This clue also gave us Duke, for this is the thirteenth Duke of Connaught`s Horse, or, as it says on the front, the "13th D.C. Lancers, Watson`s Horse".
This regiment has a fascinating story, and shows well how fighting forces have had to change and modernise.
That story starts in 1857, with the founding of the 4th Sikh Irregular Cavalry, in Lahore, India, by two Lieutenants, H. Cattley and John Watson. Strangely, further research suggests that Lt. Watson did not join the regiment until 1860, shortly after which the name was changed several times, exchanging the 4th for the 13th, and the Sikh for Bengal. Lt. Watson seems to have straight away joined as a commandant, upon which he set about training the men to ride in a more English style. He is also reputed to have invented "posting", or raising your body out of the saddle whilst the horse is trotting, making it more comfortable for horse and rider. However this is debatable, as there are claims that it was invented, out of necessity, by postmen who travelled long distances across bumpy ground.
Commandant Watson may have thought his men needed riding instruction, but they were excellent fighters, so much so that after their exploits in the Anglo Egyptian War of 1882 they gained the favour of Queen Victoria`s third son, who was already both the Earl of Sussex, and the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. He liked them so much that he requested that he be made Colonel-in-Chief. It is not reported what Commander Watson thought of this, but it takes until 1884, two years after the Anglo Egyptian War, before we have the first mention of the 13th Duke of Connaught`s Regiment of Bengal Lancers. This is not the end of the saga, either, because after dropping words hither and yon they end up in 1903 as simply the 13th Duke of Connaught`s Lancers. Then something must have happened, because not long after that, in 1904, they suddenly become the 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse), which is how they are shown on our card.
After this things settle down, though the Regiment sees service both on the North Western Frontier and in Mesopotamia during the First World War. Once the war ends, though, lots of things in the military start to change, and the Indian Regiments are seen as too many, so in 1921 they are amalgamated with each other, and ours find themselves not only being joined with another Indian raised Regiment, the 16th Cavalry, but renamed into the rather clunky 13th/16th Cavalry. This must have jarred on everyone, for within a few months they were renamed as the 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers - which, in 1927, for some reason, was renamed, to 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse).
By the time of the Second World War, they still fought under this name, but they had been forced to adapt to modernity, and went into battle no longer mounted on horses, but instead equipped with tanks and armoured fighting vehicles. And the biggest change of all came with the Partition of India in 1947, where they left the British Army and became part of the Pakistan one. Though there has been yet another change since, for after Pakistan`s decision to become a Republic, in the mid 1950s, all reference to British royalty was understandably swept away, and so they are simply known as 6 Lancers
This set is also quite complex, but lets start with what looks like its full description in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which reads :
EMINENT BRITISH REGIMENTS - OFFICERS UNIFORMS. Sm. 68 x 36. Nd. (25). Backs in shades of (a) brown (b) claret. ... C132-30
I must say that by looking just at this card, if you only had this one, you may be uncertain as to whether it is brown or claret, but fear not, some time I will add this card in the brown version, which I would tend to call more gold or dark yellow.
Returning to the complexity of this set, these are not the only two printings, for there is another version too, and it is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, just not in the same section. And there is no link between them. This third version appears in the next section down, namely : "The `Contrabando` Issues. Danish language issues. Except for Set C132-42 [Scandinavian Actors & Actresses"] the series have the same fronts as in the equivalent English set in 2A above, with backs reprinted in Danish." The Danish set is therefore listed as : "Uniformer af Fremragende Britiske Regimenter (Eminent British Regiments - Officers Uniforms). Sm. 68 x 36. Nd. (25) ...C132-44"
In our updated World Tobacco Issues Index the text of both of these listings remains the same, but the codes have altered to higher numbers.