Queen's Royal Irish Hussars: A celebration and a goodbye

by Victoria

As the winter is now upon us and we have come to the end of our 2016 open season our task of packing and removing the museum’s collections has arrived. Some of our previous posts have talked of our packing exploits and some of the more difficult or interesting objects we’ve found in the process, and now comes the huge job of actually moving them and removing entire collections.

The first of these to be packed up will be that of the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars. This collection is the smallest we hold and interesting in that its links to Eastbourne and Sussex are not those of the other collections we have here. The QRIH however have a fascinating history which has seen them present in many different arenas; from the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, through both World Wars, and into the Gulf War in 1990-91 (also making it the most recent regiment represented here). 

Queen's Royal Irish Hussars

The Hussars collection, which has been lovingly looked after by its own onsite curator Nigel, has been at the Redoubt since 1988. It will now be moved to a new museum in Warwick where it will join with other Hussars regiments to exhibit their histories all together in one place. It will be Kasey and I’s job, along with Nigel and some hard working volunteers, to pack up this collection before Christmas so it’s ready to move. Now as the collection is about to leave us we thought we would celebrate its time here and say a small goodbye by giving you a little insight into both its compelling history and its unique objects.

The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the 4^th Queen’s Own Hussars, and the 8^th King’s Royal Irish Hussars. The date chosen for the creation of the QRIH was the 24^th October – the 104^th anniversary of the Charge of The Light Brigade in which both of the regiments fought. Both the 4th Queen’s and the 8^th King’s are therefore represented in the displays here at the Redoubt, to tell their stories before those of the joint QRIH.

The 4th Queen's Own Hussars

4^th Queen’s Own Hussars: The older of the two, this regiment was raised in 1685 and in its early days served against Jacobite rebels and in the Wars of Spanish and Austrian successions. Its first battle honour came at Dettingen in Germany on 27^th June 1742. The 4^th also served under Wellington on the Spanish Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars, and took part firstly at Talavera in July 1809, through the Wars and then into the final battle at Toulouse in April 1814. They then served in India for 20 years and Afghanistan before perhaps their most famous battle at the Charge of The Light Brigade during the Crimean War in October 1854. During the First World War they were in France, and during the Second World War for the most part in North Africa and the Western Desert, including the Battle of Alam el Halfa.

The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars

8^th King’s Royal Irish Hussars: This regiment was raised in Ireland in 1693, and was also known as the 8^th Light Dragoons. They also fought against Jacobite Rebels, before being sent to South Africa to keep order among the Boers. The 8^th’s first battle honour was at Laswaree on the 1^st November 1803 and they too served in India for some time before the Charge of The Light Brigade. Come World War I they were placed at the Western Front, before being stationed in Iraq, Germany, England and Egypt between the two Wars. When it came to World War II, the 8^th Kings became one of the founders of the 7^th Armoured Division, known as “The Desert Rats” – they fought in the Western Desert for the majority of the War before being present at Normandy on D-Day +2, 8^th June 1944. Finally in 1950, before their amalgamation, they served in Korea as part of the United Nations force.

After the two regiments' amalgamation to become the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars, in more recent times it is perhaps most notable for its role in the 7^th Armoured Division sent to the Gulf as part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Gulf War. Winston Churchill was their first Colonel-in-Chief and remained so until his death in 1965, today the Duke of Edinburgh holds this role.

A real set up from the QRIH time in the Gulf War, 1991

Now I’ve fired a lot of dates and places at you (sorry!), we can take a look at some of the objects we have in the collection here which have become spoils of these wars, telling and keeping alive the stories of the men of this regiment and the histories they have to tell.

One of the most popular among visitors is that of an elephant’s foot... yes, a real elephant’s foot. It was turned into a cigar case and presented to the 8th King's Own by Captain G. S. Rowley during the India Campaign. As you can imagine, it's huge; definitely enough room for plenty of cigars!

An elephant foot cigar box - not an everyday sight!

Some of my personal favourite pieces in the collection are the uniforms. The name ‘Hussar’ means a soldier in a light cavalry regiment which adopted a dress uniform modelled on Hungarian Hussars. The regiments therefore have had some of the most splendid, and expensive uniforms. Winston Churchill, who in his younger days was in the 4th Queen's Own was in fact told by his father that the uniform of the Hussars cost too much and he unsuccessfully tried to convince him to join a different regiment! The images below show some examples of the uniforms; the right photo is of some splendid 19th century pieces, and the left shows some more modern 1950's uniforms.

Finally, one of the most fascinating and poignant objects comes from the Crimean War; a bloodied bandage and a small tin containing pieces of bone removed from the arm of Sergeant Denis Heron of the 4^th Queen’s Own Hussars. After being injured and sent to the military hospital at Scutari he was nursed by Florence Nightingale, who placed this bandage on his wound. It’s somewhat mesmerizing to have a piece as special as this, something touched by such a well known figure, a reminder of her wonderful work. Heron said of his time there, 

"I was ministered to by that guardian angel of the Crimean Soldier. Miss Florence Nightingale, God bless her."

Sergeant Denis Horan's bandage and small tin containing fragments of bone

Florence Nightingale in her hospital at Scutari

This has by no means been an exhaustive look at the history of the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars but what we can say is our packing of the collection is certainly going to include some intriguing pieces, and some tricky ones for us to move! It is a relatively small collection, but brilliantly mixed and fascinating in its items and stories. We have been lucky to have it here as part of the Redoubt and will be sad to see it go, but remember to keep an eye out for it on its new journey to Warwick, and when the new museum opens there, pop in and experience some of it for yourself – I know I certainly will!