Household Cavalry Composite Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1882 1889–1900 4 August–11 November 1914 1939–1945 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Allegiance | British Crown |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Cavalry |
Size | Regiment |
Part of | 4th Cavalry Brigade (World War I and World War II) |
Engagements |
Anglo-Egyptian War Second Boer War
World War I
The Household Cavalry Composite Regiment was a temporary, wartime-only, cavalry regiment of the British Army consisting of personnel drawn from the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards. It was active in 1882 for service in the Anglo-Egyptian War, in 1889–1900 during the Second Boer War, from August to November, 1914 during the opening months of World War I and in World War II.
The regiment was first formed in 1882 to take part in the Anglo-Egyptian War.
The regiment was re-raised and served in the Second Boer War. A formation of the 12th Royal Lancers and the Household Cavalry undertook a successful charge at the Battle of Diamond Hill in June 1900.
When the British Expeditionary Force was mobilised, it had a war establishment of seventeen cavalry regiments – five cavalry brigades of three regiments each, and two regiments which would be broken up to serve as reconnaissance squadrons, one for each of the six infantry divisions. The peacetime establishment in the United Kingdom was nineteen cavalry regiments – sixteen line regiments, and the three regiments of the Household Cavalry.
The sixteen regular regiments were earmarked for overseas service, whilst the seventeenth regiment was to be provided by a composite regiment formed with a squadron from each of the three Household Cavalry regiments – the 1st Life Guards, the 2nd Life Guards, and the Royal Horse Guards – and assigned a mobilisation role in 4th Cavalry Brigade.