Formation; 17th century In April 1689, several Independent Troops of Scots Horse were formed as a short-term response to the 1689-1691
Williamite War in Scotland. These were re-organised in December 1690 as two regiments, one commanded by Colonel
Richard Cunningham and in line with prevailing practice, it was known as '''Cunningham's Regiment of Scots Dragoons.''' In February 1694, it was transferred onto the English military establishment and shipped to
Flanders, where it took part in operations associated with the 1695
Siege of Namur. All participants in the
Nine 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 became '''Jedburgh's Regiment of Dragoons.'''
Wars of the 18th century The regiment spent most of the 1702–1714
War of the Spanish Succession based in Edinburgh; in 1707, Jedburgh transferred the Colonelcy to
Lord Polwarth, who sold it to
William Kerr in 1709. 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 by George I, as HRH the Princess of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons''', in honour of
Princess Caroline. William Kerr finally stepped down in 1741 and
Sir John Cope took over as Colonel. The unit returned to Flanders in 1742 during the 1740–1748
War of the Austrian Succession, taking part in the battles of
Dettingen,
Fontenoy,
Rocoux and finally
Lauffeld in July 1747. The
1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war and the regiment returned to England. When the
Seven Years' War began in 1756, the regiment took part in the June 1758
Raid on St Malo, at which 100 enemy vessels were burned, the
Raid on Cherbourg in August 1758 and the
Battle of Warburg in July 1760. In 1783, it was classed as 'light dragoons,' light cavalry used for reconnaissance and retitled the '''7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons'''.
Wars of the 19th century In 1807, the regiment was designated as
Hussars and retitled '''7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars)'''. Part of the Queen's Own was shipped home in the
Dispatch, which was wrecked just south of
the Lizard on 22 January 1809; 104 men were lost from the regiment, only seven in total were saved. The unit returned to the
Peninsula in August 1813 and made several charges at the February 1814
Battle of Orthez,
Wellington reporting that
the 7th Hussars distinguished themselves on this occasion and made many prisoners. In March 1814, the unit moved to
Brighton, where it was used to put down rioting caused by the imposition of the
Corn Laws. When
Napoleon was restored in 1815, the regiment returned to
the Netherlands; during the rearguard
action at Genappe on 17 June,
Lord Uxbridge ordered it to attack French
lancers under Colonel Jean Baptiste Joseph Sourd. The following day, at the
Battle 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". In May 1838 the regiment was deployed to Canada as part of the response to the
Lower Canada Rebellion.
Indian Rebellion The regiment was deployed to India in late 1857 as part of the response to the
Indian Rebellion. Cornet
William Bankes, died fighting off his attackers in an incident at
Musa Bagh in March 1858 and Major
Charles Fraser saved three non-swimmers from the regiment stranded in the middle of a sandbank on the
River Rapti in December 1858. The regiment's title was simplified in 1861 as the '''7th (Queen's Own) Hussars'''. The regiment was deployed to
South Africa in November 1901 and was stationed at Leeuwkop during the
Second Boer War.
First World War as a regimental lieutenant, 1885 The regiment, which had been stationed in
Bangalore at the start of the
First World War landed in
Mesopotamia as part of the
11th Indian Cavalry Brigade in November 1917. The regiment took part in the
action of Khan Baghdadi in March 1918 and the
Battle of Sharqat in October 1918. After service in the First World War, the regiment retitled as '''7th Queen's Own Hussars''' in 1921. while the 11th Hussars captured
La Maddalena. They took part in the
Battle of Sidi Barrani in December 1940 and at the
Battle of Bardia in January 1941.
Hitler created the
Afrika Korps under the command of General
Erwin Rommel to re-inforce the Italians: in April 1941, the allied troops in
Tobruk were cut off by the Germans and Italians but in June 1941 the 7th Armoured Division was again prepared for battle as part of
Operation Battleaxe, having received new tanks and additional personnel. Rommel then started to push the
Allies back into
Egypt. The regiment helped delay Rommel's advance although the commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Freddie Byass and many others were killed at the
Battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941. In January 1942 the regiment was sent to
Burma and engaged with the Japanese Army at
Pegu.
Field Marshal Sir 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." The regiment was ordered to destroy its tanks as it crossed the
Chindwin River in May 1942. It then re-deployed to the
Italian Front and, having been seconded to the
Polish 2nd Corps, fought at the first
Battle of Ancona in June 1944 and in the battles for the
Gothic 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". The regiment reached
Bologna in October 1944 and then took part in the battle for the
Po plains in the spring of 1945.
Post-war The regiment was deployed to Bournemouth Barracks in
Soltau, in
Northern Germany in June 1946. It returned to the UK in December 1947 and then moved to Alma Barracks in
Lüneburg in 1949 and to Lumsden Barracks in
Bad Fallingbostel in October 1951. The regiment was sent to
Hong Kong in 1954 and returned home in 1957. It survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but was slated for reduction in the
1957 Defence White Paper, and was amalgamated with the
3rd The King's Own Hussars, to form the
Queen's Own Hussars in 1958. ==Regimental museum==