U.S. Cavalry in WWII

[HerbertTarkel]

Don’t get me started on the Canadians and cavalry - it’s nearly as sordid as the Americans, just not as well known…

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Supposedly the negligent discharge of his pistol was what convinced him to adopt the pearl handled circus revolvers. I suspect being a malignant narcissist also came into play with that one.

Weren’t the handles ivory rather than pearl? I recall one quote - possibly apocryphal - to the effect that “only a pump in a New Orleans whore house” would sport such weapons. But I confess my ignorance.

[MaleGriffin]

“only a pump in a New Orleans whore house” would sport such weapons"

I think you meant "pimp."

"They're ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol." George S. Patton

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

I think you meant "pimp."

I did. I’ll leave it as it is as a lesson to myself to proofread before posting. Otherwise, considering it was purely from memory, it wasn’t too far off.

I’m now wondering whether those words are what he said to Villa’s bodyguard before shooting him.

[carlos marighela]

I did. I’ll leave it as it is as a lesson to myself to proofread before posting. Otherwise, considering it was purely from memory, it wasn’t too far off.

I’m now wondering whether those words are what he said to Villa’s bodyguard before shooting him.

At a guess: 'We don't need no steenking badges senor.' 

Whatever witty bon mot he delivered I'm sure it was lost on his immediate audience. I suspect the Mexicans response, if any, was along the lines of '¡Chúpame la polla, maricón!'

Pearl, ivory, it matters not. What's important is that the guy knew how to accessorise. That level of metrosexuality is rare in men of his generation.

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

You may be onto something Carlos. Come to think of it, wasn’t his chief of staff gay? No, he was called Gay, but at a time when that would not have constituted an invitation to sniggers.

[Freddy]

6. Hungary and Romania
Both Hungary and Romania, as Axis allies, maintained cavalry units during WWII. These units were used primarily for reconnaissance and in secondary theaters, such as the Balkan and Eastern Fronts.
Hungarian cavalry, for example, participated in the campaign against the Soviet Union, often operating in more traditional cavalry roles in the early stages of the war.

Hungarian cavalry (Hussars) was part of the so called Gyorsfegyvernem ("Fast troops"), together with the tanks and the armoured cars. The concept was that Hussars were basically Panzergrenadieners as they could quickly follow the tanks and provide infantry support for them. This was necessary due to the lack of motorization and not unique back then, Germans and Soviets followed the same principle (from the same reason). They fought to the end, even after 1945 May some of them were kept in arms to help policing Austria. But their most famous battle was the one on 1941 August 15 at Mykolaiv, as remembered by a German guy (Erich Kern):

Since morning we had been fighting a hard battle against an enemy dug in and tenaciously defending the side of a high railway embankment. We had attacked them four times during the day, but they had repulsed us all four times. The battalion commander was shouting in every tone, the company commanders were helpless. We had asked for urgent artillery fire support in vain, but it was getting late. And then suddenly a Hungarian hussar regiment appeared on the scene, on horseback. We all laughed. What do these Hungarians want here? It will be a shame for those magnificent, elegant horses.

At that moment we almost turned to stone. These guys were crazy! Hussar company after hussar company galloped towards us. The command was given. The brown-faced, slender riders sat in the saddles as if they had grown into them. Their commander, a tall, shining hussar colonel [sic!] with a golden collar, drew his sword. Four or five light armoured cars turned out on the flanks and the hussar regiment was already galloping across the wide, flat field, their drawn swords gleaming in the rays of the setting sun. Seydlitz might have charged like this once. Forgetting all precautions, we jumped up from our positions. It was all like a superbly staged cavalry film. The first shots rang out from the embankment, and then we heard them less and less often.

And then, with almost bulging eyes, we watched in disbelief what we saw, that the soldiers of the Soviet regiment, who had repelled the attacks of our companies with such fierce and desperate resistance, now jumped up one after another and were running almost madly, fleeing, while the Hungarians, galloping triumphantly, were chasing, driving the Russians before them and with their shining swords, reaping a rich, very rich harvest among them.
[...]

After the communist takeover and stalinization of the army, Hungary still had cavalry based on the ww2 Soviet experiences with cavalry being handy. After the death of Stalin, around 1954, there was a great reduction in the size of the army, that is when the cavalry finally disappeared.