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The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but was slated for reduction in the 1957 Defence White Paper, and was amalgamated with the
9th Queen's Royal Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but wa ...
to form the
9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) The 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years of its existence, the regiment served a ...
in 1960.


History


Early wars

The regiment of
dragoons Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat ...
was raised in
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
by Brigadier-General Phineas Bowles as the Phineas Bowles's Regiment of Dragoons in July 1715 as part of the response to the
Jacobite rebellion , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...
. It was employed escorting prisoners to London later in the year. In 1718, the regiment was placed on the Irish establishment and posted to Ireland, where it remained for 75 years. In 1751, the regiment was officially styled the 12th Dragoons. In 1768,
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
bestowed the badge of the three ostrich feathers and the motto "''Ich Dien''" on the regiment and re-titled it as the 12th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons. A young Arthur Wesley (later Duke of Wellington) joined the regiment as a subaltern in 1789. The regiment took part in the
siege of Bastia The siege of Bastia was a combined British and Corsican military operation during the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars. The Corsican people had risen up against the French garrison of the island in 1793, and sought support from the ...
in April 1794, which took place in
Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
, in the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
.Cannon, p. 18
Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...
was impressed by the conduct of the regiment and ordered that medals be awarded to its officers. The regiment landed at
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
in March 1801 and, although its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Mervyn Archdall, was seriously injured in skirmishes, it saw action at the Battle of Alexandria later in the month.Cannon, p.27 The regiment, under a new commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Doyle, captured 28 officers and 570 other ranks of the French Dromedary Regiment (french: Régiment de Dromadaires) in an action in the Egyptian desert in May 1801. It took part in the siege of Cairo securing the city in June 1801 and then participated in the siege of Alexandria taking that city in September 1801. The regiment next deployed for the disastrous
Walcheren Campaign The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham ...
in autumn 1809.Cannon, p.30 In June 1811 the regiment embarked for
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
and, under the command of Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, took part in the
siege of Ciudad Rodrigo Sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo are a series of sieges of the Spanish town Ciudad Rodrigo. Specific sieges are: * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1370) * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1707) * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810) * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) ...
in January 1812, the siege of Badajoz in March 1812 and the
Battle of Villagarcia In the Battle of Villagarcia (also known as the Battle of Llerena) on 11 April 1812, British cavalry commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton routed a French cavalry force led by ' Charles Lallemand at the village of Villagarcia in ...
in April 1812 in the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
. It also undertook two charges at the
Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...
in July 1812 before taking part in the
siege of Burgos At the siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of ...
in September 1812, the
Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leading to ...
in June 1813 and the
siege of San Sebastián In the siege of San Sebastián (7 July – 8 September 1813), part of the Peninsular War, Allied forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington failed to capture the city in a siege. However in a second siege the Alli ...
in autumn 1813. The regiment next advanced into
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and supported the infantry at the
Battle of Nivelle The Battle of Nivelle (10 November 1813) took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops (20, ...
in November 1813. The regiment marched through France and arrived in
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
in July 1814 from where it returned to England.Cannon, p.44 In the
Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by ...
, the regiment was attached to Sir John Vandeleur's light cavalry brigade. At the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
in June 1815, the regiment charged down the slope to support the Union Brigade of medium cavalry. Ponsonby fell, dangerously wounded, in the
melee A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
.Cannon, p.50 In 1816, the 12th Light Dragoons was armed with lances after the cavalry of Napoleon's Army had shown their effectiveness at Waterloo and were re-titled 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers). In 1855, it reinforced the Light Cavalry Brigade in the Crimea after the
Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to se ...
at the
Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...
. In 1861, the regiment was renamed 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Regiment of Lancers. It was stationed in India between 1857 and 1860 in response to the
Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
and in Ireland from 1865 to 1870, before fighting in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...
in the late 1870s.


Boer War

The regiment was deployed to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
for service in the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
in October 1899, and took part in the
relief of Kimberley The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to tr ...
and the ensuing
Battle of Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley. Lord Methuen adv ...
in February 1900. The commanding officer of the regiment, the 11th Earl of Airlie, was killed at the
Battle of Diamond Hill The Battle of Diamond Hill (Donkerhoek) () was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place on 11 and 12 June 1900 in central Transvaal. Background The Boer forces retreated to the east by the time the capital of the South African ...
in June 1900. Following the end of the war in 1902 they went to India. Almost 530 officers and men left
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
aboard SS ''Lake Manitoba'' in September 1902, arriving at
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
the following month and was then stationed at
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...
in
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
.


First World War

The regiment, which had been based in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
at the start of the war, landed in France as part of the 5th Cavalry Brigade in the 2nd Cavalry Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. On 28 August 1914, 'C' Squadron of the 12th Lancers, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Wormald, made a successful charge against a dismounted squadron of Prussian Dragoons at Moÿ-de-l'Aisne in the
Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...
. The 9th/12th Royal Lancers celebrated
Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...
/Moy Day annually, which commemorated the last occasions on which each predecessor regiment charged with lances.


Inter-war era

In 1921 the regiment was re-titled the 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's). In 1928, it gave up its horses and was equipped with
armoured cars Armored (or armoured) car or vehicle may refer to: Wheeled armored vehicles * Armoured fighting vehicle, any armed combat vehicle protected by armor ** Armored car (military), a military wheeled armored vehicle * Armored car (valuables), an arm ...
, taking over vehicles left in Egypt by two
Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...
armoured car units, the 3rd and 5th Companies.Crow, p. 3 Late in 1934, the 12th exchanged equipment and station with the
11th Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...
, taking over 34
Lanchester 6×4 armoured car The Lanchester 6x4 armoured car was a British armoured car with a 6x4 drivetrain produced in limited numbers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. A heavier, more rugged development of the earlier Lanchester 4x2 armoured car, it remained in s ...
s at
Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, south o ...
. Its strength would have been 12 officers and 141 other ranks, organised in a company headquarters and three sections, each with five cars. Total numbers were sixteen cars, six motorcycles, a staff car, four 3-ton () and seven 30- cwt ()
lorries A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
. In January–February 1935 a provisional ''D'' squadron of the 12th Lancers with eight armoured cars served as a peacekeeping force in the Saar region. On 31 December ''B'' and ''C'' squadrons were sent again to Egypt with 29 armoured cars as a response to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia and strengthening garrisons in
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. By the end of 1936 the squadrons were returned to Britain, where the regiment was re-equipped with
Morris Light Reconnaissance Car Morris Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC) was a British light armoured car for reconnaissance use produced by Morris Motors Limited and used by the British during the Second World War. The Nuffield Group had been brought in to supplement producti ...
s.


Second World War

The 12th Lancers was an
armoured car regiment Armoured Car Regiments were reconnaissance units employed by the British Army during the 20th century. The primary equipment of these units was the armoured car with many different types of armoured cars serving in the regiments during the Second ...
equipped with the Morris CS9, in the 1940 campaign in France and Flanders, playing a key part in shielding the retreat to Dunkirk. After evacuation (without their vehicles) from Malo-les-Bains on
dredgers Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
, they were first equipped with Beaverettes, then, in June 1941, with Humbers. The Lancers landed in
Port Tewfik The Suez Port is an Egyptian port located at the southern boundary of the Suez Canal. It is bordered by the imaginary line extending from Ras-El-Adabieh to Moussa sources including the North Coast until the entrance of Suez Canal. Originally ''Por ...
, Egypt, in November 1941. Subsequently, the regiment fought as divisional troops for the 1st Armoured Division at the
Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
in October 1942 and then served as a corps-level reconnaissance unit in the Italian Campaign.


Post-war era

The regiment was deployed to
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
in August 1946 before returning home in April 1947. It was sent to Malaya in September 1951 in the
Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
and, having been posted to Harewood Barracks in
Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford. Geography ...
in January 1955 moved on to Northampton Barracks in
Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...
in March 1956. It returned home again in March 1959 and deployed to
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
in May 1959. The regiment was amalgamated with the
9th Queen's Royal Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but wa ...
to form the
9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) The 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years of its existence, the regiment served a ...
in September 1960.


Regimental museum

The
Derby Museum and Art Gallery Derby Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Derby, England. It was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collect ...
incorporates the Soldier's Story Gallery, based on the collection, inter alia, of the 12th Royal Lancers.


Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: *''Early Wars'': Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, South Africa 1851-2-3, Sevastopol, Central India, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899–1902 *''The Great War:'' Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Neuve Chapelle, St. Julien, Bellewaarde, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917 '18, Somme 1918, St. Quentin, Lys, Hazebrouck, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18 *''The Second World War:'' Dyle, Defence of Arras, Arras Counter Attack, Dunkirk 1940, North-West Europe 1940, Chor es Sufan, Gazala, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Tebaga Gap, El Hamma, Akarit, El Kourzia, Djebel Kournine, Tunis, Creteville Pass, North Africa 1941–43, Citerna, Gothic Line, Capture of Forli, Conventello-Comacchio, Bologna, Sillaro Crossing, Idice Bridgehead, Italy 1944–45


Colonel-in-Chief

*1919–: F.M. HM
King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...


Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were: *1715–1719: Maj-Gen. Phineas Bowles (senior) *1719–1740: Lt-Gen. Phineas Bowles (junior) *1740–1743: Col. Alexander Rose *1743–1746: Brig-Gen. Samuel Walter Whitshed *1746–1747: Lt-Gen.
Thomas Bligh Lieutenant General Thomas Bligh (1685–1775) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born Kingdom of Great Britain, British soldier, best known for his service during the Seven Years' War when he led a series of amphibious raids, known as "Naval Descen ...
*1747–1749: Gen. Sir
John Mordaunt John Mordaunt may refer to: *John Mordaunt (speaker) (d. 1504), Tudor politician and Speaker of the House of Commons *John Mordaunt, 1st Baron Mordaunt (d. 1562) *John Mordaunt, 2nd Baron Mordaunt (1508–1571) *John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborou ...
, KB *1749: Gen. Hon.
James Cholmondeley James Cholmondeley (18 April 1708 – 13 October 1775) was a British Army officer and Member of Parliament between 1731 and 1747. He fought at Fontenoy and during the 1745 Rising commanded a brigade at the Battle of Falkirk, where he suffere ...
*1749–1750: Lt-Gen.
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785), styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720, Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and p ...
*1750–1763: Lt-Gen. Sir John Whitefoord, Bt. ;12th Regiment of Dragoons (1751) *1763–1764: Lt-Gen.
Edward Harvey Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, (1783 – 4 May 1865) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and continued in the service during the first half of the nineteenth century during which he participated ...
*1764–1770: Gen. Benjamin Carpenter ;12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (1768) *1770–1775: Gen. Sir
William Augustus Pitt General Sir William Augustus Pitt KB, PC (c. 1728 – 29 December 1809) was a long-serving if undistinguished senior officer of the British Army whose sixty years of service covered several major wars and numerous postings as garrison or re ...
, KB *1775–1782: Lt-Gen. Hon. William Keppel *1782–1791: Lt-Gen. Hon.
George Lane Parker George Lane Parker (1724–1791) was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1769 and 1780. Early life Parker was born on 6 September 1724, the second son of George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield and his fir ...
*1791–1815: Gen. Sir James Steuart, Bt., GCH *1815–1825: Gen. Sir William Payne, Bt. ;12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers) *1825–1827: Lt-Gen. Sir Colquhoun Grant, KCB, GCH *1827–1837: Lt-Gen. Sir
Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian Lieutenant General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian (28 July 177520 August 1842), known as Sir Hussey Vivian from 1815 to 1828 and Sir Hussey Vivian, Bt, from 1828 to 1841, was a British cavalry leader ...
, GCB, GCH *1837–1856: Gen. Sir Henry John Cumming, KCH *1856–1861: Lt-Gen. Sir
Lovell Benjamin Lovell General Sir Lovell Benjamin Badcock Lovell, KCB, KH (born Badcock; 1786 – 11 March 1861) was a lieutenant-general in the British Army. He was a descendant of Sir Salathiel Lovell through the marriage of Lovell's daughter, Jane Lovell, to Ric ...
, KCB, KH ;12th (Prince of Wales's Royal) Lancers (1861) *1861–1872: Gen. Sir
George Henry Lockwood George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
, KCB *1872–1879: Gen. Edward Pole *1879–1892: Gen. Thomas Hooke Pearson, CB *1892–1894: Lt-Gen. Edward Burgoyne Cureton *1894–1896: Maj-Gen. Robert Hale *1896–1902: Lt-Gen. Sir Arthur Lyttelton-Annesley, KCB, KCVO *1902–1909: Maj-Gen. John Cecil Russell, CVO *1909–1917: Lt-Gen. Robert George Broadwood, CB *1917–1920: Maj-Gen. Walter Howorth Greenly, CB, CMG, DSO *1920–1951: F.M. Sir
William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951) was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl ...
, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, CIE, DSO ;12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) (1921) *1951–1960: Gen. Sir Richard Loudon McCreery, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (to 9th/12th Royal Lancers) *''1960: Regiment amalgamated with
9th Queen's Royal Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but wa ...
to form
9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) The 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years of its existence, the regiment served a ...
''


See also

*
British cavalry during the First World War The British cavalry were the first British Army units to see action during the First World War. Captain Hornby of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards is reputed to have been the first British soldier to kill a German soldier, using his sword, ...


References


Sources

* * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


Brief history of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers
{{British Cavalry Regiments World War I Military units and formations established in 1715 Cavalry regiments of the British Army L12 Royal Lancers 012 Military units and formations disestablished in 1960 1715 establishments in Great Britain Military units and formations of the Second Boer War