3rd Dragoon Guards

3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards)

Badge of the 3rd Dragoon Guards
Active 1685–1922
Country  Kingdom of England (1685–1707)
 Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800)
 United Kingdom (1801–1922)
Branch Army
Type Line Cavalry
Role Cavalry
Size One regiment
Garrison/HQ RHQ
Motto(s) Ich Dien (I Serve)
March Quick - God Bless the Prince of Wales
Slow - Men of Harlech

The 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards in 1765. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated into the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

History

The 3rd Dragoon Guards violently suppressing the Bristol Riots of 1831

The regiment was first raised by Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse in 1685 as part of the response to the Monmouth Rebellion, by the regimenting of various independent troops, and was ranked as the 4th Regiment of Horse.[1] The regiment saw action at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704, the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704, the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession.[2] In 1746 it was ranked as the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and formally titled in 1751 as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards.[1]

Shortly thereafter, in 1765, it took the title 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards, for the future George IV.[1] It took part in the suppression of the Bristol riots in 1831 and, after service in India, took part in the British Expedition to Abyssinia in 1868.[2] The regiment was employed chasing the elusive General Christiaan de Wet in spring 1901 during the Second Boer War.[3]

Uniform of the 3rd Dragoon Guards in 1838

The regiment, which was in Cairo at the start of First World War, landed in France as part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade in the 3rd Cavalry Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front[4] where it fought at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914, the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 and the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.[2]

It retitled as 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) in 1921, and was amalgamated with the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards the following year.[1][5]

Battle honours

The regiment was awarded the following battle honours:[1]

Colonels

The colonels of the regiment were as follows:[1]

1685 4th Regiment of Horse

4th Regiment of Horse, 1687
Memorial to General Cornelius Wood, colonel of the regiment from 1693 to 1712, at St Leonard's Church in Buckinghamshire

1746 3rd Regiment of Horse

1751 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards

1765 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards

1922 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards

after the regiment was amalgamated with the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mills, T.F. "3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's)". National Army Museum. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards". Anglo-Boer War. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Dragoon Guards". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  5. ↑ John Pimlott (1993). The Guinness History of the British Army. Guiness Pub. ISBN 978-0-85112-711-8.
  6. ↑ Chant, p. 16
  7. ↑ HMSO, p .4

Sources

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