Button, Calcutta Light Horse, 1887-1901

White metal button by Ranken and Company, Calcutta. Circular, with eight-pointed star, Imperial Crown over the unit monogram, 'CLH', with the unit's motto, 'Defence not Defiance' on a scroll.

Raised in 1872 as the Calcutta Volunteer Lancers, the Calcutta Light Horse was an auxiliary unit within the British Indian Army Cavalry Reserve.

The Calcutta Light Horse achieved notoriety during World War Two, when personnel from the unit participated in Operation CREEK in 1943. CREEK was a sabotage mission, organised by the Special Operations Executive, to blow up German shipping involved in transmitting intelligence from a neutral port in Portuguese Goa.

The unit was disbanded in 1947 when India gained Independence.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.