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

. 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 armoured cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers, 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers on ...

History

The regiment was formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers with the 17th/21st Lancers. 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, Oman, and Ukraine. It was designed by Vickers Defence Systems (now Rheinmetall BAE Systems ...

. 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 of about 75 to 90 cm (30 to 36 inches) associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific swor ...

armoured reconnaissance vehicle. As part of the

Army 2020 Army 2020 is the restructuring of the British Army in the early and mid-2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. The plan, as its name suggested, was intended to be completed by 2020, though most of its reorganisations ...

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

is based at

Thoresby Hall Thoresby Hall is a 19th-century country house and park 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 by duk ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

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 ...

and was known as "the motto". This was the combined cap badges of the two antecedent regiments, and features a pair of crossed

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

s, 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 regiments of the British Army, 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 regim ...

(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 Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, Vittoria,

Nive The Nive (; ; ) 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 the ''Le petit Nicol ...

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 ...

, 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). ...

, Suakin 1885, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg,

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. Boer invasion of Natal Outbreak of war The Second Boer War began on 11 October 1899 wh ...

, South Africa 1899-1902 *

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 ...

: 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 (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 ...

: 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(RC)) is a regular armoured warfare, 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' ...

* - 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers * - HMS ''Ark Royal''

Affiliated Yeomanry

* Sherwood Rangers

Colonel-in-Chief

*1993–2015: HM

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

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, 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