Latest intelligence - The War - Movements of Transport". The Times. No.36087. London. 12 March 1900. p.5. The 21st was first raised in 1760 and was amalgamated with the 17th in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. It is most famous for the Charge at Omdurman in 1898, after which Queen Victoria awarded the title ‘21st Empress of India’s Lancers’. Protected only by the inferior armour of the Valentine and out gunned by the German tanks, the cost was high. Although the pass was held, the 17th/21st Lancers was reduced to only twelve tanks. It was after this encounter that the Regiment was withdrawn from the line and re-equipped with the American Sherman tank mounting a 75mm gun. This represented a great improvement on the old ‘Tommy Cookers’ (Valentines), both in terms of firepower and armoured protection.

With the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the deployment of 1st (UK) Armoured Division to the Gulf came the only opportunity for desert warfare since the North Africa campaign of 1943. Although the 17th/21st did not deploy as a Regiment; it did however furnish more than two Squadrons of men and most of its equipment to reinforce the Royal Scots Dragoons Guards and the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars. The 17th/21st Lancers Band were deployed in their wartime role as medics. The regiment was moved to Dublin in 1899, and served in Ireland for several years. In 1912 it was again posted to India. The 21st Lancers did not see service on the Western Front during the First World War, being the only regular cavalry regiment of the British Army to spend the duration of the war in India. The regiment did however see action on the North-West Frontier during 1915–16, with one trooper, Charles Hull, receiving the Victoria Cross. [7] A single squadron made up of reservists served in France in 1916–17, attached to XIV Corps. [8] Disbandment [ edit ] In 1806 the 21st was deployed to Cape Town, to protect the Indian trade route. In fact the closest the regiment came to Napoleon and his armies was after the war ended in 1815, when the 21st furnished a troop to guard and escort the Emperor on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena.Its first overseas service came when a detachment of the unit was sent to Germany during the Seven Years War (1756-63). The 17th/21st Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in England by the amalgamation of the 17th Lancers and the 21st Lancers in 1922 and, after service in the Second World War, it amalgamated with the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers to form the Queen's Royal Lancers in 1993.

The 17th and 21st Lancers were amalgamated in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. During the Second World War the Regiment fought in North Africa and Italy. Later the 17th/21st became part of NATO’s front-line force in West Germany. Inter-War Years Brumwell, Stephen (2007). Paths of Glory: The Life and Death of General James Wolfe. Hambledon Continuum. ISBN 9780826436351. The 17th served in Ireland, England and the West Indies during the French Revolutionary Wars (1793-1802), helping to take Santo Domingo (1796) in the Caribbean. Featherstone, Donald F. (1978). Weapons and Equipment of the Victorian Soldier. Littlehampton Book Services. ISBN 9780713708479. Anglesey, Marquess of (1997). A History of the British Cavalry, 1816–1919, Volume VII, The Curragh Incident and the Western Front 1914. Pen & Sword.The Regiment eventually deployed to North Africa in November 1942. They were not however initially deployed with the Division but as part of ‘Blade Force’ under Lieutenant Colonel Hull, a 17th/21st Lancer. The plan was that Blade Force would act as a spearhead invasion force into Tunisia. The Force was to move from Algiers, in concert with the 8th Army who were moving west from Egypt, having advanced from El Alamein. The role of the 17th/21st Lancers within Blade Force was to provide a flank guard for the 78th Division, which was to occupy the city. Blade Force made a rapid advance of 300 miles before being held up at the T-roads between Sidi Nasir station and Mateur by strong German resistance. This delay allowed the Germans to reinforce and thus foil the bid to capture Tunis. As a result Blade Force was broken up and the 17th/21st Lancers were returned to 26th Armoured Brigade. The Fondouk Pass Babits, Lawrence Edward; Howard, Joshua B. (2009). Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807832660.

Military unit Irish Cavalrymen, 17th Regiment of Light Dragoons, in the War of the American Revolution, 1775-1783 RW Smith (2004). "Modderfontein, 17 September 1901". Military History Journal. 13 (1). Archived from the original on 3 April 2009 . Retrieved 2 August 2009.

Chant, Christopher (2013). The Handbook of British Regiments. Routledge Revivals. ISBN 978-0415710763. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lancers to form the 17th/21st Lancers in 1922. [3] Regimental museum [ edit ]