bengal Lancers, 1901 – 7th Bengal Lancers, 1903 – 7th Lancers, 1904 – 7th Hariana Lancers.
The composition of the regiment at the time of amalgamation was Kaimkhanis, Rajputana Rajputs, and Jats. The present class composition is of Jats from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan; Rajputs from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan and Hindustani Mussalmans from all over India, but mainly from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
In 1936, the unit was renamed 18th King Edward VII's Own Cavalry when Edward VIII ascended the throne to make clear it was named for King Edward VII. In , it became the second to last cavalry regiment to be mechanised, leaving only the 17th Queen Victoria's Own Poona Horse still mounted on horses (it too would be mechanised a month later).
Operations during the British Raj
The regiment, still mounted cavalry, took part in the August to September 1933 Mohmand and Bajaur operations and the July to October 1935 Loe-Agra and Mohmand operations. The 1935 operations was to suppress the Mohmands, north of the Khyber Pass, after their raiding on the plains and attacks on road construction parties. The campaign witnessed a night operation to capture the heights around the Nahakki Pass.
Second World War
In December 1940, during the Second World War, the regiment was mechanised. It formed part of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, which was initially part of the 1st Indian Armoured Division.
The brigade was detached from the division, and dispatched to Egypt along with its units including the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry. The regiment then served in the Western Desert campaign. The regiment, and the brigade, were attached to a number of different formations that included the 2nd Armoured Division, the 7th Armoured Division, and the 9th Australian Division who they were with during the Siege of Tobruk. The regiment also supplied men for the Indian Long Range Squadron. The brigade was later overrun by the Italians during the Battle of Gazala, and took some days to reform. After the brigade reformed, the regiment was equipped as follows: Cavalry Carrier - 2 x Reconnaissance Squadron, 1 x AT Squadron.
On 30 June, the brigade was ordered to hand over 50 per cent of its vehicles to the Eighth Army, and was dispersed; the regiment was allotted to the defence of the Nile Delta and guard duties. In August, the brigade reformed and was allocated the regiment. It travelled overland to Sahneh, in Persia via Baghdad, and was placed under the command of the 31st Indian Armoured Division (formally the 1st Indian Armoured Division). In late November, it then moved to Shaibah, from Basra. From here, the regiment returned to India in January 1943, and the brigade was reconstituted as the 43rd Indian Infantry Brigade (Lorried) at Shaibah at the end of January 1943. In the middle of the year, it moved to Rawalpindi and commenced conversion to a light cruiser regiment. By the end of the year, the regiment successfully converted into a light cruiser tank regiment. The regiment was split up after that, serving in different parts of India when the Japanese surrender came in August 1945.