Armoured Cavalry - Historical Background

Historical Background

During the Ancient period and the Middle Ages in Europe armoured cavalry referred to any horse-mounted troops that used chain mail or plate armour for protection, and often added this to their mount's furniture also.

Between the late 17th and mid-19th centuries armoured cavalry referred to those cavalry regiments that retained the cuirass, and were commonly known as cuirassiers. At a later date they were sometimes called heavy cavalry which referred to their large horses and not the weight of the cuirass.

After the First World War cavalry units were mostly converted from horses to either armoured cars or tanks and became known as either mechanized cavalry fulfilling a reconnaissance role, or armoured cavalry serving in the offensive role that seeks to break through the enemy defences.

In October 1928, a new era began for the cavalry of the British Army when the 11th Hussars became the first regular cavalry regiment to "mechanize", to change from a horsed cavalry role to a mechanized one, re-equipping with armoured cars previously used by the Royal Tank Corps. Other regiments followed suit; in April 1939, the Royal Armoured Corps was formed to encompass the eighteen mechanized cavalry regiments of the line alongside the eight battalions of the Royal Tank Regiment, but did not include the Household Cavalry. The remaining two regular cavalry regiments were based in Palestine, and following the outbreak of war retained their horses until 1940 (the Royal Dragoon Guards) and 1941 (the Royal Scots Greys). Following mechanization, the few remaining distinctions of unit type became meaningless; cavalry regiments moved between the heavy and light armoured roles regardless of their names.