With a long and distinguished history stretching back more than 300 years, 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards (QDG) is the Cavalry Regiment of Wales and the Border Counties. Specialising in mounted reconnaissance its soldiers fight for information about the enemy and environment.
ACTIVE FROM:
1 January 1959
ROLE:
Light Cavalry
SPECIALISM:
Formation Reconnaissance
Our soldiers are experts in reconnaissance. They are the Army's 'eyes and ears' in the battlespace. Skilled in a wide range of weaponry, these light cavalry crew are equally as capable on foot as they are at the wheel of a Jackal 2 high mobility vehicle. Their adaptability means they could find themselves deployed anywhere in the world.
- Driving a Jackal armoured vehicle
- Firing Heavy Machine Guns, Grenade Machine Guns and Javelin
- Communicating with radios
- Gathering and passing on intelligence
- Commanding from the front
- Making judgement calls in tough situations
Future deployments
- Operation Interflex (2024)
- Operation Elgin (2024, 2025)
- Operation Cabrit (Poland: 2025)
Past deployments
- Operation Cabrit (Poland: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024)
- Operation Newcombe (Mali: 2021, 2022)
- Operation Herrick (Afghanistan: 2008, 2011, 2015
- Operation Telic (Iraq: 2003, 2004, 2006)
1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a family Regiment, offering a lifetime of comradeship. We recruit largely from Wales and the border counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.
The QDG offers a diverse career from driving a Jackal 2 and operating heavy machine guns to training as a Communications Specialist or Forward Air Controller.
- Our officers – leading the team
- Our senior non-commissioned officers – supporting the leaders
- Our soldiers – professional, proud and disciplined
Address: Robertson Barracks, 1 Worthing Rd, Swanton Morley, Dereham, NR20 4QD
The QDG is based at Robertson Barracks in Swanton Morley in Norfolk, as part of 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team.
Get DirectionsFrom its foundation in 1685 to the present day, 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards has specialised in reconnaissance: the art of seeking out the enemy and understanding how they operate.
Originally a horseback regiment, these days the QDG uses Jackal 2 high mobility vehicles to get around, although they’re also just as effective on foot. This versatility makes them highly employable on operations and quick to adapt to new environments.
Our soldiers and officers are also excellent communicators, since part of their role includes training foreign military personnel.
I have travelled to amazing places.
Through the years
Whilst 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a thoroughly modern 21st Century reconnaissance regiment formed sixty years ago, it also one of the oldest regiments in the British Army and is the Senior Regiment of the Line, with roots spreading back well over three hundred years to 1685, before the formal formation of the British Army in 1707.
2nd and 3rd Regiments of horse (KDG and Bays) are founded.
1st The King’s Dragoon Guards and 2nd Dragoon Guards merge to form the QDG.
The Regiment breaches the Iraqi defensive line during the Gulf War.
The Regiment takes part in three operational tours in Iraq.
The Regiment takes part in three operational tours in Afghanistan.
The Regiment takes part in two tours of Operation Cabrit in Poland.
The Regiment takes part in two operational tours in Mali and three operational tours in Poland.
Explore our equipment
Jackal 2 is a high mobility weapons platform, with a unique air-bag suspension system allowing rapid movement across varying terrain
The GMG is usually mounted on WMIK Land Rovers but can also be used from ground-based tripods.
The Javelin anti-tank weapon and the Next-generation light anti-tank weapon.
They are designed to achieve a first-round hit at 600 metres and harassing fire out to 1,100 metres.
Weighing 7-tonnes, the Panther is air transportable and can be underslung beneath a Chinook helicopter.
The powerful L1A1 12.7mm (.50) Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) is an updated version of the Browning M2 Fifty-cal.
The general purpose machine gun (GPMG) can be used as a light weapon and in a sustained fire role.
Extra two wheels gives a heavier vehicle, which can act in support of the Jackal 2 to transport supplies and equipment over similar terrain.
On its introduction, it proved so accurate that the Army marksmanship tests had to be redesigned.
