The Queen's Royal Hussars is the senior Light Cavalry regiment in the British Army and has a proud history of loyal service over 300 years. The 1993 amalgamation between The Queen's Own Hussars and The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars has seen the strengths and abilities from both, forged together in the new regiment.
A Brief History of The Queen's Royal Hussars
The Queen's Own Hussars and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars both sprang from previous amalgamations in 1958 - 3rd The King's Own Hussars with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars and the 4th Queen's Own Hussars with the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars. Their combined histories give the regiment a magnificent tradition and powerful inspiration for those serving in our ranks today. Of the 172 Battle Honours bestowed on the regiments, there is only room for 44 on the guidon, a cavalry regiment's colours; these honours spread across all the major campaigns that the British army has fought during the past three centuries since 1685. The major Battle Honours are:
At the Battle of Dettingen on 27 June 1743, the last time that a British monarch led his army into battle, Trooper Thomas Brown of the 3rd Hussars was the last man ever to be knighted on the battlefield for bravery. He gallantly recovered one of the regiment's standards from the French cavalry. An old print of the time describes the sheer bravery of this trooper: 'He had two horses killed under him, two fingers of ye bridle hand chopt off and after retaking the Standard from ye Gen d'Arms, whom he killed, he made his way through a lane of the enemy exposed to fire and sword, in the execution of which he received eight cuts in ye face and neck, two balls lodged in his back, three went through his hat, and in this hack'd condition he rejoined his regiment, who gave him three Huzzas on his arrival'. 'DETTINGEN' was awarded as a Battle Honour to the 3rd, 4th and 7th Hussars.
During the Battle of Balaklava on 25 October 1854, the 4th (Queen's Own) Light Dragoons and the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars both fought in what is probably the most famous of all cavalry actions: the Charge of the Light Brigade. Private Samuel Parkes of the 4th was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving the life of the Trumpet Major, whose horse had collapsed, from a host of Russian cossacks. 'BALAKLAVA' was awarded as a Battle Honour to the 4th and 8th Hussars.
By World War II, all cavalry regiments had converted to armour and action was seen in many countries. The 3rd, 4th and 8th Hussars fought at El Alamein. As part of the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 3rd Hussars fought their most glorious action of the war; from 2 November 1942 they led the charge into the enemy's anti-tank positions, opening up and holding open a rectangular wedge, through which the rest of the Eighth Army poured. The cost was appalling - 47 out of 51 tanks destroyed, 21 officers and 98 other ranks casualties - but such was the esteem in which they were held, that the 3rd Hussars were awarded the honour of wearing the Fern Leaf, the New Zealander's Divisional Badge; this privilege continues today, carried by all vehicles of the regiment. The 4th and 8th Hussars fought in the southern flank of the battle as part of 7th Armoured Division, the famous 'Desert Rats'. 'EL ALAMEIN' was awarded as a Battle Honour to both the 4th and 8th Hussars.
Honouring their forebears in the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, the regiment also celebrates St Patrick's Day, the Patron Saint of Ireland, on 17 March each year.
The Queen's Royal Hussars Today
The regiment's distinguished histories are represented by many unique privileges and traditions, which are maintained today in the Queen's Royal Hussars. After the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745, the King absolved the 3rd Hussars from drinking the loyal toast, saying that their loyalty was always beyond question; this privilege of ignoring the National Anthem, when played at dinner, was rightly re-affirmed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth prior to amalgamation.
The regimental mascot is a Drum Horse, currently a grey Clydesdale called Peninsula, presented to the Queen's Own Hussars by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1988. The Regimental Mascot carries a pair of silver kettle-drums, replicas of those captured at the Battle of Dettingen by the 3rd King's Own Dragoons; uniquely, the kettle-drums are never covered by drum banners, with Battle Honours being engraved directly onto the sides of the drums.
The Maid of Warsaw, the crest of the city, is worn on the left sleeve of service dress by all ranks; this honour was awarded to the 7th Hussars by the Commander of the Second Polish Corps, in recognition of their valour in support of the Polish Forces during the Italian campaign in World War II.
In recent years the regiments have continued serving in war with distinction: in 1950 the 8th Hussars deployed to Korea, where they blooded the new Centurion tank in combat; the regiments served in the various peace-keeping operations in Aden and Malaysia in the 1960s and in Cyprus and Northern Ireland more recently; the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars led the British forces' advance onto Iraqi soil in Operation Desert Storm in 1991; in January 1996, the regiment deployed Challenger tanks to Bosnia as part of the NATO led Peace Implementation Force. The soldiers here today have memories of the exacting conditions that they experienced in that shattered countryside that will stay with them for many months.
The Regimental Cap Badge
The regimental cap badge is made up from the Angel Harp of the 8th Hussars and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars, superimposed on the regimental cypher of the Queen's Own Hussars, bestowed on the 7th Hussars in 1727; the whole is surmounted by a crown and a lion, with a scroll underneath giving the regiment's title in blue and gold.
Queen's Royal Hussars in Bosnia.
A Scimitar on patrol.
Another site about the Queen's Royal hussars can be found here:
