Badges above from left 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards; 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards 1927 KC; The Royal Dragoon Guards.

The Royal Dragoon Guards
British Army Including
(Reflecting historic name changes)

4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards

• 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards
  
• 7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards
  
• 1st Irish Horse
  
• 4th Irish Horse
  

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards

• 5th/6th Dragoons
  
• Princess Charlotte of Wales's Dragoon Guards
  
• 5th Dragoon Guards
  
• 6th Inniskilling Dragoons
  

The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. The regiment currently serves as the Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance unit of the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade and is therefore equipped with the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (tracked) Scimitar and is based in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. Today the RDG is an operationally experienced regiment having recently served in Iraq (Operation Telic 5 and 11), and Afghanistan (Operation Herrick 12 and 17).

Please link profiles of those who served in the The Royal Dragoon Guards (including those in the "included" list above), to this project regardless of rank, conflict or nationality. People of note can be individually listed in Alphabetical Order below.
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Regiments and Corps of the British Army

The Royal Armoured Corps

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The Royal Dragoon Guards

Motto - Quis Separabit - "Who shall separate us"

Uniform -

Corps March -

Quick - Fare Thee Well Inniskilling
Slow - 4th Dragoon Guards (first two themes) + 7th Dragoon Guards (first theme)

Nick-name -
Colonel-in-Chief: - HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales
Deputy Colonel-in-Chief: - HRH Katharine, Duchess of Kent
Battle Honours - Battle Honours of The Royal Dragoon Guards

Today

Ancestry

3.3.13.3.1.13.3.1.2
3.3.2. QC3.3.2.13.3.2.2

3.3 The Royal Dragoon Guards

Formed in 1992 by amalgamation (✽) of

3.3.1 ✽ 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards

Formed April 1922 by amalgamation of
3.3.1.1 - 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards

Raised July 1685 by James Hamilton (Douglas), Earl of Arran and ranked as 6th Horse.

3.3.1.2 - 7th Dragoon Guards (Princes Royal's)

Raised 31st December 1688 by William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire - ranked as 10th Horse.

3.3.2 ✽ 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards

Formed April 1922 by amalgamation of ...
3..3.2.1 - 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)

Raised July 1685 by Charles Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury - ranked as 7th Horse.

3.3.2.2 - The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons)

Raised January 1690 from ad hoc Troops of Horse formed to defend the town of Enniskillen against ex-King James II's Catholic forces. Command given to Colonel Sir Albert Conyngham. Ranked as 6th Dragoons.

---

3.3.1.14th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards (3.3.1.1)

Timeline
1685 - Raised as Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers
1685 - Ranked as 6th Horse.
1691 - Re-ranked 5th Horse.
Also known by Colonels names until 1751

• 1688 - Sir William Douglas-Hamilton, 1st Earl of Selkirk
  
• 1688 - Charles Godfrey
  
• 1693 - Francis Langston
  
• 1713 - Brig. General George Jocelyn
  
• 1715 - S Davenport
  
• 1719 - Owen Wynne
  
• 1732 - Thomas Pearce
  
• 1739 - Lord Tyrawley
  
• 1743 - John Brown
  

1746 - Re-ranked as 1st (Irish) Horse (Blue Horse)
1751 - Officially known as 1st Regiment of (irish) Horse
1788 - Converted to Dragoon Guards as 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards
1921 - Name simplified to 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards
PRE 1901 - badge introduced (right 3.3.1.1)

3.3.1.2 7th Dragoon Guards (Princes Royal's) (3.3.1.2)

Timeline
1688 - Raised as Earl of Devonshire's Regiment of Horse (Cavendish's Horse)
1690 - Ranked as 9th Horse
1694 - Re-ranked 8th Horse
Also known by Colonels names until 1751

• 1690 - Count Meinherdt
  
• 1691-93 - The Duke of Leinster's Regiment of Horse
  
• 1711 - Marquis of Harwich
  
• 1713 - Charles De Sybourg
  
• 1720 - Sir John Ligonier
  
• 1749 - Sir John Mordaunt
  
• 1749 - Henry De Grangue
  

1746 - Re-ranked as 4th (Irish) Horse (Black Horse)
1751 - Officially known as 4th Regiment of Horse
1788 - Converted to Dragoon Guards as 7th (The Princes Royal's) Dragoon Guards
1921 - Name modified to 7th Dragoon Guards (Princess Royal's)
PRE 1901 - Badge introduced (right 3.3.1.2)

3.3.2.15th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (3.3.2.1)

Timeline
1685 - Raised as Earl of Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse
1685 - Ranked as 7th Horse
1691 - Re-ranked 6th Horse
Also known by Colonels names until 1751

• 1687 - Lord Langdale
  
• 1687 - Richard Hamilton
  
• 1688 - John Coy
  
• 1697 - Earl of Arran
  
• 1703 - Earl of Cadogan
  
• 1712 - George Kellum
  
• 1717 - Robert Napier
  
• 1740 - Clement Neville
  
• 1744 - Viscount Cobham
  
• 1745 - Thomas Wentworth
  
• 1747 - Thomas Bligh
  

1746 - Re-ranked as 2nd (Irish) Horse (Green Horse)
1751 - Officially known as 2nd Regiment of Horse
1788 - Converted to Dragoon Guards as 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards
1801 - Re-designated 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) regiment of Dragoon Guards
1921 Name modified to 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)
PRE 1901 - - Badge introduced (right 3.3.2.1)
1922 - Amalgamated with The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons) forming 5th/6th Dragoons. Squadrons from the 5th Dragoon Guards and 6th Dragoons retained their separate badges until ...
1927 - when the new regiment was named 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.
1935 - "Royal" added to the name
1952 - Crown on the badge changed
1992 - Amalgamated with 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards to form The Royal Dragoon Guards

3.3.2.2The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons) (3.3.2.2)

Timeline
1689 - Raised as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons to defend Inniskilling
1690 - Ranked as 7th of Dragoons, and re-ranked 6th in the same year
Also known by Colonels names until 1751

• 1691 - Robert Echlin
  
• 1715 - Earl of Stair
  
• c1715 - also known as The Black Dragoons
  
• 1734 - Lord Cadogan
  
• 1745 - Earl of Rothes'
  
• 1750 - J Cholmondeley
  

1751 - Officially known as 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons
1921 - Name modified to The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons)
PRE 1901 - Badge introduced (right 3.3.2.2)
1922 - Amalgamated with 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) forming 5th/6th Dragoons. Squadrons from the 5th Dragoon Guards and 6th Dragoons retained their separate badges until ...
1927 - when the new regiment was named 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.
1935 - "Royal" added to the name
1952 - Crown on the badge changed
1992 - Amalgamated with 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards to form The Royal Dragoon Guards

Notable Personnel

See Famous Soldiers of The Royal Dragoon Guards Names with Bold links are to Geni profiles. Other links take you to external biographical web pages.

A

B

• Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB. commanded the 5th Dragoon Guards in India from 25 April 1897 to 8 July 1899

C

D

• Lt-Gen. Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart - could claim to have been the most wounded officer in the British Army, having been wounded a grand total of 11 times; twice in the Boer War, once in Somaliland and eight times on the Western Front. Two of these injuries resulted in what others might have considered serious impairments: the loss of his left eye, and the loss of his left hand. For many years after he had been wounded during the First World War, he was having pieces of shrapnel taken from his body.
  

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

• Field Marshal John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier, KB, PC
  

M

N

O

• Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates (1880-1912), 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 the progress of his comrades.
  
  

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Sources, References and Further Reading

• WIKI Royal Dragoon Guards
• Museum of The Royal Dragoon Guards
• Brereton, J M A Guide to the regiments and Corps of the British Army on the Regular Establishment (Bodley Head) 1985
• Griffin, P D Encyclopedia of Modern British Army Regiments (Sutton Publishers) 2006
• Lumley, Goff Amalgamations in the British Army 1660-2008 (Partizan Press 2009)

this project is in History Link