The Last Cavalryman

In 1927, mounted cavalry was still a powerful and effective force in the mountains and plains of Northern India, where it policed and protected the border of the British Empire. When, in 1939, the world was engulfed in the flames of a second world war, horsed transport was still vital to the success of all armies involved, but the rapid advance of military technology meant that the men of the British Cavalry would have to learn new skills if they were to be effective against the steel monsters that were starting to dominate the battlefield.

From Yorkshire to the Northwest Frontier of India, from France to Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Italy, THE LAST CAVALRYMAN recounts the experiences of an ordinary man who along with so many others, was thrown into the turmoil of an extraordinary time. Although he also served as a hussar, and an infantryman, he was always proud to be a member of The Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons, and this is his story.

Richly illustrated with photographs, maps, and military documents, the memoirs of Quartermaster Sergeant Harry Holgate provide a vivid and fascinating insight into the changing role of a British cavalryman from 1927 to 1944. His letters home offer an intimate glimpse of a time when warfare was changing out of all recognition, and when the cost of defeat would be unimaginable.