| 1st King's Dragoon Guards | |
|---|---|
 1st King's Dragoon Guards Cap Badge | |
| Active | 1685–1959 |
| Country |  England (1685–1707) Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1959) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Armoured cavalry (later) Dragoon King's Guard |
| Role | Anti-tank warfare Armoured reconnaissance Artillery observer Bodyguard Cavalry tactics Close-quarters battle Counterinsurgency Direct fire Force protection Jungle warfare Maneuver warfare Patrolling Raiding Reconnaissance Shock tactics Urban warfare |
| Size | Regiment |
| Nicknames | Bland's Dragoons, The KDGs, The Trades Union, The Kings Dancing Girls |
| March | Quick:Radetzky March Slow:The King's Dragoon Guards |
| Commanders | |
| Ceremonial chief | Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria |
The1st King's Dragoon Guards was anarmoured cavalry and dragoon guard regiment in theBritish Army. The regiment was raised bySir John Lanier in 1685 as the2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour ofQueen Mary, consort of KingJames II. It was renamed the2nd King's Own Regiment of Horse in 1714 in honour ofGeorge I. The regiment attained the title1st King's Dragoon Guards in 1751. The regiment served as horse cavalry until 1937 when it was mechanised with light tanks. The regiment became part of theRoyal Armoured Corps in 1939. After service in theFirst World War and theSecond World War, the regiment amalgamated with the2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) in 1959 to form the1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.
The regiment was raised bySir John Lanier in 1685 asLanier's Regiment of Horse or the2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour ofQueen Mary, consort of KingJames II, as part of the response to theMonmouth Rebellion.[1]
The regiment saw action at theBattle of the Boyne in July 1690 and theBattle of Aughrim in July 1691 during theWilliamite War in Ireland.[1] It also fought at theBattle of Blenheim in August 1704, theBattle of Ramillies in May 1706, theBattle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and theBattle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during theWar of the Spanish Succession.[1] The regiment was renamed the2nd King's Own Regiment of Horse in 1714 in honour ofGeorge I.[1] It saw action again at theBattle of Dettingen in June 1743 during theWar of the Austrian Succession.[1] The regiment was renamed the1st King's Dragoon Guards in 1751.[1] The regiment made a desperate charge which saved the army at theBattle of Corbach in July 1760 and then made another famous charge at theBattle of Warburg later that month during theSeven Years' War.[1] The regiment charged again with devastating effect at theBattle of Waterloo in June 1815 during theNapoleonic Wars.[1]
The regiment took part in the response to theIndian Rebellion in 1857 as well as theBattle of Taku Forts in August 1860 and the capture ofPeking during theSecond Opium War. A detachment of the regiment was responsible for the capture ofKing Cetshwayo at theBattle of Ulundi in July 1879 during theAnglo-Zulu War and the regiment saw action again at theBattle of Laing's Nek in January 1881 during theFirst Boer War.[1] The regiment was employed chasing the elusive GeneralChristiaan de Wet in spring 1901 during theSecond Boer War.[2]
In March 1896 EmperorFranz Joseph I of Austria becameColonel-in-Chief of the regiment. At the same time thedouble-headed Austrian eagle became the cap-badge of the regiment, and it adoptedRadetzky March as itsregimental march. On the occasion of his Diamond Jubilee on 2 December 1908, the Emperor instituted theInhaber-Jubiläums-Medaille für Ausländer (Commander's Jubilee Medal for Foreigners) to celebrate his 60 years on the throne. Some of the 40 golden, 635 silver and 2000 bronze medals were awarded to officers and private soldiers in the regiment.[3] The ceremonial helmet with the badge of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards which was given to Emperor Franz Joseph I on his appointment as colonel-in-chief is now on display at theMuseum of Military History, Vienna.
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The regiment, which had been was stationed atLucknow in India at the start of the war, landed atMarseille as part of the8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade in the1st Indian Cavalry Division in November 1914 for service on theWestern Front.[4] The regiment saw action at theBattle of Festubert in May 1915, theSecond Battle of Ypres also in May 1915 and theBattle of Morval in September 1916[5] but returned to India in October 1917.[4]
The regiment remained in garrison atMeerut until October 1918 when it exchanged stations with21st (Empress of India's) Lancers and moved toRisalpur. On 2 May 1919 Afghan troops seized control of wells on the Indian side of the border. The AfghanAmir Amanullah was warned to withdraw, but his answer was to send more troops to reinforce those at the wells and to move other Afghan units to various points on the frontier. The regiment was mobilised on 6 May and formed part of theBritish Indian Army's1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade. It served throughout theThird Anglo-Afghan War and saw action at theKhyber Pass. At Dakka – a village in Afghan territory, north west of the Khyber Pass[6] – on 16 May, the regiment made one of the last recordedcharges by a British horsed cavalry regiment as it was already apparent the old world would be giving way to mechanisation.[7]
The regiment took part in all the major battles of theNorth African Campaign including theRelief of Tobruk in November 1941.[8] The regiment, then serving as the armoured car reconnaissance regiment ofLieutenant GeneralRichard McCreery'sX Corps, landed at Salerno during theAllied invasion of Italy in September 1943 against concentrated enemy opposition and were the firstAllied unit into the city ofNaples in early October 1943.[8] The Welsh writerNorman Lewis, in his celebrated account of life inNaples claimed that the King's Dragoon Guards was the first British unit to reach Naples in 1943, and that many of its officers immediately went on a looting spree, cutting paintings from their frames in the prince's palace.[9] The regiment later took part in theBattle for Monte la Difensa in December 1943 and the advance to theGothic Line in late 1944.[8]
The regiment was posted toPalestine in September 1945 and toLibya in January 1947 before being deployed on home duties atOmagh, Northern Ireland in February 1948.[10] The regiment moved to Adams Barracks inRahlstedt in November 1951 and to Mcleod Barracks inNeumünster in April 1953.[10]
In 1956 the regiment was sent on active service inMalaya during theEmergency: during this time the regiment took part in counterinsurgency operations in both mounted operations (armoured cars) and on foot in the dense jungles operating from a base atJohor Bahru.[10]
The regiment merged with theQueen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) in 1959 to form the1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.[10]
The regimental collection is displayed atFiring Line: Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Soldier inCardiff.[11]
The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[12]
Colonels-in-Chief were as follows:[12]
Regimental colonels were as follows:[12]