Gaunt and Salway Family Tree

11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)

In Memory of Frank De-Bourne

who served with the 11th Hussars.

 

The 11th Hussars date back to 1715 when General Philip Honeywood raised a Regiment of Mounted Dragoons, this was at the time of the Jacobite rebellion.

In 1732 after a period of peacetime the Regiment was taken over by Lord Mark Kerr. In 1751 they became known as 11th Regiment of Dragoons. When Lord Kerr died in 1752 Lord Ancram took command.

The Regiment became Major General James Johnstones Dragoons in 1775, but unofficially referred to as the 11th Light Dragoons.

In 1783 the Regiment officially became the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons.

In 1833 James Thomas Brudenell with the help of his father took on the command of the Regiment. In 1840 Prince Albert changed the name to '11th Prince Albert's Own Hussars'. Brudenell led the Regiment in 1854 at the Battle of Balacklava, now known as the famous 'Charge of the Light Brigade'. 

When Brudenell's father died, Brudenell became Earl of Cardigan and spent £10,000 a year on the Regiment, they became the smartest cavalry in the service.  After the Great War the Regiment returned to England and in 1921 were retitled  11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own), this name the Regiment kept until 1969 when they amalgamated with 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wale's Own), they were renamed The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wale's Own).

Then in 1992 the Regiment amalgamated with 14th/20th King's Hussars, and are now known as The King's Royal Hussars.

Battle Honours

 

Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, Bhurtpore, Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne, Aisne, Messines, Armentieres, Ypres, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme, Flers-Courcelette, Arras, Scarpe, Cambrai, St Quentin, Rosieres, Amiens, Albert, Hindenburg Line, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, France and Flanders, Villers Bocage, Bourgebus Ridge, Mont Pincon, Jurques, Dives Crossing, La Vie Crossing, Lisieux, Le Tougues Crossing, Risle Crossing, Roer, Rhine, Ibbenburen, Aller, North-West Europe, Egyptian Frontier, Withdrawal to Matruh, Bir Enba, Sidi Barrani, Bug Bug, Bardia, Capture of Tobruk, Beda Fomm, Halfaya, Sidi Suleiman, Tobruk, Gubi 1&2, Gabr Saleh, Sidi Rezegh, Taieb el Essem, Relief of Tobruk, Saunnu, Msus, Defence of Alamein Line, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Enfidaville, Tunis, North Africa, Capture of Naples, Volturno Crossing, Italy.

Cherry Pickers

 

The 11th Hussars were known by the nickname of 'The Cherrypickers', this goes back to the Peninsula War (1809-1814), when a patrol of the 11th was caught by the French  in an orchard at San Martin de Trebejo. In 1840 the 11th adopted cherry-coloured trousers, which has been continued to the present day by the current regiment The King's Royal Hussars.

After 213 years in 1928 the Regiment became the first cavalry to be mechanised, when horses gave way to armoured cars. Their first car being a Lanchester.