16th (The Queen's) Lancers

Also known as 16th Lancers.

Chronology

• 1759 raised as the 16th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
• 1766 renamed the 2nd (or The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
• 1769 renamed the 16th (The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
• 1816 renamed the 16th (The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers)
• 1861 became the 16th (The Queen's) Lancers
• 1921 retitled as the 16th The Queen's Lancers
• 1922 amalgamated with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers to form the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• 1954 became the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• 1993 amalgamated with the 17th/21st Lancers to form The Queen's Royal Lancers

Service in British India

16th Lancers Aliwal memorial in Canterbury Cathedral

• 1822 India
• 1825 Jat War
• 1839 1st Afghan War
• 1843 Gwalior
• 1844 Meerut
• 1845 1st Sikh War, see below

• Battle of Aliwal

• 1865 India
• 1890 Lucknow
• 1897 Umballa
• 1897 North West Frontier

Due to the return of the 16th Lancers to England, on 1 November 1875 2 privates transferred to the 13th Hussars

1st Sikh War

The regiment fought in the Battle of Aliwal on the 28th January 1846, suffering many casualties. There is a memorial in Canterbury Cathedral, see image on this page. Names of the fallen listed on the Aliwal memorial pictured can be found on Stephen Lewis' memorials website, now archived (list of other ranks and list of Officers).

A description of the 16th's experience at Aliwal can be found in the battle article.

British Library holdings

• History of the Sixteenth, the Queen's Light Dragoons (Lancers), 1759 to 1912 by Colonel Henry Graham, published 1912. Available online, see below. Volume 2 1912 to 1925 published 1926 is available online, see below.

FIBIS resources

• "Boy Soldier to Lancer: John Arnfield in the Anglo -Sikh Wars" by Ainslie Sharpe FIBIS Journal Number 26 Autumn 2011, pages 31-40 For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals

John Arnfield transferred from the 3rd Regiment of Foot, the Buffs 1 April 1840, age 20 possibly because his sister had married a sergeant in the 16th Lancers at Meerut in 1838. He served in the Gwalior Campaign and the 1st Sikh War He remained with the regiment in India until it returned to England, when he transferred to the 9th Lancers 1 April 1846

• FIBIS Gallery: Sidney Malins Collection Sidney Malins played trombone in the Regimental band of the 16th Lancers. He was in India from 26th November 1920-20th March 1924

Recommended Reading

Three Cheers for the Queen-Lancers Charge! by W. J. Gould. (The Experiences of a Sergeant of 16th Queen’s Lancers in Afghanistan, the Gwalior War, the First Sikh War and the Kaffir War) available as a current reprint by Leonaur. Also available online under the original title, see below.

External Links

Wikipedia

• 16th Queen's Lancers
• 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• Queen's Royal Lancers

Other

• 16th The Queen's Lancers including deployments www.regiments.org, now an archived website
• 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers including deployments www.regiments.org, now an archived website
• The Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum at Thoresby Courtyard, Thoresby Park, 22 miles north of Nottingham. Covers the 5th, 16th, 17th, and 21st Lancers
  • The Contact page of the website, under "Personal visit", advises the Archives are located at Lancer House inside Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, Grantham.
  • The 16th Lancers
  • The 16th/5th Lancers
• Memorial in Bangalore (on Stephen Lewis' website, archived) - a transcription of names of Officers and men who died whilst the 16th were in India between 1865 and 1876. Names of those who died during the Sutlej Campaign (1st Sikh War 1845-46) are also on the site (linked above).
• Photographs, in 1896, and biography of the survivors of the Battle of Aliwal, 1846. Soldiers of the Queen, archived.
• The Band of the 16th Lancers worldmilitarybands.com, archived.

Historical books online

• Historical record of the Sixteenth, or the Queen’s Regiment of Light Dragoons; Lancers: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1759, and of its subsequent services to 1841 Google Books 1842 Indian service commenced page 87 in 1822
• History of the Sixteenth, the Queen's, Light Dragoons (Lancers), 1759 to 1912 by Colonel Henry Graham 1912 Archive.org

History of the Sixteenth, the Queen's Light Dragoons (Lancers) 1912-1925 by Colonel Henry Graham 1926. Archive.org. During this period the regiment was in India late 1920 to early 1924.

• A Short History of the 16th/5th Lancers by Major H. G. Parkyn 1934. Archive.org. Part of a digital book Eight Short Histories commencing digital page 298.
• Ten years in India, in the 16th Queen's Lancers by WJD Gould (1837-1846), published 1880. Archive.org. In 1846 when the Regiment left India for England, those who wished to stay in India could transfer to either the 3rd Light Dragoons or the 9th Lancers (page 108).
• Military service and adventures in the Far East: including sketches of the campaigns against the Afghans in 1839 and the Sikhs in 1845-6 by Capt. Daniel Henry Mackinnon, late of the 16th Lancers, 2nd edition 1849 Volume 1, Volume 2 Google Books
• A short account by Sergeant- Major William Courts born 1818, whose father was farrier-major 16th Queen's Lancers, who went to India with the regiment in 1822. He joined that regiment as a trumpeter at age 13. He served during the first Afghan Campaign in 1839-1840, and was present at the assault and capture of Ghuznee on the 23d July 1839. He also took part in the Gwalior Campaign, and the Battle of Aliwal, and the Battle of Sobraon (1st Sikh War). Pages 53-55 A History of the Fife Light Horse by Colonel Anstruther-Thomson 1892 Archive.org.
• A Frontier Campaign; a Narrative of the Operations of the Malakand and Buner Field Forces, 1897-1898 by the Viscount Fincastle, Lieutenant, 16th (Queen’s) Lancers and PC Eliott- Lockhart, Lieutenant “Queen’s Own” Corps of Guides 2nd Edition 1898 Archive.org
• A Memoir of Lieut-Colonel William Morris published by R. White-Thomson in 1903 (medalcollector.co.uk, now archived). He was gazetted to a Cornetcy in the 16th Lancers and joined his Regiment at Meerut in April 1843 , serving in the Gwalior Campaign and the 1st Sikh War. Refer extract in Battle of Aliwal.
• Soldiering on : being the memoirs of General Sir Hubert Gough 1957, first published 1954. Archive.org Books to Borrow. He became an officer of the 16th Lancers 5 March 1889, aged eighteen and a half. The regiment went to India in September 1890, where he remained until c 1898, having recently taken part in the Tirah Campaign as a transport officer, appointed on a personal basis, as the regiment was not part of this campaign. He appears to have left the regiment at this point.