During WWII, Admiral ‘tich’ cowan’s alliance with the 18th cavalry forged a remarkable bond, culminating in his tenure as their colonel of the regiment post-war, symbolyzing an extraordinary fusion of naval and armored prowess.
I recently came across a set of photographs sourced by Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Mumtaz, 54th Cavalry, of the installation ceremony of the Colonel of the Regiment of 18th Cavalry in Risalpur in 1947. This ceremony marked the culmination of a very unusual and unique association that developed in North Africa during the Second World War between an Admiral of the Royal Navy and a regiment of the Indian Armoured Corps.
The Admiral was Sir Walter Henry Cowan, 1st Baronet, KCB, DSO & Bar MVO. He was known as ‘Tich’ Cowan because of his short height and was a gallant officer and a legend in the British Armed Forces.
Born in 1871, Sir Walter Henry Cowan joined the Royal Navy at the age of 15 and took part in a number of colonial skirmishes. In 1898, he earned a DSO while commanding the Nile Gunboat Flotilla. During the First World War, he commanded a battle cruiser in the famous Battle of Jutland. In 1921, Cowan was appointed to command the Battle Cruiser Squadron, flying his flag in His Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Hood, which, for 20 years, was the largest and most powerful warship in the world. Her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood”. Unfortunately, it was sunk during the Second World War by an equally famous German battleship ‘Bismarck’.
Cowan retired as an Admiral in 1931, but nine years later, at the age of 71, he was back in service. His old friend Admiral Keyes was in charge of training the newly formed Commandos, and Cowan (who voluntarily took the lower rank of Commander) was attached to this force during its training in Scotland. He then managed to accompany the commandos to Egypt as a liaison officer and went with them on a couple of raids on the German-held coast of North Africa. These raids were unsuccessful, and this is where Cowan's wartime history and that of the 18th Cavalry merge.
The regiment of the Indian Armoured Corps was the 18th Cavalry, which traces its origin to the 8th and 16th Regiments of Bengal Irregular Cavalry, which were raised in 1842 and 1846, respectively. They were later redesignated as 6th Bengal Cavalry and 7th Hariana Lancers, which in 1922 were amalgamated to form the 18th Cavalry. At the opening stages of the Second World War, the regiment was part of the famous 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. Having mechanized as a motor cavalry regiment, it arrived in Egypt in February 1941 and, within two months, had its first encounter with the newly formed Afrika Korps at Mekili. Mounted in trucks and armed with only small arms and 2-pounder antitank guns, the brigade broke out of encirclement with great difficulty and substantial losses. While its other two regiments withdrew eastwards, the 18th Cavalry went north to become the reserve of the Australian division defending Tobruk. The regiment was caught in the siege and occupied a 5 km section of the perimeter from north of Derna Road to the sea. For the next four months, it was constantly engaged with Axis troops, fighting defensive actions, conducting raids, patrolling, etc.
Three months later, it received 78 reinforcements from the Commandos whose force had been disbanded, and they were formed into an additional squadron. The soldiers were mostly from the British Guards Regiment. They were accompanied by Sir Cowan, who had persuaded the captain of a destroyer that was ferrying troops to take him to Tobruk, where he managed to attach himself to the 18th Cavalry. According to the war diary of the 18th Cavalry, the Admiral was:
“Just about the most unassuming and modest person one can meet with perfect manners which at all times are an example to us… He is now a permanent member of the Regiment and goes everywhere with us, does everything with us and is forever proclaiming his gratitude for being allowed to be with us.”
On the other hand, the regiment considered it a great honor to have in their midst an illustrious Admiral with a meticulous service record who was present at Scapa Flow, where the German Fleet surrendered in 1918.
The regiment was relieved in August 1941 and sailed to Alexandria with the Admiral. After being refitted, the brigade rejoined. The battle in North Africa ebbed and flowed, and in May 1942, at the opening stages of the Battle of Gazala, the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade was thrust into the eye of the impending storm. Sir Cowan had now been with the regiment for nearly a year. Now better equipped with 6-pounder antitank guns and supported by the 25-pounders of the 2nd Indian Field Artillery Regiment, the brigade took the brunt of the attack by the Afrika Korps on the first day of the battle. The brigade was overrun but not before it held part of the Korps for over two critical hours and in the process destroyed a large number of Axis tanks. One estimate places the figure at 60, of which 20 lay in front of or within the position of the 18th Cavalry.
Over 20 officers of the brigade were captured, including Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Fowler, the Commanding Officer of the 18th Cavalry, who was subsequently awarded the DSO. The prisoners of war (POWs) also included the Admiral, who, refusing all cover, stood in the open, engaging passing tanks and armored cars with his revolver. An Italian armored car stopped 40 yards in front of him, and Cowan drew his revolver and fired until it was empty. A captain in the armored car then fired at him with a machine gun and missed. With no cartridges left, Cowan dropped his gun, walked up to the captain, and asked him what he wanted. The Italian motioned for him to get in his car. In a letter to the 18th Cavalry sent from a POW camp in Italy the following month, the Admiral wrote, "I would like you to know I did not put my hands up, and did run out of cartridges—didn’t want to disgrace the regiment. Walter Cowan."
In 1943, on account of his age, he was released from Italy in a POW exchange, but the Admiral was not yet ready to go home. The motorized brigade had been reassigned to the Middle East, which was an inactive theatre. Possibly for this reason, the Admiral rejoined the commandos and was in action in Italy in 1944, where he was awarded a bar to the DSO. He retired again in 1945, being one of the oldest active-duty servicemen.
At the end of the war, the 18th Cavalry arrived at Risalpur under the command of the 3rd Armoured Brigade. The brigade was commanded by Brigadier Walter Loaring, ex-19th Lancers, and the 18th Cavalry was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Goring. The regiment decided to invite Admiral Cowan to become the Colonel of the Regiment of 18th Cavalry. It was a great honour for the regiment when the Admiral accepted his appointment and travelled from England to Risalpur for the Installation Parade in March 1947. As part of the ceremony, he took the salute at a march past, addressed the Durbar and met the veterans. On this occasion, he presented some of the flags he had flown on the ships he commanded in action. Throughout his stay at Risalpur, the Admiral wore the uniform of the Colonel of the Regiment.
Admiral Cohan remained Colonel of the Regiment for the next ten years till he passed away in 1956. In accordance with his will, a silver salver that the regiment had presented him during the ceremony was returned. His biography, appropriately named ‘Sound of the Guns’, was published in 1949.
Major General Syed Ali Hamid (Retired) was commissioned into the Armoured Corps in 1968 and served with his regiment, 26 Cavalry, in Chhamb during the 1971 War. He is a graduate of the Staff College, Camberley, and the National Defense University, Islamabad, where he remained an instructor for four years. Besides his illustrious military career, he raised the Defence Export Promotion Organization (DEPO).
Notes
1. Sir Walter Cowan -— HMS Hood Association (www.hmshood.com/crew/biography/cowan_bio.htm).
2. Review: ‘Tich’ Cowan–The Fighting Admiral–CSIO csio-ops-csio.blogspot. com/2018/12/tich-cowan-fighting-admiral.html.
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