Regimental History

A Brief History of The Queen’s Royal Hussars

Due to post Cold War restructuring of the Armed Forces it was announced in 1990 that The Queen’s Own Hussars and The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars would amalgamate to form The Queen’s Royal Hussars. On the 1st of September 1993 the new Regiment was formed at an amalgamation parade held at Wessex Barracks, Bad Fallingbostel.

The Regiment moved to Cambrai Barracks, Catterick in July 1995 where it provided the Armoured Regiment to 19 Mechanised Brigade. Six months later the Regiment found itself deploying Challenger 1 tanks to Bosnia as part of NATO’s British led Implementation Force (IFOR).

On return from Bosnia the new Guidon was presented to the Regiment by the Colonel in Chief on 13 June 1997 in Catterick. The same year the Regiment deployed to Northern Ireland, this time in a dismounted role. Having returned from Northern Ireland in March 1998 the Regiment conducted an Arms Plot move to Athlone Barracks, Sennelager in August, coming under command of 20th Armoured Brigade.

Between July and November 1999 the Regiment successfully carried out conversion to Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks. In August 2000 B Squadron deployed their tanks to Kosovo as part of 1st Bn the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment Battle Group. The remainder of the Regiment deployed to Kosovo as a Battlegroup from October 2001-April 2002 in a dismounted role.

In October 2002 the Regiment deployed two Squadrons to Op FRESCO, the military’s emergency support during the UK fire-fighter’s dispute 2002-2003. Cavalry soldiers found themselves fighting fires around Manchester and Liverpool when the firefighters were on strike during this period.

In November of 2003 the Regiment deployed to Iraq on Op TELIC 3 with one squadron of Challenger 2 tanks and the remainder in the light role. The majority of the Regiment were re-roled in theatre to become the Security Sector Reform (SSR) Battlegroup. During this tour Cpl Balmforth was awarded the Military Cross.

Shortly after the Regiment returned from Iraq, A Sqn was deployed to Cyprus to over watch part of the UN buffer zone between the Greeks and the Turks.

The Regiment were deployed again to Iraq (Op TELIC 8) between April and November 2006 in both Armoured and light roles. The Battlegroup received several operational awards during the tour including a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, Military Crosses and several individuals Mentioned in Dispatches. In May 2007 the Regiment exercised their right to the Freedom of the City of Birmingham parading through the city with the Guidon flying, swords drawn and bayonets fixed.

A further deployment to Iraq (Op TELIC 13) from November 2008 to June 2009 saw the Regiment engaged in various tasks which included providing the Armoured reserve. At the same time an independent Troop mounted in Viking Armoured vehicles deployed with the Royal Marines of 3 Commando Brigade to Afghanistan (Op HERRICK 9).

From September 2011 to March 2012 the Regiment deployed to Afghanistan (Op HERRICK 15). During the tour the Regiment had troops deployed in various roles including a manoeuvre Squadron based on Warthog Armoured vehicles, re-rolling a Sqn to Light Role Infantry and mentoring the Afghan Army and Police. On return from Afghanistan the Regiment were tasked with providing security to several venues during the London 2012 Olympics.

The Regiment deployed a Squadron to Afghanistan (Op HERRICK 20) between May and September 2014. C Squadron formed the nucleus of the Warthog Group, supplemented by dismounted troops from 5 RIFLES.

Concurrently, the remaining Squadrons were deployed to Glasgow (Op COMET) in support of the Commonwealth Games, reprising their role in Op OLYMPICS and providing security to stadia and critical infrastructure throughout the games.

In 2015, as a result of the Army 2020 reforms, the Regiment adopted a Type 56 structure, with four tank troops in each sabre squadron and joining 3 (UK) Division to begin a three-year readiness and training cycle.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the formation of The Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish), the Regimental Trustees commissioned Brigadier Robin Rhoderick-Jones MBE to produce a history of The Regiment and its six predecessors.

His book ‘In Peace and War – The Story of The Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish)’ is now available to pre-order from HHQ. Further details can be found here