Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
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Template:Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) (RSDG) is an armoured regiment of the British Army.
It was formed on 2 July 1971 by the amalgamation of two famous regiments, the 3rd Carabiniers and the Royal Scots Greys. The 3rd Carabiniers had themselves been constituted in 1922 from the amalgamation of the old 3rd Dragoon Guards and the Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards).
It is Scotland's senior regiment and its only cavalry regiment. Through the Royal Scots Greys, it is the oldest surviving Cavalry Regiment of the Line in the British Army. With the other British cavalry regiments it forms part of the Royal Armoured Corps. The regiment is part of the 7th Armoured Brigade ('The Desert Rats'). It is based in Fallingbostel, Germany.
Today the regiment is equipped with the Challenger 2 main battle tank. They were the first regiment in the army to have them.
The regimental motto is Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (Nobody touches me with impunity), which refers to the thistle, historic symbol of Scotland. The regiment also uses the motto "Second to None". The regimental beret is light grey. The cap badge features an eagle, which represents the French Imperial Eagle that was captured by the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo.
The regiment has many battle honours from Blenheim in 1704 through to the Persian Gulf War of 1991.
The Regiment has its own Pipes and Drums who tour widely and perform in competitions, concerts and parades. Their most famous piece is Amazing Grace which reached number one in the charts in the UK and Australia in 1972.
History
It has performed a number of tours of Northern Ireland, unfortunately suffering one loss in 1972 when Trooper Caie was killed by a landmine in Moybane, County Amargh.
The regiment saw active service during the Gulf War in 1991 against Saddam Hussain's Iraq. The regiment has been deployed to Kosovo twice, the first time in 2001, as part of SFOR.
It recently operated in Iraq during the Iraq War in 2003, Britain's contribution being known as Operation Telic. It took part in the advance towards Iraq's second largest city, Basra. It met sporadic resistance that included Britain's largest tank engagement since the Second World War when 14 Challenger 2 tanks of the RSDG engaged and destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks. Together with Warrior's of the Irish Guards, the regiment entered Basra on 6 April. It left Iraq shortly after the war was officially declared over on 1 May.
Battle Honours
External links
- The British Army's web page on The Royal Scots Dragoons Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) (http://www.army.mod.uk/armcorps/scots_dg/index.html)
- Official site of the Royal Scots Dragoons Guards (http://www.scotsdg.com)