A polo team, 1920 (c)

Photograph, 1920 (c).

Although various forms of polo had been played on the Indian subcontinent for hundreds of years, it was the British during the second half of the 19th century who formalised this ancient sport into the game we know today. The Army quickly took up the sport from the 1860s onwards as it helped improve horsemanship and team work.

General Sir (Edward) Peter Strickland is seated second from left. Strickland (1869-1951) was a veteran of the 2nd Sudan War (1896-1899) in which he served with the Norfolk Regiment.

During World War One (1914-1918) Strickland commanded the 1st Battalion, the Manchester Regiment from 1914 to 1915. He saw action on the Western Front, at Neuve Chapelle and at the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

Strickland went on to command the 98th Brigade and the 1st Infantry Divison, leading the latter in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. After World War One he became Commander of the Western Division of the British Army of the Rhine. Serving in Ireland during the War of Independence he escaped an assassination attack made on him by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). After serving in Egypt Strickland retired from the Army in 1931.

One of six photographs relating to General Sir Peter Strickland, 1886 to 1927 (c).