| 7th Queen's Own Hussars | |
|---|---|
 Crest and tie colours of the 7th Hussars | |
| Active | 1689–1714 1715–1958 |
| Country |  Scotland 1689–1694 England 1694–1697 Scotland 1697–1707 Great Britain (1707–1800)United Kingdom (1801–1958) |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Cavalry of the Line/Royal Armoured Corps |
| Role | Light Cavalry |
| Size | one regiment |
| Nickname | The Saucy Seventh/The Lilywhite Seventh |
| Mottos | Honi soit qui mal y pense (French, Evil Upon Him who Evil Thinks) |
| March | (Canter)The Campbells Are Coming (Quick)Bannocks o'Barley Meal (Slow)The Garb of Old Gaul |
| Anniversaries | Waterloo Day |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Field Marshal Earl Haig |
The7th Queen's Own Hussars was acavalry regiment in theBritish Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including theFirst World War and theSecond World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but following the1957 Defence White Paper, it was amalgamated with the3rd The King's Own Hussars, forming theQueen's Own Hussars in 1958.
_-_Private%2c_7th_Queen%2527s_Dragoons%2c_1751_-_RCIN_401507_-_Royal_Collection.jpg)
In April 1689, several Independent Troops of Scots Horse were formed as a short-term response to the 1689-1691Williamite War in Scotland. These were re-organised in December 1690 as two regiments, one commanded by ColonelRichard Cunningham and in line with prevailing practice, it was known asCunningham's Regiment of Scots Dragoons.[1] In February 1694, it was transferred onto the English military establishment and shipped toFlanders, where it took part in operations associated with the 1695Siege of Namur.[2]
All participants in theNine Years War were financially exhausted, and there was little military activity after the fall of Namur. On 1 October 1696, Cunningham was promoted to Brigadier-General;Lord Jedburgh succeeded him and the regiment becameJedburgh's Regiment of Dragoons.[3]
The regiment spent most of the 1702–1714War of the Spanish Succession based in Edinburgh; in 1707, Jedburgh transferred the Colonelcy toLord Polwarth, who sold it toWilliam Kerr in 1709.[4]
In 1711,Kerr's Dragoons joined the field army in Flanders but the war was winding down and the regiment disbanded in 1714, before being reconstituted in July 1715 byGeorge I, asHRH the Princess of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons, in honour ofPrincess Caroline.[4] During the1715 Jacobite rising, it fought atSheriffmuir, but this was its only significant action until 1743. RenamedThe Queen's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons after the coronation ofGeorge II in 1727;[5] William Kerr finally stepped down in 1741 andSir John Cope took over as Colonel.[6]
The unit returned to Flanders in 1742 during the 1740–1748War of the Austrian Succession, taking part in the battles ofDettingen,Fontenoy,Rocoux and finallyLauffeld in July 1747.[7] The1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war and the regiment returned to England.[8]
When theSeven Years' War began in 1756, the regiment took part in the June 1758Raid on St Malo,[9] at which 100 enemy vessels were burned, theRaid on Cherbourg in August 1758[10] and theBattle of Warburg in July 1760.[11] In 1783, it was classed as 'light dragoons,' light cavalry used for reconnaissance and retitled the7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons.[5] During theFrench Revolutionary Wars, it fought atBeaumont in April 1794 andWillems in May.[12]
In 1807, the regiment was designated asHussars and retitled7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars).[5] Sent toCorunna in October 1808 to supportSir John Moore's retreat, they fought at theBattle of Sahagún on 21 December 1808 andBenavente on 29th.[13] Part of the Queen's Own was shipped home in theDispatch, which was wrecked just south ofthe Lizard on 22 January 1809; 104 men were lost from the regiment, only seven in total were saved.[14][15] The unit returned to thePeninsula in August 1813 and made several charges at the February 1814Battle of Orthes,Wellington reporting thatthe 7th Hussars distinguished themselves on this occasion and made many prisoners.[16]In March 1814, the unit moved toBrighton, where it was used to put down rioting caused by the imposition of theCorn Laws.[17] WhenNapoleon was restored in 1815, the regiment returned tothe Netherlands; during the rearguardaction at Genappe on 17 June,Lord Uxbridge ordered it to attack Frenchlancers under Colonel Jean Baptiste Joseph Sourd.[18] The following day, at theBattle of Waterloo, the regiment was held in reserve until the evening, but then again undertook a series of charges.Standish O'Grady, then a lieutenant in the 7th Hussars, wrote to his father:
"We charged twelve or fourteen times, and once cut off a squadron of cuirassiers, every man of whom we killed on the spot except the two officers and one Marshal de Logis, whom I sent to the rear".[19]
In May 1838 the regiment was deployed to Canada as part of the response to theLower Canada Rebellion.[20]
The regiment was deployed to India in late 1857 as part of the response to theIndian Rebellion. CornetWilliam Bankes, died fighting off his attackers in an incident atMusa Bagh in March 1858[21] and MajorCharles Fraser saved three non-swimmers from the regiment stranded in the middle of a sandbank on theRiver Rapti in December 1858.[22]
The regiment's title was simplified in 1861 as the7th (Queen's Own) Hussars.[5]
The regiment provided a contingent for theNile Expedition in autumn 1884.[23] The regiment was deployed toSouth Africa in November 1901 and was stationed at Leeuwkop during theSecond Boer War.[24]
The regiment, which had been stationed inBangalore at the start of theFirst World War landed inMesopotamia as part of the11th Indian Cavalry Brigade in November 1917.[25] The regiment took part in theaction of Khan Baghdadi in March 1918 and theBattle of Sharqat in October 1918.[26]
After service in the First World War, the regiment retitled as7th Queen's Own Hussars in 1921.[5] The regiment, which was re-equipped withMark II tanks, transferred to theRoyal Armoured Corps in 1939.[5]
The regiment had been converted to tanks in 1937 and subsequently been trained in Cairo giving them a reasonable advantage. Although they might have thought that they were misplaced in Egypt, when Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940, that thought quickly slipped their mind. They formed part of the7th Armoured Brigade in the7th Armoured Division and were joined by the8th and the11th Hussars. On 14 June 1940 the 7th Hussars, with a company of theKing's Royal Rifle Corps and a battery of4th Royal Horse artillery capturedFort Capuzzo,[27] while the 11th Hussars capturedLa Maddalena.[28] They took part in theBattle of Sidi Barrani in December 1940 and at theBattle of Bardia in January 1941.[29]Hitler created theAfrika Korps under the command of GeneralErwin Rommel to re-inforce the Italians: in April 1941, the allied troops inTobruk were cut off by the Germans and Italians but in June 1941 the 7th Armoured Division was again prepared for battle as part ofOperation Battleaxe, having received new tanks and additional personnel.[30] Rommel then started to push theAllies back intoEgypt. The regiment helped delay Rommel's advance although the commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Freddie Byass and many others were killed at theBattle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941.[31][32]
In January 1942 the regiment was sent toBurma and engaged with the Japanese Army atPegu.Field MarshalSir Harold Alexander spoke highly of the regiment when he said:
"Without them we should never have got the Army out of Burma; no praise can be too high for them."[33]
The regiment was ordered to destroy its tanks as it crossed theChindwin River in May 1942.[34] It then re-deployed to theItalian Front and, having been seconded to thePolish 2nd Corps, fought at the firstBattle of Ancona in June 1944 and in the battles for theGothic Line in autumn 1944. The Polish Army granted the regiment the privilege of wearing the "Maid of Warsaw" for their "Magnificent work – fine examples of heroism and successful action".[35]
The regiment reachedBologna in October 1944 and then took part in the battle for thePo plains in the spring of 1945.[36]
The regiment was deployed to Bournemouth Barracks inSoltau, inNorthern Germany in June 1946.[37] It returned to the UK in December 1947 and then moved to Alma Barracks inLüneburg in 1949 and to Lumsden Barracks inBad Fallingbostel in October 1951.[37] The regiment was sent toHong Kong in 1954 and returned home in 1957.[37] It survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but was slated for reduction in the1957 Defence White Paper, and was amalgamated with the3rd The King's Own Hussars, to form theQueen's Own Hussars in 1958.[5]
The regimental collection is located inWarwick in an area known as "Trinity Mews"[38]
The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[5]
The regimental colonels were as follows:[5]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)