King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) was a cavalry regiment of 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 ...

, formed in 1901, which saw service in 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 ...

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 s ...

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. George w ...

) 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 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 ...

. 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 and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...

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 ...

. 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 and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

, 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, London, 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 i ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

, 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 (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

, 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 (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

29 November 1901

Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: The Great War * Loos * Ypres 1917 * Pilckem * Cambrai 1917 * Lys * Estaires *

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, , , ) 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 1880, when French was taught ...

* Pursuit to Mons * France and Flanders 1915-16 '18 * Italy 1917-18

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. 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.

Early history

First World War

King's Colonials Lodge

Colonels

Battle honours

Uniforms

See also

References

Further reading