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The Light Dragoons were formed on the 1st December 1992 as an amalgamation of
the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and 15th/19th The Kings Royal Hussars. The Regiment
can trace its history back to 1715 when the 13th were raised due to the fact of
the feared 'Jacobite' rising in Scotland, so the Army was rapidly expanded. The
Regiment being under the command of Richard Munden hence the nickname Munden's
Dragoons.
Dragoons were not actually intended for use as cavalry in the usual sense.
Dragoons wore Red, predominantly the colour of the Infantry and were and used to
seize defiles or secure flanks, dismounting once in position to fight on foot.
The Seven Years War was to play a vital role in the history of the Regiment.
Three years after the outbreak of the war in 1759 Six Regiments of Dragoons were
raised the first being the 15th ('Eliots Light Horse' after their Colonel). In
1760 the 15th were sent out to Germany with Six other Cavalry Regiments, which
was to become known as the "Glorious Reinforcement". Within three days
they were in action. But it was in July they came into their own at Ermsdoff,
near Kassel charging the French Infantry three times, capturing Six Cannons, One
Hundred Seventy Seven Officers, Two Thousand Five Hundred other Ranks. The
battle also had significance for the Army as a whole as it was the first Battle
Honour to be awarded to any British Regiment.
The 19th at the time were being raised in Ireland at Moore Abbey, Kildare and
were known as "Drogheda's Light Horse". In 1762 they were renumbered
Eighteen. In 1779 the number Nineteen was again seen in the Line and the 19th
Light Dragoons were raised because of the revolutionary war in America going
wrong for Britain. The 19th being disbanded four years later because of American
Independence. The 23rd Light Dragoons surviving this and then being renumbered
in 1786 to Nineteen. So in this Year all the Regiments of the present day Light
Dragoons wearing the Blue Jackets and Fur Fringed Caps of the Light Cavalry.
In the time after this the Four Regiments serving in campaigns all around the
world including the Spanish Peninsular War the Crimea, India and South Africa.
Many Battle honours being gained; Sahagun (1808) and Balaklava (1854) were the
13th took part in the famous charge of the Light Brigade with both days still
being celebrated by the Regiment. They also took part in the tremendous battle
of Waterloo (1815).
All four Regiments gave a good account of themselves in the Great War.
Fighting in the B.E.F (first troops into France). They also fought in a number
of battles Ypres and Cambrai. Also the 18th being the first British troops to
cross the Rhine. In 1922 after cuts in the Army due to the ending of the War,
the 13th and 18th were amalgamated as were the 15th and 19th.
In 1939 both regiments were in the B.E.F and later in the strategic
withdrawal at Dunkirk. Then from then until 1944 they trained at home in
England. They fought in the D-DAY Landings and Northwest Europe during the rest
of the War. Most notably the 13th/18th coming ashore in Duplex Drive Sherman
Amphibious Tanks.
In the Years after the War both Regiments were concentrated in West Germany
and also took part in campaigns in Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Malaya, Aden
and Northern Ireland.
At the collapse of the Cold War the British Army had to cut down its spending
so some Regiments being amalgamated. So on the 1st December 1992 the Light
Dragoon were formed from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the 15th/19th The Kings
Royal Hussars thus recognising the 275 Years tradition of Reconnaissance in the
British Army and with Great Hopes that the Light Dragoons carry on the Proud
History of their Forebears. "For Their Voices Forever Flourish".
Note:
17th Regiment of Light Dragoons. The institution of entire
regiments of Light Cavalry, as part of the standing army of Great Britain,
in the spring of 1759, was attended with such signal success, that, after
the formation of the two splendid corps of Eliott and Burgoyne, which were
numbered the Fifteenth and Sixteenth, King George II. was induced to carry
the plan to a still greater extent, and to augment the Light Dragoon
establishment with five additional regiments, which were numbered the
Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Light
Dragoons. The first of these additional corps was raised in Scotland by
Lord Aberdour. It never
consisted of more than two troops, and was disbanded at the termination of
the seven years' war, in 1763.
See also: http://www.regiments.org/milhist/uk/cav/D13h.htm#history
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