The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but following the

1957 Defence White Paper The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected wa ...

, it was amalgamated with the 3rd The King's Own Hussars, forming the

Queen's Own Hussars The Queen's Own Hussars (QOH), was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed from the amalgamation of the 3rd The King's Own Hussars and the 7th Queen's Own Hussars at Candahar Barracks, Tidworth in 1958. The regiment served in Aden and ...

in 1958.

History

Formation; 17th century

In April 1689, several Independent Troops of Scots Horse were formed as a short-term response to the 1689-1691 Jacobite Rising in Scotland. These were re-organised in December 1690 as two regiments, one commanded by Colonel Richard Cunningham and in line with prevailing practice, it was known as Cunningham's Regiment of Scots Dragoons. In February 1694, it was transferred onto the English military establishment and shipped to

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, where it took part in operations associated with the 1695 Siege of Namur. All participants in the Nine Years War were financially exhausted, and there was little military activity after the fall of Namur. On 1 October 1696, Cunningham was promoted to Brigadier-General; Lord Jedburgh succeeded him and the regiment became Jedburgh's Regiment of Dragoons.

Wars of the 18th century

The regiment spent most of the 1702–1714

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

based in Edinburgh; in 1707, Jedburgh transferred the Colonelcy to Lord Polwarth, who sold it to William Kerr in 1709.Cannon, p. 20 In 1711, Kerr's Dragoons joined the field army in Flanders but the war was winding down and the regiment disbanded in 1714, before being reconstituted in July 1715 by George I, as HRH the Princess of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons, in honour of Princess Caroline. During the 1715 Jacobite rising, it fought at Sheriffmuir, but this was its only significant action until 1743. Renamed The Queen's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons after the coronation of George II in 1727; William Kerr finally stepped down in 1741 and Sir John Cope took over as Colonel. The unit returned to Flanders in 1742 during the 1740–1748

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

, taking part in the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy, Rocoux and finally Lauffeld in July 1747.Cannon, p. 35-37 The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war and the regiment returned to England.Cannon, p. 38 When the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

began in 1756, the regiment took part in the June 1758 Raid on St Malo, at which 100 enemy vessels were burned, the Raid on Cherbourg in August 1758 and the Battle of Warburg in July 1760. In 1783, it was classed as 'light dragoons,' light cavalry used for reconnaissance and retitled the 7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons. During the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, it fought at Beaumont in April 1794 and Willems in May.Cannon, p. 35

Wars of the 19th century

In 1807, the regiment was designated as

Hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

s and retitled 7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars). Sent to Corunna in October 1808 to support Sir John Moore's retreat, they fought at the Battle of Sahagún on 21 December 1808 and Benavente on 29th. Part of the Queen's Own was shipped home in the ''Dispatch,'' which was wrecked just south of the Lizard on 22 January 1809; 104 men were lost from the regiment, only seven in total were saved. The unit returned to the

Peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

in August 1813 and made several charges at the February 1814 Battle of Orthes,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

reporting that ''the 7th Hussars distinguished themselves on this occasion and made many prisoners.'' In March 1814, the unit moved to

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, where it was used to put down rioting caused by the imposition of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

. When Napoleon was restored in 1815, the regiment returned to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

; during the rearguard

action at Genappe After the battle of Quatre Bras, fighting at Quatre Bras (16 June 1815) the two opposing commanders Marshal Ney and the Duke of Wellington initially held their ground while they obtained information about what had happened at the larger Battle ...

on 17 June, Lord Uxbridge ordered it to attack French lancers under Colonel Jean Baptiste Joseph Sourd. The following day, at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

, the regiment was held in reserve until the evening, but then again undertook a series of charges. Standish O'Grady, then a lieutenant in the 7th Hussars, wrote to his father:

"We charged twelve or fourteen times, and once cut off a squadron of cuirassiers, every man of whom we killed on the spot except the two officers and one Marshal de Logis, whom I sent to the rear".

In May 1838 the regiment was deployed to Canada as part of the response to the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...

Indian Rebellion

The regiment was deployed to India in late 1857 as part of the response to the Indian Rebellion. Cornet William Bankes, died fighting off his attackers in an incident at Musa Bagh in March 1858 and Major Charles Fraser saved three non-swimmers from the regiment stranded in the middle of a sandbank on the River Rapti in December 1858. The regiment's title was simplified in 1861 as the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars. The regiment provided a contingent for the

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...

in autumn 1884. The regiment was deployed to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in November 1901 and was stationed at Leeuwkop during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

First World War

The regiment, which had been stationed in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

at the start of the

landed in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

as part of the 11th Indian Cavalry Brigade in November 1917. The regiment took part in the action of Khan Baghdadi in March 1918 and the Battle of Sharqat in October 1918.After service in the First World War, the regiment retitled as 7th Queen's Own Hussars in 1921. The regiment, which was re-equipped with Mark II tanks, transferred to the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...

in 1939.

Second World War

The regiment had been converted to tanks in 1937 and subsequently been trained in Cairo giving them a reasonable advantage. Although they might have thought that they were misplaced in Egypt, when Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940, that thought quickly slipped their mind. They formed part of the 7th Armoured Brigade in the 7th Armoured Division and were joined by the

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

and the 11th Hussars. On 14 June 1940 the 7th Hussars, with a company of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and a battery of 4th Royal Horse artillery captured Fort Capuzzo, while the 11th Hussars captured La Maddalena. They took part in the

Battle of Sidi Barrani The Battle of Sidi Barrani 1940) was the opening battle of Operation Compass, the first big British attack of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Sidi Barrani, on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt, had been occupied by the Italia ...

in December 1940 and at the

Battle of Bardia The Battle of Bardia was fought between 3 and 5 January 1941, as part of Operation Compass, the first British military operation of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War. It was the first battle of the war in which an Australian A ...

in January 1941.

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

created the

Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...

under the command of General

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

to re-inforce the Italians: in April 1941, the allied troops in

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

were cut off by the Germans and Italians but in June 1941 the 7th Armoured Division was again prepared for battle as part of Operation Battleaxe, having received new tanks and additional personnel. Rommel then started to push the Allies back into

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. The regiment helped delay Rommel's advance although the commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Freddie Byass and many others were killed at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941. IWM-E-6724-Crusader-19411126

In January 1942 the regiment was sent to

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and engaged with the Japanese Army at Pegu.

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Sir Harold Alexander spoke highly of the regiment when he said:

"Without them we should never have got the Army out of Burma; no praise can be too high for them."

The regiment was ordered to destroy its tanks as it crossed the

Chindwin River The Chindwin River (), also known as the Ningthi River (), is a river in Myanmar and is the largest tributary of the Irrawaddy River. Sources The Chindwin originates in the broad Hukawng Valley of Kachin State of Burma, roughly , where the Tanai, ...

in May 1942. It then re-deployed to the Italian Front and, having been seconded to the Polish 2nd Corps, fought at the first Battle of Ancona in June 1944 and in the battles for the Gothic Line in autumn 1944. The Polish Army granted the regiment the privilege of wearing the "Maid of Warsaw" for their "Magnificent work – fine examples of heroism and successful action". The regiment reached

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in October 1944 and then took part in the battle for the Po plains in the spring of 1945.

Post-war

The regiment was deployed to Bournemouth Barracks in

Soltau Soltau () is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the Lüneburg Heath and is known nationwide especially for its touri ...

, in

Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...

in June 1946. It returned to the UK in December 1947 and then moved to Alma Barracks in

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

in 1949 and to Lumsden Barracks in Bad Fallingbostel in October 1951. The regiment was sent to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1954 and returned home in 1957. It survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but was slated for reduction in the

, and was amalgamated with the 3rd The King's Own Hussars, to form the

in 1958.

Regimental museum

The regimental collection is located in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

in an area known as "Trinity Mews"

Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: *''Early wars'': Dettingen, Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Orthes, Peninsula, Waterloo, Lucknow, South Africa 1901-02 *''The Great War'': Khan Baghdadi, Sharqat, Mesopotamia 1917-18 *''The Second World War'': Egyptian Frontier 1940, Beda Fomm, Sidi Rezegh 1941, North Africa 1940–41, Ancona, Rimini Line, Italy 1944–45, Pegu, Paungde, Burma 1942

Victoria Crosses

*Lieutenant General Sir Charles Craufurd Fraser *Cornet William George Hawtry Bankes

Regimental Colonels

The regimental colonels were as follows: ;The Queen's Own Regiment of Dragoons - (1690) *1690–1696: Brig-Gen. Richard Cunningham *1696–1707: Lt-Gen. William Kerr, 2nd Marquess of Lothian, KT (Lord Jedburgh) *1707–1709: Col. Patrick Hume, Baron Polwarth *1709–1714: Lt-Gen. Hon. William Kerr *''disbanded 1714'' ;The Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Dragoons - (reformed 1715) *1715–1741: Lt-Gen. Hon. William Kerr (''reappointed'') ;The Queen's Own Regiment of Dragoons - (1727) *1741–1760: Lt-Gen. Sir John Cope, KB ;7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of Dragoons - (1751) *1760–1763: Gen. John Mostyn *1763–1779: F.M. Sir George Howard, KB *1779–1795: Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, KB (senior) ;7th (or Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons - (1783) *1795–1801: Gen. Sir David Dundas, GCB *1801–1842: F.M. Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, KG, GCB, GCH ;7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars) - (1807) *1842–1846: Lt-Gen. Sir James Kearney, KCH *1846–1864: Gen. Sir William Tuyll, KCH ;7th (Queen's Own) Hussars - (1861) *1864: Gen. James Alexander St. Clair Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn *1866–1873: Maj-Gen. Sir John Scott, KCB *1873–1879: Col. Charles Hagart, CB *1879–1884: Gen. Henry Roxby Benson, CB *1884–1896: Lt-Gen. William Thomas Dickson *1896–1907: Maj-Gen. Robert Hale *1907–1924: Maj-Gen. Sir Hugh McCalmont, KCB, CVO ;7th Queen's Own Hussars - (1921) *1924–1946: Maj-Gen. Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, KG, PC, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, DSO, ADC *1946–1948: Col. Geoffrey Fielden, OBE *1948–1952: Col. Thomas Anson Thornton, CVO *1952–1958: Maj-Gen. Ralph Younger, CB, CBE, DSO, MC *1958 Amalgamated with 3rd The King's Own Hussars to form the ''

References

Bibliography

*Anon. A Short History of the Seventh Queen's Own Hussars from 1689 to 1932. Gale & Polden Ltd. Aldershot. 1932. * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:7th Queen's Own Hussars Cavalry regiments of the British Army Hussar regiments of the British Army 1689 establishments in England Military units and formations established in 1689 Queen's Own Hussars 007 H07 Military units and formations disestablished in 1958 Caroline of Ansbach