The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a

cavalry regiment Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating a ...

in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

. It was renamed the 2nd King's Own Regiment of Horse in 1714 in honour of George I. The regiment attained the title 1st King's Dragoon Guards in 1751. The regiment served as horse cavalry until 1937 when it was mechanised with light tanks. The regiment became part of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1939. After service in the First World War and the Second World War, the regiment amalgamated with the

2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse. Renamed several t ...

in 1959 to form the

1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales and the bordering English counties of Cheshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, and ...

History

Early history

The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as Lanier's Regiment of Horse or the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King

, as part of the response to the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...

. The regiment saw action at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691 during the Williamite War in Ireland. It also fought at the

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (german: Zweite Schlacht bei Höchstädt, link=no; french: Bataille de Höchstädt, link=no; nl, Slag bij Blenheim, link=no) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied v ...

in August 1704, the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, the

Battle of Oudenarde The Battle of Oudenarde, also known as the Battle of Oudenaarde, was a major engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession, pitting a Grand Alliance force consisting of eighty thousand men under the command of the Duke of Marlborough and Prin ...

in July 1708 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The regiment was renamed the 2nd King's Own Regiment of Horse in 1714 in honour of George I. It saw action again at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession. The regiment was renamed the 1st King's Dragoon Guards in 1751. The regiment made a desperate charge which saved the army at the Battle of Corbach in July 1760 and then made another famous charge at the Battle of Warburg later that month during the Seven Years' War. The regiment charged again with devastating effect at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars. The regiment took part in the 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 ...

in 1857 as well as the Battle of Taku Forts in August 1860 and the capture of Peking during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

. A detachment of the regiment was responsible for the capture of

King Cetshwayo King Cetshwayo kaMpande (; ; 1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1879 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetawayo, Cetewayo, Cetywajo and Ketch ...

at the

Battle of Ulundi The Battle of Ulundi took place at the Zulu capital of Ulundi (Zulu:''oNdini'') on 4 July 1879 and was the last major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British army broke the military power of the Zulu nation by defeating the main Zulu army ...

in July 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War and the regiment saw action again at the Battle of Laing's Nek in January 1881 during the First Boer War. The regiment was employed chasing the elusive General Christiaan de Wet in spring 1901 during the Second Boer War.

The Habsburg connection

In March 1896 Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria became Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment. At the same time the double-headed Austrian eagle became the cap-badge of the regiment, and it adopted '' Radetzky March'' as its regimental march. On the occasion of his Diamond Jubilee on 2 December 1908, the Emperor instituted the ''Inhaber-Jubiläums-Medaille für Ausländer'' (Commander's Jubilee Medal for Foreigners) to celebrate his 60 years on the throne. Some of the 40 golden, 635 silver and 2000 bronze medals were awarded to officers and private soldiers in the regiment. The ceremonial helmet with the badge of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards which was given to Emperor Franz Joseph I on his appointment as colonel-in-chief is now on display at the

Museum of Military History, Vienna The Museum of Military History – Military History Institute (german: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum – Militärhistorisches Institut) in Vienna is the leading museum of the Austrian Armed Forces. It documents the history of Austrian ...

First World War

Cavalry squadron charging (Photo 24-174)

The regiment, which had been was stationed at Lucknow in India at the start of the war, landed at Marseille as part of the 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade in the

1st Indian Cavalry Division The 1st Indian Cavalry Division was a division of the British Indian Army which was formed at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front, and was renamed the 4th Cavalry Division on 26 November 1916. In March 1918, the ...

in November 1914 for service on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Festubert in May 1915, the Second Battle of Ypres also in May 1915 and the

Battle of Morval The Battle of Morval, 25–28 September 1916, was an attack during the Battle of the Somme by the British Fourth Army (United Kingdom), Fourth Army on the villages of Morval, Pas-de-Calais, Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs, Lesbœufs held by th ...

in September 1916 but returned to India in October 1917.

Third Anglo-Afghan War

The regiment remained in garrison at Meerut until October 1918 when it exchanged stations with

21st (Empress of India's) Lancers The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, where Win ...

and moved to Risalpur. On 2 May 1919 Afghan troops seized control of wells on the Indian side of the border. The Afghan Amir Amanullah was warned to withdraw, but his answer was to send more troops to reinforce those at the wells and to move other Afghan units to various points on the frontier. The regiment was mobilised on 6 May and formed part of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade The 1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army formed in 1906 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. It remained in India during the First World War but took an active part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1 ...

. It served throughout the Third Anglo-Afghan War and saw action at the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

. At Dakkaa village in Afghan territory, north west of the Khyber Passon 16 May, the regiment made one of the last recorded

charges Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

by a British horsed cavalry regiment as it was already apparent the old world would be giving way to mechanisation.

Second World War

The regiment took part in all the major battles of the North African Campaign including the

Relief of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. ...

in November 1941. The regiment, then serving as the armoured car reconnaissance regiment of Lieutenant General Richard McCreery's X Corps, landed at Salerno during the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 against concentrated enemy opposition and were the first

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

unit into the city of Naples in early October 1943. The Welsh writer Norman Lewis, in his celebrated account of life in Naples claimed that the King's Dragoon Guards was the first British unit to reach Naples in 1943, and that many of its officers immediately went on a looting spree, cutting paintings from their frames in the prince's palace. The regiment later took part in the

Battle for Monte la Difensa The Battle of Monte La Difensa took place between 3 December and 9 December 1943 during ''Operation Raincoat'', part of the Battle for the Bernhardt Line during the Italian campaign in World War II. Background Monte La Difensa (also known as H ...

in December 1943 and the advance to the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

in late 1944.

Post-war

The regiment was posted 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 September 1945 and to Libya in January 1947 before being deployed on home duties at Omagh, Northern Ireland in February 1948. The regiment moved to Adams Barracks in

Rahlstedt Rahlstedt () is a quarter (''Stadtteil'') in the Wandsbek borough (''Bezirk'') of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2020, the population was 92,511. History The quarter was first mentioned in 1248 with the name of "''R ...

in November 1951 and to Mcleod Barracks in Neumünster in April 1953. In 1956 the regiment was sent on active service in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

during the Emergency: during this time the regiment took part in

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

operations in both mounted operations ( armoured cars) and on foot in the dense jungles operating from a base at

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. T ...

. The regiment merged with the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) in 1959 to form the

Regimental museum

The regimental collection is displayed at Firing Line: Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Soldier in Cardiff.

Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: *''Early wars'': Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Warburg, Beaumont, Waterloo, Sevastopol, Taku Forts, Pekin 1860, South Africa 1879, South Africa 1901–02 *''The Great War'': Somme 1916, Morval, France and Flanders 1914–17 *''Between the Wars'': Afghanistan 1919 *''The Second World War'': Beda Fomm, Defence of Tobruk, Tobruk 1941, Tobruk Sortie, Relief of Tobruk, Gazala, Bir Hacheim, Defence of Alamein Line, Alam el Halfa, El Agheila, Advance on Tripoli, Tebaga Gap, Point 201 (Roman Wall), El Hamma, Akarit, Tunis, North Africa 1941–43, Capture of Naples, Scafati Bridge, Monte Camino, Garigliano Crossing, Capture of Perugia, Arezzo, Gothic Line, Italy 1943–44, Athens, Greece 1944–45

Notable members of the regiment

* William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham – future Prime Minister, was an officer in the regiment (1731–36) until after arriving in Parliament. * Banastre Tarleton – cavalry officer during the American Revolution *

Alfred Hutton Alfred Hutton FSA (10 March 1839 – 18 December 1910) was a Victorian officer of the King's Dragoon Guards, writer, antiquarian, and swordsman. He originated the first English revival of historical fencing, together with his colleagues Egerto ...

– author, antiquarian and swordsman * Francis Younghusband – soldier, explorer, spiritualist * Sir David Dundas – Colonel, 1813–1820 *

John Doogan John Doogan ( ga, Seán Ó Dubhagáin; March 1853 in Aughrim, County Galway – 24 January 1940 in Folkestone, Kent) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy t ...

– a private who received the Victoria Cross, First Boer War 28 January 1881 Laing's Nek, South Africa * Josey Little, James Lockhart Little – Rider who won the 1848 Grand National Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase

Colonels-in-Chief

Colonels-in-Chief were as follows: *1896–1914: HIM Franz Joseph I of Austria, Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria & King of Hungary

Regimental colonels

Regimental colonels were as follows: ;The Queen's Regiment of Horse *1685–1692: Lt-Gen. Sir John Lanier *1692–1717: Gen. Hon. Henry Lumley ;The King's Own Regiment of Horse – (1714) *1717–1721: Col. Rich Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine, Richard Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine *1721–1733: F.M. Sir Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham *1733–1742: Lt-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke *1743–1752: Gen. Sir Sir Philip Honywood, Philip Honywood, KB ;1st (The King's) Dragoon Guards – (1751) *1752–1763: Lt-Gen. Humphrey Bland *1763–1779: Gen. John Mostyn (British Army officer), John Mostyn *1779–1796: F.M. Sir George Howard (British Army officer), George Howard, KB *1796–1810: Gen. Sir William Augustus Pitt, KB *1810–1813: Gen. Francis Augustus Eliott, 2nd Baron Heathfield *1813–1820: Gen. Sir David Dundas (British Army officer), David Dundas, GCB *1820–1821: Gen. Francis Edward Gwyn *1821–1827: Gen. William Cartwright (British Army officer, died 1827), William Cartwright *1827–1840: Gen. Sir Henry Fane (British Army officer), Henry Fane, GCB *1840–1851: Gen. Hon. Sir William Lumley, GCB *1851–1859: Gen. Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart, Charles Murray Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart, GCB (Lord Greenock) *1859–1868: Gen. Sir Thomas William Brotherton, GCB *1868–1872: Gen. Sir James Jackson (British Army officer), James Jackson, GCB, KH *1872–1886: Gen. Henry Aitchison Hankey *1886–1908: Lt-Gen. Sir James Sayer (British Army officer), James Robert Steadman Sayer, KCB *1908–1926: Maj-Gen. William Vesey Brownlow, CB ;1st King's Dragoon Guards – (1921) *1926–1940: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles James Briggs, KCB, KCMG *1940–1945: Brig-Gen. Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, VC, GCMG, CB, DSO & Bar, KStJ *1945–1953: Brig. Sidney Howes, DSO, MC *1953–1959: Brig. John Gerard Edward Tiarks

References

Sources

* *

External links

Regimental museum
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Cavalry regiments of the British Army, 1-001 Dragoon Guards 1685 establishments in England, 1-001 Regiments of the British Army in World War II, King's Dragoon Guards 001 Cavalry regiments of the British Army in World War I, DG1 Military units and formations established in 1685 Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps, Dragoon Guards 001 Military units and formations disestablished in 1959