
The Light Dragoons Shoulder Titles This Sale/Auction is for a pair of Shoulder Titles as worn by The Light Dragoons. Formed on the 1st December 1992 under 'Options for Change', when the 13th/18th Royal Hussars Cavalry Regiment were amalgamated with the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars Cavalry Regiment, to become The Light Dragoons. Brand New and unissued, staybrite/anodised shoulder titles in an all Gold finish, complete with their mounted pin's and brass butterfly clips. Guaranteed new and unissued and in mint condition. Other Titles/badges and item's are also available via 'Buy it Now' from our eBay Shop. Regimental History - Light Dragoons have always been rather special troops. They were first raised in the middle of the Eighteenth Century for reconnaissance and patrolling - in other words scouting - but soon acquired a reputation for courage and dash in the charge. Originally, each regiment of cavalry formed a light troop, but so successful was the idea that whole regiments were formed. The 15th Light Dragoons were the first ever (1759), and others quickly followed including the Eighteenth and Nineteenth. The Thirteenth, raised as heavy dragoons (mounted infantrymen) as early as 1715, were also converted to the light role.
These Light Dragoon regiments fought all over the world in the half-century that followed, notably in India and North America. They distinguished themselves under the Duke of Wellington in Spain and Portugal in the Napoleonic wars, and three of them were present at the battle of Waterloo (1815).
In the Crimean War (1854-56), the 13th Light Dragoons were in the forefront of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, immortalized by Tennyson's poem of that name ("Into the valley of death rode the six hundred"). The regiments adopted the title hussars at this time, and the uniform became very stylish, aping the hussars of the Austro-Hungarian army. But soon the blues and yellows and golds gave way to khaki as the British army found itself in skirmishes throughout the far-flung Empire, in India and South Africa especially.
In the Great War (1914-18) the four regiments fought in France, both mounted and in the trenches on the Western Front, and some of them on horseback in the Middle East. The 15th Hussars produced two field marshals - Sir John French, who was commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) which sailed for France in 1914, and Sir Philip Chetwode, who became commander in chief India.
After the war the army was reduced in size, and the first of the major amalgamations took place in 1922, the Thirteenth and the Eighteenth Hussars combining, and the Fifteenth with the Nineteenth.
As the war clouds gathered again in 1939, the regiments were hastily mechanized. Both the 13th /18th Hussars and the 15th/19th Hussars went to France that year in light tanks, in the same scouting role for which they had been raised two centuries earlier. After Dunkirk and the evacuation of this second BEF, the regiments re-equipped and re-trained in England until in 1944, at the Normandy landings, the 13th/18th Hussars became the first Allied tanks to lay a track on French soil. They had swum for over two miles from their landing craft by means of special flotation equipment. Both regiments subsequently fought all the way through France, Belgium and Germany until the final Nazi surrender in May 1945.
In the 1950s and 60s, the regiments continued to see plenty of active service in what was to be the twilight of the British Empire - notably in Malaya and Aden. But the main effort was in the divided Germany as part of BAOR - the British Army of the Rhine. Along with other NATO allies, BAOR's role was to deter Soviet aggression during what became known as the Cold War. From time to time the regiments were also called on to assist in Northern Ireland, sometimes in armoured cars, sometimes on foot.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s - the end of the Cold War - the army faced reductions again, just as it had in 1922, and many cavalry regiments were amalgamated. The 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars, as they were then known, chose to amalgamate with one another since they shared much history and recruited from the north of England. And so, in December 1992, The Light Dragoons were formed. Or perhaps we should say reformed, since the new name harked back to the original Light Dragoons. The Princess of Wales became their first colonel in chief. Almost immediately, the new regiment began a long series of operational deployments in the Balkans, prompting a former chief of defence staff to describe them as the best regiment in the army - "consistently the best officered, best recruited and the most effective."Bidders!!! Please read all of the Auction listing before bidding, including the section below, and note acceptable methods of Payment and Postage details (especially if you are bidding from outside the UK). We will not be held accountable for the bidders own mistakes.We have listed below Postage details for shipment to any location in the World, so if insufficient postage is received you will not receive your item. UK Bidders - We only accept UK Cheques, UK Postal Orders or PayPal only as payment. UK Bidders, paying by UK Cheque/UK PO, please make these out to 'VFI THOMPSON' and email within 3 days to confirm UK Cheque/UK PO has been posted (our address is listed on the 'checkout' screen). Non-UK Bidders MUST use PayPal only, or contact us first via email for alternate payment arrangements, or wait for our invoice to be sent to you. Postage costs quoted in 'PAYMENT DETAILS' section are First Class UK ONLY. Details of all postage costs for both UK and non-UK locations are listed below and will be applied depending on where the postal destination of the winning bidder is located - if you are not resident in the UK please wait for an emailed invoice from us via eBay unless you are happy to add the relevant postage costs yourself when sending PayPal payment. Any bids placed are done so by the potential bidder in agreement with both the description of the item and the terms of the Auction and payment instructions given here. If you have any questions, please email and we will be happy to help. Please remember to confirm your address when sending your payment, and if using PayPal it will be assumed that the address listed there is correct if no other message is received. Postage details guide: UK 1st Class £1.50 Non-UK Postage: All costs listed here are for Airmail which is the only service offered. (Please note - PayPal is the only accepted form of payment for overseas Bidders). Europe is £2.00 and to the Rest of the World it will be £2.50 Please note that we will post within 3 days of payment or until UK Cheque has cleared which should be no longer than 7 days. Please do keep a lookout for our other Sale/Auction lots coming soon!!! Or visit our eBay Shop 'Tomo & Val's Collectables' http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tomo-Vals-Collectables Check out our other items! Be sure to add us to your favorites list! 
 SquareTrade © AP6.0| Summary of Our Selling Policies | | Payment | We accept UK Personal Cheques, UK Postal Orders and PayPal only.
For those unable to use the above we can accept other payment arrangements, please contact us first via email to arrange. | | Shipping | We ship Worldwide. Our postage rates are displayed clearly in our listings. If approached first by the buyer, we can arrange postage to suit (including insurance if required). | | Delivery | Shipment is normally within 3 days of Payment clearing. We ship every working day, and on Saturday's (except UK Public Holidays). | | Refunds & Returns | Full refund will be given (up to 14 days after receipt of item) if the item is not as described in our listing. Provided the item is returned to us in it's original packaging (were possible) and is undamaged. | | Contact Us | Contact can be made via Email, and we usually respond back the same day. |
|
|