Hi there!
I'm doing some research for a book and was hoping to get a fairly basic description of what the 35th Scinde Horse regiment would have looked like...specifically in 1920 when they saw action in Mesopotamia. I've read EB Maunsell's book but as someone with absolutely no military background some of it assumes a degree of knowledge that I don't have!
I was simply wondering if this unit was comprised of Indian troops under the command of British officers and whether Indian recruits could themselves go on to become officers. The list of officers I have all seem British.
Would the regular troops have had *any* non-Indians recruits and would those from India have had any training or simply signed on and then shipped out to Iraq? I assume as it was a cavalry unit there must have been a degree of training or knowledge of horses needed.
Also, did each unit (regiment?) have a Political Officer attached to it or were they responsibly for regions as opposed to regiments)
And one final question: There are frequent references to officers having polo ponies in Mesopotamia in EB Maunsell's book. Is this a type of horse the cavalry had or did they bring actual polo ponies over for sport?
Many thanks for your help and apologies if these are naive questions!
