Overall: 40cm (16in) x 33cm (13in)
Provenance:
Field Marshal 1st Baron Birdwood (1865-1951)
Field Marshal Sir John Chapple (1931-2022)
Watercolour on paper. Sowar of the 11th (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Bengal Lancers wearing blue Kurta.
Probyn's Horse was raised as a regiment of irregular Sikh cavalry (Wale’s Horse) at Lahore during the Indian Mutiny. It was commanded by Captain Wale of the 18th Irregular Cavalry and when it reached full strength it was sent to the United Provinces to aid the suppression of the Mutiny. They covered the 80 miles from Lahore in a single march. They were not uniformly dressed and disciplined at this stage but were experienced fighters and horsemen. Wale was shot dead on 1 March 1858 by a mutineer whilst leading the regiment in pursuit of fleeing enemy. He was succeeded in 1860 Major Dighton Probyn VC. The regiment was titled 11th (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Bengal Lancers in 1876, and 11th Prince of Wales's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) from 1904.
Brigadier-General Alfred Crowdy Lovett CB (1862-1919) is best known for his illustrations in Major-General George McMunn’s ‘Armies of India’ (1911). He was commissioned into the Gloucestershire Regiment in 1883 and soldiered with the 2nd Battalion in India before serving as an adjutant of the Militia and an instructor at Sandhurst. On the outbreak of the First World War, he went with the British Expeditionary Force to France and commanded a battalion of the Glosters in the retreat from Mons. He was mentioned in despatches for his services in October 1914 and created a Companion of the Bath. After being invalided home, he was appointed to the command of the East Lancashire Reserve Brigade, and in April 1917 took over the command of the Yorkshire Coast Defences.