Regiment Of Guides
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The 1st Guides Regiment (, ) was an
armoured Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat ...
regiment of the
Belgian Army The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the Land warfare, land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land ...
. Previously amalgamated with the 1st Regiment
Chasseur ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army o ...
s à cheval (2004), in 2011 the regiment was amalgamated with 2/4 Regiment of Chasseurs à cheval to form the "Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Reconnaissance (ISTAR) battalion of the Chasseurs à cheval".


Cavalry regiment

The two historic Guides regiments of the Belgian Army were created respectively in January 1833 and July 1875. They formed part of the light cavalry and came to correspond to the Guard cavalry of other nations, providing mounted escorts for the monarchy prior to World War I. Both regiments were mechanized in October 1937, subsequently forming armored battalions in the post-war Belgian Army. The mounted tradition survived until 2011 in the form of a pony retained as the regimental mascot, and always named "Colback".


Amalgamations

The modern regiment was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the (
Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
) 1er Régiment des Guides and the ( Dutch-speaking) 2de Regiment Gidsen, following a reorganization of the army. The amalgamation saw both regiments withdrawn as operational units, with the name of the new unit, together with the combined battle honours of its antecedents, assigned to the Cavalry Training School ''(L’école de cavalerie/Pantsercavalerieschool)''. In addition to this role, the regiment had a reserve role as an armoured regiment, attached to the 17th Mechanised Brigade, which was Belgium's main force stationed in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. This role ended in 2002. The following year, the regiment was reduced to a single squadron and reactivated as an operational unit. The Eskadron Gidsen was formed as a reconnaissance unit to be attached to the army's Para-Commando Brigade, replacing 3 Regiment Lanciers-Parachutisten. In 2004, the squadron was merged with the 1st Regiment Jagers te Paard, under the combined regimental title of 1ste Regiment Jagers te Paard/Gidsen. In 2011 the regiment was again amalgamated with 2/4 Regiment to form the "Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Reconnaissance (ISTAR) battalion of the Chasseurs à cheval".


Battle honours

* Halen/Haelen,
Charge of Burkel The cavalry charge of Burkel (, ) was a skirmish between Belgian and German forces on 19 October 1918, during the closing stages of World War I. It is notable as the last cavalry charge in Western Europe. Background The Belgian Cavalry Division ...
, Antwerpen/Anvers, Maldegem, Gete/Gette, Winterbeek, Zelzate, Campagne 1914–1918


Uniform

The two Guides regiments of the Belgian Army wore distinctive uniforms, comprising a plumed
busby Busby may refer to: Clothing *Busby (military headdress), a kind of military headdress, made of fur, derived from that traditionally worn by Hussars. Places * Busby, Alberta, a hamlet in Canada *Busby, East Renfrewshire, a village in Scotland * ...
, green
dolman A dolman is either a military shirt, or a jacket decorated with braiding, first worn by Hungarian hussars. The word is of Turkish origin, and after being adopted into Hungarian, has propagated to other languages. The garment was worn by peasants ...
braided in yellow, and crimson breeches,''Guy Dere et John Pace, p78, Les Soldats de Leopold Ver et Leopold II, D1986/0197/03, Paul Legrain rue Simonis Bruxelles'' until the early stages of World War I. A modernized green and crimson uniform was introduced for officers' ceremonial dress in the 1930s and is still worn today for the marching and concert attire of the Guides Band.


Regimental band

The Royal Band of the Belgian Guides (''Groot Harmonieorkest van de Belgische Gidsen'') is an internationally acclaimed premier symphonic band and was formerly the official ceremonial band of the Belgian Guides. The ensemble is composed of 84 musicians, and a trumpet and bugle platoon of 19 players. It still serves as the official
military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...
of the Belgian Land Component, although the regiment of which it formed a part has been disbanded. By order of King Leopold I of Belgium, the band was formed in 1832 as the Royal Band of the 1st Regiment. The King commissioned Jean-Valentin Bender (nl) (1801–1873) as its first conductor. Under the title of "Musique Particulière du Roi," the band played at numerous royal occasions. During the period between the two World Wars, the Band of the Guides achieved an international reputation. Directors * 1832–1873: Jean-Valentin Bender (nl) (1801–1873) * 1873–1892: Jean-Michel Frédéric Staps (1810–1898) * 1892–1901: Julien-Jean Simar (1852–1903) * 1901–1918:
Léon Walpot Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
(nl) (1852–1928) * 1918–1945:
Arthur Prévost Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
(nl) (1888–1967) * 1945–1946: René De Ceuninck (1893–1973) * 1946–1948:
Franz Wangermée Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...
(nl) (1894–1967) * 1948–1957:
Simon Poulain Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
(nl) (1906–2004) * 1957–1961:
Karel Torfs Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley (born 1962), American talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel (1921–2006), Dutch painter and sculptor Business * Karel Elec ...
(nl) (1912–2002) * 1962–1985:
Yvon Ducène Yvon may refer to: * Yvon Chouinard, American mountain climber (born 1938) * Yvon (given name), a masculine given name * Yvon (surname), a surname See also * Chapelle-Yvon * Evon * Ivon * Jaille-Yvon * Pierre-Yvon * Yvan * Yvonne (disambiguation) ...
(nl) (born 1928) * 1985–2003: Norbert Nozy (born 1952) * 2003–2007: François De Ridder (nl) (1951–2007) * 2007–2008: Dirk Acquet * 2008–present: Yves Segers (born 1978)


Notable people

* Wolfgang, the 3rd Duke d'Ursel, Prince of Arche and Charleville, Count of Grobbendonk (1882-1914), died in battle


Affiliations

* -
Royal Dragoon Guards The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dr ...


External links


Régiment Premier Guides


References

{{Reflist Regiments of Belgium Military units and formations established in 1994 Military units and formations disestablished in 2011 Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage