Description
19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra’s Own) Cap Badge
The regimental cap badge of the 19th Royal Hussars depicts the letter ‘A’ inscribed ‘ALEXANDRA’ and surmounted by an Heir Apparent’s crown, interlinked with the Dannebrog Cross (inscribed ‘1875’).
The 19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra’s Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, created in 1858. After serving in the First World War, it was amalgamated with the 15th The King’s Hussars to form the 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars in 1922.
The regiment was originally raised in Bengal by the East India Company as the 1st Bengal European Light Cavalry in 1858, for service in the response to the Indian Rebellion. During the rebellion, a lieutenant of the regiment, Hugh Henry Gough, received the Victoria Cross.
As with all other “European” units of the Company, they were placed under the command of the Crown in 1858, and subsequently formally moved into the British Army in 1862 when they were designated as hussars as the 19th Hussars. At this time, the regiment was authorised to inherit the battle honours of the disbanded 19th Light Dragoons. John French, who later became a field marshal, joined the regiment as a junior officer in March 1874.
The regiment saw action at Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War and the regiment took possession of the wells, which were a vital resource in desert warfare, at the Battle of Abu Klea in January 1885 during the Mahdist War. It also fought at the Siege of Ladysmith in winter 1899 during the Second Boer War.[7] The regiment was titled the 19th (Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own) Hussars after Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1902 and, when Alexandra became Queen Consort in 1908, the name changed to the 19th (Queen Alexandra’s Own Royal) Hussars.