Wednesday 23 October from 6pm – 8pm
Join us afterhours for our first in a series of Museum Talks, where we go behind the scenes to learn more about the Household Cavalry during the Second World War with our guest speakers.
This event is a fundraiser for the museum. All proceeds will go to the Household Cavalry Museum.
Tickets are priced at £15 for adults or £13.00 for concessions.
Wednesday 23 October from 6pm – 8pm
80 years ago the 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment, as part of the Guards Armoured Division, took part in the great Allied advance from Normandy, through France, Belgium, and Holland, and finally into Germany, frequently far in front of the main body. The composite regiment had been formed early in the war, and was extremely well trained by the time it was committed to battle in July 1944. By this time, the outcome of the war seemed to be all but certain, and yet there were some fearsome battles and setbacks ahead on the road to victory.
A few years after the war, 2 HCR’s former Commanding Officer, Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith, asked (or rather ‘detailed’) Major Roden Orde to write the history of the Regiment, from its formation in November 1940 to its disbandment in Germany in July 1945. The book, published in 1953, and now recently republished by Pen & Sword, is a remarkable achievement, the story of an entire regiment – from beginning to end. It reads with all the excitement of a film script (Roden Orde had hoped that one day it would indeed become a film). And on receiving a copy of the book in 1953, Winston Churchill, the prime minister, declared it to be the finest regimental history he had ever read. In its style, it was also ahead of its time – written by one who was there, and based on first-hand accounts of officers and soldiers of all ranks.
On of the special features of book, reproduced in this reprint, is the collection of superb maps, many by the mapmakers Stanfords. Also, the wonderful illustrations by Eric Meade-King, a pre-war commercial artist who served in the regiment as a ‘gentleman corporal’.
At this event, Brian Rogers will be discussing the book with Simon Doughty and Jeremy Harbord who, with the support of the Household Cavalry Foundation and many Household Cavalrymen, have helped to bring this story back to life – 80 years on.
This event is a fundraiser for the museum and all proceeds will go back into the Household Cavalry Museum to support its work and care of the collection.
Copies of the book will be available to purchase.
EVENT TIMINGS
6pm – Doors open
6.30pm – Talk begins
7.15pm – Q&A begins
7.30pm – Talk ends
8pm – Museum closes