ABSTRACT
The Damascus blade which symbolically represented an army in which all creeds and races of Indian served together with the British in mutual respect and concord marched away into history, but its memories and traditions remain intact in the armies of India and Pakistan. In 1947, the class structure of the Indian Armoured Corps with the exception of one regiment was based on the so called Martial Races from the North. A committee under Major General Irwin appropriately called the Irwin Committee was given the delicate task of allotting the regiments. The earlier system of seven cavalry stations considered impractical and unpopular since it tied down seven regiments when mobilisation was called for was done away with. The fact that both India and Pakistan inherited disciplined armed forces goes to prove the process of reconstitution, in spite of the difficult conditions, went through smoothly and was a success.
