The Mechanization of the British Cavalry between the World Wars

Abstract

This article takes issue with the argument that the mechanization of the British cavalry was retarded because of the cavalry’s irrational attachment to their horses, and that the Royal Tank Corps were the champions of ‘progress’ in the face of the obscurantism of the cavalry. In the 1920s, because of the mechanical shortcomings of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), there were still some tasks that horsed cavalry could perform better than tanks or armoured cars. The decision to mechanize the regular cavalry was delayed until the mid-1930s not merely because of a shortage of the funds to purchase sufficient AFVs. It was delayed because it was not until then that even half-satisfactory vehicles were ready.