3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards)
Encyclopedia
The 3rd Carabiniers was a cavalry regiment
of the British Army
.
was formed in 1922 as part of a reduction in the army's cavalry
by the amalgamation of the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) and The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)
, to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards. Both regiments were based in India
at the time of their amalgamation; the newly formed regiment departed in 1925 for Britain. It regained its carabinier
association in 1928 when it was renamed the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards).
In 1936 the 3rd Carabiniers was posted to Sialkot
, India; their first deployment of the 1930s. It began its mechanisation process in 1938, changing its horses for armoured vehicles, and became part of the newly formed Royal Armoured Corps
(RAC) the following year.
, which saw service in Burma; it was disbanded in India in 1947. The 3rd Carabiniers, itself, would serve solely in Asia after Japan's entry into the war in December 1941
. The regiment was initially based away from the frontline, guarding southern India from potential Japanese invasion. In 1943, it absorbed the personnel of the recently disbanded 26th Hussars
.
Now equipped with the M3 Lee
medium tank, the regiment was sent to North-East India with the 254th Indian Tank Brigade
in December 1943. They took part in the Battle of Imphal
, which began in late March 1944 after the Japanese launched the U-Go offensive
. On 20 March, around Tamu six of the regiment's tanks clashed with six Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go
tanks, destroying five of them and capturing the other. Later, in the battle to retake Nunshigum Ridge, on 13 April, tanks from the regiment's 'B' Squadron supported the 1/17th Dogras
in fierce fighting that dislodged the Japanese defenders. The Nunshigum action later became the 3rd Carabiniers' regimental anniversary. The regiment continued its involvement in the Imphal battle until the Allied victory at Kohima
on 22 June 1944 ended the Japanese offensive.
The 3rd Carabiniers, operating usually at squadron level or lower, took part in the successful advance deep into occupied Burma, taking part in (among others) an intense action at Kennedy Peak. Early 1945 saw the regiment engaged in fighting at Shwebo
and Sagang; it took part in the capture of Ava
and Mandalay
in March, and later around the Irrawaddy River
.
The 3rd Carabiniers was posted to the British Army of the Rhine
in West Germany
in 1952, based in Osnabrück
remaining there until 1959. After that, it moved to Catterick
, England, but its stay there was short, as it joined the Strategic Reserve at Tidworth
the following year. In 1961 the regiment deployed its 'C' Squadron to Kuwait
as part of a British force charged with deterring Iraq
from fulfilling its threats to annex it. A return to West Germany came the following year, when it joined the 20th Armoured Brigade
in Detmold
.
Having been armed with tanks since the early 1950s, the regiment was re-roled to a reconnaissance unit in 1967, first operating the Ferret scout car
. Deployments to the British military installations in Libya
and Cyprus
followed. The regiment in 1968 also had one squadron each in Sharjah
and Aden
. A brief posting to Münster
, West Germany took place in 1969 before moving to Herford, West Germany.
On 2 July 1971, the regiment amalgamated with the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), forming the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys).
Cavalry regiments of the British Army
There are currently nine regular cavalry regiments of the British Army, with two tank regiments provided by the Royal Tank Regiment, traditionally classed alongside the cavalry, for a total of eleven regiments. Of these, five serve as armoured regiments, and five as formation reconnaissance...
of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
History
The regimentRegiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
was formed in 1922 as part of a reduction in the army's cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
by the amalgamation of the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) and The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)
The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)
The Carabiniers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.The regiment was descended from the Ninth Horse regiment, raised in response to the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion in 1685, the first year of the reign of King James II. Colonelcy of the Ninth Horse was given to Richard, 2nd Viscount Lumley...
, to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards. Both regiments were based in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
at the time of their amalgamation; the newly formed regiment departed in 1925 for Britain. It regained its carabinier
Carabinier
A Carabinier was originally a cavalry soldier armed with a carbine...
association in 1928 when it was renamed the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards).
In 1936 the 3rd Carabiniers was posted to Sialkot
Sialkot
Sialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
, India; their first deployment of the 1930s. It began its mechanisation process in 1938, changing its horses for armoured vehicles, and became part of the newly formed Royal Armoured Corps
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
(RAC) the following year.
Second World War
When the war began in September 1939, the 3rd Carabiniers were still based in India. In 1941, a cadre from the regiment was used to form the 25th Dragoons25th Dragoons
The 25th Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1941 to 1947.The regiment was raised in Sialkot, India, in February 1941 from a cadre of personnel taken from the 3rd Carabiniers along with volunteers from infantry regiments...
, which saw service in Burma; it was disbanded in India in 1947. The 3rd Carabiniers, itself, would serve solely in Asia after Japan's entry into the war in December 1941
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. The regiment was initially based away from the frontline, guarding southern India from potential Japanese invasion. In 1943, it absorbed the personnel of the recently disbanded 26th Hussars
26th Hussars
The 26th Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1941 to 1943.The regiment was raised at Meerut in June 1941 from a cadre of personnel taken from the 14th/20th King's Hussars, and was assigned to 2nd Indian Armoured Brigade...
.
Now equipped with the M3 Lee
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
medium tank, the regiment was sent to North-East India with the 254th Indian Tank Brigade
254th Indian Tank Brigade
The 254th Indian Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade of the Indian Army during World War II, it was part of the Fourteenth Army and saw action in the Burma Campaign...
in December 1943. They took part in the Battle of Imphal
Battle of Imphal
The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in North-East India from March until July 1944. Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and invade India, but were driven back into Burma with heavy losses...
, which began in late March 1944 after the Japanese launched the U-Go offensive
Operation U-Go
The U Go offensive, or Operation C , was the Japanese offensive launched in March 1944 against forces of the British Empire in the North-East Indian region of Manipur...
. On 20 March, around Tamu six of the regiment's tanks clashed with six Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go
Type 95 Ha-Go
The was a light tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army in combat operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry, however, like the American M3 Stuart, it was not designed to fight other tanks...
tanks, destroying five of them and capturing the other. Later, in the battle to retake Nunshigum Ridge, on 13 April, tanks from the regiment's 'B' Squadron supported the 1/17th Dogras
17th Dogra Regiment
The 17th Dogra Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments...
in fierce fighting that dislodged the Japanese defenders. The Nunshigum action later became the 3rd Carabiniers' regimental anniversary. The regiment continued its involvement in the Imphal battle until the Allied victory at Kohima
Battle of Kohima
The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Japanese U Go offensive into India in 1944 in the Second World War. The battle was fought from 4 April to 22 June 1944 around the town of Kohima in northeast India. It is often referred to as the "Stalingrad of the East".The battle took place in...
on 22 June 1944 ended the Japanese offensive.
The 3rd Carabiniers, operating usually at squadron level or lower, took part in the successful advance deep into occupied Burma, taking part in (among others) an intense action at Kennedy Peak. Early 1945 saw the regiment engaged in fighting at Shwebo
Shwebo
Shwebo is a city in Sagaing Division, Myanmar, located 113 km northwest of Mandalay between the Irrawaddy and the Mu rivers. The city, also called Ratanasingha , was the capital of Myanmar from 1752 to 1760 during the Konbaung period....
and Sagang; it took part in the capture of Ava
Ava
Innwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma , situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...
and Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
in March, and later around the Irrawaddy River
Ayeyarwady River
The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through Burma . It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through...
.
Post-World War II
After the war's official end in September, the regiment remained part of the British garrison in India up until the British withdrawal. The regiment's departure came in early 1947 when they embarked aboard the Highland Princess at Bombay, becoming the last cavalry regiment to leave India.The 3rd Carabiniers was posted to the British Army of the Rhine
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...
in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
in 1952, based in Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
remaining there until 1959. After that, it moved to Catterick
Catterick Garrison
Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...
, England, but its stay there was short, as it joined the Strategic Reserve at Tidworth
Tidworth
Tidworth is a town in south-east Wiltshire, England with a growing civilian population. Situated at the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain, it is approximately 10 miles west of Andover, 12 miles south of Marlborough, 24 miles south of Swindon, 15 miles north by north-east of Salisbury and 6 miles east...
the following year. In 1961 the regiment deployed its 'C' Squadron to Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
as part of a British force charged with deterring Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
from fulfilling its threats to annex it. A return to West Germany came the following year, when it joined the 20th Armoured Brigade
British 20th Armoured Brigade
The British Army's 20th Armoured Brigade is an armoured formation currently based in Sennelager, northern Germany, as part of the 1st Armoured Division.- World War II :...
in Detmold
Detmold
Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
.
Having been armed with tanks since the early 1950s, the regiment was re-roled to a reconnaissance unit in 1967, first operating the Ferret scout car
Ferret armoured car
The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret Scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company, Daimler...
. Deployments to the British military installations in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
followed. The regiment in 1968 also had one squadron each in Sharjah
Sharjah (city)
Sharjah is the third largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.Sharjah is the seat of government of the emirate of Sharjah...
and Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
. A brief posting to Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
, West Germany took place in 1969 before moving to Herford, West Germany.
On 2 July 1971, the regiment amalgamated with the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), forming the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys).
Other information
- Anniversaries: Nunshigum (13 April)
- Alliances:
- The Windsor Regiment (RCAC)The Windsor Regiment (RCAC)The Windsor Regiment is a Primary Reserve armoured regiment of the Canadian Forces. The regiment, which was founded in 1936 as The Essex Regiment , is based in Windsor, Ontario. During World War II, the regiment was designated as the reconnaissance regiment for the 7th Canadian Infantry Division...
— CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(1951–1971) - Royal Natal Carbineers — South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
(1922–1961)
- The Windsor Regiment (RCAC)
- Associated Yeomanry:
- The Cheshire Yeomanry (Earl of Chester's)Cheshire YeomanryThe Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Fleming Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France....
- The East Riding YeomanryEast Riding of Yorkshire YeomanryThe East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1956.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was converted to an armoured role in 1920. In 1956 it merged with two other Yorkshire yeomanry regiments to form...
- The Cheshire Yeomanry (Earl of Chester's)
Battle honours
The 3rd Carabiniers possessed a total of 62 battle honours, of which 49 were inherited from its predecessor units and were earned prior to the regiment's formation in 1922. During the Second World War, the amalgamated regiment received 13 battle honours. The full list of battle honours held by the regiment are:- BlenheimBattle of BlenheimThe Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...
, RamilliesBattle of RamilliesThe Battle of Ramillies , fought on 23 May 1706, was a major engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand Alliance – Austria, England, and the Dutch Republic – the battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of King Louis XIV of France in 1705...
, OudenardeBattle of OudenardeThe Battle of Oudenaarde was a key battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 11 July 1708 between the forces of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire on the one side and the French on the other...
, MalplaquetBattle of MalplaquetThe Battle of Malplaquet, fought on 11 September 1709, was one of the main battles of the War of the Spanish Succession, which opposed the Bourbons of France and Spain against an alliance whose major members were the Habsburg Monarchy, Great Britain, the United Provinces and the Kingdom of...
, WarburgBattle of WarburgThe Battle of Warburg was a battle fought on 31 July 1760 during the Seven Years' War. The Battle was a victory for the Hanoverians and the British against the French. British general John Manners, Marquess of Granby achieved some fame for charging at the head of the British cavalry and losing his...
, BeaumontBattle of Beaumont (1794)The Battle of Beaumont-en-Cambresis 26th April 1794 was an action forming part of a multi-pronged attempt to relieve the besieged fortress of Landrecies, during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary War...
, Willems, Talavera, AlbuheraBattle of AlbueraThe Battle of Albuera was an indecisive battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about 20 kilometres south of the frontier fortress-town of Badajoz, Spain.From...
, VittoriaBattle of VitoriaAt the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...
, PeninsulaPeninsular WarThe Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, Sevastopol, Delhi 1857, Abyssinia, Afghanistan 1879–80Second Anglo-Afghan WarThe Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...
; - Second Boer War: Relief of Kimberley, PaardebergBattle of PaardebergThe Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley....
, South Africa 1899–1902Second Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
; - First World War: Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914First Battle of the MarneThe Battle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought between 5 and 12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The battle effectively ended the month long German offensive that opened the war and had...
, Aisne 1914First Battle of the AisneThe First Battle of the Aisne was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army & Second Army as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914...
, Messines 1914, Ypres 1914First Battle of YpresThe First Battle of Ypres, also called the First Battle of Flanders , was a First World War battle fought for the strategic town of Ypres in western Belgium...
'15Second Battle of YpresThe Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
, Arras 1917Battle of Arras (1917)The Battle of Arras was a British offensive during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British, Canadian, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and Australian troops attacked German trenches near the French city of Arras on the Western Front....
, Cambrai 1917 '18Battle of Cambrai (1918)The Battle of Cambrai was a battle between troops of the British First, Third and Fourth Armies and German Empire forces during the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War. The battle took place in and around the French city of Cambrai, between 8 and 10 October 1918...
, Amiens, Hindenburg LineHindenburg LineThe Hindenburg Line was a vast system of defences in northeastern France during World War I. It was constructed by the Germans during the winter of 1916–17. The line stretched from Lens to beyond Verdun...
, France and Flanders 1914–18Western Front (World War I)Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
; - Second World War: ImphalBattle of ImphalThe Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in North-East India from March until July 1944. Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and invade India, but were driven back into Burma with heavy losses...
, Tamu RoadBattle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operationsThe Battle of Pakokku and Irrawaddy River operations were a series of battles fought between the British Indian Army and the Imperial Japanese Army and allied forces over the successful allied Burma Campaign on the China Burma India Theater during World War II...
, Nunshigum, Bishenpur, Kanglatongbi, Kennedy Peak, Shwebo, SagaingSagaingSagaing is the capital of Sagaing Region in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the southwest of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and monastic center. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous...
, Mandalay, AvaAvaInnwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma , situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...
, Irrawaddy RiverAyeyarwady RiverThe Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through Burma . It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through...
, Yenangyaung 1945YenangyaungYenangyaung is a city in Magway Division, Myanmar, on the Irrawaddy River.-History:For centuries, the dominant industry in the area has been petroleum. It began as an indigenous oil industry, with hand-dug wells, and from 1755 onwards, early British soldier-diplomats began to note its existence...
, Burma 1944–45Burma CampaignThe Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
.