History
The Cavalry Corps traces its history to the formation of the Armoured Car Corps on 14 September 1922. Mechanised from the start, the corps utilised armoured vehicles that the British Army left following the War of Independence. Following a debate on the use of the term "cavalry", and whether the word was meant to encompass horse, wheeled or tracked, the corps was renamed as the Cavalry Corps in 1934.
The first Irish Landsverk L60 was delivered in 1935 and joined Ireland's only other tank a Vickers Mk. D in the 2nd Armoured Squadron. The second Landsverk L60 arrived in 1936. The Landsverk's were still in use up until the late 1960s. One L60 is preserved in running order and the other is in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin.
After The Emergency, the corps established a main battle tank cadre equipped with the Churchill, which formed the basis of the 1st Tank Squadron in 1959. This was equipped with the Comet until its disbandment in 1973.
The Cavalry Corps has served in many locations on UN peacekeeping missions, including the Congo, Cyprus and Lebanon, either as Cavalry groups on their own, or attached as part of a battalion group.
Read more about this topic: Cavalry Corps (Ireland)
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