Page 167 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
fifty of them. We are the Queen’s horses; they are all the Queen’s men. Together we thrill thousands as the Mounted Regiment of the Household Cavalry. Our job is to provide a daily mounted Guard at Horse Guards in London, and escorts for Her Majesty on State occasions. We are living proof that the day of the Army horse, which has carried Britons into battle from Culloden to Crimea is not done. And whatever the job, we never say ‘neigh’. We may be few in number now but nobody can say that Army horse flesh ain’t what it used to be. May Black Bess’s ghost and the spirit of the knackers’ yard haunt us if they do. We recently had chance to show the stuff we are made of at the Household Cavalry Press Day at Wellington Barracks.”9
When this article appeared in print in 1967, the ‘voice’ would have been provided by the horses of the Life Guards. It was two years later, that the soldiers in the scarlet tunics were joined in the Household Cavalry by those of the newly formed Blues and Royals. Over three hundred years of combined military history and battle scars acquired in protecting the monarch and the nation – on horseback.
THE KING’S TROOP
The initial purpose of the Royal Horse Artillery, formed in 1793, was to be quick and agile so as to keep up in support of the Cavalry regiments. However, the progression of mechanisation throughout the first half of the twentieth century, took the Cavalry horse to the brink of redundancy – the artillery horse too. It was only at the express wish of His Majesty King George VI that The Troop was saved for the nation to evolve into the magnificent ceremonial presence that is – The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
His Majesty King George VI
In a letter published on 18th December 1945, King George VI gave notice that a Horse Artillery Battery was to be reformed in London: ‘A Mounted battery to fire salutes on state occasions, dressed in the traditional style’. Instated by Royal Decree, The Riding Troop, took its name and crest from the old Riding Establishment which had been disbanded in 1938. Officially formed on 31st March 1946, it did not gain its title The King’s Troop until 24th October 1947, the day when the Sovereign conducted his first inspection of the Battery at its home barracks in St John’s Wood. With a spontaneous gesture, His Majesty crossed out Riding, the Troop should be now known as The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery (KT RHA).
The name remained when Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II came to the throne. It was her express wish that the word ‘King’ should remain in memory of her father who had shown so much interest in The Troop.
To this day, the KT RHA remains the Sovereign’s mounted ceremonial saluting battery. Its primary duty – the firing of royal gun salutes to mark great occasions of State including royal births, birthdays, anniversaries and deaths, State openings of Parliament, State visits and State funerals. It also performs The Musical Drive – a choreographed display of pre-mechanisation artillery manoeuvres, executed at high speed and close quarters. It is performed in front of large live audiences, often including VIPs at prestigious events across the world. At home, the display is a crowd-pleasing spectacle at the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show.
It is perhaps ironic that, in 1952, the first State funeral in which the King’s Troop took part was that of King George VI – the man who had decreed its existence – carrying his coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster. In 2017 Her Majesty the Queen was poignantly reminded of her father’s connection when she reviewed the Kings Troop in Hyde Park to mark the anniversary of its formation
In an article in Chiron Calling December 1991, Captain Simon J Turner RAVC, looked at the history of the KT RHA from its beginning as a Riding Estab- lishment at Woolwich on 20th September 1803 and how, from that date, it became responsible for equestrian standards within the Royal Regiment of Artillery. It also explains the start of its long and close relationship with the RAVC.
The article leads with the charismatic Captain Quist who was appointed the first Riding Master by King George III.
“Quist was a student of the famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna and brought with him many of the continental methods of training horses and riders. He was well known for working horses between the pillars, which explains why The Troop’s own cypher includes a horse between two pillars.
In 1915, part of the Riding Troop first moved into St John’s Wood Barracks in North West London where it remains. At that time, it was greatly involved in teaching Officers and NCOs to ride for the Great War. There were so many people moving through that a large proportion of the sacred turf at Lord’s Cricket Ground had to be requisitioned. The Troop nowadays provides a parking space on big match days, perhaps as repayment!
The Riding Troop at Woolwich flourished until the outbreak of World War Two when it was disbanded.
9 Soldier Magazine dated August 1967.
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