There were several events over the past 2 weeks involving members of the association and the serving regiment to commemorate the remembrance of those who had served and given their lives in the nation’s defence.
Additional information, including a short slide show of the events, can be found on Page 2.
On an incredibly hot and sunny day in September The Queen’s Royal Hussars competed against The King’s Royal Hussars in an all-cavalry Inter-Regimental Final. The QRH were confident having won the Captains & Subalterns Division 1 Tournament earlier this year and were trying to ‘win the double’, an accolade that, as yet, had not been achieved by the QRH.
The team consisted of Col. Nick Cowley, Capt Jamie Fry (captain), Capt Henry Amor and Lt Will Cecil. The KRH held a slight handicap advantage on paper, which meant they would start with ½ a goal in their favour. Over the season, due to the obvious limitations of living in a global pandemic, there wasn’t many opportunities for the team to practice, with some having not been on a horse more than a couple of times over two years.
Thus, the KRH came out all guns blazing and managed to score two early goals against the slightly rusty QRH team. But form quickly returned to the side with some calm and collected penalty taking from Henry Amor and brilliant plays, both defensive and attacking, from the side’s captain Jamie Fry. Leaving the half-time score at 4 – 2.5 in favour of the QRH.
During the critical third chukka of the match, having found their feet, the QRH team relaxed slightly too much allowing the KRH to pull ahead 4 – 5.5. This set up a very dramatic final chukka with both teams going hell for leather for the win.
With only a minute left of the match, Henry Amor calmly stepped up once again to slot the winning goal. Scoring the penalty produced from a fantastic play by Col. Nick who managed to take the ball straight from the line out down beyond the KRH’s 30-yard line. The final score was 6 – 5.5 to QRH.
After an intense and exciting final the QRH managed to just pip the KRH at the post. The Inter-Regimental capped off a very successful season for QRH polo, remaining undefeated all season. Capt Jamie Fry won the Moment of the Game.
The Regimental Pipes and Drums will be participating in a Massed Bands of the Irish Regiments event on Saturday 11 September at Carrickfergus Castle.
Introduction. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Gulf War, facilitated by the serving regiment’s return to the UK, The Queen’s Royal Hussars will play The King’s Royal Hussars for the Gulf War Trust Trophy.
This event will present an excellent opportunity for serving and late members of the Regiment to build relationships in the fantastic setting of Tidworth Polo Club. There will also be an opportunity to mingle with old contemporaries from the KRH.
Please see the detail on Page 2 and let the Regimental Secretary know if you are interested in attending.
The eCavalry Memorial Parade and Service is on Sunday 9th of May 2021 starting at 1100hrs.
Herewith the YouTube link for this year’s Combined Cavalry Old Comrades Association’s Parade and Service on the 97th Anniversary of the Unveiling and Dedication of the Cavalry Memorial:
Please note the following:
We sincerely hope that next year we will all be able to meet in person in Hyde Park to hold the normal Parade and Service. As this is, once again, not possible this year we hope that you enjoy this virtual alternative.
Lt Col (Retd) Richard Watson | RAC Corps Secretary
As you will be aware, the ceremonial royal funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, our Colonel-in-Chief, will be held at St George’s Chapel, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, at 3pm on Saturday 17 April. The event will be televised.
Further information can be found on Page 2.
On Monday 22 March, the SofS for Defence briefed Parliament on the Defence Command Paper: ‘Defence in a competitive age’. The paper is the Defence extraction of the the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (IR): ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’. It lays out how Defence will adapt to implement the findings of the IR including the additional £24Bn investment for Defence announced in December 2020. You may wish to read the paper in slower time, particularly the emphasis it places on the UK’s aspiration to be best in the world at looking after its veterans.
I don’t intend to summarise the paper but I do want to give you the key facts as they relate to QRH. The paper reaffirms the threat to the UK from Russia and that NATO remains the cornerstone of UK Defence and Security Policy. This top-level decision lends itself to the retention of warfighting capability in 3 (UK) Division, including a commitment to invest £1.3Bn into 148 x Challenger 3. Looking in more detail, the Armoured Infantry Brigades that form the heavy end of the Army’s warfighting capability will evolve to become Heavy Brigade Combat Teams. This is more than a change in name. It has implications for the armoured infantry who will no longer be equipped with the Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The decision has been taken to build the Heavy Brigade Combat Teams around Challenger 3, Ajax and Boxer.
There will be no cap badges deletions or redundancies but the Army will reduce to 72,500 full-time, trade-trained strength by 2025. There is no indication that the Army intends to re-role the Regiment from MBT. You may ask whether the decision to reduce the number of Challenger 2 from 227 to 148 Challenger 3 is a threat to the Regiment. The answer is that 148 is the number of Challenger 3 required for 2 MBT regiments (227 was the number required for 3 regiments as was decided in the 2010 Strategic Defence Review).
These are the facts as they relate directly to QRH. There will no doubt be a lot of good and bad analysis of the Defence Command Paper and what it means. The combat arms are going through another period of change as the nation adapts to new threats to national security but the commitment to invest in MBT is a good outcome for the Regiment.
The following has been received from Harry Bucknall, Gamekeeper PR, Communications & Book Events:
“Voices of the Gulf War, is a special podcast produced by ABF The Soldiers Charity to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Gulf War – an episode in history that, to quote Maj Gen Arthur Denaro, was probably “the last really big high speed manouevre war”.
It was my great privilege to interview among others, Gen Sir Rupert Smith, Maj Gen Patrick Cordingley, Maj Gen Arthur Denaro, Brig Jim Tanner, Kate Adie, Alfie Roberts and Brian Ricky Richards, the youngest soldier to deploy on Operation Granby – I hope you enjoy the programme.”
The link to the podcast is below:
