Other ranks’ cap badge of the 17th (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Lancers, c1898.
NAM. 1955-03-269Introduction
In 1759 Colonel Hale of the 47th Foot was sent back to Britain with the news of General Wolfe’s death at the Battle of Quebec. As a reward, he was commissioned to raise the 17th Light Dragoons. In memory of Wolfe’s death, their cap badge is a skull and crossed bones and their motto ‘Death or Glory’.
They first served overseas during the American Revolutionary War, where they fought at Bunker Hill and were the only regular unit in Tarleton’s Legion. They fought in the West Indies for eight years early in the French Revolutionary Wars, gaining the unusual nickname of ‘Horse Marines’ when two troops of the regiment embarked on HMS Success, which was then without its Royal Marine contingent.
In 1806 the regiment was sent to reinforce the British force sent to capture the Spanish colony of Buenos Aires, and then in 1808 to India to protect the interests of the East India Company. They finally returned to Britain in 1823 and found out en route that the Army List had converted them into a Lancers regiment.
The 17th Lancers in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, 1854.
NAM. 2002-07-339They spent the next 30 years on garrison duty in Britain and Ireland. During this time, in 1842, Queen Victoria’s grandson the Duke of Cambridge became their colonel-in-chief - the unit took his name as part of its own in 1876. In 1854 they were sent to the Crimea, where they took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade and three years later were sent to India as reinforcements during the Mutiny there. They also fought in the Zulu and Boer Wars.
Despite not being an Indian Army unit, they were deployed to the Western Front as part of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division in October 1914, serving in the trenches and only resuming mounted duties in early 1918. They then spent two years in Ireland until 1921, when they returned to Britain. There, again in recognition of their repeated service in India, they were merged in 1922 with the 21st Lancers (Empress of India’s), a former East India Company unit.
Key facts
Motto:
Nicknames:
- The Death or Glory Boys
- The Horse Marines
- Bingham's Dandies (from the elaborate uniforms required by its commander Lord Bingham, later known as Lord Lucan and also famous for ordering the Charge of the Light Brigade)
- The Tots
- Skull and Crossbones (after their cap badge)
- The White Lancers (after their white facings)
Titles to date:
- 18th Regiment of (Light Dragoons)
- Hale’s Light Horse
- 3rd Regiment of Light Dragoons
- 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
- 17th Regiment of Lancers
- 17th (The Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Lancers
- 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge’s Own)
- 17th/21st Lancers
- Queen’s Royal Lancers
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Regimental Museum
Regimental Merchandise
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