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The museums of the Royal Dragoon Guards and
the Prince of Wales' Own Regiment of Yorkshire nestle in the shadow
of Clifford's Tower in York. They hold a wealth of medals, uniforms,
silver and pictures.
>> See The
Prince of Wales' Own Yorkshire Regiment museum
The Royal Dragoon Guards (cavalry)
The Royal Dragoon Guards are a cavalry regiment and were formed
in 1992 as an amalgamation of two British cavalry regiments whose
origins dated from four cavalry regiments in the 17th-century.
As with the Prince of Wales' Own, the history and traditions of
the old regiment continues in the new regiment; the story of the
old is the story of the new.
The Dragoon Guards and its descendants have a colourful history,
from the time of William of Orange through famous battles in the
Crimean War, the Boer Wars and the two World Wars.
Among its varied artefacts, the museum boasts the oldest surviving
cavalry standard in the Army, the Dettingen
Standard.
Cornet Richardson of the 7th Dragoon Guards received 36 wounds while
defending this standard at Dettingen during the War of the Austrian
Succession (King George's War) in 1742. King George II was the last
Royal monarch to go into battle.
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Read Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Charge
of the Heavy Brigade.
 Listen
to Alfred Lord Tennyson's reading of The
Charge of the Light Brigade.
Tennyson's poem memorialises the disastrous charge by British
light cavalry over open terrain by British forces.
272 of the 637 troops were killed when they were given a muddled
order and charged straight on to the Russians' open fire.
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General Scarlett's
helmet is another highlight. Major General York-Scarlett
commanded the Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaklava in 1854 during
the Crimean
War - lesser known but just as important (and more successful!)
than the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade which happened later
that day.
The Charge of the Heavy Brigade on the other hand - led by Major
General Scarlett (a past commanding officer of the Dragoon Guards)
was entirely successful.
The British cavalry of 800 utterly routed the 3500 Russian cavalry.
The casualties of the Charge of the Light Brigade later that day
would have been much more severe if it hadn't been for the Heavy
Brigade's successes that morning which put the Russian cavalry off.
First World War: "the first
and the last"
The 4th/7th Dragoon Guards (which went on to form part of the Royal
Dragoon Guards) saw action from the initial stages of the First
World War.
Corporal Thomas fired the first shot in the First World War, and
Captain Hornby was the first officer to draw blood with his sword.
Both were members of the 4th Dragoon Guards, and the sword which
drew the first blood can be seen in the museum.
The 7th Dragoon Guards saw the last official cavalry action of
the first World War on Armistice Day, 1918. When the 4th Dragoon
Guards and the 7th Dragoon Guards amalgamated in 1922, the Daily
Express called the regiment "the first and the last".
Notable Dragoon Guards
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| Captain
Oates' mess jacket, helmet and a painting which depicts him
"going outside for some time" on Scott's fateful Antarctic
Expedition, 1912 |
General Robert Baden-Powell was one
colourful character well worth investigating. During the South African
Boer
War of 1899-1902, he became world famous as the military
commander of the siege of Mafikin.
General Robert Baden-Powell commanded the
5th Dragoon Guards in 1888-9.
He later put his experiences in South Africa
to good use, in founding the Boy Scout Movement.
Captain Lawrence Oates (or 'A Very
Gallant Gentleman') of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons became a legend
of self-sacrifice when, as a member of Scott's ill-fated Antarctic
Expedition of 1912, he chose to sacrifice himself rather
than impede his comrades' progress.
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| The
bleak Antarctic |
Oates had severe frostbite and on his 32nd
birthday, wandered out into a blizzard leaving with the famous last
words, "I am just going outside and may be some time."
He never returned.
General Sir Adrian
Carton de Wiart was the one-handed, one-eyed Lieutenant-General
and war hero who bit his own fingers off and still went back
to war with the Dragoon Guards in the First World War. He was later
awarded the Victoria Cross.
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Did
you know...?
The Victoria Cross - Britain's highest award
for gallantry - is made out of the gun metal from Waterloo.
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| The Victoria Cross:
Britain's highest award for gallantry, crafted from gunmetal
from Waterloo |
There is so little of the metal left that
the Victoria Cross is rarely awarded nowadays.
It's awarded for "most conspicuous bravery,
or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice,
or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy."
Many of the medals are awarded posthumously,
and the first were awarded in the Crimean War (1854-56).
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Major General Patrick Cordingley
led British troops into Iraq in the last Gulf War.
Elton John's horse
is a permanent fixture in the museum... Well,
sort of.
When the museum moved from Halifax in 1986, the 16 hand horse which
displayed the Cavalry tack wouldn't fit into its new display
cabinet home in York...
During a dinner, one of the trustees of the regiment
of the Royal Dragoon Guards discussed this problem with Nanette
Newman and Brian Forbes who kindly came up with the suggestion that
they would donate their children's life-sized teddy horse (given
to their children as a present from Elton John) to the museum to
display the Cavalry tack!
Opening times
Both the Prince of Wales' Own Regiment and the Royal Dragoon Guards'
museums are located at 3a Tower Street in the shadow of Clifford's
Tower in York.
The museums are open from Monday to Saturday inclusive, from 9.30am
to 4.30pm (except for a period from Christmas to early January for
maintenance purposes).
Contact the museum on 01904 642036 for more information.
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