| King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery | |
|---|---|
A King's Troop sentry outside Horse Guards |
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| Active | 1947-present |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Saluting Battery |
| Role | Ceremonial |
| Part of | HQ London District |
| Garrison/HQ | St John's Wood, London |
| Nickname | "The Troop" |
| Patron | George VI |
| Equipment | 13 pounder gun |
| Website | The King's Troop RHA |
The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery is a ceremonial unit of the British Army. It is a mounted unit and all of its soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull each of the six First World War-era 13-pounder state saluting guns. Its duties include the firing of Royal salutes in Hyde Park on both Royal Anniversaries and State Occasions, and providing a gun carriage and team of black horses for State and Military funerals.
The unit is most often seen providing gun salutes on state occasions in Hyde Park, and Green Park. They also mount the Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards when the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment go away for their summer training for one month each year.
It was named The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in 1947 when King George VI decided that, following the mechanisation of the last batteries of horse drawn artillery, a troop of horse artillery should be kept to take part in the great ceremonies of state. At the suggestion of Brigadier John Anquetil Norman, the King declared that the Riding Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery would be known as 'The King's Troop'.[1] The King enacted his proclamation by amending the page on the visitors book of the Troop in manuscript, striking out the word "Riding" and inserting "King's". On her accession, Queen Elizabeth II declared that the name 'The King's Troop' would remain in honour of her father.
The King's Troop forms part of the Household Troops and, when on parade with its guns, takes precedence over all other regiments in the regular forces of the British Army (see the British Army Order of Precedence). It is based in St John's Wood which is home to 111 horses.
Although the King's Troop is primarily a ceremonial unit, with responsibility for firing gun salutes on state occasions, it has an operational role as part of the territorial defence of the United Kingdom. Men and women of The King's Troop are trained as fighting soldiers. Six men or women are currently deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq at any one time.[2] When the Army mobilises, the King’s Troop provides HGV drivers who deliver ammunition to artillery units around the battlefield.
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The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery performed their Musical Drive at every Royal Tournament from its formation in 1947 to the final Royal Tournament on 2 August 1999. The Musical Drive can be seen at shows around the United Kingdom and always at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May every year.
Many of the manoeuvres of the Musical Drive have remained unchanged since it was first performed in 1897. The start, known as the Big Drive, features the Scissors, where the whole team criss-cross at gallop, displaying choreography, teamwork and discipline. Another manoeuvre, the Wagon Wheel, depicts an inner wheel, spokes, and an outer wheel. A display may then finish with a Battery Charge.
For the Heroes Welcome in Windsor in May 2008 there were six gun teams, each of ten horses and seven riders. Women, first admitted to the King's Toop in 1996, made up one-third of the display team. Major Erica Bridge is the first female commanding officer of the King's Troop.[3]
Together with the Household Division the King's Troop appear every June at Trooping the Colour, on Horse Guards Parade to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. Along with all guns of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, their guns are their colours and are acknowledged by the Queen and all on parade as such. The guns take precedence over all other regiments when on parade, and so when the cavalry ride past at the culmination of the parade, the King's Troop are given the distinction of being first to do so, before the Household Cavalry.
After the ceremony, the King's Troop repairs to Green Park, adjacent to Buckingham Palace, firing a 41-gun salute, which is a 21-gun salute with an additional 20 rounds fired because the gun position is in a Royal Park.
On 6 September 1997, members of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, together with the Guardsmen of the 1st Battalion, the "Prince of Wales" Company, Welsh Guards, served as an escort to Diana, Princess of Wales's coffin from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey. The King's Troop RHA provided the horses and Driver for the Wagon GS, owned by The Royal Logistic Corps, for the reinterment of a soldier at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) War Graves Cemetery in 2010.
In the British Army Order of Precedence, the Household Cavalry is always listed first and always parades at the extreme right of the line. However when the Royal Horse Artillery is on parade with its guns, (usually in the form of The Kings Troop) it will replace the Household Cavalry at the extreme right of the line.