The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated with the 2nd Life Guards to form the Life Guards.
History
The regiment was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards.White-Spunner, p. xii It fought in the Peninsular War and at the Waterloo. In 1877, it was renamed 1st Life Guards and contributed to the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment in the Anglo-Egyptian War, in the Second Boer War and in the First World War from August to November 1914. From 1916 to 1918, the Reserve Regiment contributed to the Household Battalion. In 1918, the regiment was converted to the 1st Battalion, Guards Machine Gun Regiment. It was reconstituted in 1919 and was amalgamated with the 2nd Life Guards in 1922 to form The Life Guards.
Battle honours The battle honours of the regiment were: Early Wars: Dettingen, Peninsula, Waterloo, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899–1900 The Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 '15 '17, Langemarck 1914, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Somme 1916, Albert 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Hindenburg Line, Cambrai 1918, France and Flanders 1914–18
Colonels-in-Chief The Colonels-in-Chief of the regiment were: 1815–1830: King George IV 1831–1837: King William IV 1880–1910: King Edward VII 1910–1922: King George V
Regimental colonels The colonels of the regiment were: 1788–1789: General The Most Hon. The Marquess of Lothian 1789–1792: General The Rt Hon. The Lord Dover 1792–1829: General The Rt Hon. The Earl of Harrington 1829–1865: Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Viscount Combermere 1865–1888: Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Earl of Lucan 1888–1902: Field Marshal Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar 1902–1907: Lieutenant General The Rt Hon. The Lord de Ros 1907–1920: Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Lord Grenfell 1920–1922: Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Viscount Allenby
See also British cavalry during the First World War Life Guards
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