Armour Day today, Army chief Gen MM Naravane extends best wishes to all ranks of Armoured Corps

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army is celebrating Armour Day today. The day is celebrated by the Armoured Corps of Indian Army on 1 May every year to commemorate the commencement of mechanisation of the Indian Cavalry Regiments. 

On this date in 1938, The Scinde Horse became the first Regiment to shed their horses to be equipped with tanks.

The ADGPI, which handles the official Twitter handle of the Indian Army, greeted the Armoured Corps on the occasion. It also tweeted a picture in remembrance of the day.

The Indian Army Chief General MM conveyed his best wishes to all ranks of Armoured Corps on the occasion of Armour Day.

General MM Naravane #COAS and all ranks of #IndianArmy convey best wishes to all ranks of Armoured Corps on the occasion of Armour Day. pic.twitter.com/UFHN0OtCGw

— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 1, 2020

On this day in 1938, the Scindia Horse became the first regiment to convert to tanks. The first equipments they adapted were Vickers light tanks and Chevrolet armoured cars.

With the passage of time, the Indian Army became better equipped. In 1943, the Indian Armour updated itself to the Sherman tanks (M4) of American origin.

This transformation in the Army was further  updated post-Independence with the coming in of the Centurions Mark 7 and AMX-13 light tanks.

Since then, the Armoured Corps has operated the indigenous Vijayanta tank, the Russian T-54 and T-55 tanks and the T-72 main battle tank, which has been the workhorse of the corps for the past three decades.

It is to be recalled that with the combination of forces and armoured vehicles, the Indian Army was able to register a first-rate performance in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.

Equipped mainly with Shermans and Centurions, the Army was successful in destroying the sophisticated Pakistani Patton tanks to form the famous graveyard, "Patton Nagar" near Khemkaran in Punjab. Lt. Col.(later General) A.S Vaidya Col Caleb were awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for their gallant performance in the Khem Karan sector.

The Armoured Corps is continuously modernizing itself and the Government of India is taking every steps to bring them at par with the best.