Thursday, August 6, 2009

1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards

The Regiment is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year

Although the senior cavalry regiment of the British Army officially turned 50 this year, it is actually much, much older than that. It's formation in 1959 was but an amalgamation of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards and the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards), both of which were raised in 1685 by James II of England in reaction to the Monmouth Rebellion. Its most notable Battle Honours are Blenheim, Waterloo, Tobruk and El Alamein.

Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales as well as the bordering English counties. The regiment's cap badge is the Habsburg double headed eagle, which Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria allowed the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards to wear when he become their Colonel-in-Chief in 1896. The current Colonel-in-Chief is naturally Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

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The Prince of Wales, in his role as Colonel-in-Chief of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, inspects the ranks at Cardiff Castle where the regiment celebrated its 50th anniversary, 31 July 2009. Pro rege et patria!

Photo © Press Association
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 5, 2009 at 10:31 PM

    It's most famous soldier (in the last 50 years at least) is probably Captain Mark Philips.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 5, 2009 at 6:50 PM

    Famous by name but not as a soldier

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 23, 2013 at 3:29 PM

    He was a good soldier and a great Troop Leader ! Ask his men !

    ReplyDelete