11th Hussars

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The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.

Contents

[edit] History

The regiment was founded in 1715 as Colonel Philip Honeywood's Regiment of Dragoons and was known by the name of its Colonel until 1751 when it became the 11th Regiment of Dragoons. A further name change, to the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons, occurred in 1783. In 1840 the regiment was named for Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, who later became the regiment's Colonel.

Their career during the 18th Century included service in the Seven Years' War when they took part in the charge at Warburg. During the Napoleonic Wars battle-honours were received for Salamanca, Peninsular and Waterloo.

The regiment's nickname, the "Cherry Pickers", came from an incident during the Peninsular War, in which the 11th Hussars were attacked while raiding an orchard at San Martin de Trebejo in Spain. They were distinguished thereafter by their cherry coloured trousers, unique among British regiments and worn in all styles of uniform except battledress.

The 11th Hussars charged with the Light Brigade, which was commanded by their former Colonel, Lord Cardigan, at Balaklava during the Crimean War. In 1928 they became the first British regiment to become mechanized.

[edit] World War II

In 1940, the 11th was located in Africa as Italy declared war on Britain. It was part of the 7th Armoured Division (known as the "Desert Rats"). The unit immediately began to conduct various raids against Italian positions. The Hussars captured Fort Capuzzo and, in an ambush east of Bardia, captured General Lastucci, the Engineer-in-Chief of the Italian Tenth Army. Prior to the Normandy campaign, the 11th Hussars were removed from the Division and assigned as a Corps-level unit in accordance with General Montgomery's view that all armoured car regiments would be assigned to Corps, not Divisions. Later in the European campaign, the Regiment reverted back to the 7th Armoured Division.

[edit] Amalgamation

On October 25, 1969 the regiment was amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) to form The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own). In 1992, as part of the Options for Change defence review, the Royal Hussars were amalgamated with the 14th/20th King's Hussars to form the King's Royal Hussars. The 11th Hussars are unofficially perpetuated by C squadron of the King's Royal Hussars.

11th Hussars monument at the National Memorial Arboretum
11th Hussars monument at the National Memorial Arboretum

[edit] Notable members

[edit] Battle honours

  • Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, Bhurtpore, Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol
  • The Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, France and Flanders 1914-18
  • The Second World War: Villers Bocage, Bourguébus Ridge, Mont Pincon, Jurques, Dives Crossing, La Vie Crossing, Lisieux, Le Touques Crossing, Risle Crossing, Roer, Rhine, Ibbenburen, Aller, North-West Europe 1944-45, Egyptian Frontier 1940, Withdrawal to Matruh, Bir Enba, Sidi Barrani, Buq Buq, Bardia 1941, Capture of Tobruk, Beda Fomm, Halfaya 1941, Sidi Suleiman, Tobruk 1941, Gubi I II, Gabr Saleh, Sidi Rezegh 1941, Taieb el Essem, Relief of Tobruk, Saunnu, Msus, Defence of Alamein Line, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Enfidaville, Tunis, North Africa 1940-43, Capture of Naples, Volturno Crossing, Italy 1943

[edit] References and external links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Hussars"
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