HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE 14TH (KINGS’S) HUSSARS 1900 -1922

This is the Second Volume of the regimental history, which begins at the start of the South African War, the end of which is where the First Volume finishes; thus there is an overlap. The reason for this is that the war was still being fought when the Regiment’s record in it was written, and by the time this present volume was written many facts and details had come to light which could not be obtained for inclusion in the earlier volume. This account ends with the amalgamation of the Regiment with the 20th Hussars in 1922, a year that saw the disappearance of a number of cavalry regiments in a series of amalgamations; 1922 was to the cavalry what 1870 and Cardwell had been to the infantry. I like the dedication which is not only to the 14th Hussars who gave their lives during the Great War but also “to the Horses which carried the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the Regiment so gallantly.”
This is a superb history, full of detail, not just about battles and engagements (plenty of them) but also about life in a cavalry regiment in peacetime in those years so long ago. Much of it has been contributed by officers and warrant officers who are introduced in the preface with details of their contributions. Most of the book is concerned with the S African War (227pp) and the Great War (225pp) but there is plenty about peacetime soldiering at home and in India where the Regiment was in 1914 and from where they went to Mesopotamia in November 1915 joining the 6th (Indian) Cavalry Brigade. In January 1918 the Regiment was detached from the brigade and sent to Persia where they stayed for the rest of the war, returning to Mesopotamia at the end of the year. The Regiment arrived back in England in April 1919 nearly thirteen years after sailing for India. There are twenty-five appendices containing a wealth of information about the 14th Hussars: changes in establishment; Roll of Honour of officers for S African and Great Wars and of NCOs and Men for the Great War; Honours and Awards for both wars; succession of Colonels of the Regiment, COs, Adjutants and WOs since 1900; service records of Colonels and Lt Cols 1900-1922; extracts from the Army List 1900-1922 showing officers who served – and much else besides. Unusually the contents are shown not as a series of chapters but as a chronology, year by year with headings for every significant event. And finally there is a good index.