QOH

a brief history of the queen’s own hussars

The Queen’s Own Hussars were formed from the amalgamation of The 3rd Hussars and The 7th Hussars in Tidworth in 1958. The Regiment remained in England until 1960 with one Squadron serving in Aden. It was brought back together as the Armoured Regiment of 6th Infantry Brigade at Munster in Northern Germany. They moved to Detmold two years later and back to Catterick in 1965, except for A Squadron who became the first Berlin Armoured Squadron. 1967 was a very busy year for the Regiment as their role was converted to that of an Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment and deployed to keep the fragile peace in Aden, where they were awarded one MC and six Mentions-in-Dispatches.

The following two years saw the Regiment blown to the four corners of the globe, with independent Squadrons serving in Singapore, Hong Kong, Maresfield and Cyprus. The Queen’s Own Hussars converted back to being an Armoured Regiment in 1970, and were posted to Hohne as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade for four years in which time they completed two tours of Northern Ireland, one in Armoured Cars and the latter on foot. In 1974 they relocated to Bovington for two years, then Detmold for seven years punctuated by another two tours of Northern Ireland, returning to England in 1983.

Their final move as a complete Regiment was out to Hohne in 1985, from where they completed a UN tour of Cyprus in 1990, and in 1993. Shortly before their amalgamation they had two large independent Squadrons, one as Armoured Reconnaissance in Cyprus and the other as the Maze Prison Guard Force in Northern Ireland.