A sowar of the 3rd Cavalry in marching order, 1940

Photograph, World War Two, India (1939-1945), 1940.

A sowar was an Indian cavalry trooper. The term comes from the Hindustani 'sawar', which translates as horseman. By the end of 1940, the year this photograph was taken, all the Indian cavalry had been mechanised, receiving light tanks, armoured cars and trucks in place of their horses.

From an album of 215 photographs, colour plates and press cuttings relating to the history of the 3rd Cavalry, 1880-1965.