15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars

The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was created as part of the reduction in cavalry in the aftermath of the First World War. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 15th The King's Hussars and the 19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own) on 11 April 1922, becoming the 15th/19th Hussars. It briefly dropped the 19th numeral from its title in 1932, becoming the 15th The King's Royal Hussars, before regaining it the following year.

Second World War
At the outbreak of the Second World War the regiment was part of the 3rd Infantry Division, based in York, serving as the divisional reconnaissance regiment (3 September 1939 - 30 March 1940). The regiment was deployed with the division as part of the British Expeditionary Force, and fought in the Battle of France. During this time, the regiment was transferred to the 2nd Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade (30 March 1940 - 22 June 1940). The regiment was decimated during the German advance, and was evacuated from Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo. In the evacuation all of the regiments remaining armour and vehicles were left behind.

Following the withdrawal the regiment was assigned to the 3rd Motor Machine Gun Brigade. The brigade was redesignated, on 1 December, as the 28th Armoured Brigade, which was assigned to the 9th Armoured Division (1 December 1940 to 20 June 1944). During this period a cadre was detached to form the 23rd Hussars. The 15th/19th Hussars remained in the United Kingdom until after the Normandy landings, on 6 June 1944, when it was dispatched to France to serve as the divisional reconnaissance regiment of the 11th Armoured Division (17 August 1944 - 31 August 1945). The regiment ended the war in Germany.

Post war
The Regiment served in Palestine between 1945 and 1948. The regiment was also involved in the Malayan Emergency from 1954 to 1956; the Regimental Headquarters and one squadron was based at Ipoh, while the remaining squadrons were based at Taiping and Raub. After Malaya, the Regiment was posted to Oman, Muscat, and Aden during the rebellion of the Imam of Oman in 1957.

Cold War
Throughout the Cold War, the regiment saw service across the world. As with most armoured regiments, it spent much of its time in West Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). In 1974 the regiment returned to the United Kingdom, based in Omagh County Tyrone for 18 months. On return to England as an Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, it was equipped with the FV101 Scorpion, the Scimitar and the Fox. At this time B Squadron deployed as Armoured Car squadron to UNFICYP. The regiment was then deployed, in 1977, back to Germany assigned to the 3rd Armoured Division. The regiment was stationed in the German city of Paderborn and became the fourth, of four divisional Armoured Reconnaissance regiments in BAOR. During this time the Regiment would deploy squadrons to Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner. All Sabre squadrons were so deployed. 'A' and C Squadrons also deployed as a prison guard force based at HMP Magilligan, HMP Maze and HMP Crumlin. The Close Reconnaissance Troops also deployed to CFB Suffield in Canada on Exercise Medicine Man in the early 1980s.

In late 1984 the main body of the Regiment returned to England as the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment. in Bovington Camp in Dorset. However 'A' Squadron was deployed to Cyprus to serve as the resident Armoured Car Squadron, one of the last units in the British Army to use the Ferret Scout Car, and the Saladin and Saracen armoured cars. In the late 1980s, the Regiment re-roled back to a Main Battle Tank (MBT) unit, equipped with FV4201 Chieftain tanks. Initially the regiment was equipped with the Chieftain Mk5 before being equipped with the more advanced and up-armoured MK10 and Mk11. The regiment was one of the last to actively operate the Chieftain MBT at battle readiness, until the regiment was disbanded during 1992.

As part of the post-Cold War defence reforms, the 15th/19th amalgamated with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) on 1 December 1992 to form the Light Dragoons. The new regiment designated an Armoured Reconnaissance regiment, and was equipped with FV107 Scimitar Combat Vehicles, Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)s) to be operated in the Formation Reconnaissance role.

Victoria Cross
The following members of the combined Regiments were awarded the Victoria Cross, Great Britain's highest award for valour in the face of the enemy;


 * Lieutenant Colonel William Thomas Marshall, 19th Hussars.
 * Sergeant Charles Ernest Garforth, Mentioned in Dispatches, 15th Hussars.
 * Private Herbert George Columbine, 19th Hussars (att'd machine gun corps)
 * Brigadier General Hugh Henry Gough, 19th Hussars.

Notable soldiers

 * John Hamilton Gray (14 June 1811 – 13 August 1887) was Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1863–1865 and one of the Fathers of Confederation, 15th Light Dragoons.
 * Major-General Richard William Howard Vyse (1784–1853) was a British soldier, anthropologist and Egyptologist. He was also Member of Parliament for Beverley (from 1807 to 1812) and Honiton (from 1812 to 1818), commissioned 15th Light Dragoons.
 * Lieutenant-Colonel John Waldegrave, 6th Earl Waldegrave (1785–1835) was a British peer, 15th Light Dragoons.
 * William Jolliffe, 1st Baron Hylton (1800–1876), known as Sir William Jolliffe, 1st Baronet, between 1821 and 1866, was a British Conservative Party politician, 15th Dragoons.
 * Henry Langtry (1841–1892) was an Anglo-Irish war hero who served as a Colonel with the 3rd Dragoon Guards in the Abyssinian campaign in 1868, and was present at the storming and capture of Magdala (Medal), Langtry served with the 15th Hussars in the Candahar Column in the Afghan war of 1878.
 * Captain Louis Nolan (1818–1854), was a British Army officer, an authority on cavalry tactics, and best known for his controversial role in launching the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava. He was also the first casualty of that engagement, 15th Hussars.
 * Lieutenant-General Robert Ballard Long (1771–1825), 15th Light Dragoons.
 * Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Murray Ashley Warde CBE (1850–1940), commissioned 19th Hussars, who served as Chief Constable of Kent County Constabulary from 1895 to 1921.
 * Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Sykes, GCSI, GCIE, GBE, KCB, CMG (1877–1954), commissioned 15th Hussars.
 * Colonel Francis de Groot (1888–1969), commissioned 15th Hussars.
 * John Peyton, Baron Peyton of Yeovil PC, FZS (1919–2006) was a British politician.
 * Major Ian Gow TD (1937–1990) was a British Conservative politician assassinated by the IRA.
 * Brigader Antony Henry Head, 1st Viscount Head, GCMG CBE MC PC (1906–1983) was a British Member of Parliament, peer and statesman.
 * Major General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh KBE MC (1892–1970) served in both the First and Second World Wars. He commanded the 7th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats, between 1939 and 1941. Commanding Officer 1934-38
 * Brigadier Sir Henry Robert Kincaid Floyd, 5th Baronet(1899–1968). The fifth Baronet was a Brigadier in the 15th/19th Hussars and was Chief-of-Staff of the Eighth Army from 1944 to 1945. Between 1961 and 1968 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.
 * Captain Gerald Maitland-Carew (born 1941) is Lord Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale in Scotland.
 * Colonel Sir Walter Luttrell KCVO MC JP (1919–2007).
 * Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC (1852–1925), Commanding Officer 19 Hussars 1889-1893.
 * Field Marshal Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode, 7th Baronet of Oakley GCB OM GCSI KCMG DSO (1869–1950), became Commander-in-Chief, India. Commissioned 19th Hussars.
 * Major John Gouriet (born 1935), Commissioned 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars.
 * Lieutenant General Simon Mayall, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom), Commissioned 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars 1979, Deputy Commander Multi-National Corps Iraq 2006.
 * Timothy Royle, Founder and Chairman, The Control Risks Group, Commissioned 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars.

Nicknames
The regiment - The Tabs
 * A Squadron - The Windies
 * B Squadron - The Guards
 * C Squadron - The Legion