HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY INFORMATION - THE ROYAL HORSE GUARDS

THE HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY -

REGIMENTAL HISTORY OF THE

ROYAL HORSE GUARDS 1945 - 1969

Royal Horse Guards (The Blues)

1945 - 1969 (Amalgamation)

RHG Badge

1945	After the end of the Second World War, in September 1945, the 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment, a wartime amalgamation of The Life Guards and Blues, became Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) Armoured Car Regiment.
1945 - 1952	For seven years the Regiment served in Germany patrolling the Iron Curtain. A Squadron of the Regiment served in Berlin during the period of mass demonstrations by the East German Communists.
1952 - 1956	1952-56 were spent in England where the Regiment was stationed at Windsor, the traditional home of the Household Cavalry.
1956 - 1960	Armoured Cars of The Blues patrolled every part of Cyprus during the emergency, 1956-59. Large quantities of terrorist weapons and documents were captured, and escorts found for the governors of Cyprus. Having returned to England, the Regiment found themselves back in Cyprus in 1960 for a short tour of three months.
1962 - 1968	Germany was again the Regiment's station from 1962-66, returning to England at the end of that time. A Squadron of the Regiment was attached to The Life Guards in Singapore the following year, while The Blues remained part of the Strategic Reserve in England. Cyprus saw the return of a Blues Squadron for six months in 1967.
1969	Amalgamation of The Blues with The Royals.

Amalgamation

1969

In March 1969 the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues)
amalgamated with The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) to
form a new Regiment of Household Cavalry known as
'The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)'.

This amalgamation came about as a result of Government
pressure on the Ministry of Defence to reduce the size of the army.
The Household Cavalry had received a previous cut when the
1st and 2nd Life Guards were amalgamated in 1922.