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

. It was formed in 1993 and amalgamated with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) on 2 May 2015 to form the

Royal Lancers The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015. It serves as the Formati ...

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 Quee ...

. From its formation, the regiment served in the armoured role with first Challenger 1, then

Challenger 2 The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MOD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems (now known ...

. 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 A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

armoured reconnaissance vehicle. As part of the

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

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 would amalgamate with the Queen's Royal Lancers to form a single regiment, the

, on 2 May 2015.

Organisation

The regiment was organised into four squadrons, 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 is based at

Thoresby Hall Thoresby Hall is a grade I listed 19th-century country house in Budby, Nottinghamshire, some 2 miles (4 km) north of Ollerton. It is one of four neighbouring country houses and estates in the Dukeries in north Nottinghamshire all occupied b ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

Traditions

The regiment's nickname, the 'Death or Glory Boys', came from their cap badge and was known as "the motto". This was the combined cap badges of the two antecedent regiments, and features a pair of crossed

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike s ...

s, from the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers, together with a

skull and crossbones A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a ''memento mori'' on tombstones. ...

, 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 Lance ...

(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, Malplaquet, Beaumont, Willems, Talavera, Fuentes d'Onor,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

, Vittoria,

Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by t ...

, Peninsula, Waterloo, Bhurtpore, Ghuznee 1839, Afghanistan 1839, Maharajpore, Aliwal,

Sobraon Sobraon is a village in Punjab, India. It is located west to Harike village in Tarn Taran district. The Sutlej river is to the south of this village. The village is located at 31°10'39N 74°51'10E with an altitude of 192 metres (633 feet). H ...

, Suakin 1885, Relief of Kimberley,

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 ...

Siege of Ladysmith The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal. Background As war with the Boer republics appeared likely in June 1899, the War Offic ...

, South Africa 1899-1902 *

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 ...

: 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 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 opposi ...

: 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 *

: 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: *

: 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) Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH C is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and is Canada’s only tank regiment. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechanize ...

* -

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

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 Lieutenant General Sir Richard Hull Swinburn KCB (30 October 1937 – 11 October 2017) was Commander of the UK Field Army. Military career Educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Swinburn was commissioned int ...

, KCB *2001–2006: Brig. William James Hurrell, CBE *2006-2011: Maj-Gen. Andrew Cumming *2011-2015: Maj-Gen. Patrick Marriott, CB CBE

Commanding Officers

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