22nd Dragoons
Encyclopedia
The 22nd Dragoons was the title held by a series of four Cavalry regiments of the British Army
Cavalry regiments of the British Army
There are currently nine regular cavalry regiments of the British Army, with two tank regiments provided by the Royal Tank Regiment, traditionally classed alongside the cavalry, for a total of eleven regiments. Of these, five serve as armoured regiments, and five as formation reconnaissance...

 raised and disbanded between 1716 and 1945. The last regiment of this name existed during the Second World War, from 1 December 1940 until 30 November 1945.

History

The first regiment to bear the title 22nd Dragoons was raised in 1716. Also known as Viscount Mountjoy's Regiment of Dragoons, it appeared on the Army List on 16 February 1716 but was disbanded in 1718.. In 1779, John, Lord Sheffield
John Baker-Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield
John Baker-Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield was an English politician who came from a Yorkshire family, a branch of which had settled in the Kingdom of Ireland.- Biography :...

 raised a light dragoon regiment that was styled 22nd (Light) Dragoons but this was disbanded in 1783. William, Viscount Fielding raised the next regiment to use the title 22nd (Light) Dragoons on 24 February 1794; this regiment lasted slightly longer, being disbanded in 1802 with the onset of peace. However, the 25th Dragoons (raised for service in India by F E Gwyn on 9 March 1794) was renumbered 22nd (Light) Dragoons in that year. This 22nd (Light) Dragoons regiment served throughout the Napoleonic Wars which began in 1805 and was disbanded in 1820.

On 1 December 1940 the regiment was restored to the Army List. The new 22nd Dragoons formed from cadres taken from the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1922 to 1992.It was formed in India in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and 7th Dragoon Guards , as the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards; it gained the distinction Royal in 1935...

 and 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1922 to 1992, when it was amalgmated into the Royal Dragoon Guards.-The beginning:...

. The regimental crest, used on the headstones of the regiment's dead, combined the Star of St Patrick of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards with the Castle of Inniskilling to represent the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. (The 4th/7th and Inniskillings are now amalgamated as the Royal Dragoon Guards and have adopted a capbadge that is very similar to the crest of 22nd Dragoons.) The regiment was assigned to 29th Armoured Brigade in 11th Armoured Division
British 11th Armoured Division
The 11th Armoured Division, known as The Black Bull, was a British Army division formed in 1941 during the Second World War. The Division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of German panzer divisions...

 but later transferred to 30th Armoured Brigade in the same division. This changeover was due to regimental loyalties of the brigade commanders. In 1942, 30 Armoured Brigade was transferred to 42nd Armoured Division before, in 1943, joinng 79th Armoured Division.

All three regiments of the 30th Armoured Brigade were re-equipped with Crab flail tanks, modified M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...

 tanks with a large jib covered in chains attached to the front, intended for clearing a path through minefields at a top speed of one and a half miles per hour whilst flogging a path. Tanks thus equipped were often split up and used in large troop or squadron formations in support of organised set piece attacks rather than as organised formations.

As such, the regiment came ashore in the first wave of the Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

 landings on the morning of 6 June 1944, with A Squadron, reinforced by 2 troops of C Squadron and supported by two troops of the Westminster Dragoons
Westminster Dragoons
The Westminster Dragoons are central London’s only Territorial Army cavalry unit. One of the Royal Yeomanry's five squadrons, their current role is to support the Formation Reconnaissance Regiments and the Joint Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Regiment on operations by providing...

, landing on Sword Beach
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...

 and B Squadron landing on Juno Beach
Juno Beach
Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...

. Later in the day the final two troops of C Squadron landed on Juno where they remained for several days on beach clearance. The regiment continued to see action sporadically once the beaches were cleared, fighting through Belgium and the Netherlands into Germany, where they were at the end of the war; the regiment was disbanded in Germany on 30 November 1945. The regiment was awarded ten battle honours for operations in the North West Europe Theatre.

Battle honours

  • Second World War: Normandy Landing, Odon, Caen, Falaise, Le Havre, Lower Maas, Venlo Pocket, Reichswald, Rhine, North-West Europe 1944-45

Further reading

  • XXII Dragoons 1760-1945: The Story of a Regiment by Raymond Birt,
  • Achtung! Minen! by Ian Hammerton, The Story of 79th Armoured Division by Anon.,
  • 79th Armoured Division Hobo's Funnies by Nigel Duncan,
  • Vanguard of Victory - The 79th Armoured Division by David Fletcher,
  • British Tanks in Normandy by Ludovic Fortin.

  • Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660-1978 by Dr J B M Frederick
  • Normandy 1944: The Road to Victory by Richard Doherty (dedicated to the memory of Tpr Leonard Kemp, 22nd Dragoons)
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