On Monday 28th September, Her Majesty The Queen will visit the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards at Leuchars Station in Fife where she will officially name the base, Waterloo Barracks.
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards show their support for Armed Forces Day.
The Queen is Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and during her time at the base she will meet with serving soldiers and their families whilst also learning about the regiment’s work and activities.
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards were formed in 1678 and are Scotland’s most senior and only regular cavalry regiment. Upon their formation, the Dragoon Guards were known as the Royal Scots Greys. The regiment and its antecedents have fought in every major war since the 17th century including the War of the Spanish Succession, the Napoleonic War, the Boer War, the First and Second World War and Afghanistan war. Until his execution by the Bolsheviks in 1917, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment and in the present day, in mourning for the Tsar’s death, the regiment wear a black felt backing behind their capbadge.
On her visit to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Her Majesty will mark the regiment’s move from Germany to Fife by joining officers for a regimental photograph before attending a private lunch. The Queen will also unveil a plaque, officially naming the base Waterloo Barracks.
The army took control of the former RAF base last April and since then they have gradually been relocating from their base in Germany. It is expected that the station will be fully manned by Summer 2016 when the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards return from operational training in Canada.
At the Dragoon’s new Fife base, there is expected to be around 1800 military personnel and their families with around 426 of those personnel coming from the Royal Scots. The rest of the personnel will be made up from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Military Police.
Prince Philip visited Leuchars Station recently in his capacity as Colonel-in-Chief of REME, where he took a great interest in the work the battalion was doing both in the UK and overseas.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are currently residing at Balmoral Castle for their summer holidays though they are expected to return to London in the coming weeks.
Photo Credits: The Commonwealth & Defence Images
