Warwickshire News Mine

Tomorrow at 11.30am, The Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish) are to parade through Warwick town centre to mark their arrival home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their route will take in Northgate Street, Church Street, High Street, Brook Street and Market Place, with salutes being taken from the Royal British Legion and representatives of the Comrades Association in Church Street, the Brethren at the Lord Leycester Hospital, and a collective salute at Shire Hall from Warwickshire County Council Chairman Cllr Peter Barnes, Warwick District Council Chairman Cllr Norman Pratt, the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire Martin Dunne, Colonel of the regiment Major General Arthur Denaro, and Warwick Town Mayor Cllr Peggy Bennett.

Local people are being urged to attend the event and welcome home the troops from foreign shores. As part of the parade celebrations flags will be handed out along the route to allow people to demonstrate their support.

They will join a host of local schools attending the event, including: 10 children from Wilmcote School; 130 children from Westgate Primary; and 198 children from Woodloes Junior.

Cllr Peter Barnes, Chairman of Warwickshire County Council, said: “We have all seen the media coverage of what our servicemen and women are going through in Iraq and Afghanistan, but few of us can properly understand the sacrifices they go through for their country.

“I’m delighted to support the homecoming parade in Warwick in welcoming these heroes back to our shores.”

The Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish) was formed on the 1 September 1993 from the amalgamation of The Queen’s Own Hussars and The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars. The Regiment traces its roots back to 1685 and during these past 300 years has been awarded 172 Battle Honours and 8 VCs.

From the formation of the Standing Army in 1685 the Regiment and her antecedents have fought with distinction in almost every campaign that the British Army has conducted. The Regiment charged with the Light Brigade in the Crimea, and with Wellington at Waterloo. They fought in South Africa during the Boer War and suffered the hell of trench life in France and Flanders during the Great War.

The transition from horse to tank in the1930s guaranteed that the Regiment has played a central role in armoured warfare, from the deserts of North Africa and the jungles of Burma, to the beaches of Normandy. More recently the Regiment distinguished itself in Korea and the Gulf War. The QRH was the first to deploy tanks into Bosnia and blooded their new Challenger 2 tanks in Kosovo.

The regiment provides the Armoured Regiment to 20 Armoured Brigade, which is part of 1(UK) Armoured Division deployed on Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Link to WCC