The Queen's Royal Lancers (QRL) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of two other regiments:

• 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers
• 17th/21st Lancers

From its formation, the regiment served in the armoured role with first Challenger 1, then Challenger 2. However, in 2005, as part of the re-organisation of the army, the regiment started converting to the formation reconnaissance role, re-equipping with the FV107 Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle.

Organisation

The regiment is organised into four squadrons, each of which perpetuates one of the antecedent regiments:

• 5th Lancer Squadron
• 16th Lancer Squadron
• 17th Lancer Squadron
• 21st Lancer quadron

Traditions

The regiment's nickname, the 'Death or Glory Boys', comes from their cap badgewhich is generally known as as their motto. This is the combined cap badges of the two antecedent regiments, and features a pair of crossed lances, from the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers, together with a Totenkopf, below which is a ribbon containing the words 'Or Glory'. This comes from the 17th/21st Lancers, and was the cap badge of the 17th Lancers (the original 'Death or Glory Boys').

In popular culture

In the animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians The Colonel (an Old English sheepdog owned by a British Army officer), The Captain (a retired cavalry horse), and Sgt. Tibs (a house cat turned "military" scout and runner) live at the stable of the retired 9th Queens Royal Lancers Headquarters in Suffolk. It is said to be under the command of the fictional Major General S.F. Smedley. After the Dalmatians escape from the De Vil place, they retreat to the relative safety of the stable until Horace and Jasper catch up with them.

Battle honours

16th/5th Lancers battle honours

Combined honours before amalgamation of 16th and 5th Lancers:

• Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Beaumont, Willems, Talavera, Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Nive, Peninsula, Waterloo, Bhurtpore, Ghuznee 1839, Afghanistan 1839, Maharajpore, Aliwal, Sobraon, Suakin 1885, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Siege of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902

• World War I: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Messines 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Bellewaarde, Arras 1917, Cambrai 1917, Somme 1918, St. Quentin, Pursuit to Mons

After amalgamation of 16th and 5th Lancers:

• World War II: Kasserine, Fondouk, Kairouan, Bordj, Djebel Kournine,Tunis, Gromballa, Bou Ficha, North Africa 1942-43, Cassino II, Liri Valley, Monte Piccolo, Capture of Perugia, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Argenta Gap, Traghetto, Italy 1944-45

• Wadi al Batin, Gulf 1991

17th/21st Lancers Battle honours

Combined honours before amalgamation of 17th and 21st Lancers:

• Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Central India, South Africa 1879, Khartoum, South Africa 1900-02

• World War I: Festubert, Somme 1916 '18, Morval, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Avre, Hazebrouck, Amiens, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1914-18, N.W. Frontier India 1915 '16

After amalgamation of 17th and 21st Lancers:

• World War II: Tebourba Gap, Bou Arada, Kasserine, Thala, Fondouk, El Kourzia, Tunis, Hammam Lif, North Africa 1942-43, Cassino II, Monte Piccolo, Capture of Perugia, Advance to Florence, Argenta Gap, Fossa Cembalina, Italy 1944-45

Queen's Royal Lancers

After amalgamation of 16th/5th Lancers and the 17th/21st Lancers into the Queens' Royal Lancers:

• Al Basrah, Iraq 2003