12th Royal Lancers

File:The Presentation of British Officers to Pope Pius VI, 1794.jpg in 1794]]

File:Cavalier du 12e régiment de dragons légers britannique, 1811.jpg]]

The regiment of dragoons was raised in Reading by Brigadier-General Phineas Bowles as the Phineas Bowles's Regiment of Dragoons in July 1715 as part of the response to the Jacobite rebellion.{{cite web|url=http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/cav/D12L.htm |title=12th Royal Lancers |publisher=Regiments.org |access-date=21 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051028150913/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/cav/D12L.htm |archive-date=28 October 2005 }} It was employed escorting prisoners to London later in the year.Cannon, p.11 In 1718, the regiment was placed on the Irish establishment and posted to Ireland, where it remained for 75 years.{{cite web|url=http://www.12thlightdragoons.org.uk/Public_information_XII-12L_history.htm|title=History of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers|access-date=31 December 2008|archive-date=6 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906142015/http://www.12thlightdragoons.org.uk/Public_information_XII-12L_history.htm}}Richards, p. 86

In 1751, the regiment was officially styled the 12th Dragoons. In 1768, King George III bestowed the badge of the three ostrich feathers and the motto "Ich Dien" on the regiment and re-titled it as the 12th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons. A young Arthur Wesley (later Duke of Wellington) joined the regiment as a subaltern in 1789.{{London Gazette|issue=13121|page=539|date=8 August 1789}} In April 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the regiment took part in the siege of Bastia in Corsica.Cannon, p. 18 Pope Pius VI was impressed by the conduct of the regiment and ordered that medals be awarded to its officers.

File:Alexandre-Jean Dubois Drahonet (1791-1834) - (Private) Joseph Bednal (1802-33), 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers - RCIN 407088 - Royal Collection.jpg]]

The regiment landed at Alexandria in March 1801 and, although its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Mervyn Archdall, was seriously injured in skirmishes,Cannon, p.24 it saw action at the Battle of Alexandria later in the month.Cannon, p.27 The regiment, under a new commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Doyle, captured 28 officers and 570 other ranks of the French Dromedary Regiment ({{langx|fr|Régiment de Dromadaires}}) in an action in the Egyptian desert in May 1801.{{cite web|url=http://www.doyle.com.au/history_pt6.htm |publisher=Doyle Clan History, part 6.|title= Profile of General Sir John Doyle Bt GCB KCH|access-date=21 August 2016}}Cannon, p.26 It took part in the siege of Cairo securing the city in June 1801 and then participated in the siege of Alexandria taking that city in September 1801.Cannon, p.28 The regiment next deployed for the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809.Cannon, p.30

In June 1811 the regiment embarked for Lisbon and, under the command of Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, took part in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, the siege of Badajoz in March 1812Cannon, p.31 and the Battle of Villagarcia in April 1812 in the Peninsular War.Cannon, p.32 It also undertook two charges at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812Cannon, p.34 before taking part in the siege of Burgos in September 1812,Cannon, p.37 the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813Cannon, p.39 and the siege of San Sebastián in autumn 1813.Cannon, p.41 The regiment next advanced into France and supported the infantry at the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813.Cannon, p.42 The regiment marched through France and arrived in Calais in July 1814 from where it returned to England.Cannon, p.44

In the Waterloo Campaign, the regiment was attached to Sir John Vandeleur's light cavalry brigade. At the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the regiment charged down the slope to support the Union Brigade of medium cavalry. Ponsonby fell, dangerously wounded, in the melee.Cannon, p.50

File:Charles Sabine Augustus Thellusson (1822–1885), as Captain, 12th Royal Lancers.jpg

In 1816, the 12th Light Dragoons was armed with lances after the cavalry of Napoleon's Army had shown their effectiveness at Waterloo and were re-titled 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers). In 1855, it reinforced the Light Cavalry Brigade in the Crimea after the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. In 1861, the regiment was renamed 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Regiment of Lancers. It was stationed in India between 1857 and 1860 in response to the Indian Rebellion and in Ireland from 1865 to 1870, before fighting in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in the late 1870s.{{cite web|url=http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/12th-royal-lancers-prince-wales|title=12th Royal Lancers|publisher=National Army Museum|access-date=21 August 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822064420/http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/12th-royal-lancers-prince-wales|archive-date=22 August 2016}}

File:The Earl of Airlie in 1883.jpg, who was killed while commanding the regiment at the Battle of Diamond Hill in the Second Boer War]]

The regiment was deployed to South Africa for service in the Second Boer War in October 1899, and took part in the relief of Kimberley and the ensuing Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900.{{cite web|url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/imperial-units/497-12th-prince-of-waless-royal-lancers|title=12th (Prince of Wales's Royal) Lancers|publisher=Anglo-Boer War|access-date=21 August 2016}} The commanding officer of the regiment, the 11th Earl of Airlie, was killed at the Battle of Diamond Hill in June 1900. Following the end of the war in 1902 they went to India. Almost 530 officers and men left Cape Town aboard SS Lake Manitoba in September 1902, arriving at Bombay the following month and was then stationed at Ambala in Punjab.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home |date=27 September 1902 |page=10 |issue=36884}}

File:The 12th Lancers at Moy, France, on 28 August 1914.jpg, France, on 28 August 1914" by George Wright]]

The regiment, which had been based in Norwich at the start of the war, landed in France as part of the 5th Cavalry Brigade in the 2nd Cavalry Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.{{cite web|url=http://www.1914-1918.net/lancers.htm|title=The Lancers|publisher=The Long, Long Trail|access-date=21 August 2016}} On 28 August 1914, 'C' Squadron of the 12th Lancers, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Wormald, made a successful charge against a dismounted squadron of Prussian Dragoons at Moÿ-de-l'Aisne in the Great Retreat.Edmonds, p. 215-6 The 9th/12th Royal Lancers celebrated Mons/Moy Day annually, which commemorated the last occasions on which each predecessor regiment charged with lances.{{cite web|url=http://www.9th12thlancersmuseum.org/about|title=A short history of the regiment|publisher=9th/12th Royal Lancers Museum|access-date=23 August 2016}}

File:IWM-ARMY-TRAINING-6-16-Lanchester-armoured-car.jpgs in 1938]]

In 1921 the regiment was re-titled the 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's). In 1928, it gave up its horses and was equipped with armoured cars, taking over vehicles left in Egypt by two Royal Tank Corps armoured car units, the 3rd and 5th Companies.Crow, p. 3 Late in 1934, the 12th exchanged equipment and station with the 11th Hussars, taking over 34 Lanchester 6×4 armoured cars at Tidworth. Its strength would have been 12 officers and 141 other ranks, organised in a company headquarters and three sections, each with five cars. Total numbers were sixteen cars, six motorcycles, a staff car, four 3-ton ({{convert|3|LT|t|0|abbr=on|disp=out}}) and seven 30-cwt ({{convert|3360|lb|kg|abbr=on|disp=out}}) lorries.

In January–February 1935 a provisional D squadron of the 12th Lancers with eight armoured cars served as a peacekeeping force in the Saar region.{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/RAC_9_12_Brief_history.pdf|title=A brief history of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=23 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810235504/https://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/RAC_9_12_Brief_history.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2012|url-status=dead}} On 31 December B and C squadrons were sent again to Egypt with 29 armoured cars as a response to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia and strengthening garrisons in Libya. By the end of 1936 the squadrons were returned to Britain, where the regiment was re-equipped with Morris Light Reconnaissance Cars.{{cite web|url=http://www.nam.ac.uk/online-collection/detail.php?acc=1975-03-63-1-33|title='New Morris Armoured Cars attached from 12th Royal Lancers', 1939|publisher=National Army Museum|access-date=23 August 2016|archive-date=25 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825210337/http://www.nam.ac.uk/online-collection/detail.php?acc=1975-03-63-1-33|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last1=Stewart|first1=Patrick|title=History of the XII Royal Lancers.|date=1950|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=328–30}}

File:The British Army in France 1939-40 O594.jpg armoured cars of 'C' Squadron, 12th Royal Lancers, 29 September 1939 in the Second World War]]

The 12th Lancers was an armoured car regiment equipped with the Morris CS9, in the 1940 campaign in France and Flanders, playing a key part in shielding the retreat to Dunkirk. After evacuation (without their vehicles) from Malo-les-Bains on dredgers, they were first equipped with Beaverettes, then, in June 1941, with Humbers.{{cite web|url=http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/image/743239/mclaren-lieut-a-humber-mk-ii-armoured-car-of-the-12th-royal-lancers-on-patrol-south-of-el-alamein-july-1942|title=A Humber Mk II armoured car of the 12th Royal Lancers on patrol south of El Alamein, July 1942.|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=26 August 2016|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011074131/http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/image/743239/mclaren-lieut-a-humber-mk-ii-armoured-car-of-the-12th-royal-lancers-on-patrol-south-of-el-alamein-july-1942|url-status=dead}}

The Lancers landed in Port Tewfik, Egypt, in November 1941. Subsequently, the regiment fought as divisional troops for the 1st Armoured Division at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942Joslen pp. 13–15 and then served as a corps-level reconnaissance unit in the Italian Campaign.

The regiment was deployed to Palestine in August 1946 before returning home in April 1947.{{cite web|url=http://british-army-units1945on.co.uk/royal-armoured-corps/12th-royal-lancers.html|title=12th Royal Lancers|publisher=British Army units 1945 on|access-date=21 August 2016}} It was sent to Malaya in September 1951 in the Malayan Emergency and, having been posted to Harewood Barracks in Herford in January 1955 moved on to Northampton Barracks in Wolfenbüttel in March 1956. It returned home again in March 1959 and deployed to Cyprus in May 1959. The regiment was amalgamated with the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers to form the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) in September 1960.

The Derby Museum and Art Gallery incorporates the Soldier's Story Gallery, based on the collection, inter alia, of the 12th Royal Lancers.{{cite news|url=http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Soldiers-8217-Story-gallery-celebrates-Derby-s/story-27585377-detail/story.html|title=Soldiers' Story gallery celebrates Derby's 300-year link with the Lancers|first=Zena|last=Hawley|work=Derby Telegraph|date=11 August 2015|access-date=11 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225002035/http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Soldiers-8217-Story-gallery-celebrates-Derby-s/story-27585377-detail/story.html|archive-date=25 December 2015|url-status=dead}}

The regiment's battle honours were as follows:

• Early Wars: Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, South Africa 1851-2-3, Sevastopol, Central India, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899–1902
• The Great War: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Neuve Chapelle, St. Julien, Bellewaarde, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917 '18, Somme 1918, St. Quentin, Lys, Hazebrouck, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18
• The Second World War: Dyle, Defence of Arras, Arras Counter Attack, Dunkirk 1940, North-West Europe 1940, Chor es Sufan, Gazala, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Tebaga Gap, El Hamma, Akarit, El Kourzia, Djebel Kournine, Tunis, Creteville Pass, North Africa 1941–43, Citerna, Gothic Line, Capture of Forli, Conventello-Comacchio, Bologna, Sillaro Crossing, Idice Bridgehead, Italy 1944–45

• 1919–: F.M. HM King Edward VIII

Colonels of the regiment were:

• 1715–1719: Maj-Gen. Phineas Bowles (senior)
• 1719–1740: Lt-Gen. Phineas Bowles (junior)
• 1740–1743: Col. Alexander Rose
• 1743–1746: Brig-Gen. Samuel Walter Whitshed
• 1746–1747: Lt-Gen. Thomas Bligh
• 1747–1749: Gen. Sir John Mordaunt, KB
• 1749: Gen. Hon. James Cholmondeley
• 1749–1750: Lt-Gen. George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville
• 1750–1763: Lt-Gen. Sir John Whitefoord, Bt.

;12th Regiment of Dragoons (1751)

• 1763–1764: Lt-Gen. Edward Harvey
• 1764–1770: Gen. Benjamin Carpenter

;12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (1768)

• 1770–1775: Gen. Sir William Augustus Pitt, KB
• 1775–1782: Lt-Gen. Hon. William Keppel
• 1782–1791: Lt-Gen. Hon. George Lane Parker
• 1791–1815: Gen. Sir James Steuart, Bt., GCH
• 1815–1825: Gen. Sir William Payne, Bt.

;12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers)

• 1825–1827: Lt-Gen. Sir Colquhoun Grant, KCB, GCH
• 1827–1837: Lt-Gen. Sir Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian, GCB, GCH
• 1837–1856: Gen. Sir Henry John Cumming, KCH
• 1856–1861: Lt-Gen. Sir Lovell Benjamin Badcock, KCB, KH

;12th (Prince of Wales's Royal) Lancers (1861)

• 1861–1872: Gen. Sir George Henry Lockwood, KCB
• 1872–1879: Gen. Edward Pole
• 1879–1892: Gen. Thomas Hooke Pearson, CB
• 1892–1894: Lt-Gen. Edward Burgoyne Cureton
• 1894–1896: Maj-Gen. Robert Hale
• 1896–1902: Lt-Gen. Sir Arthur Lyttelton-Annesley, KCB, KCVO
• 1902–1909: Maj-Gen. John Cecil Russell, CVO
• 1909–1917: Lt-Gen. Robert Broadwood, CB
• 1917–1920: Maj-Gen. Walter Howorth Greenly, CB, CMG, DSO
• 1920–1951: F.M. Sir William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, CIE, DSO

;12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) (1921)

• 1951–1960: Gen. Sir Richard McCreery, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (to 9th/12th Royal Lancers)
• 1960: Regiment amalgamated with 9th Queen's Royal Lancers to form 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's)

• British cavalry during the First World War

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Cannon|first=Richard|title=Historical Record of The Twelfth, or The Prince of Wales's Royal Regiment of Lancers: containing an account of the formation of the Regiment in 1715 and of its subsequent services to 1842 |year=1842|publisher=J. W. Parker|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002040782568;view=1up;seq=13}}
• {{cite book|last=Crow|first=Duncan|title=British and Commonwealth Armoured Formations 1919–46|publisher=Profile Publications Ltd, Great Bookham|year=1972|isbn=978-0853830818}}
• {{cite book|last=Edmonds|first=Sir James Edward |title=Military operations, France and Belgium, 1914|year=1922|url=https://archive.org/stream/militaryoperatio01edmouoft/militaryoperatio01edmouoft_djvu.txt}}
• {{cite book|first=Lieutenant-Colonel H.F.|last=Joslen|title=Orders Of Battle Second World War 1939–1945|publisher=Naval & Military Press Ltd|year=1960|orig-year=1960|isbn=978-1-84342-474-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Richards|first= Walter|title=Her Majesty's Army|volume=1|publisher= London: J.S. Virtue|year=1895}}

• {{cite book|last=Stewart|first=Patrick |title=History of the XII Royal Lancers|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1950}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120810235504/https://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/RAC_9_12_Brief_history.pdf Brief history of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers]

{{Royal Lancers}}

{{British Cavalry Regiments World War I}}

{{RAC armoured regiments of the Second World War}}

Category:Military units and formations established in 1715

Category:Cavalry regiments of the British Army

L12

Royal Lancers 012

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1960

Category:1715 establishments in Great Britain

Category:Military units and formations of the Second Boer War