Field service Torin type side cap, Major G A Dolby, Assam Valley Light Horse, 1899 (c)
Dark blue forage cap with broad silver braid piping; badge embroidered on dark blue cloth in silver with crown over 'AVLH' monogram.
The Assam Valley Light Horse was formed as a volunteer corps and auxiliary regiment based in Assam. The majority of those in the regiment were tea planters from the Assam Valley. The unit's motto is 'Semper Paratus', meaning 'Always Ready'.
The unit was founded on 25 September 1896 when the regiment's name was changed from the Assam Valley Mounted Rifles (an amalgamation of the Lakhimpur Mounted Rifles, Sibsagar Mounted Infantry, Sibsagar Mounted Rifles, Darrang Mounted Rifles, Nowgong Mounted Rifles, and Gauhati Rifles).
In 1911 the regiment sent a detachment, comprising one officer and 12 men operating a maxim gun, to fight against the Abors in Assam on the North-Eastern Frontier of India. It was here that the detachment received the nickname 'Lumsden's Lambs' because they were often up against it but 'never bleated'.
NAM Accession Number
NAM. 1981-06-63-13
Copyright/Ownership
National Army Museum Copyright
Location
National Army Museum, Study collection
Object URL
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1981-06-63-13