The King's
Royal Hussars
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The King's |
Royal Hussars |
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The 20th Hussars (The 20th Light Dragoons, The last of the 20th)
In 1860 the number 20 again re-appeared on the Army list. The fourth and last 20th Light Dragoons were formed on 20th May 1861 at Muttra Bengal, in India, by volunteers from the late honourable East India Company's 2nd Bengal European Light cavalry. At a strength of about 250 and under the title Her Majesty's 20th Light Dragoons the Regiment was bought up to strength by drafting members from other Regiments. These soldiers included a large contingent from the 14th Light Dragoons. It was not until 31st July 1862 that the Regiment was finally transferred from the Indian government when the Regiment received the designation of 20th Hussars. By this time all Light Dragoon Regiments had been redesignated in this way. The Regiment had given itself the nickname of "Nobody's Own" due to its' mix of crown Officers and Officers from the East India Company. The rest of the Army gave the Regiment the nickname of "The X's" due to the nature of it's badge - a roman numeral XX The Regiment stayed in India until 1872 when they returned to England after they had served as line communications troops during the 1863 Ambeyla and 1868 Hazara campaigns on the North West frontier of India. The Regiment were awarded the battle honours that had been bestowed on the 20th Light Dragoons disbanded in 1818 after being officially recognised as heirs to the predecessor Regiment. 2 Officers and 43 men volunteered for duty with the Light Camel Regiment in 1884 as part of the Gordon relief campaign and were employed moving ammunition and stores in base areas. 2 Squadrons of the 20th formed part of the Suakin garrison, a Red sea port, and were kept busy protecting a railway construction project inland from Suakin. The Regiment returned to Cairo after the Nile expedition where all of the smaller detachments were once again re-united to form a full regiment. The Regiment moved up river and joined British and Egyptian troops at Wadi Halfa. The Dervishes were bought to a stand still at an action involving the Regiment on 30th December 1885 at the battle of Ginnis. Although one Squadron stayed behind the bulk of the Regiment were once again England bound in 1887. The detached Squadron saw action at Toski 1889 when, under Colonel Herbert Kitchener, Egyptian and British cavalry helped destroy the Dervish Army which had tried to invade Egypt by sending a force to isolate Wadi Halfa. The Squadron rejoined the Regiment in Aldershot during 1890 taking the battle honour Suakin 1885 with them. The honour was bestowed on the 20th in recognition of sterling service. 1895 saw a return to India in 1895 where it stayed until 1901 when it was mobilised for the second Boer war. The Regiment was part of a guerilla mopping up exercise until the war ended in 1902, as a result of these actions the 20th were awarded the battle honour South Africa 1901-1902. The 20th returned to England, after a short spell of garrison duty in Egypt, during 1903.
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