Cap badge of the 21st Lancers, c1900. NAM. 1955-05-5-28Introduction
Three units known as the 21st Light Dragoons were raised and then disbanded in the British Army between 1760 and 1820. The ancestor of a fourth was raised in 1858 as the 3rd Bengal European Light Cavalry as a unit of the East India Company in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny. With the loyalty of Indian cavalry in doubt, the new unit was entirely made up of Europeans.
However, less than a year after its formation, the British government disbanded the Company and took control of all its army units. Some of these formed the core of a new Indian Army, but the 3rd Bengal European Light Cavalry was transferred to the British Army and in 1862 was renamed the 21st Regiment of Hussars.
Charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, 1898. Oil on canvas by Edward Matthew Hale, 1899.
NAM. 1957-04-4It turned into a Lancers regiment in 1897 and a year later took part in the last major British cavalry charge at the Battle of Omdurman during the Sudan War. Then an officer with the 4th Hussars, Winston Churchill was attached to 21st Lancers during the battle and the regiment’s conduct there won it the title ‘Empress of India’s Lancers’.
It spent the First World War stationed on the North West Frontier, winning it as a battle honour. Private Hull from the regiment won the Victoria Cross for his actions in that theatre in 1915. After the war they were brought back to Britain, at first to prepare for disbandment and then for amalgamation with the 17th Lancers, which took place in 1922.
Key facts
Motto:
Titles to date:
- 3rd Bengal European Light Cavalry
- 21st Regiment of Hussars
- 21st Lancers
- 21st (Empress of India’s) Lancers
- 21st Lancer’s (Empress of India’s)
- 17th/21st Lancers
- Queen’s Royal Lancers
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