5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards

The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1922 to 1992, when it was amalgmated into the Royal Dragoon Guards.

The beginning

The regiment was formed in 1922 at Cairo, Egypt as the 5th/6th Dragoons by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards and The Inniskillings .

In 1923 the regiment was deployed to Risalpur, India. In 1927 the regiment discarded the "6th" and inserted Inniskilling into its title, to become the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. The following year the regiment returned to the UK for the first time, as the 5th Dragoon Guards. In 1935 it gained the Royal accolade to become the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.

In 1938, as part of the preparation for the Second World War, the regiment was mechanised and the following year joined the newly-formed Royal Armoured Corps (RAC).

Second World War

On 3 September 1939, two days after Germany had invaded Poland, the UK, France and their Allies declared war on Germany.

The regiment acted as the reconnaissance regiment of the British 4th Infantry Division of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that was deployed to the continent shortly after war broke out. On 10 May 1940 the Germans launched their invasion of the Low Countries, thus ending what was known as the Phony War. The German invasion was swift and successful, the Allied forces in Belgium having to retreat to the Scheldt River which the regiment was part of. Fierce fighting continued,...
Read More