The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World War and the Korean War. In August 1992, as a consequence of the Options for Change defence cuts, the regiment was amalgamated with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards to form the Royal Dragoon Guards.

History

Formation

The regiment was formed in 1922, as the 5th/6th Dragoons, at Cairo, Egypt by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons.

In 1923, the regiment was deployed to Risalpur, India. In 1927, the regiment discarded the "6th" and inserted Inniskilling into its title, thereby becoming the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.

The 5th Dragoon Guards remained in the United Kingdom until late July 1944, when it landed in Normandy, over a month after the initial D-Day landings of 6 June, and joined the 22nd Armoured Brigade, 7th Armoured Division (the famed 'Desert Rats'). Heavy fighting was still raging in Normandy and the regiment took part in actions in Mont Pincon in early August and, subsequently, at Saint-Pierre-la-Vieille. The regiment saw further service in Northern France, including helping in the capture of Lisieux on 23 August, and later crossing the Risle, advancing rapidly to the Seine. The regiment returned to the UK in August 1951, from where the regiment was sent, a few months later, to Korea to take part in the Korean War—a war that had been raging ever since North Korea had launched a surprise attack against South Korea—as part of the 1st Commonwealth Division. A further display can be seen in the Cheshire Military Museum at Chester Castle.

Uniform

At the time of amalgamation, care was taken to ensure that the new regiment's uniform retained a balance of features from both former regiments. Thus in full dress, the red and white plume of the 5th Dragoon Guards was worn on the (silver) helmet of the 6th Dragoons, the helmet badge of the 5th was worn, but the collar badge of the 6th. Yellow facings (collar and cuffs) were retained from the 6th Dragoons, but in order not to lose the distinctive green facings of the 5th Dragoon Guards, it was proposed that green breeches/overalls be worn. (Green breeches had formerly been worn in the eighteenth century, when the regiment was known as 'the Green Horse'.) The proposal was accepted, and a new tradition established. After mechanisation, green trousers began to be worn with various orders of dress (a custom still maintained by the successor regiment, the Royal Dragoon Guards).

Battle honours

thumb|Regimental colours in [[St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen|St. Macartin's Cathedral displaying the honors from Mons to Korea]]

The regiment's battle honours were as follows:

  • Early Wars: (Battle Honours for predecessor regiments): Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, Peninsula, Waterloo, Balaklava, Sevastopol, Defence of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899–1902
  • First World War (Battle Honours for predecessor regiments):
  • Western Front: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916'18, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917 and 1918, St Quentin, Rosières, Avre, Lys, Hazebrouk, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1914–18
  • Second World War:
  • North-West Europe: Withdrawal to Scheldt, St Omer-La Bassée, Dunkirk 1940, Mont Pincon, St Pierre La Vielle, Lisieux, Risele Crossing, Roer Triangle (Operation Blackcock), Ibbenburen, North-West Europe 1940 '44–45
  • Korea: The Hook 1952, Korea 1951–52

Commanding Officers

The Commanding Officers have been:

  • 1960–1962: Lt.-Col. Harry C. Walker MC
  • 1962–1965: Lt.-Col. Gavin S. Murray
  • 1965–1967: Lt.-Col. Henry G. Woods
  • 1967–1970: Lt.-Col. Guy L. Wathen
  • 1970–1972: Lt.-Col. Charles E. Taylor
  • 1972–1975: Lt.-Col. Richard C. Keightley
  • 1975–1977: Lt.-Col. Patrick G. Brooking
  • 1977–1980: Lt.-Col. Nicholas G. P. Ansell
  • 1980–1982: Lt.-Col. William A. Evans
  • 1982–1984: Lt.-Col. Water J. Courage
  • 1984–1987: Lt.-Col. Patrick A. J. Cordingley
  • 1987–1990: Lt.-Col. Brian R. Anderson
  • 1990–1992: Lt.-Col. David W. Montgomery

Colonels-in-Chief

The colonels-in-chief were as follows: