Formation and War of Spanish Succession The regiment was first raised by
Henry Conyngham as '''Henry Conyngham's Regiment of
Dragoons''' in
Derry in 1693, and ranked as the 8th Dragoons. They soldiered at home as part of the Irish Establishment but were deployed to Spain in 1704 to take part in the
War of the Spanish Succession. The regiment took part in a skirmish near Tanarite at which Henry Conyngham was killed: Robert Killigrew took over but was also killed at the
Battle of Almansa in April 1707. Under their new colonel, John Pepper, the 8th Dragoons routed a Spanish cavalry regiment at the
Battle of Almenar in July 1710, and, according to tradition, took possession of the enemy regiment's crossbelts. This earned the regiment the nickname "Crossbelt Dragoons", borne for many years. The regiment was captured in its entirety at the
Battle of Brihuega in December 1710. The next battle was near the
River Alma in September 1854 and the 8th Hussars were awarded the battle honour for a convincing defeat of the enemy. On 28 September, following a report that Russian troops were out in front of
Balaklava town, the troop of the 8th, which made up Lord Raglan's escort under Captain Chetwode, was thrown out in skirmishing order. The Horse Artillery then came up and opened fire, causing the Russians to abandon all their wagons and flee from the scene. Some 70 wagons and carts were captured, some only containing small arms ammunition, which was destroyed. The rest of the wagons contained black bread. The troops were allowed to pillage the wagons that did not contain anything of value to the Commissariat. As a result, within a few minutes, the ground was strewn with various pieces of clothing – Hussar uniforms, fur cloaks, and wigs. The carriages were said to belong to the suite of
Prince Menshikov. After this engagement until 25 October, the regiment furnished patrols and outpost duties, being billeted close to vineyards and barns containing water, corn, hay and fuel. In October, Balaklava and the
Charge of the Light Brigade took place. It was started when 25,000 Russians tried to capture
Balaklava, the British Army's only port, defended by the
93rd Highlanders, some
Turks, and the Cavalry Division. Lieutenant Colonel Sherwell led the King's Royal Irish Hussars, forbidding two soldiers to carry their swords in the charge because they had "Disgraced the regiment by smoking in the presence of the enemy". The charge through the crossfire into the mouths of the Russian guns is vividly described by Lieutenant the Hon S Calthorpe, an 8th Hussar ADC. The pace of our Cavalry increased every moment, until they went thundering along the valley, making the ground tremble beneath them. On they went headlong to death, disregarding aught but the object of their attack. At length they arrived at the guns, their numbers sadly thinned, but the few that remained made fearful havoc amongst the enemy's artillery. The 8th pushed through the line of Russian gunners to the remnants of the first line in retreat, unaware that a Russian brigade of light cavalry was at hand. A regiment of Russian lancers was advancing from behind, as the 8th Hussars went through the infantry crossfire and lost half their men. The remnants of the brigade formed up, totalling about 70 men. They decided to attack the Russian lancers, eventually overthrowing them. The ground was now opened up for the brigade to retire, the 8th now pursued their course to their original position, followed by all the other horsemen of the other regiments and, as their horses became blown or wounded, they tailed. The Russians were now recovering in confidence and they pursued the dismounted men. The officers of the 8th called off the men, freeing up the ground for artillery fire, which gave many the chance to escape. Overall, two officers and 19 other ranks were killed and two officers and 18 other ranks were wounded. One officer and seven other ranks were taken prisoner-of-war. The
Battle of Inkerman was won by the infantry in November as the harsh winter of 1854–55 set in, killing 9,000 men. However, the loss of these men did not stop the 8th Hussars from overcoming the Russians at Kertch. In September 1855,
Sevastopol fell after nearly a year, and a peace treaty was signed in March 1856.
Indian Rebellion of 1857 who was killed by a soldier of the 8th Hussars The 8th spent a year in England but were called to India to help suppress the
Indian rebellion of 1857 and were ready for war in February 1858. The most celebrated action of the war came three months later at
Gwalior when a squadron of the 8th, under Captain Heneage fought a large Indian force under
Rani Lakshmibai trying to leave the area. The 8th Hussars charged into the enemy, killing swathes of Indian soldiers, taking two guns and continuing the charge right through the
Phul Bagh encampment.
Rani Lakshmibai, the Queen of
Jhansi state, dressed as a cavalry leader, was badly wounded. She did not want the British to capture her body, so she told a hermit to burn her body.
General Sir Hugh Rose awarded the squadron four
Victoria Crosses under Clause 13 of the Victoria Cross warrant. This meant that one officer, one NCO, and two for the corporals and troopers, all to be elected by their comrades.
Captain C W Heneage,
Sergeant J Ward,
Farrier G Hollis and
Private J Pearson were chosen to be recipients. The citation was published in the
London Gazette of 28 January 1859, and read: The remaining year of the Mutiny consisted of the pursuit of the rebel forces. On 5 September 1858, a squadron of "D" Troop, 8th Hussars, caught the mutineers at
Beejapore, inflicting heavy losses. Of the 850 enemy troops, no less than 450 bodies were counted dead on the field. On 8 September 1858, at Beejapore, when both the officers attached to the troop were disabled, Troop Sergeant-Major
James Champion, although severely wounded himself at the start of the action, continued to do his duty and wounded several of the enemy. For this action, he too was awarded the Victoria Cross. From then on, until 21 May 1859, when the Headquarters Troop reached
Nusserabad, all troops had been in search of the rebels. In its time in India, the 8th had gone through two hot-weather campaigns, H.Q. Troop had shifted camp 300 times and marched over 3000 miles with some of the other Troops marching close to 4000 miles. Reaching
Meerut in February 1861, there was an epidemic of
cholera in which the regiment lost two officers and thirty-one men. The title of the regiment was simplified in 1861 to the '''8th (The King's Royal Irish) Hussars'''. The future Field Marshal Sir
John French, who prided himself on his Irish ancestry despite his family having lived in England since the eighteenth century, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars in February 1874, but there is no evidence that he ever served with them. He transferred to the
19th Hussars in March 1874 possibly as he was better able to afford the £500–£600 per annum required by his new regiment. His biographer
Richard Holmes wrote that the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars at this time had a reputation as an expensive regiment for junior officers, who sometimes drank
claret for breakfast.
Afghanistan and Second Boer War (1863–1914) The regiment returned to India in 1879 and then moved on to
Afghanistan to bolster
Lord Roberts' army, which was engaged in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War; the regiment returned home in 1889. Along with the
7th Dragoon Guards and the
14th Hussars they formed the 4th Cavalry Brigade under Brigadier General Dickson. On 1 May 1900, the Boers made a stand in a strong position at Houtnek, where the forces of
Ian Hamilton faced stiff competition. In a telegram of 2 May Lord Roberts said: "Hamilton speaks in high terms of the services of the 8th Hussars under Colonel Clowes and a made-up regiment of Lancers, which came into Broadwood's brigade and assisted in making the Boers evacuate their position". The 8th then marched from Machadodorp to Heidelberg with the 14th Hussars and M Battery, under the command of Colonel Mahon. On 13 October, Mahon "became heavily engaged near Geluk with a body of 1100 men with four guns." Mahon succeeded in holding his position until forces under John French came to his assistance when the Boers were driven back in a south-easterly direction, having sustained some losses. The 8th lost 2 officers, Lieutenants P A T Jones and F H Wylam and 7 men, with 2 officers and 8 men wounded. Eight officers and 8 non-commissioned officers were
mentioned in Lord Roberts' final despatches of 2 April and 4 September 1901. In the first three months of 1901, the 8th was in the column of Colonel
Charles Edmond Knox, at one point sweeping to the Swazi border. During the later phases of the war, the
Eastern Transvaal to the borders of
Zululand were the principal scenes of the regiment's operations. One officer and 1 non-commissioned officer were mentioned by
Lord Kitchener during the war, and in the final despatch, the names of 4 officers, 2 non-commissioned officers, and 1 private were added. Colonel Le Gallais of the 8th Hussars had done splendid service as a leader of
Mounted Infantry, and he fell on 6 November 1900 after he had inflicted a defeat on
De Wet at
Bothaville.
Colonel Mahon, also an old 8th Hussar, was celebrated for his conduct of the
Mafeking Relief column. After returning to England, the 8th had over six years without hostilities before returning to India in August 1914 arriving at
Ambala as part of the
3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade. They remained in India for three months until they were recalled due to the outbreak of the First World War. They arrived in
Marseille on 10 November 1914 where they joined the
1st Indian Cavalry Division.
First World War The 8th Hussars entered
the trenches on the
Western Front for the first time on 9 December 1914, not having arrived in time to take any part in the
Retreat from Mons. The first action that the 8th encountered was in December 1914 at the
Battle of Givenchy. The majority of their time was spent sending large parties forward to dig trenches and this continued for the whole of the war. In May 1915, they took part in the
Second battle of Ypres where the Germans first used
chlorine gas. In September 1915 the 8th Hussars transferred to the
2nd Indian Cavalry Division. Two
Maxim machine guns were captured in this action and have been used as guardroom adornments by the 8th Hussars and successor regiments since 1918. During the German
spring offensive of 1918, "C" Squadron under Captain Adlercron, defended the village of
Hervilly until being forced to retreat, only to recapture it later that day at the loss of 66 casualties. The Germans began to collapse soon after the allies began their final offensive in August, the 8th fighting at
St Quentin,
Beaurevoir and
Cambrai and the
Pursuit to Mons. On 11 November 1918, whilst camped at Maffles, the regiment heard that the
Armistice had been signed. The 8th Hussars had 105 soldiers killed and countless wounded throughout the four years of the war.
Inter-war The 8th Hussars returned to England in 1919, and embarked almost immediately for India where they spent less than a year. They were soon ordered to
Mesopotamia in order to deal with various native insurrections at Medali, which they put down, moving from there to Egypt. The regiment retitled as the '''8th King's Royal Irish Hussars'
in 1921. The last mounted parade was held at Coombe Hill in the desert near Cairo on 11 November 1935 where the three sabre squadrons and the mounted band "trotted past, wheeled and galloped" for the GOC, Army of the Nile. which later became the 7th Armoured Division, nicknamed The Desert Rats''.
Light tanks were issued in January 1939 as the regiment transferred to the
Royal Armoured Corps. Transfer from Cavalry of the Line to the
Royal Armoured Corps came in May 1939 as the regiment prepared for war after the Italian invasion of
Albania. For the first time, black berets were worn as working dress instead of the traditional cavalry "side-hat". In August 1939, the regiment was sent into the desert to prepare positions at the
Mersa Matruh Line. As part of the preparations, petrol dumps were created by burying supplies in the sand with a piece of wood indicating the burial site and marking the position on maps. The regiment was part of the offensive against the
Italian Army in North Africa in June 1940, nine months after the outbreak of the
Second World War. Sidi Omar was captured immediately and
Fort Capuzzo three days later, followed by Fort Maddalena. On 22 October, supporting the 2nd Battalion,
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders an attack was made against Maktila. Other actions took place as part of the campaign against Italian forces including the battle at
Sidi Barrani where 14,000 prisoners were captured and the action at
Bardia. On 5 January 1941, the regiment captured and occupied
El Adem airfield and by 8 January 1942 were part of the forces surrounding
Tobruk. In February 1941, they were involved in the decisive
Battle of Beda Fomm, which led to the capture of most of the Italian forces in North Africa at the time. . In November 1941, the 8th Hussars, in
Stuart tanks, were part of the
4th Armoured Brigade for
Operation Crusader. During the three-day Battle of Sidi Rezegh Airfield, the regiment had formed a box leaguer for the night-time lull in fighting with the rest of the brigade on 22 November (as neither side had night vision aids, battle normally ceased at dusk). The leaguer was discovered by the
15th Panzer Division during the night and in the ensuing engagement left the Irish Hussars with just four Stuart tanks fit for battle; 35 having been captured or destroyed. The regiment was issued 32 new Stuarts at Cairo and, under the command of Major Sandbach the regiment returned to the battle. On 1 December, to assist ANZAC forces, the regiment charged "cavalry style" again at Sidi Rezegh and although the action was successful, Major Sandbach was killed. Command then fell to Major Phillips. After a re-fit and influx of recruits at Beni Yusef, the 8th Hussars were temporarily converted to armoured cars but before seeing action in them were issued with new tanks. A & B Squadrons with the
Grant and C Squadron in Stuarts, all under the command of Lt Col Gerald "Smash" Kilkelly. Once again part of the 4th Armoured Brigade with which it served during the
Gazala battles of May and June 1942, suffering heavy losses at the Battle of Knightsbridge in which
Major Hackett was severely burnt and Colonel Kilkelly captured, and also battles at Bardia and Bir Hacheim. The 8th fought hard as a composite unit with the 4th
City of London Yeomanry (casualties having reduced the size of both regiments) before having to withdraw with the rest of the
British Eighth Army to
El Alamein. In June, the remnants of the regiment under command of Lieutenant Colonel "Cuthie" Goulbourn detached one squadron to their future partners, the
4th Queen's Own Hussars, to form a temporary regiment called the 4th/8th Hussars. The brigade, including the 8th and the 4th/8th faced the massive enemy onslaught at
Alam Halfa, defeating the enemy. They helped breach the minefields at the
Second Battle of El Alamein and then joined the pursuit for three weeks. The regiment then enjoyed a short tour in
Cyprus before returning to England. In November 1943, the regiment became the Armoured Reconnaissance regiment of the
7th Armoured Division. On 9 June 1944, they were aboard a convoy leaving Bumper Quay in Gosport at 11am, bound for the
Normandy beaches. Having been delayed several days by bad weather, they landed at Le Hamel on Gold Beach and leaguered up at Sommervieu near
Bayeux. Going into action almost immediately they began taking casualties at Granville Crossroads, Livry in the
fighting around Villers-Bocage. From 11 to 30 June, the 8th were involved in the advance through the Bocage with the
22nd Armoured Brigade. They were involved in action against the
2nd Panzer Division, with the 8th leading their division out of the bridgehead. On 30 June, they handed over their positions to tanks from the
US 2nd Armored Division and withdrew for a rest and a refit of the tanks. They also fought heavily around Briquessard and took a full part in
Operation Goodwood and a number of other smaller engagements. The 8th pushed German forces further and further back, taking part in the actions to close the
Falaise pocket suffering more casualties of men and tanks. Reinforced by a squadron from the
Northamptonshire Yeomanry, they pushed back through France, the break-out into the low countries, crossing the border into Belgium on 11 September 1944 and into the Netherlands on 23 September, taking up positions at
Sint Oedenrode and finally to the
Rhine, fighting hard on the way at St Pol, the Nederrijn and the Maas. After wintering in the Maas and spending some time employed as
infantry in support of the
Rifle Brigade during the latter half of 1944, the regiment painted its vehicles white (including the recently acquired Sherman Firefly versions with their effective 17 pdr guns and the Chaffee recce tanks) and prepared to support the counterattack against the
German offensive in the
Ardennes. In the event, this did not occur and the Irish Hussars continued their advance across the Netherlands dealing with resistance when they came across it. Colonel Gouldburn moved on at this juncture and was replaced by Lt Col
Desmond Fitzpatrick of the
Royal Dragoons with Major Wingate Charlton DSC (formerly with
"Glubb" Pasha in the
Arab Legion) as second in command. In April 1945, the 8th crossed
Weser River liberating the
POW camp at
Fallingbostel before ending the war close to
Hamburg. The regiment then went to Berlin on 7 July 1945 to take part in the
Victory celebrations – the 2nd senior British Army regiment on parade. The regiment stayed in
Itzehoe, Germany, for a year, before moving to the Dutch border to help with internal security and occupation duties.
Korean War In 1948, the 8th returned to
Leicestershire, transferring to
Tidworth Camp as part of the Strategic Reserve in 1950 but when the
Korean War broke out they were sent out as part of the
29th Independent Brigade under the command of Lt Col William Lowther
OBE (
Bart). Having trained flat-out to become familiar with Centurion MkIII tanks they sailed from Southampton to Korea on the
HMT Empire Fowey on 11 October 1950, docking in Pusan on 14 November. Having reached the front, north of
Pyongyang, all squadrons found themselves in full retreat, regrouping on the
Han River. Early in 1951, Recce Troop saw action on the Han River in an area known as "Compo Valley" and had twenty three soldiers killed or missing. During this action, a Cromwell tank was captured by the Chinese and had to be knocked out several days later by fire from the Hussars own Centurions. Astley-Cooper was last seen dismounting his brewed up Cromwell and running away with his loader. His subsequent fate is unknown. In February, the
United Nations Forces took the offensive, helping the
Glosters capture Hill 327. By April 1951, patrols were probing north of the
Imjin River seemingly uncontested until a massive enemy assault started the
Battle of the Imjin River on 22 April 1951. During the lull, it had been decided to rotate the 8th back to the United Kingdom. A & B Squadrons along with RHQ had already reached
Kure in Japan when the Chinese Spring Offensive had broken out and were immediately ordered back to Korea. C Squadron, commanded initially by the one-eyed veteran Captain Peter Ormrod and then by Major Henry Huth (flown in from Japan) was left to undertake the taskings given to the Hussars alone. The troops of tanks commanded by Capt Ormrod, Capt Murray, Lt Boyall, Lt John Hurst and Lt Radford engaged the attacking Chinese over several days to try to prevent the loss of the important high features defended by the
Glosters, the
Northumberland Fusiliers and the
Royal Ulster Rifles. The 8th were forced to make several sorties into overrun positions to rescue infantrymen cut off by the advancing Chinese infantry. The fighting was fierce: Richard Napier, (a tank commander in the battle) in his book
From Horses to Chieftains recalls: "After about three hours of continuous firing, my machine gun barrels needed changing; my recoil system was so hot that it wouldn't run back and my loader/operator Ken Hall, had fainted with the continual hard work and fumes." Napier relates how, unable to use his weapons, he withdrew, allowing infantrymen to hitch a ride on his tank. The Chinese had infiltrated behind them and were swarming around them, shooting at the infantrymen on the tank. The crew resorted to lobbing grenades out of the hatches at the mass of Chinese infantry. On one occasion, the
Centurion tanks of the 8th were swamped by Chinese soldiers who were attempting to prise open the hatches to throw grenades inside. The response of the Irish Hussars was to turn the turrets of their tanks towards each other, and "hose" the enemy off with their
Besa machine guns. On their return to the British Lines, it was said that these tanks "ran red with the blood of dead Chinese." Human detritus was also caught up in the tracks as the tanks had run over a number of Chinese and (unfortunately) some British dead. With the final withdrawal of C Squadron, the battle was over, the last shots being fired by Major Huth. C Squadron them split into two components, one under Major Huth supporting the
Northumberland Fusiliers with one troop detached to the
Glosters, the other under Capt Strachan in support of the
Royal Ulster Rifles. They held their positions for two days in anticipation of further Chinese attacks, which did not come, before withdrawing to Seoul.
Amalgamation Between 1952 and 1958 the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars soldiered in
Lüneburg enjoying an extended period of peace. In the
1957 Defence White Paper, the 8th Hussars were slated for reduction. In 1958, the Regiment was amalgamated with the
4th Queen's Own Hussars to form the
Queen's Royal Irish Hussars. ==Regimental museum==