The Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish)

Origins

The regiment was formed on 1 September 1993 from The Queen’s Own Hussars and The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars, which were themselves successors to four older cavalry regiments. It also became part of the Royal Armoured Corps.

Both the Queen’s Own and Queen’s Royal Irish were based in Germany at the time of the amalgamation. The new unit remained there until January 1996, when it deployed to Bosnia with Nato’s Implementation Force (IFOR).

Deployments

In August 1996, it undertook a tour of duty in Northern Ireland during 'The Troubles'. Then, in early 1998, it returned to Germany, where it was based for the next two decades.

One of its tank squadrons deployed to Kosovo in early 2001, with the rest of the unit deploying later that year in a dismounted role. The regiment also undertook three operational tours to Iraq (2003-11) in 2004, 2006 and 2008 and one to Afghanistan (2001-14) in October 2011. 

In 2012, it helped provide security during the London Olympic Games. And, in 2014, a squadron of the regiment returned to Afghanistan to defend British troops during the withdrawal from Camp Bastion.

It was the last British tank regiment to leave Germany, when it returned to the UK in 2019.

Vehicles

Today, the unit's main weapon is the Challenger 2 battle tank, although its Close Reconnaissance Troop is equipped with lighter, but faster, Scimitar armoured vehicles. The regiment has also used the Warthog all-terrain carrier on recent deployments.