Royals & Medal History

1st (Royal) Dragoons 1661 - 1969     Some Titles..   The Tangier Troop of Horse 1661 The Royal Regiment of Dragoons 1690 1st (Royal) Regiment of Dragoons 1751 1st (Royal) Dragoons 1877   Motto: Spectemur agendo = Let us be judged by our acts. Regimental Journal: The Eagle WWI Battle Honours; 18.    Victoria Crosses;1.    Died; 180 WWII Battle Honours; 15    Victoria Crosses; nil.     Died; ???? Amalgamated: 1969, with the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) to form The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)       Peninsula War 1808 - 1814 Military General Service Medal.  1793 - 1814 clasps: Total Medals Max clasps Busaco Fuentes d' Onor Vittoria Toulouse 148** 4* 1* 78 112 106   *The 4 clasp medal is to Assist. Surgeon  George Steed. **three officers (two staff list and one ADC) have 2 x Sahagun & Benevente, 1 x Badajos, 1 x Fuentes d' Onor, and 1 x Busaco and are not counted here. Three Pyrenees clasps are recorded for the regiment but Mullen states "Pyrenees must be an error for Toulouse" and are not shown here. Battle Honours: Fuentes d'Onor; Peninsula.       Battle of Waterloo 1815 Waterloo Medal 1815 number: 367   Captain Alexander Kennedy Clark captured the Eagle of the French 105th Regiment at Waterloo, A  symbol which later was to become the badge of the 1st Royal Dragoons. This fabulous object now resides in the National Army Museum. Battle Honour: Waterloo       Crimean War  1854 - 1856              Crimea Medal 1854 -56   clasp: → Alma Inkermann Balaklava Sebastopol Total Medals number: → 3 ?* 193 (approx) 241** 452 461   * A surgeon , a clerk, and an orderly to Lt Gen. The Earl of Lucan. **Heavy Brigade chargers 25/10/1854 also eligible for:- Turkish Crimea Medal 1855 Battle Honours: Balaclava,  Sebastopol.       The Nile Expedition 1884-5 A detachment of the 1st Royal Dragoons formed a component of the Heavy Camel Regiment Egypt and Sudan Medal 1882-89   clasp: The Nile 1884 -85 Abu Klea number: 47* 39**     * 3 officers and 43 other ranks served in the Heavy Camel Regiment plus one more officer of the regiment (Major Jackson ) in the Intelligence department. (Jackson was also present at Abu Klea and is counted here for both clasps.) **  13 men killed at Abu Klea and one more died of wounds the same day.     Recipients also entitled to a Khedive's Star dated 1884-6         South African War 1899 - 1902 or "Boer War"  (Nov 1899 - end of the war) Queen's South Africa Medal 1899-1902, with or without the King's South Africa Medal 1901 - 1902 Frequently encounterd clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902; also:   clasp; Natal Relief of Ladysmith Tugela Heights Laing's Nek total names on roll number; 16 ? ? ? 1204     these three (with state clasps above) are a common combination for the regiment     As usual "odd men" create exceptions to the common patterns that are generally found; one notable individual  of the 1st Royal Dragoons (serving as war correspondent)  is Colonel Francis William Rhodes who received Relief of Mafeking, Orange Free State, Elandslaagte, Defence of Ladysmith. - Francis Rhodes was the brother of Cecil Rhodes.   Casualties: Officers* NCOs and Men KIA & DOW Wounded Missing / POW KIA & DOW Death from disease Wounded Missing / POW   2 2 1 10 47 27 51 *in addition two officers died from disease.   Battle Honours: Relief of Ladysmith; South Africa 1899 - 1902       The Great War 1914 - 1918    Regiment was in South Africa when war declared, sailed from Cape Town for the UK, Arriving 19/9/14 and joined 6th Cavalry Brigade. Landed Ostend 8th October 1914. Remained in the 'France and Flanders' theatre for the duration of the war.   Soldiers/Officers died records 180 deaths for the period.   Men landed France and Flanders prior to 1/1/1916 entitled to a 1914 or 1914-15 Star as appropriate. Also the British War Medal & Victory Medal   Battle Honours: Ypres 1914, 1915; Frezenberg; Loos; Arras 1917; Somme 1918; Amiens; Hindenburg Line; Cambrai 1918; Pursuit to Mons; France and Flanders 1914-18. Langemarck 1914; Gheluvelt; Nonne Bosschen; Scarpe 1917; St Quentin, Avre; Beaurevoir.   VCs: (1) Dunville (offsite)       Jewish / Arab Unrest, Palestine 1936 - 39 (1939) General Service Medal 1918 -62 clasp: Palestine number: ?         WW2 1939 - 1945    campaigns: North Africa & Middle East* Italy** North West Europe WW2 campaign stars:  Africa  Italy, France and Germany clasps: 8th Army - -   Most also entitled to the 39-45 Star & 1939-45 War Medal *Oct 1942. Divisional troops with 10th Armoured Division at the Battle of El Alamein with 46 Armoured Cars. **July 43, initially 'A' Squadron only present, Sicily landings, 4th Armoured Brigade. Rest of the regiment sent it Italy Oct 43 but returned to the UK Dec 43 to prep for operation Overlord.   Battle Honours:  Nederrijn; Rhine; North-West Europe 1944-5; Syria 1941; Knightsbridge; El Alamein; Advance on Tripoli; North Africa 1941-3; Sicily 1943; Italy 1943.Veghel; Msus; Gazala; Defence of Alamein Line; El Agheila.        Canal Zone 1951 - 1954 (1950 -54) General Service Medal 1918 -62 clasp: Canal Zone number: ?         The Malaya Emergency: Operations against Communist insurgents. 1948-60 General Service Medal 1918 - 62     clasp: Malaya number: ?         © This website and its contents are copyright. Images are digitally watermarked. © North East Medals, All Rights Reserved

Selected Links The Regimental Museum. (Located in )   Selected Bibliography   Author Title Publisher Cannon's Historical Records Series Historical Record of the First, or The Royal Regiment of Dragoons; containing an Account of the Formation in the reign of King Charles the Second, and of its subsequent Services to 1839.  London: Longman, Orme & Co., 1840.   General De Ainslie, Colonel of the Regiment. Historical Record of the First, or The Royal Regiment of Dragoons; containing an Account of its Formation in the reign of King Charles the Second, and of its subsequent Services to the Present Time.  London: Chapman & Hall Ltd., 1887 C. T. Atkinson. History of the Royal Dragoons, 1661-1934   547 pp Glasgow: printed for the Regiment by Robert Maclehose & Co. Ltd. [1934].  Lieut.-Col. E. Makins A Short History of The Royal Dragoons.  51 pp. Potchefstroom, S. Africa: " Het Westen " Printing Works, 1914. J. A. Pitt-Rivers. The Story of the Royal Dragoons, 1938-1945; being the history of the Royal Dragoons in the campaigns of North Africa, the Middle East, Italy and North-West Europe. 160 pp. London: William Clowes & Sons Ltd., 1956. Lieut.-Col. E. Makins. The Royals in South Africa, 1899-1902.  199 pp Potchefstroom, S. Africa published by The Editor of " The Eagle," The Royal Dragoons, 1914.         Additional Bibliography for this Page.   Author/Compiler Title Publisher Officers of the Regiment. Unpublished rolls in the care of the National Archives; WO 100/ etc. -               Additional bibliography same as Northumberland Fusiliers page