Good evening Mike,
Well, with half a century of experience, there's very little i could surprise you with. But you are right, we continue learning and sometimes in the most unexpected ways.
If you wish, let me know what navy and cavalry you need. i have many contacts in the UK. Also, i see Dix, Noonan and Webb are putting a large collection of Imperial Yeomanry up for auction in May.
A little story which may interest you:-
In the late sixties, a family friend was the C.O. of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. I always, even in the those days, showed a keen interest in British military history, and Stan, the C.O., invited me to visit and stay at the hospital for the weekend. Needless to say the old boys there, mainly WW1 vets, kept me interested with stories of their exploits. However, Stan had a little surprise in store. In the infirmary was a Boer War man and i was able to visit him for a good two hours. Aged 97/8 his name was Frank Martin, a trooper in the 10th Hussars. I was awestruck by the things he was telling me as you can imagine. The first assignment he had was lining, on horseback, the procession route in London of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. He went out to South Africa sometime in 1901 and apart from his many duties out on the Veld, he specifically remembered being at Government House in Pretoria, again on horseback, when Lord Roberts addressed the troops.
That meeting with Frank mean't a great deal to me and i've never forgotten it. I feel so privileged to have had that opportunity.
ATB,
Mike.