History

Light dragoons have always been rather special troops. They were first raised in the middle of the Eighteenth Century for reconnaissance and patrolling – in other words scouting – but soon acquired a reputation for courage and dash in the charge. Originally, each regiment of cavalry formed a light troop, but so successful was the idea that whole regiments were formed. The 15th Light Dragoons were the first ever (1759), and others quickly followed including the Eighteenth and Nineteenth. The Thirteenth, raised as heavy dragoons (mounted infantrymen) as early as 1715, were also converted to the light role.

 

These light dragoon regiments fought all over the world in the half-century that followed, notably in India and North America. They distinguished themselves under the Duke of Wellington in Spain and Portugal in the Napoleonic wars, and three of them were present at the battle of Waterloo (1815).

In the Crimean War (1854-56), the 13th Light Dragoons were in the forefront of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, immortalized by Tennyson’s poem of that name (“Into the valley of death rode the six hundred”).

The regiments adopted the title hussars at this time, and the uniform became very stylish, aping the hussars of the Austro-Hungarian army. But soon the blues and yellows and golds gave way to khaki as the British army found itself in skirmishes throughout the far-flung Empire, in India and South Africa especially.

 

In the Great War (1914-18) the four regiments fought in France, both mounted and in the trenches on the Western Front, and some of them on horseback in the Middle East. The 19th Hussars produced two field marshals – Sir John French, who was commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) which sailed for France in 1914, and Sir Philip Chetwode, who became commander in chief India.

 

After the war the army was reduced in size, and the first of the major amalgamations took place in 1922, the Thirteenth and the Eighteenth Hussars combining, and the Fifteenth with the Nineteenth.

 

As the war clouds gathered again in 1939, the regiments were hastily mechanized. Both the 13th /18th Hussars and the 15th/19th Hussars went to France that year in light tanks, in the same scouting role for which they had been raised two centuries earlier. After Dunkirk and the evacuation of this second BEF, the regiments re-equipped and re-trained in England until in 1944, at the Normandy landings, the 13th/18th Hussars became the first Allied tanks to lay a track on French soil. They had swum for over two miles from their landing craft by means of special flotation equipment. Both regiments subsequently fought all the way through France, Belgium and Germany until the final Nazi surrender in May 1945.

From time to time the regiments were also called on to assist in Northern Ireland, sometimes in armoured cars, sometimes on foot.

 

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s – the end of the Cold War – the army faced reductions again, just as it had in 1922, and many cavalry regiments were amalgamated. The 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the 15th/19th King’s Royal Hussars, as they were then known, chose to amalgamate with one another since they shared much history and recruited from the north of England. And so, in December 1992, The Light Dragoons were formed. Or perhaps we should say reformed, since the new name harked back to the original light dragoons. The Princess of Wales became their first colonel in chief. Almost immediately, the new regiment began a long series of operational deployments in the Balkans, prompting a former chief of defence staff to describe them as the best regiment in the army – “consistently the best officered, best recruited and the most effective.”

In May 2003 the Regiment deployed to Iraq as part of a large force to assist with the stabilisation of the country post conflict.  A further deployment in 2005 saw the Regiment involved with counter insurgency and the training of the Iraqi Police Force.

 

During later deployments to Afghanistan the Regiment was involved with numerous large scale operations in an attempt to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban and assisting with the creation and training of the Afghan Army.

 

More recently The Light Dragoons have been assisting the public during the winter floods of 2014.

 

In May 2003 the Regiment deployed to Iraq on Op TELIC as part of a large force to assist with the stabilisation of the country.  A further deployment in 2005 saw the Regiment involved with counter insurgency and the training of the Iraqi Police Force.

In October 2006, C Squadron deployed to Afghanistan on Op HERRICK, quickly followed in April 2007 by RHQ, HQ, B and D Squadrons as both Formation reconnaissance and mentors to the Afghan National Army. A return to Afghanistan in May 2009 saw the Regiment take a leading role in Operation PANCHAI PALANG (PANTHERS CLAW) with elements of the Regiment deployed throughout the country in a variety of mounted and dismounted roles. In May 2012, a fourth tour of Afghanistan saw B Squadron form the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, A Squadron providing Formation Reconnaissance with C and D Squadron tasked with Afghan Army and Police training support roles.

 

Since moving to Catterick, North Yorkshire in 2015, the Regiment has assisted the public with winter floods and deployed on training tasks and exercises across North Africa, Europe and America. In 2016 the Light Dragoons celebrate its 300th anniversary. In March 2017, A Squadron deployed to Poland as part of an American Battlegroup on Op CABRIT; the UK’s contribution to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Estonia and Poland.  B Squadron replaced A Squadron in October 2017 on rotation 2 of Op CABRIT, while C Squadron deployed a number of soldiers to Afghanistan on Op TORAL. C Squadron was the next to deploy on Op CABRIT, taking over in April 2020.

 

In December 2020, The Light Dragoons became the first light cavalry unit to deploy to Mali on Op NEWCOMBE, the UK’s contribution to the UN’s peacekeeping mission. RHQ and A Squadron led the newly formed Long Range Reconnaissance Group, conducting long-range patrols throughout the deserts of Northern Mali, deterring the insurgency and providing intelligence for UN forces.