1st Duke of York ' s Own Skinner ' s Horse The 1st Duke of York ' s Own Lancers ( Skinner ' s Horse ) was a unit of the British Indian Army from 1922 to independence and thereafter a unit of the Indian Army . Its foundation was when it was raised in 1803 as Skinner ’ s Horse by James Skinner ( Sikander Sahib ) as an irregular cavalry regiment in the service of the East India Company , the regiment became ( and remains ) one of the seniormost cavalry regiments of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army . There were two regiments of Indian Cavalry raised by Colonel James Skinner in 1803 . They became the 1st Bengal Lancers and the 3rd Skinner ' s Horse . On the reduction of the Indian Army in 1922 , they were amalgamated and became Skinner ' s Horse ( 1st Duke of York ' s Own Cavalry ) . Early history . After formation in 1803 the regiment was involved in a number of the campaigns on the Asian sub - continent , notably the First Afghan War , the Second Afghan War , the First Sikh War and the Second Sikh War . In 1842 a detachment of the regiment lost 108 men out of 180 engaged in a clash at Kandahar . The 1st Skinner ' s Horse remained loyal during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 , seeing service in the Ravi River district and distinguishing itself at Chichawatni . It was the first Indian Army regiment sent overseas during the Boxer Rebellion and participated in the Battle of Peking . During this campaign the regiment clashed with Tartar cavalry and served alongside United States units - the first occasion where British Indian and US troops had served together World War I . The regiment was at Meerut when the First World War broke out . The regiment was a part of the 7th ( Meerut ) Cavalry Brigade , 2nd Indian Cavalry Division . The brigade received orders to mobilise on 24 October 1914 . The regiment was in France till August 1916 . It saw extensive action in many parts of France . It was awarded the battle honours France and Flanders for its fine performance . It was sent to Mesopotamia as a part of the 7th Meerut Cavalry Brigade Headquarters . The regiment was then ordered back to India where it concentrated in Rawalpindi in August , 1916 for operations in Afghanistan . A detachment of the regiment was tasked to guard the post at Gumboz . Between the wars . After World War I , the British Indian Army was scaled down . On 18 May 1921 , two regiments were amalgamated at Sialkot with the new title of the 1st Duke of York ’ s Own Skinner ’ s Horse . The 1st Duke of York ' s Own Lancers which had been only Muslims and the 3rd Skinner ' s Horse consisted of one squadron each of Sikhs , Jats , Rajputs and Rangars ( Muslim Rajputs ) . After the amalgamation , the regiment would only consist of only three Squadrons : Rajputs , Rangars and Jats . The Sikh Squadron , which had been part of the 3rd Skinner ' s Horse for 72 years , was disbanded . Each of the squadrons was equipped with one Hotchkiss gun and with . 303 Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifles . The machine gun troops of the Headquarters Squadron were equipped with the . 303 Vickers machine gun . The regiment acquired the status of a regular force of the British Indian Army and was equipped with the latest weapons which helped in later campaigns across the globe . World War II . At the beginning of World War II the regiment was still mounted , but was quickly converted to act as a mechanised reconnaissance regiment and was attached to the 5th Indian Division and when the division was sent to the Sudan , formed part of Gazelle Force . During the rest of the war the regiment was attached variously to the 4th Indian Infantry Division ; the British 10th Armoured Division , the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade and the 10th Indian Infantry Division . The regiment fought in East Africa , North Africa and Italy and was awarded battle honours for Agordat , Keren , Amba - Alagi , Abyssinia , Senio Flood Bank and Italy . The senior Pakistani politician Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan ( 1915 - 1998 ) , who served with Skinner ' s Horse in Sudan / Africa during the Second World War , has written a brief but memorable account of the regiment ' s service there , in his memoirs , " The Nation that Lost its Soul " ( Lahore : Jang Pubs , 1995 ) . Post World War II . The regiment was switched to tanks in 1946 , receiving the Stuart tank , and a year later Churchills . In 1947 with Indian Independence the regiment became part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps . The first Indian commander was Lt Col RM Bilimoria , and the regiment was stationed at Ahmadnagar . The regiment took part in the Hyderabad Police Action in 1948 , following which action it stopped the use of Stuart tanks . The Churchill tank remained in use until 1957 , after which the regiment was equipped with Sherman Mk IV ' s . Eight years later in 1965 the regiment converted to the T - 54 and then to the T - 55 . In 1979 the regiment converted to the T - 72 tank . James Skinner ( who raised the regiment ) built St . James ' Church , Delhi . In 2003 , a special service was held there to commemorate the bicentenary of the regiment . Name Changes . Like many regiments of the Indian Army , the 1st Duke of York ’ s Own Lancers ( Skinner ’ s Horse ) underwent a series of name changes in their history . Uniforms . The old 1st Lancers wore yellow uniforms ( unique in the world ) and the old 3rd wore blue . The " yellow " was actually close to mustard in shade but led to the regiment being nicknamed " Canaries " or " Yellow Boys " from its formation . Each regiment had the full - dress ( mounted ) long ' Kurta ' worn with a turban and cummerbund , also a full - dress ( dismounted ) or levee , dress . These were not in general use after 1914 but could still be worn by officers on special assignments ( e . g . as an aide - de - camp ) or while attending court functions . The merged Skinner ' s Horse was assigned a dark blue full dress with yellow facings in 1922 but by 1931 the historic yellow and black had been restored . The mess jacket and waistcoat of the old 1st Bengal Lancers was adopted by the 1922 regiment of Skinner ' s Horse and was the cold weather mess dress until 1939 . All six of these uniforms are in the collection of the National Army Museum .