12th Royal Lancers The 12th ( Prince of Wales ' s ) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army . It was amalgamated in 1960 with the 9th Queen ' s Royal Lancers , to form the 9th / 12th Royal Lancers ( Prince of Wales ' s ) . History . The regiment of dragoons that was to become the 12th Royal Lancers was raised by Brigadier - General Phineas Bowles in Berkshire in July 1715 against the threat of the Jacobite rebellion . In 1718 the regiment was placed on the Irish establishment and posted to Ireland , where it remained for seventy - five years . In 1751 the regiment was officially styled the 12th Dragoons . In 1768 King George III bestowed the title of The 12th ( Prince of Wales ' s ) Regiment of ( Light ) Dragoons , the regiment was given the badge of the three ostrich feathers , and the motto " " Ich Dien " " . The 12th Dragoons , led by General Sir John Doyle won their first battle honour in Egypt in 1801 against the French Dromedary corps . They had previously had a young Duke of Wellington serve with them as a subaltern between 1789 - 91 . In 1816 , the 12th Light Dragoons were armed with lances after the cavalry of Napoleon ' s Army had shown their effectiveness at Waterloo and were re - titled 12th ( The Prince of Wales ' s ) Regiment of ( Light ) Dragoons ( Lancers ) . In 1855 they reinforced the Light Cavalry Brigade in the Crimea after the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava . In 1861 , they were renamed 12th ( The Prince of Wales ' s ) Royal Regiment of Lancers and in 1921 12th Royal Lancers ( Prince of Wales ' s ) . The British Army removed the lance from its weaponry in 1903 , but an influential lobby secured its reinstatement in 1909 . The 12th Lancers served on the Western Front throughout World War I . In the opening , relatively mobile months of the war , cavalry played a vital role . On 28 August 1914 , ' C ' Squadron of the 12th Lancers , led by Lieutenant - Colonel Wormald , made a successful charge against a dismounted squadron of Prussian Dragoons at Moy . The 9th / 12th Royal Lancers celebrate Mons / Moy Day annually , which commemorates the last occasions on which each predecessor regiment charged with lances . In all , 166 officers and men of 12th Lancers died in World War I . In 1928 , the 12th Lancers gave up their horses and were equipped with armoured cars , taking over vehicles left in Egypt by two Royal Tank Corps armoured car units , the 3rd and 5th Companies . Late in 1934 , the 12th exchanged equipment and station with the 11th Hussars , taking over thirty - four Lanchester armoured cars at Tidworth . Its strength would have been 12 officers and 141 other ranks , organized in a company headquarters and three sections , each with five cars . Total numbers were sixteen cars , six motorcycles , a staff car , four and seven ( 30 cwt ) lorries . The 12th Lancers served as an armoured car regiment equipped with the Morris CS9 , during the 1940 campaign in France and Flanders , playing a key part in shielding the retreat to Dunkirk . Subsequently , the regiment fought at the Battle of El Alamein with the 1st Armoured Division and then served as a corps - level reconnaissance asset in the Italian Campaign . In 1960 , the 12th Royal Lancers ( Prince of Wales ' s ) were amalgamated with the 9th Queen ' s Royal Lancers to form the 9th / 12th Royal Lancers ( Prince of Wales ' s ) .