British cavalry mechanisation and regimental continuity

The review quotes a cavalry regiment's claim that it would preserve the same traditions whether armed with sabres, rifles, or vehicles. The book's tables then trace several phases in the mechanisation of line-cavalry regiments. By September 1939, all but two line-cavalry regiments and the two Household Cavalry regiments had at least begun conversion, although their equipment and roles still differed. A reference to Winston Churchill's earlier interest in reducing cavalry strength and the Army budget gives the transition a political as well as a technical setting. Mechanisation appears here as an institutional process involving motorised cavalry, light-tank units, finance, and regimental continuity rather than a single equipment change.