Soldiers from a Wiltshire Cavalry Regiment have been taking part in a major amphibious exercise involving Royal Navy ships and the Royal Marines.

C Squadron, The King's Royal Hussars, based in Tidworth, was embarked in HMS Albion for a week. The Squadron, equipped with Challenger 2 Tanks and Scimitars (tracked armoured reconnaissance vehicles) tackled the shingle at Gosport's Browndown Beach as part of Exercise South West Sword.

The exercise was designed to test assault ship HMS Albion's capabilities as the Amphibious Task Group's Flagship and saw C Squadron supporting the Royal Marines as they launched an assault from the Ship, out in the Solent.

"Exercise South West Sword has been a fantastic opportunity for us to work with both 42 Commando Royal Marines and the Ship's Company of HMS Albion in conducting amphibious landing operations," said C Squadron Leader, Major Matthew Wilkinson. "The ability to deliver armoured vehicles ashore is a key role for Albion's Amphibious Task Group and the soldiers from The King's Royal Hussars have been more than delighted to play their part in making the exercise such a success. That said, they were very pleased to get their feet back on dry land at the end!"

It was the first time in nearly 5 years that HMS Albion had embarked tanks on board and the vehicles made quite an impression with the Ship's Company. So much so, that the Tank Deck, where the vehicles were stored on board, was re-named 'The Stables' in honour of the cavalry connection.

The King's Royal Hussars form the armoured element of the 12th Mechanized Brigade and are due to deploy to Afghanistan in 2012 on Operation HERRICK. The Regiment was formed by the amalgamation of The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) and the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1992. The Regiment recruits significant numbers of its soldiers from counties including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire.