16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
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The 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers were a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1922 to 1993.
It was formed at Lucknow in India as 16th/5th Lancers by the amalgamation of two regiments, 16th The Queen's Lancers and 5th Royal Irish Lancers.
Deployed to the UK from 1926 to 1936, the regiment was in India when the Second World War broke out. It returned to the UK in 1940, becoming part of British 26th Armoured Brigade in British 6th Armoured Division. With this formation, the regiment fought in North Africa in 1942-3, then in Italy through 1944 and 1945, seeing some action as dismounted infantry in the latter period. At the end of the war, the regiment had penetrated as far as Austria, and took on occupation duties there.
Princess Elizabeth became Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment in 1947, and after her accession to the throne it was retitled 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers in 1954.
The regiment spent the Cold War mostly deployed in Germany, with tours in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Aden and Hong Kong. During this time it was mostly operating as a reconnaissance unit. It operated in the Gulf War as part of 1 (British) Armoured Division.
In 1993, as part of the reduction in forces after the end of the Cold War, it amalgamated with the 17th/21st Lancers to form The Queen's Royal Lancers.
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