Introduction [excerpt] [T]o link the cavalry to the failure of the British Army in the first battles of the Second World War requires a long-term assessment of cavalry tactics and training. Did the cavalry retain obsolete tactics and influence weapons development in such a way that it can be partially blamed for the disasters of 1940? ... [A]lthough some historians have argued that the cavalry's influence on the development of the British Army was insignificant, an examination of the evidence shows otherwise....