Page 4 - Cavalry Regiment

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 3
Colonel of the Regiment’s Foreword
It is with great pleasure and pride that I write as Colonel of 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards – the Regiment that I had the enormous good fortune to com- mission into just over 30 years ago. I am filling big boots and I would like to pay trib- ute to my predecessor, Lt Gen Sir Simon Mayall KBE CB, who did so much over his 11 year Colonelcy to protect the interests of our Regiment and to oversee signifi- cant change as the governance and man- agement of all components of the wider Regiment were reformed to comply with an ever evolving financial and charitable regulatory framework. He also helped see off the threat of amalgamation following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review and we all owe him a great debt of gratitude for his selfless commitment, leadership and loyalty. It was great to see him leading the Cavalry Memorial Parade this year as we were the lead Regiment and also receive a Regimental Medal from our Colonel-in-Chief afterwards.
2019 dawned with the 60th anniversary of the amalgamation of 1st King’s Dragoon Guards and The Queen’s Bays on 1st January 1959 to form today’s Regiment. The formal celebration of this significant event was held in the rather more socia- ble and warmer (in fact scorching as it turned out!) summer with a parade and families’ day at Swanton Morley on 29th June. It was a moment to reflect on the success of an amalgamation and how the legacy of the KDG and Bays lives on in today’s fine Regiment that has drawn its traditions, character and fighting spirit from its distinguished antecedents. Any
There has hardly been a major crisis or conflict in
which QDG has not been at the forefront...
amalgamation is a tough experience for those who cherish the identity and tra- ditions of their own regiment and yet the amalgamation of the KDG and Bays was by all accounts remarkably harmonious and so successful. We should, therefore, pay tribute to those who worked so hard before and after 1st January 1959 to give the new Regiment such a successful start in life.
And what a successful life it has had! There has hardly been a major crisis or conflict in which QDG has not been at the forefront and led the way for others to follow – from the Cold War, Borneo, Aden, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Gulf War 1, Bosnia, Kosovo and Gulf War 2 to Afghanistan. More campaigns will be added to this list and as I write the Regiment is about to gear up for a poten- tially punchy deployment to Mali as part of a UN mission “with teeth”. Such oper- ational success has also been matched on the sporting front and I suspect that no other small single cap-badge regi- ment has produced as many Olympians. I know for certain that no other regi- ment offers our unique tight-knit family