The Battle of Sheriffmuir 1715 The 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, sometimes referred to as the ‘Great Rebellion’, represented the third and by far most serious threat to the Government and crown since the usurpation and exile to France of James VII & II by William and Mary in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. It did not take long for the supporters of James, who called themselves Jacobites after the Latin for that name, to take up arms in Scotland on behalf…

South Africa 1901-02 The Regiment sailed from India and arrived at Durban in December 1901. After being stationed in the Newcastle district for a short time, they and the 20th Hussars were brigaded under Colonel Nixon and were employed in the last great drives, chiefly in the extreme northeast of the Orange River Colony, when many of the enemy were taken. This column was responsible for many of these captures, and in Lord Kitchener’s dispatch of 8th April 1902 he…

Tidworth July 2019 Building on the successes of the Regiments BATUS over the summer, a BATUS described in a recent letter from the Brigade Commander to the Divisional Commander as “the best seen in recent years”, the Regiment has certainly hit the ground running in Tidworth. Messes have been established and dressed, the QMs and QM(T)s departments have set themselves up in their new G4 Hub alongside MT, the Training Wing has opened for business and all the while the…

Estonia – Op CARBIT 2019-21 In October 2019 the Queen’s Royal Hussars Battle Group embarked on Operation CABRIT, NATO’s defence and insurance policy against threats from the East. The next 5 months saw QRH soldiers as well as soldiers from over 10 other cap badges reassuring the Estonian people, deterring Russian aggression and ultimately preparing themselves to defend Estonia whatever the cost. The bulk of the regiment was deployed on Op CABRIT. ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘HQ’ Squadrons all deployed as…

Afghanistan – Op HERRICK Armoured Support Group Royal Marines (ASGRM) In the summer of 2008, The Queen’s Royal Hussars had been ordered to provide an enlarged troop to supplement the Armoured Support Group Royal Marines (ASGRM) in Afghanistan. Some familiarization with the all-terrain vehicle known as Viking then followed. The training moved from Bovington to Yeovilton to integrate with the Royal Marines and to form a squadron-sized unit. Deployment took place in early December, and almost immediately the ASGRM began…

Op TELIC 3 In the early autumn of 2003, the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division addressed the officers senior ranks on the developing situation in south-east Iraq. The regiment was to take over an area of operations that included north Basra and Maysan, a province north of the city about the size of Northern Ireland. The battlegroup deployed at the end of September with, under command, ‘C’ Squadron and Recce Troop, merged and equipped with Land Rovers and…

Kosovo 2000-02 During the late 1980s when, in common with other parts of communist Eastern Europe, it began to break up, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia. Within Serbia were two largely autonomous provinces, one of which, about the size of Yorkshire, was Kosovo (the other being Voivodina) which had a common border with Albania, a country which in the early 1990s was itself beginning…

Bosnia and Herzegovina Dec 1995 – Jun 1996 The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (henceforth in this account abbreviated to Bosnia) was part of the violent break-up of Yugoslavia which saw, in 1991, the secession of Croatia and Slovenia from the old communist federation. In early 1992 the multi-ethnic population of Bosnia (44 per cent Muslim Bosnians, 33 per cent Orthodox Serbs and 17 per cent Catholic Croats) voted in a referendum for independence. The Serbs in the country, backed by the…

Lauffeld, 2 July 1747 Another battle in which the Regiment distinguished itself during the War of the Austrian Succession was at Lauffeld, near Maastricht in Belgium. The famous Marshal Saxe commanded the French and was opposed by an army composed of British, Dutch and Austrians under the Duke of Cumberland, a son of George II. The British troops were centred about Lauffeld with its right, the cavalry, resting on Val, the line being continued westward by the Dutch and Austrians.…

Bousbecque 18 May 1794 The 8th Light Dragoons were part of the initial expeditionary force sent to the continent to fight as an ally of the Hanoverians and the Austrians against the French Revolutionary armies of Napoleon. The 8th Light Dragoons arrived at Ostend from Bristol in late April 1794. The French had fled back to Bousbecque, leaving their artillery behind, setting fire to the village of Viscourt as they did so. A squadron of the 8th Light Dragoons and…