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The 10th Hussars were mechanised at Tidworth with Mark IV Light Tanks and lorries.
The 10th Hussars returned from India to Tidworth in 1936, and were mechanised in 1937. Initially horses were replaced by lorries and 18 year old Mark IV Light Tanks.
A tour around the West Country was arranged with their new vehicles. Three tanks were sent by rail to Plymouth on 30th May, where they were met at Plumer Barracks by an Austin 7 and a 30 cwt lorry. A Royal Signals lorry and Light Aid Detachment (LAD) of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps accompanied the crews. On 1st June a trip was made to Tavistock, during which the speed of 6 mph caused the light tanks to overheat, but the return at 15 mph solved the problem. On 2nd June the tour proper started, with the brakes failing on one tank, leaving it in a ditch. Two tanks made it to Exeter under their own power; the third tank arrived on a trailer. After several days spares for the Mark IV Light Tank were running low as they were no longer being made, so the crews and LAD had to strip and rebuild brake pads and gearboxes.
The end of the tour was a 75-mile run from Falmouth to Plymouth on 21st June, resulting in a number of breakdowns. On the 22nd June the tanks were loaded back on the train and the crews returned to Tidworth by lorry. The experience that these former mounted soldiers gained from this tour was to stand them in good stead on the outbreak of war.
