The Queen's Royal Lancers (QRL) 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 ...

of the British Army. It was formed in 1993 and amalgamated with 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 ...

on 2 May 2015 to form the Royal Lancers.

History

The regiment was formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers with the

17th/21st Lancers The 17th/21st Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in England by the amalgamation of the 17th Lancers and the 21st Lancers in 1922 and, after service in the Second World War, it amalgamated with the 16th/5th The Queen' ...

. From its formation, the regiment served in the armoured role with first

Challenger 1 The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank (MBT) used by the British Army from 1983 to 2001, when it was superseded by the Challenger 2. It is also currently used by the Royal Jordanian Army as its main battle tank, after heavy m ...

, then Challenger 2. However, in 2005, as part of the re-organisation of the army, the regiment started converting to the formation reconnaissance role, re-equipping with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle. As part of the Army 2020 reforms intended to reduce the size of the British Army in line with the Strategic Defence and Security Review, it was announced that the

9th/12th Royal Lancers 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 as ...

would amalgamate with the Queen's Royal Lancers to form a single regiment, the Royal Lancers, on 2 May 2015.

Organisation

The regiment was organised into four

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...

s, each of which perpetuates one of the antecedent regiments: * the 16th Lancer Squadron, * the 17th Lancer Squadron, * the 21st Lancer Squadron * and the 5th Lancer Squadron.

Regimental museum

The Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum The Royal Lancers & Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum traces the history of three old and famous cavalry regiments, the Queen's Royal Lancers, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry and the South Nottinghamshire Hussars. It is located at Thoresby Hall in N ...

is based at Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire.

Traditions

The regiment's nickname, the 'Death or Glory Boys', came from their

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

and was known as "the motto". This was the combined cap badges of the two antecedent regiments, and features a pair of crossed lances, from the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers, together with a skull and crossbones, below which is a ribbon containing the words 'Or Glory'. This comes from the 17th/21st Lancers, and was the cap badge of the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lanc ...

(the original 'Death or Glory Boys').

Battle honours

The battle honours are:
16th/5th battle honours Combined honours before amalgamation of 16th and 5th Lancers: * Blenheim, Ramillies,

Oudenarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heu ...

, Malplaquet, Beaumont, Willems, Talavera, Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Nive,

Peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

, Bhurtpore, Ghuznee 1839, Afghanistan 1839, Maharajpore, Aliwal, Sobraon, Suakin 1885, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Siege of Ladysmith,

South Africa 1899-1902 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 ...

* First World War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Bellewaarde, Arras 1917, Cambrai 1917, Somme 1918, St. Quentin, Pursuit to Mons After amalgamation of 16th and 5th Lancers: * Second World War: Kasserine, Fondouk, Kairouan, Bordj, Djebel Kournine, Tunis, Gromballa, Bou Ficha, North Africa 1942-43, Cassino II, Liri Valley, Monte Piccolo, Capture of Perugia, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Argenta Gap, Traghetto, Italy 1944-45 *Wadi al Batin, Gulf 1991 17th/21st battle honours Combined honours before amalgamation of 17th and 21st Lancers: *Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Central India, South Africa 1879, Khartoum, South Africa 1900-02 * First World War: Festubert, Somme 1916 '18, Morval, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Avre, Hazebrouck, Amiens, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1914-18, N.W. Frontier India 1915 '16 After amalgamation of 17th and 21st Lancers: * Second World War: Tebourba Gap, Bou Arada, Kasserine, Thala, Fondouk, El Kourzia, Tunis, Hammam Lif, North Africa 1942-43, Cassino II, Monte Piccolo, Capture of Perugia, Advance to Florence, Argenta Gap, Fossa Cembalina, Italy 1944-45 Queen's Royal Lancers After amalgamation of 16th/5th Lancers and the 17th/21st Lancers into the Queens' Royal Lancers: *Al Basrah, Iraq 2003

Alliances

* - Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) * -

12th/16th Hunter River Lancers The 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers is an Australian Army Reserve cavalry regiment. It was formed on 1 May 1948, although it draws its lineage from units that were originally formed in the 1880s. It is currently a Light Cavalry unit equipped with ...

* - HMS ''Ark Royal''

Affiliated Yeomanry

* Sherwood Rangers

Colonel-in-Chief

*1993–2015: HM

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were: *1993–1995: Maj-Gen. Alastair Wesley Dennis, CB, OBE (ex 16/5 Lancers) *1995–2001: Lt-Gen. Sir Richard Swinburn, KCB *2001–2006: Brig. William James Hurrell, CBE *2006-2011: Maj-Gen. Andrew Cumming *2011-2015: Maj-Gen.

Patrick Marriott Major General Patrick Claude Marriott (born 23 February 1958) is a former British Army officer who became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. His early career was with the 17th/21st Lancers and the Queen's Royal Lancers, which ...

, CB CBE

Commanding Officers

Regimental Commanding Officers included:Regiments and Commanding Officers, 1960–
* 1993–1994:

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Robert A. McKenzie Johnston * 1994–1996: Lt Col Alick I. Finlayson * 1996–1998: Lt Col Rudi N. Wertheim * 1998–2000: Lt Col Patrick Claude Marriott * 2000–2002: Lt Col James Rupert Everard * 2002–2004: Lt Col Charles S. Fattorini * 2004–2006: Lt Col Andrew G. Hughes * 2006–2008: Lt Col Richard B. Nixon-Eckersall * 2008–2011: Lt Col Martin Todd * 2011–2013: Lt Col Nigel J. Best * 2013–2015: Lt Col Julian N. E. Buczacki

References

External links

Official siteBritish Army Locations from 1945
{{Royal Lancers Cavalry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1993 Royal Armoured Corps