11th Hussars

11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)
Badge of the 11th Hussars
Active	1715−1969
Country	Kingdom of Great Britain (1715–1800)  United Kingdom (1801–1969)
Branch	British Army
Type	Cavalry
Role	Line cavalry
Size	1 Regiment
Nickname	The Cherry Pickers, The Cherrybums, from which the more genteel Cherubims
Motto	Treu und Fest (Loyal and Sure)
Anniversaries	El Alamein (23 Oct)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lord Cardigan

For the unit of the same name in the French Army, see 11th Hussar Regiment (France).

The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.

History

An officer of the 11th Hussars (PAO) at about the time of the Crimean War

The regiment was founded in 1715 as Colonel Philip Honeywood's Regiment of Dragoons and was known by the name of its Colonel until 1751 when it became the 11th Regiment of Dragoons. A further name change, to the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons, occurred in 1783.

Their career during the 18th century included fighting in Scotland at the Battle of Culloden as well as service in the Seven Years' War when they took part in the charge at Warburg.^[1]

19th and 20th centuries

In 1840, the regiment was named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, who later became the regiment's Colonel.

James Brudenell on horseback, by Francis Grant, circa 1841

During the Napoleonic Wars battle honours were received for Salamanca, Peninsular and Waterloo. The regiment's nickname, the "Cherry Pickers", came from an incident during the Peninsular War, in which the 11th Light Dragoons (as the regiment was then named) were attacked while raiding an orchard at San Martin de Trebejo in Spain. When the regiment became the 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars in 1840, their new uniform by coincidence included "cherry" (i.e. crimson) coloured trousers, unique among British regiments and worn since in all orders of uniform except battledress. This was not in memory of the orchard incident but reflected the crimson livery of Prince Albert's House: Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.^[2]

Assistant Surgeon Henry Wilkin, 11th Hussars. He survived the Charge of the Light Brigade. Photo: Roger Fenton.

The 11th Hussars charged with the Light Brigade, which was commanded by their former Colonel, Lord Cardigan, at Balaklava during the Crimean War. During the Charge, Lieut. Alexander Robert Dunn, saved the life of two fellow soldiers from the 11th Hussars — Sgt. Major Robert Bentley and Private Harvey Levett — for which Dunn was awarded the Victoria Cross.^[3] Dunn was the first Canadian-born recipient of the Victoria Cross.^[4]

Edward Richard Woodham of the 11th Hussars became Chairman of the organising committee for the 21st Anniversary dinner held at Alexandra Palace on 25 October 1875 by the survivors of the Charge. This was fully reported in the Illustrated London News of 30 October 1875 ^[5] and included some of the recollections of the survivors including those of Edward Richard Woodham.

In either the early years of World War 1 or in the years before World War 1, the card (that can be viewed on the right), with a photograph of the 11th Hussars forming an escort through a town, was sent from Sergeant John Kelly - with an extract from the reverse reading "this is the Crown Prince of Germany your honourary Colonel he is in the uniform of the 11th Hussars you will see his ......Guard I further ..... I formed his escort marked 2 man...."

In 1928, the 11th Hussars became the first British regiment to become mechanized. In 1936, they became involved in suppressing the Arab revolt in the British Mandate of Palestine.

The Second World War

In 1940, the 11th was located in Egypt when Italy declared war on Britain and France. It was part of the "Divisional Troops" of the 7th Armoured Division (known as the "Desert Rats"). Equipped with obsolete Rolls Royce and Morris armoured cars, the unit immediately began to conduct various raids against Italian positions during the Western Desert Campaign. The Hussars captured Fort Capuzzo and, in an ambush east of Bardia, captured General Lastucci, the Engineer-in-Chief of the Italian Tenth Army.

In September 1940, when the Italian invasion of Egypt was launched, the 11th Hussars were part of the British covering force.

The 11th Hussars took part in the British counterattack called Operation Compass that was launched against the Italian forces in Egypt and then Libya. The unit was part of an ad hoc combat unit called "Combe Force" that cut off the retreating Tenth Army near Beda Fomm. Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe was the commander and namesake of Combe Force. The Italians were unable to break through the defensive positions established by Combe Force and surrendered en masse as the 6th Australian Division closed in on them from their rear.

Prior to the Normandy campaign, the 11th Hussars were removed from the Division and assigned as a Corps-level unit in accordance with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's view that all armoured car regiments would be assigned to Corps, not Divisions. Later in the European campaign, the regiment reverted back to the 7th Armoured Division.

Amalgamation

On 25 October 1969 the regiment was amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) to form The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own). In 1992, as part of the Options for Change defence review, the Royal Hussars were amalgamated with the 14th/20th King's Hussars to form the King's Royal Hussars. The 11th Hussars are unofficially perpetuated by C squadron of the King's Royal Hussars. In 1950's the Regiment served in BOAR close to the Border wit USSR occupied Germany whilst the Cold War existed. Later the regiment served in Malaya during the Police Action which lasted 12 years.

11th Hussars monument at the National Memorial Arboretum

Notable members

• James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan — leader of the Charge of the Light Brigade
• Alexander Roberts Dunn — the first Canadian to win the Victoria Cross
• David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson — British politician
• Francis Newall, 2nd Baron Newall — British politician
• Nicholas Soames — British Politician
• HRH Prince Michael of Kent
• Sir Philip Frankland-Payne-Gallwey, 6th Bt
• Harry Paget Flashman — fictional anti hero
• Antony Beevor — writer
• John Frederick Boyce Combe — British officer

Battle honours

• Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, Bhurtpore, Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol

• The Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, France and Flanders 1914–18

• The Second World War: Villers Bocage, Bourguébus Ridge, Mont Pinçon, Jurques, Dives Crossing, La Vie Crossing, Lisieux, Le Touques Crossing, Risle Crossing, Roer, Rhine, Ibbenburen, Aller, North-West Europe 1944–45, Egyptian Frontier 1940, Withdrawal to Matruh, Bir Emba, Sidi Barrani, Buq Buq, Bardia 1941, Capture of Tobruk, Beda Fomm, Halfaya 1941, Sidi Suleiman, Tobruk 1941, Gubi I II, Gabr Saleh, Sidi Rezegh 1941, Taieb el Essem, Relief of Tobruk, Saunnu, Msus, Defence of Alamein Line, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Enfidaville, Tunis, North Africa 1940–43, Capture of Naples, Volturno Crossing, Italy 1943

References and external links

• British Army Locations from 1945 British Army Locations from 1945
• Bowling, A. H. (1972). British Hussar Regiments 1805–1914. Almark Publishing, London.
• War diaries of the 11th Hussars
• Illustrated London News of 30 October 1875