Hurrah and hussar! Meet the unit wearing a uniform straight out of the Victorian era
The Honourable Artillery Company has been active since 1537 and is the oldest regiment in the British Army.
It has a long history of tradition, being referred to as a regiment as far back as the 1600s, and remains so to this day.
The HAC also has the distinction, alongside the five regiments of Foot Guards, to be one of few units never to have been amalgamated with another.
Its modern day role includes surveillance and reconnaissance patrols, light intelligence and close support artillery.
But the HAC also has two ceremonial sub-units, one of which is the Light Cavalry.
This unit has ditched Multi Terrain Pattern camouflage uniform in favour of something a little bit more traditional - hussar uniform.
The Light Cavalry HAC can trace its origins back to 1861, and the original Light Cavalry Troop was absorbed into a new horse artillery battery in 1891.
It became the ceremonial unit that it is today in 1979 and received a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II in 2004.
Drill sergeant Malcolm Johnston told BFBS Forces News how members of the Light Cavalry wear a gaudy Victorian-era hussar uniform with its corresponding accoutrements.
These include a sabretache, a flat bag which was worn suspended from the belt of a cavalry soldier together with their sabre.
It would originally have been used to carry a pencil and a sketch pad on which the soldier would mark enemy positions and dispositions.
Another accessory is a cartouche, a pouch that was used to carry cartridges for a carbine – a shortened version of a rifle that's more suited to be carried on horseback.
A hussar uniform is not the oldest worn by members of the HAC though.
Its other ceremonial unit is the Company of Pikemen & Musketeers, which was formed in 1925 and is armed, dressed and equipped as members of the HAC would have been during the reign of King Charles I, who was on the throne from 1625 to 1649.
Join Our Newsletter
