1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards
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| 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards | |
|---|---|
 Cap badge of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards |
|
| Active | January 1, 1959- |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Line Cavalry |
| Role | Formation Reconnaissance |
| Size | One regiment |
| Part of | Royal Armoured Corps |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ - Cardiff Regiment - Sennelager, Germany |
| Nickname | The Welsh Cavalry |
| Motto | Pro rege et patria (For King and Country) (Latin) |
| March | Quick - The Radetski March Slow - 1st Dragoon Guards and 2nd Dragoon Guards Slow March |
| Engagements | Most notable Battle Honours are Blenheim, Waterloo, Tobruk and El Alamein. |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-Chief | HRH The Prince of Wales, KG, GCB, KT |
| Colonel of the Regiment |
Colonel Christopher David MacKenzie-Beevor, CBE |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
| Arm Badge | Royal Cypher of Queen Caroline From the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) |
| Abbreviation | QDG |
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of 1st King's Dragoon Guards and the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards), both of which were raised in 1685 as Lanier's or 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, and Peterborough's or 3rd Regiment of Horse by James II of England in reaction to the Monmouth Rebellion.
Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, and is the senior Heavy Cavalry Regiment, and therefore senior Cavalry Regiment of the Line. The regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps.
The regiment currently operates in the formation reconnaissance role and is equipped with vehicles from the CVR(T) family. These include the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle; the Sultan command vehicle and Samaritan ambulance; the Spartan armoured personnel carrier and the Samson armoured recovery vehicle.
The regiment is currently serving in Germany, having recently returned from Iraq on Operation Telic, its third tour to the region in three years. In 2003, C Squadron QDG was attached to 3 Commando Brigade, providing the reconnaissance and light armour support necessary to allow the brigade's advance north to Al Basrah. Members of C Squadron won a variety of operational awards for their efforts on Op Telic 1, most notably the Military Crosses awarded to Lieutenant Simon Farebrother and Major Henry Sugden.
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.
Perhaps the best known member in recent years was Captain Mark Phillips, one-time husband of Princess Anne.
Contents |
[edit] Battle honours
- [combined battle honours of 1st King’s Dragoon Guards, and The Queen’s Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards)], plus:
- Wadi al Batin, Gulf 1991; Al Basrah, Iraq 2003
[edit] Notable COs
- 1971-1973: Maurice Robert Johnston
[edit] Alliances
Canada - The Governor General's Horse Guards
Australia - 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers
South Africa - 1 Special Service Battalion
Pakistan - 11th Cavalry (Frontier Force)
Sri Lanka - 1st Reconnaissance Regiment
Royal Navy - HMS Monmouth
[edit] Affiliated Yeomanry
- The Shropshire Yeomanry
- The Cheshire Yeomanry (The Earl of Chester's)
[edit] Order of Precedence
| Preceded by: The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) |
Cavalry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by: The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) |
[edit] External links and sources
- The regiment's official homepage
- Brief History and Summary from the website of the Royal Armoured Corps
- Welsh Cavalry pushes in to Iraq, a BBC article on the regiment's early participation in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
- The regiment's homepage
