Button, Assam Valley Light Horse

Brass button made by W Stratton, London. Circular with a crown over the unit's monogram, 'AVLH', and a scroll with the motto, 'Semper Paratus', 'Always Ready'.

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 was founded on 25 September 1896, formed from the Assam Valley Mounted Rifles (an amalgamation of the Lakhimpur Mounted Rifles, the Sibsagar Mounted Infantry, the Sibsagar Mounted Rifles, the Darrang Mounted Rifles, the Nowgong Mounted Rifles, and the Gauhati Rifles).

Volunteers from the unit served with Lumsden's Horse during the Boer War (1899-1902). In 1911 the unit 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.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.