murderers of an Indian cook named Atu, who was beaten to death for his failure to "provide them with some woman". Before he died, the man had stated that his assailants were men of the 9th Lancers. It was suggested in the press that the assailants may actually have been unsuccessful applicants for the post of cook. The Viceroy, Lord Curzon, had insisted on a collective penalty being imposed on the 9th Lancers, partially to discourage drunken assaults by British soldiers on Indian camp-followers and partially from a sense of personal outrage at efforts made by officers to conceal the facts of this particular case. The regiment was later reported to transfer from Sialkot to Rawalpindi, also in Punjab. First World War The regiment landed in France as part of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in the 1st Cavalry Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. Captain Francis Grenfell was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in saving the guns of 119th Battery, Royal Field Artillery on 24 August 1914 (he was later killed in action on 24 May 1915, as was his twin brother, Riversdale, a yeomanry officer who attached to 9th Lancers). The regiment then participated in the final "lance on lance" action involving British cavalry of the First World War; on 7 September 1914 at Montcel à Frétoy in which Lieutenant Colonel David Campbell led a charge of two troops of B Squadron and overthrew a squadron of the Prussian Dragoons of the Guard. Inter-war The regiment was renamed the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers in 1921. It was deployed to Ireland and lost nine of its men in the Scramogue ambush of March 1921 during the Irish War of Independence. In addition to the lack of conflicts, their relative inactivity was also due to the military high command struggling to decide what role cavalry regiments could perform in modern warfare. Lances ceased to be carried by the six lancer regiments in the British Army for active service in 1928, though the impressive if archaic weapon was retained for ceremonial parades and guard duties. In the case of the 9th Lancers, lances were formally withdrawn in 1932, four years before they lost their horses. In the spring of 1938, the Mobile Division, later to become the 1st Armoured Division, was formed: the 2nd Armoured Brigade, which included the 9th Lancers, was assigned to it. Second