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  • Chelsea, London

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1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards

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A Challenger tank of 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, Bosnia, 1996

Origins

This regiment was formed in 1959 by merging the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards and The Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards), both of which dated back to 1685. Its first colonel-in-chief was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The new regiment’s main recruiting area was Wales and the border counties.

Other ranks’ cap badge, 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, c1965

Prince Charles (now King Charles III) visiting the Queen’s Dragoon Guards in Kosovo, 1999

Deployments

Until 1998, the regiment alternated between Germany, serving with the British Army of the Rhine, and regular tours of Northern Ireland. But it also sent detachments elsewhere. These included a squadron sent to Borneo and then Aden from 1966 to 1967, a two-squadron detachment sent to Beirut in 1983 during Lebanon’s civil war, and a squadron sent on UN peacekeeping duties on Cyprus in 1985.

‘A’ Squadron deployed to the Gulf War (1990-91) in 1990, where it won the battle honour ‘Wadi al Batin’. The regiment as a whole then deployed to Bosnia for seven months in 1996, returning to the Balkans in 1999 on a peacekeeping posting to Kosovo.

‘C’ and then ‘A’ squadrons deployed with Operation Palatine in Bosnia from October 2000 to April 2001. On returning home, they assisted in the measures taken to control the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom.

A Scimitar armoured vehicle of The Queen's Dragoon Guards on patrol in Maysan Province, Iraq, 2006

Iraq and Afghanistan

The whole regiment served in Iraq from January to May 2003 with 1st Armoured Division, before redeploying to Germany in September the same year. It returned to Iraq in 2005 and 2006, followed by deployments to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2008-09 and 2011-12.

In 2018, the regiment deployed to Poland for battle exercises, serving as part of Nato's armoured spearhead.

Regimental museums

The National Army Museum works with a network of Regimental and Corps Museums across the UK to help preserve and share the history and traditions of the Army and its soldiers.

Discover more about the 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards by visiting Firing Line Museum at Cardiff Castle.

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