King's Royal Hussars

The King's Royal Hussars

Cap badge of the King's Royal Hussars
Active 2 December 1992-
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Branch  British Army
Type Line Cavalry
Role Armoured
Size One regiment
Part of Royal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQ RHQ (North) - Preston
RHQ (South) - Winchester
Regiment - Tidworth
March Quick - The King's Royal Hussars
Slow - Coburg
Other - The Eagle
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief HRH The Princess Royal
Colonel of
the Regiment		 General Sir Richard Shirreff KCB CBE
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Arm Badge Crossed Kukris
From 14th/20th King's Hussars
Abbreviation KRH

The King's Royal Hussars (KRH) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps. The regiment was formed in 1992 and is based at Tidworth. It serves as the armoured regiment of the 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade.

History

Challenger 2 tanks from the King's Royal Hussars on Salisbury Plain
The King's Royal Hussars receiving the Freedom of Winchester from the Princess Royal

The regiment was formed on 4 December 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments:[1]

The regiment currently serves in the armoured role, equipped with Challenger 2 tanks, and is based in Tidworth, Wiltshire. It is planned to continue this role and retain its base under the Army 2020 reforms.[2]

"HorsePower: The Museum of the King's Royal Hussars" is the regiment's museum, which is part of Winchester's Military Museums in Winchester, Hampshire.

Deployments

Since the amalgamation, the unit has been deployed to Northern Ireland, the Yugoslav Wars (Bosnia and Kosovo), Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently, they returned from Operation Herrick with the last squadron leaving Afghanistan in November 2012.[3]

Organisation

The regiment is organised into a total of five squadrons, each of which perpetuates the title of one of its antecedent regiments:

C Squadron traditionally is the senior squadron of the King's Royal Hussars in perpetuation of the honour accorded to C Squadron the 11th Hussars in Egypt.[4]

Uniform

Crimson trousers

On parade in No2 Service Dress.

The regiment wears crimson trousers when in ceremonial, No. 1 or No, 2 dress, and (for officers and NCOs) mess dress. They may also appear in shirt sleeve order as worn by officers, including those on secondment to the regiment from other units.[5] This distinctive feature, which is unique in the British Army, derives from the honour accorded to the 11th Hussars by Prince Albert, the future consort of Queen Victoria. The regiment, then based at Canterbury, formed the escort for the Prince from his arrival at Dover en route to his wedding in London. The Prince was so impressed with the bearing and turnout of the troops that he ordered that they should henceforth wear his livery as a mark of distinction.[6]

Brown beret

The regiment wears a unique brown beret. This practice began when the 11th Hussars were mechanized in 1928. It was found that the traditional forage cap with a peak was inconvenient when peering through an armoured sight, so it was decided to adopt a beret. It is believed that the brown colour was selected by the then quartermaster's wife as a practical choice for working with dirty, oily vehicles, rather than nice, clean horses. The beret was originally worn without a cap badge but with a broad crimson band. On almagamation with the 10th Hussars PWO (the senior regiment of the two) who had a Red Patch behind their cap badge, it was agreed in discussions between representatives of both regiments (10th & 11th) to retain the patch but the colour was changed to Crimson to represent the Crimson band. Since 2003 the Royal Wessex Yeomanry has also worn the brown beret.

The Gurkha link

The KRH wear the crossed kukri of the Gurkhas as an arm badge. This relates back to 1945 when C Squadron, 14th/20th King's Hussars assaulted the town of Medicina in Italy alongside the 2nd Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles, inflicting heavy losses on the German defenders despite being outnumbered. In commemoration of this action the 14/20 adopted the crossed kukri badge, a tradition maintained by the KRH.

Alliances

Affiliated Yeomanry

Order of precedence

Preceded by
The Royal Lancers		 Cavalry Order of Precedence Succeeded by
Light Dragoons

Notable officers

References

  1. ↑ The King's Royal Hussars - History and Traditions
  2. ↑ "Regular Army Basing Plan - 5 Mar 2013" (PDF). Ministry of Defence.
  3. ↑ "King's Royal Hussars return home from Afghanistan". MoD. 22 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Journal of The King's Royal Hussars 1992
  5. ↑ "The Regiment - The King's Own Royal Hussars" Issue 9
  6. ↑ Journal of The King's Royal Hussars 1992

External links

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