Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

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The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)

Cap badge of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Active 2 July 1971-Present
Country United Kingdom
Branch Army
Type Line Cavalry
Role Armoured regiment
Size One regiment
Part of Royal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQ Fallingbostel, Germany
Nickname Scotland's Cavalry
Motto Nemo me impune lacessit (Nobody touches me with impunity)
Ich Dien (I Serve)
Second to None
March Quick (band) - The 3DGs; (pipes & drums) - Hielan' Laddie
Slow (band) - The Garb of Old Gaul; (pipes & drums) - My Home
Anniversaries 13 April (Nunshigum)
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief HM The Queen
Colonel of
the Regiment		 Brigadier Melville Stewart Jameson, CBE
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Tartan Royal Stewart (pipes)

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) (SCOTS DG) is the senior Scottish regiment of the British Army and Scotland's only cavalry regiment. It was formed on 2 July 1971 at Holyrood, Edinburgh by the amalgamation of the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) (themselves the product of the amalgamation in 1922 of 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) and 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)), and The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons).

The regiment has won numerous battle honours and two Victoria Crosses, and, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest surviving Cavalry Regiment of the Line in the British Army.

The regiment is currently based in Fallingbostel, Germany, as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade ('The Desert Rats').

Contents

[edit] Organisation

The regiment is a Type 58 Challenger 2 tank regiment (i.e. it is equipped with 58 Challenger 2 tanks), which are organised into four Sabre Squadrons. It was the first regiment to be equipped with Challenger 2.

In addition the regiment also fields a close Reconnaissance Troop mounted in eight CVR(T) Scimitar, and a large Headquarters Squadron, which supplies ammunition, fuel, and rations, and includes specialist technicians, mechanics and artisans, as well as clerical and medical staff.

[edit] History

The regiment has performed a number of tours of Northern Ireland, suffering one loss in 1972, when Trooper Caie was killed by a landmine in Moybane, County Armagh.

It saw active service during the Gulf War in 1991, in Bosnia as part of SFOR in 1996/97 and deployed to Kosovo twice, in 2000 and 2001, as part of KFOR.

It recently operated in Iraq during the Iraq War of 2003 (Britain's contribution being known as Operation Telic) where it took part in the advance on 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 from C Squadron, engaged and destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks (the so-called '14-0' engagement). Together with Warriors of the Irish Guards, the regiment entered Basra on 6 April, and left Iraq shortly after the war was officially declared over on 1 May.

[edit] Official abbreviation

Whilst the regiment's official abbreviation (as listed in Joint Service Publication 101 (Service Writing)) is SCOTS DG (note all capitals and the space), it is often incorrectly abbreviated RSDG. The reason for the official abbreviation may be that the format follows the traditional Cavalry line whereby, for example, The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards was abbreviated 4/7DG, and the Royal Scots Greys was abbreviated GREYS.

[edit] The regimental cap badge

The cap badge features an eagle, which represents the French Imperial Eagle that was captured by the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo. It is always worn with a black backing in mourning for Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, who was their Colonel-in-Chief at the time of his murder.

[edit] Regimental Mottos

  • The regimental motto is Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (Nobody touches me with impunity), also the motto of the Order of the Thistle, to which it refers.
  • The regiment also uses the motto "Second to None".

[edit] Uniforms

The regimental beret is light grey.

[edit] Pipes and Drums

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 United Kingdom and Australia in 1972.

[edit] Order of Precedence

Preceded by:
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards		 Cavalry Order of Precedence Succeeded by:
Royal Dragoon Guards

[edit] Alliances

[edit] Affiliated Yeomanry

  • The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry
  • The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse

[edit] Battle honours

  • [combined battle honours of 3rd Carabiniers and Royal Scots Greys, plus:]
  • Wadi al Batin, Gulf 1991; Al Basrah, Iraq 2003

[edit] Bibliography

  • In the finest tradition : the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers & Greys) : its history and treasures by Stephen Wood (Mainstream Pub. Co., 1988. ISBN 1-85158-174-X)
  • Shot and captured : photographs of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Battlegroup in Iraq 2003 by Tony Nicoletti & Aidan Stephen (Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail, 2003)

[edit] External links

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