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King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) 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 ...
, formed in 1901, which saw service in 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 ...
.


Early history

The regiment was originally formed as part of the
Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...
in November 1901, as the 4th County of London Imperial Yeomanry (King's Colonials), with the Prince of Wales (later King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...
) as honorary colonel. It was composed of four squadrons of colonial volunteers resident in London - one of Asians (British Asian Squadron), one of Canadians (British American Squadron), one of Australasians (Australasian Squadron), and one of South Africans and Rhodesians (British African Squadron). A New Zealand squadron was later formed, with the Australasian squadron being redesignated as Australian. It did not see service in the South African War. In 1905 it was retitled The King's Colonials, Imperial Yeomanry, and in 1908 became part of the
Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...
in the
Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...
. In 1909 the specific affiliations of the squadrons ended. With the death of
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
, after whom it had been named, it was retitled King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) in 1910. In 1913, it was transferred into the
Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...
, and ceased to be considered yeomanry. After the 2nd King Edward's Horse was raised in 1914, the regiment became known as 1st King Edward's Horse.


First World War

On the outbreak of war in 1914, the regiment was mobilised at the
Duke of York's Headquarters The Duke of York's Headquarters is a building in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, England. In 1969 it was declared a listed building at Grade II*, due to its outstanding historic or architectural special interest. History ...
in
Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...
, and remained in London until April 1915. At this point, the regiment was dispersed, and the four squadrons were sent to the Western Front with separate divisions. They were reunited in June 1916, the regiment serving as corps troops, and moved to Italy in December 1917. The regiment returned to France in March 1918, serving until the end of hostilities. Some reports suggest that the final British casualty of the war was a private in C squadron. During the First World War Langley Park House was used as a hospital for officers of the 2nd Regiment of King Edward's Horse.


King's Colonials Lodge

The regiment was disbanded in March 1924, and both it and its comrades' association have ceased to exist. However, in 1909 the regiment officially sanctioned and formed a regimental
masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
, the King's Colonials Lodge No 3386, in London. As the number of surviving members of the closed regiment dwindled, they opened membership of the regimental Lodge to all interested persons, and passed all regimental traditions to the Lodge. The Worshipful Master of the Lodge has an official entitlement to wear the regimental tie. The Lodge continues to function, and to maintain regimental traditions. It continues to tend regimental graves, and to lay wreaths at the regimental memorials in London and France.


Colonels

Honorary colonels were as follows: * The
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
29 November 1901


Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: The Great War * Loos *
Ypres 1917 Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
* Pilckem *
Cambrai 1917 Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Esc ...
* Lys *
Estaires Estaires (; vls, Stegers) is a commune in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. The town gives its name to a type of chicken bred in the area: the Estaires chicken. Geography Estaires is located in French Fla ...
*
Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, nl, Hazebroek, , vls, Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1 ...
*
Pursuit to Mons Pursuit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Pursuit'' (1935 film), a 1935 American action film * ''Pursuit'' (1972 American film), a made-for-TV film directed by Michael Crichton * ''Pursuit'' (1972 Hong Kong film), a Shaw Brot ...
* France and Flanders 1915-16 '18 *
Italy 1917-18 The Italian front or Alpine front ( it, Fronte alpino, "Alpine front"; in german: Gebirgskrieg, "Mountain war") involved a series of battles at the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy, fought between 1915 and 1918 in the course of World W ...


Uniforms

Upon its establishment in November 1901 this regiment wore a khaki serge uniform with narrow scarlet stripes on the turn-down collar, cuffs and khaki cord breeches. The headdress was a wide-brimmed hat of khaki felt with a scarlet plume and lancer style lines. Unusually three badges were worn on the hat - two regimental badges in different sizes plus one squadron badge (elephant, beaver, kangaroo, ostrich or fern-leaf according to the parts of the Empire from which the London-based colonials originated). After 1904 a number of new features were introduced, including a large drooping plume of black/green cocks feathers modelled on that of the Italian
Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, whi ...
. Until the outbreak of the First World War, the uniform for full dress and off-duty wear remained khaki with scarlet braiding, piping and double trouser stripes. The plain khaki field uniform of the British Army was adopted for training, active service and ordinary duty after 1907 and increasingly worn until the regiment was disbanded in 1924.


See also

*
County of London Yeomanry A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
* 2nd King Edward's Horse


References


Further reading

* Lieut-Col. Lionel James had command of the regiment. {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1901
King Edward's Horse King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1901, which saw service in the First World War. Early history The regiment was originally formed as part of the Imperial Yeomanry ...
Military units and formations in London Military units and formations in Chelsea, London Military units and formations disestablished in 1924 Regiments of the British Army in World War I