Page 92 - QDG Volume 9 No. 2 2021

90 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
The Heritage Trust 2021
This last year saw two very significant acquisitions, the Waterloo medal of RSM Barlow and the sword carried by Lt Algernon Lamb at Néry.
Thomas Barlow’s medal came up for auction and it attracted a
great deal of interest from
collectors, with five inter-
the battle, Barlow invited the officers to join the sergeants for dinner. Including the walking wounded of both Messes, thirteen dined together after the battle. It was this event that shaped the relation-
determination not only to succeed, but to be the very best.
Thomas Barlow was born circa 1785, in Lancashire, and enlisted into the King’s Dragoon Guards on 18 April 1801, and spent the next fourteen years of his service in England and Ireland progres- sively working his way up through the non-commissioned ranks. A man of strong religious beliefs, Barlow was a Methodist Lay Preacher. He married Eliz- abeth Wagstaff who was the daughter of the KDG Quartermaster William Wagstaff. The QDG Heritage Trust Archive holds twelve letters written by Thomas Barlow to his wife Betsy during the Waterloo Campaign. The letters were purchased by the QDG Heritage Trust in 2008. They had five children.
Whilst Thomas Barlow is an iconic figure, most in the Regiment will not have heard of Lt Algernon Joseph Rutherford Lamb, DSO, who joined the Bays in 1911, an early expert on the use of heavy machine guns, author of two published books on horses and their use in war. Most importantly, he played a major part in stopping the Germans destroying
ested parties bidding against each other from the start. But fortunately, in good cavalry style, we entered the bidding at the very last minute, once the mainstream had reached their limit, and won the day. Thus, we now have a very personal possession of a man who had a tremendous impact on the Regiment which is still felt today.
we now have a
very personal
ship between the Officers’ and Sergeants’ Messes of the Regiment to this day. The idea of this happening was unthinkable at the time because of the large social divide, and it caused quite a stir of disapproval.
Barlow was the Regi-
mental Serjeant Major of
the KDG at Waterloo and
took part in that first great
charge of the House-
hold Brigade which resulted in putting the four infantry divisions of D’Erlon’s Corps into full flight. On the night after
And this drives the whole atmosphere of the Regiment. But above all, the memory of Waterloo still imbibes pride and a
possession of
a man who had Every year, this dinner
a tremendous impact on the Regiment which is still felt today
is celebrated when the Sergeants’ Mess invites the officers to a dinner on the anniversary of the battle. Games are played, wine is drunk, and relationships are further strengthened. Thus is created an extra-ordinary relationship not seen in other regiments in the British Army. Respectful, but informal.