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{{EngvarB|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)
|abbreviation=
|image=12th Cavalry (FF) badge.jpg
|image_size = 170
|caption=
|dates= 1849 – 1937; 1955 – Present
|country={{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British India]] {{flag icon|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]]
|allegiance=
|branch= {{army|British India}} {{army|Pakistan}}
|type=Armoured Regiment
|role=
|size=
|command_structure=
|equipment=

|Past Commanders=
|ceremonial_chief=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|notable_commanders=[[Sam Browne]] [[Dighton Probyn]] [[William John Vousden|William Vousden]] [[Guy Melfort Baldwin]]

|identification_symbol=
|identification_symbol_2=

|nickname= Sam Browne's Cavalry
|patron=
|motto=
|colors=
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[North-West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier of India]] [[Indian Mutiny of 1857]] [[Second Afghan War]] 1878–80 [[First World War]] 1914–18 [[Third Afghan War]] 1919 [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]] [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=Delhi 1857, Lucknow, Charasiah, Kabul 1879, Ahmad Khel, Afghanistan 1878–80, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916–18, North West Frontier, India 1914–15, East Africa 1917, Afghanistan 1919, Khem Karan 1965.<ref>Rodger, Alexander. (2003). ''Battle Honours of the British Empire and Commonwealth Land Forces 1662-1991''. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press.</ref>
}}

The '''12th Cavalry Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force)''' is an armoured regiment of [[Pakistan Army]]. It was formed in the British Indian army in 1922 by the amalgamation of 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) and 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force).<ref>{{Cite journal |title=SAM BROWNE'S CAVALRY(12th Frontier Force) |journal=Defense Journal |url=http://www.defencejournal.com/nov99/sam-browne.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024035002/http://www.defencejournal.com/nov99/sam-browne.htm |archive-date=2017-10-24}}</ref><ref name="Gaylor 1991">{{cite book|last=Gaylor|first=John|title=Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–91|publisher=Stroud: Spellmount|year=1991}}</ref>

=={{anchor|2|22}}22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force)==
The 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) was raised in 1849 at [[Lahore]] by Lieutenant [[Sam Browne|Samuel J. Browne]] as the 2nd Punjab Irregular Cavalry. It was one of five regiments of Punjab Cavalry raised to guard the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier]] of [[India]], soon part of the Punjab Frontier Force or the "Piffers". Over the next decades, the regiment saw extensive service on the Frontier.<ref name="North 1934">North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846-1924''. DI Khan: Commercial Steam Press</ref> During the [[Indian Mutiny of 1857]], the regiment was engaged in the [[Siege of Delhi]], [[Relief of Lucknow]], the [[Battle of Agra]] and the Campaign in [[Rohilkhand]]. In one of the actions, their commandant, Captain Sam Browne was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]]. His citation reads:
:''In an engagement with the rebels, Captain Browne, whilst advancing upon the enemy's position, pushed on with one orderly sowar upon a 9-pounder gun and attacked the gunners, preventing them from re-loading and attacking the infantry who were advancing to the attack. In the conflict which ensued, Captain Browne received two sword cuts, one on the left knee and one which severed his left arm at the shoulder, but not before he had cut down one of his assailants. The gun was eventually captured and the gunner killed.''

It was the loss of his arm that caused Browne to invent the famous [[Sam Browne belt]], still in the use of many of today's armies. The original belt is on display in the India Room at the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]].

Meanwhile, Captain [[Dighton Probyn]] was also awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry, while serving with the 2nd Punjab Cavalry. His citation reads:
:''On many occasions during the period 1857–1858 in India, Captain Probyn performed gallant and daring acts. On one occasion, at the Battle of Agra, when his squadron charged the rebel infantry, he was sometimes separated from his men and surrounded by five or six [[sepoys]]. He defended himself and, before his own men had joined him, had cut down two of his assailants.''[[File:2nd Punjab Cavalry, 1880 Gordon Hayward.jpg|thumb|right|Officers of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry, 1880.|270px]]

During the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] of 1878–80, the 2nd Punjab Cavalry was with the Kandahar Field Force, and fought at the [[Battle of Ahmed Khel]] in April 1880. During the [[First World War]], the regiment served in the [[Mesopotamia Campaign]].<ref name="Gaylor 1991"/><ref name="North 1934"/>

=== Name changes ===
* 1849 2nd Punjab Irregular Cavalry
* 1851 2nd Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Irregular Force
* 1861 2nd Regiment of Punjab Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
* 1901 2nd Punjab Cavalry
* 1903 22nd Cavalry (Frontier Force)
* 1904 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force)

=={{anchor|5|25}}25th Cavalry (Frontier Force)==
The 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) was raised by Captain Robert Fitzgerald as the 5th Punjab Irregular Cavalry at [[Multan]] in 1849, with Risaldar Gurmukh Singh Dhillon of Bahmaniwala village, [[Patti, Punjab|Patti Sub Division]] of [[Amritsar district]] of the Punjab, as the first native Commandant of 5th Punjab Irregular Cavalry. The troops of the Sikh Squadron were mostly taken from the disbanded [[Khalsa Army]] which was recently defeated by the British in the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] of 1848. During the Indian Mutiny they were part of the besieging army at [[Delhi]] and took part in the [[Relief of Lucknow]]. The troops of 5th Punjab Irregular Cavalry were now avenging themselves on the mutinous [[Bengal Army]] for the defeat of the Khalsa's Sikh Army in the Anglo Sikh Wars. One squadron fought at [[Bareilly]], where two of its Indian officers won the [[Order of British India]] and nine other ranks received the [[Indian Order of Merit]]. The regiment was involved in a number of small actions on the North West Frontier with the Punjab Frontier Force. In March 1860, 150 men under an Indian officer attacked a 3,000 strong armed force of [[Mahsuds]] and [[Waziris]] at [[Tank (city)|Tank]], killing 300 and dispersing the others. In January 1867, an Indian officer with 27 sowars charged a body of 1,000 tribesmen, killed 150 and captured most of the rest. During the [[Second Afghan War]], the 5th Punjab Cavalry were present at the capture of [[Charasiah]] and [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Frederick Roberts]] the Commanding General ordered that they and the [[9th Lancers]] should have the honour of escorting him into [[Kabul]]. During the attack on the [[Asmai Heights]] in December 1879, near Kabul, Captain [[William John Vousden]] made repeated charges with a small body of men of the 5th Punjab Cavalry, passing through the ranks of an overwhelming force again and again until the enemy fled. Vousden received a Victoria Cross and his ten surviving men the Indian Order of Merit.

For their excellent record in the Indian Mutiny and the Second Afghan War, the 5th Punjab Cavalry was among the units honoured during the [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria]]'s celebrations in London in June and July 1897. [[Risaldar-Major]] Kesar Singh Dhillon of Bahmaniwala Dhillons represented the 5th Punjab Cavalry as part of Indian Native Cavalry.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26947|page=1638|date=14 March 1898}}</ref> For the acts of valour during the Indian Mutiny and during the Second Afghan War, the troops of 5th Punjab Cavalry were awarded grants of agricultural land in [[Lyallpur District]] in 1904. Most of the Sikh troops of [[Kanhayia Misl]] shifted from Amritsar District to Lyallpur on being granted lands there. During the [[First World War]], it served in [[German East Africa]], followed by service in the [[Third Afghan War]] of 1919.<ref name="Gaylor 1991"/><ref name="North 1934"/>[[File:5th Punjab Cavalry 1910.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Pashtun people|Pathan]] [[Daffadar]] of 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force). Watercolour by AC Lovett, 1910.|250px]]

=== Name changes ===
* 1849 5th Punjab Irregular Cavalry
* 1851 5th Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Irregular Force
* 1861 5th Regiment of Punjab Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
* 1901 5th Punjab Cavalry
* 1903 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force)

==12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)==
After the First World War, the number of Indian cavalry regiments was reduced from thirty-nine to twenty-one. However, instead of disbanding the surplus units, it was decided to amalgamate them in pairs. This resulted in renumbering and renaming of the entire cavalry line. The 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) and 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) were amalgamated in 1921 to form 12th Cavalry. The uniform of 12th Cavalry was scarlet with blue facings. The badge showed a mounted figure within a circle carrying the title 'Sam Browne's Cavalry XII FF' with a crown above. Its class composition was one squadron each of Punjabi Muslims, Sikhs and Dogras. In 1937, 12th Cavalry became the training regiment of 2nd Indian Cavalry Group at [[Ferozepur]]. It was converted into a training centre in 1940 by amalgamating it with [[15th Lancers]].<ref name="Gaylor 1991"/>

On the [[partition of India]] in 1947, this training centre was transferred to Pakistan. On 15 January 1955, 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) was re-raised at [[Rawalpindi]] as a Reconnaissance Regiment of [[Pakistan Armoured Corps]]. The regiment served with distinction during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|1965]] and [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971]] Indo-Pakistani Wars. During the 1965 War, the regiment fought in four different sectors simultaneously when all four squadrons of the regiment operated independently at [[Chawinda]], [[Bedian]], [[Khemkaran]] and [[Sialkot]].<ref>''The Sabre & Lance: Journal of the Pakistan Armoured Corps''. (1997). Nowshera: The School of Armour & Mechanised Warfare.</ref> Lt.Col Muhammad Asaf Hussain Khan was awarded the [[Sitara-e-Jurat]] for outstanding gallantry in the Khemkaran sector during the 1965 war.

Captains Ahmed Arsalan Asaf and Nadeem Ahmad Raja were the '''Siachin Warriors''' of 12th Cavalary, Asaf participating in '''Operation Naveed Top''' during the [[Siachen conflict]] in April 1989.

Captain Mearaj Muhammad of the 12th Cavalary was killed on 4 June 2009 while fighting with [[Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan|Taliban militants]] in [[Buner District]]. He was awarded the [[Sitara-e-Basalat]] by the Government of Pakistan for his bravery and sacrifice.
[[File:SamBrowneLarge.jpeg|thumb|right|General Sir [[Sam Browne]], [[Victoria Cross|VC]], GCB, KCSI, 1897.|230px]]
=== Name changes ===
* 1921 22nd/25th Cavalry (amalgamation)
* 1922 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)
* 1927 Sam Browne's Cavalry (12th Frontier Force)
* 1940 1st Indian Armoured Corps Centre
* 1947 Pakistan Armoured Corps Centre
* 1955 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) (re-raised)

==Affiliations & Alliances==
* {{flag icon|Pakistan}} The [[Frontier Force Regiment]]
* {{flag icon|United Kingdom}} 9th/12th Royal Lancers

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''Regimental Record, 5th Regiment, Punjab Cavalry''. (1886). Lahore: W. Ball & Co.
* ''Regimental Record, 25th Cavalry (FF), 1886–1912''. (1912).
* ''Journal of the late General Sir Sam Browne, VC, GCB, KCSI 1849–98''. (1937). Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons.
* Dey, RSBN. (1905). ''A Brief Account of the Late Punjab Frontier Force, From its Organization in 1849 to its Re-distribution on 31st March 1903''. Calcutta.
* Elliott, Maj Gen JG. (1968). ''The Frontier 1839–1947: The Story of the North-West Frontier of India''. London: Cassell.
* Gaylor, John. (1991). ''Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–1991.'' Stroud: Spellmount Publishers Ltd. {{ISBN|978-0-946771-98-1}}
* Hayauddin, Maj Gen M. (1950). ''One Hundred Glorious Years: A History of the Punjab Frontier Force, 1849–1949''. Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press.
* Kempton, C. (1996). ''A Register of Titles of the Units of the H.E.I.C. & Indian Armies 1666–1947.'' Bristol: British Empire & Commonwealth Museum. {{ISBN|978-0-9530174-0-9}}
* North, REFG. (1934). ''The Punjab Frontier Force: A Brief Record of Their Services 1846–1924''. Dera Ismail Khan: Commercial Steam Press, HQ Waziristan District.
* Trench, CC. (1988). ''The Indian Army and the King’s Enemies, 1900–1947''. London: Thames and Hudson.

==External links==
*[http://www.defencejournal.com/nov99/sam-browne.htm Sam Browne's Cavalry (12th Frontier Force) by John Gaylor at The Defence Journal]
*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indiancavalry/25thcav.htm 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) at The British Empire]

{{Pakistan Armoured Corps}}
{{British Indian Army Cavalry Regiments 1903 - 1946}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=British Indian Army cavalry regiments, Armoured regiments of Pakistan, Military units and formations established in 1849, Military units and formations disestablished in 1937, Military units and formations established in 1955, 1921 establishments in British India
|description=
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[[Category:British Indian Army cavalry regiments]]
[[Category:Armoured regiments of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1849]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1937]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1955]]
[[Category:1921 establishments in British India]]

12th Cavalry Frontier Force - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:32, 8 July 2023