The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) | |
---|---|
Active | 2 May 2015 – present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Armoured cavalry |
Role | Close-quarters combat Reconnaissance Desert warfare Forward observer Manoeuvre warfare Patrolling Raiding Cold-weather warfare Screening Urban warfare |
Size | One regiment with four squadrons |
Part of | Royal Armoured Corps |
Garrison/HQ | RHQ – Prince William of Gloucester Barracks Regiment – Catterick |
Nickname(s) | The Death or Glory Boys |
Motto(s) | Death or Glory [1] |
March | Quick: Wellington Slow: Coburg |
Commanders | |
Colonel-in-Chief | Queen Camilla |
Colonel of the Regiment | Col Richard Charrington [2] |
Insignia | |
Tactical Recognition Flash | |
Arm Badge | Lances and Prince of Wales's feathers from 9th/12th Royal Lancers |
Abbreviation | RL |
The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015. It serves in the 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team. The Royal Lancers are part of the 3rd (UK) Division.
It appears that the regimental amalgamation of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers was envisaged as part of Army 2020. [3]
The amalgamation was announced in July 2012, and the regiment was formed with an amalgamation parade before their colonel-in-chief, Queen Elizabeth II, at Richmond Castle on 2 May 2015. [4] [5]
On 5 April 2017, to mark her 70th anniversary as colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers and its predecessors, The Queen granted the regiment the honorific suffix "Queen Elizabeths' Own", to recognise their service to Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. [6]
On 8 June 2023, Queen Camilla was appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment. [7]
The regiment is an Armoured Cavalry Regiment. [8] Previously equipped with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, it started converting to the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in 2022. [1] This was intended to be replaced by the Ajax (Scout SV) from 2019; [9] however, after considerable delays, British Army trials of the Ajax were paused in the summer of 2021 due to excessive vibration. [10] The Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle is also currently used. [1]
The regiment consists of three Sabre Squadrons of sixteen vehicles each and one Command and Support Squadron. [11] The Royal Lancers forms part of the Royal Armoured Corps. [11] It is based in Catterick as part of the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, one of the three Armoured Brigade Combat Teams of the 3rd (UK) Division. [12]
Since 2015, the regiment has deployed soldiers operationally on Operation Elgin (Bosnia / Kosovo), [13] Operation Tosca (Cyprus), [14] Operation Orbital (Ukraine), and as part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Poland. [15]
Regimental Commanding Officers included: [16]
The regiment retains order of precedence from the more senior antecedent regiment, the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's).
The Royal Lancers is now the last regiment in the British Army to retain the title of "lancers". It has directly or indirectly inherited the traditions of the six British lancer regiments that were in existence until a series of amalgamations began in 1922.
1881 Childers Reforms | 1922 Amalgamations | 1990 Options for Change | 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review – today |
---|---|---|---|
16th (The Queen's) Lancers | 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers | Queen's Royal Lancers | Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) |
5th (Royal Irish) Lancers | |||
17th (Duke Of Cambridge's Own) Lancers | 17th/21st Lancers | ||
21st (Empress of India's) Lancers | |||
9th (The Queen's Royal) Lancers | 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) (amalgamated 1960) | ||
12th (Prince Of Wales's Royal) Lancers | |||
The Regimental Cap Badge is referred to as the 'Motto' and stands for 'Death or Glory'. [17]
The historic lance, complete with pennant, is still carried by detachments of the regiment on ceremonial occasions. [18]
The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Army's armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. In September 2024, it comprised fourteen regiments: ten Regular Regiments; four Army Reserve. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment provide an armoured regiment, they are not part of the RAC.
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The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars, abbreviated as QRIH, was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed from the amalgamation of the 4th Queen's Own Hussars and the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars in 1958. The regiment saw active service against insurgents in Aden; during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and during the Gulf War, as well as regular service in West Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine. The regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Hussars to form the Queen's Royal Hussars on 1 September 1993.
The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish) (QRH) is a British armoured regiment. It was formed on 1 September 1993 from the amalgamation of the Queen's Own Hussars and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars. The regiment and its antecedents have been awarded 172 Battle Honours and eight Victoria Crosses. The regiment was based in Sennelager, Germany, until 2019 when it was relocated to Tidworth Camp, England. It is the armoured regiment for 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team.
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales and the bordering English counties of Cheshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, and is the senior cavalry regiment, and therefore senior regiment of the line of the British Army.
The 9th/12th Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years of its existence, the regiment served as a formation reconnaissance regiment, equipped with the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family of vehicles and was attached to the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats. The regiment was based in South Wigston, Leicestershire, along with its affiliated Territorial Army unit, B Squadron, The Royal Yeomanry. It was amalgamated with the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015 to form the Royal Lancers
The Light Dragoons (LD) is a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment has a light cavalry role and specialises in mounted and dismounted reconnaissance. The Light Dragoons recruit mainly in Northern England, from County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire. For this reason, the regiment is known as "England's Northern Cavalry". It is currently based in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.
The Queen's Royal Lancers (QRL) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1993 and amalgamated with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015 to form the Royal Lancers.
The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury Barracks, Wiltshire, the regiment currently serves as the armoured cavalry reconnaissance unit of 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Previously equipped with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, it started converting to the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in 2022.
The King's Royal Hussars (KRH) is a Royal Armoured Corps regiment of the British Army formed in 1992. Based at Tidworth it serves as the armoured regiment of the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). Under Army 2020 Refine, it is intended to exchange its Challenger 2 tanks for Ajax vehicles.
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The 12th Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but was slated for reduction in the 1957 Defence White Paper, and was amalgamated with the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers to form the 9th/12th Royal Lancers in 1960.
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