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The Life Guards in military art prints,
1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards, military art prints by Cranston Fine
Arts.
[ 1st Life Guards ] [ 2nd Life Guards ] [ History of the Life Guards ]
Excerpt From The Navy and Army Illustrated October
1st 1896 by G F Bacon
The Glories and Traditions of the British Army
The custom of the employing men skilled in the art of war and in the
use of deadly weapons to guard the sacred body of the Sovereign is of
considerable antiquity, and is said to have been introduced by Saul in
1093 BC. The first English monarch to form a personal guard for himself
was Richard I, although there are grounds for supposing that the Saxon and
Danish kings retained about their persons a company of picked men,
landsmen and sailors, who acted as guards of the royalty. The mighty and
chivalrous Coeur de Lion selected 24 archers, renowned even amongst the
sturdy soldiers of his army for individual bravery and loyalty, to keep
watch around his tent, accompany him wherever he went, and arrest traitors
and other evildoers about the Court. Sir Walter Scott, in The Talisman,
alludes to this bodyguard, although it is to be hoped for the sake of
their honour, that no real foundation existed for the story of their want
of vigilance which nearly cost their Royal master his life, when the
fanatics dagger was arrested by the disguised knight. These archers,
clothed in complete suits of armour, and equipped with bows, and straight
bladed cross hilted swords, were the ancestors of those guards whose
functions are now wholly of a civil nature, known as Sergeants-in-Arms.
Henry VII also had a special guard of picked men, whom he clothed
right royally, called Yeomen of the Guard; while his successor bluff King
Hal, created a bodyguard of 50 gentlemen called Spears, each with an
archer, a Demilance (light lance) and a Custrell (armour bearer) to
attend him. They wore a most sumptuous dress and evidently cost the king
an inordinate amount of money, for shortly afterwards they were disbanded,
on account of their expensive maintenance. They were restored in 1539 on a
less magnificent scale under the title of Gentlemen Pensioners and are
known at the present day as Her Majesty's Honourable Corps of
Gentlemen-at-Arms. All these bodies were rather calculated for the
splendour of the court than the operations of the field and it was not
until the reign of Charles II that a body of the Life Guards was properly
organised and equipped; although Charles I after the opposition
encountered at Hull, enlisted into his service as a bodyguard a regiment
of trainbands, 600 strong and mounted them on horses and appointed the
Prince of Wales as their Captain. The year 1660 will remain ever memorable
in the annuls of the British Army, for it was then that the nucleus was
formed of the first standing army England had possessed, and it consisted
of the troops of cavalry now known as the First and Second Regiments of
Life Guards. It is true that four years earlier Charles II formed a corps
of Life Guards to which he added a regiment of Horse Guards and 3
regiments of Foot Guards; but it was not until 1660 that the Life Guards
were placed upon a proper footing. Previous to the Restoration, Charles
had with him some 3,000 Cavaliers who after adventuring their lives in
many a hard fought battle for the sake of his ill fated father, rallied
round the Stuart Standard in Holland, and it was from this body of staunch
and true hearts that he selected 80 Cavaliers and appointed Lord Gerard,
afterwards Earl of Macclesfield, to be their Captain and Commander. When
the king enjoyed his own again, and had been welcomed by the clamouring
citizens of London, he took his Life Guards in hand and increased their
establishment to 3 squadrons of 200 men each and apportioned to them their
duties, which were to mount guard at whichever of his Palaces His Majesty
was residing and to attend him whenever he went out of doors. Their
Commander was a member of the Royal Household and his special duty was
"to wait upon the King's Person at all times of war or peace with a
considerable number of horsemen, well armed and prepared against all
dangers whatsoever."
To continue the history of the Life Guards Click
here.
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Both Regiments amalgamated in 1928. To become The Life Guards
(1st and 2nd)
Further Battle Honours.
 | Second World War |
| Iraq, 1941, Palmyra Syria 1941, 1942- 1943, El
Alamein North Africa |
| 1944, Italy. |
| 1944- 1945 Souleuvre, Brussela, Nederrijn, in North West Europe, |
The Regimental Museum, at Comberere Barracks, Windsor Berkshire,
England, but will be moving shortly to middle of London. |
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Kassassin Charge of the Household Cavalry by J Richards.
At Kassassin on the 28th August, General Grahams force was vigorously attacked by the Egyptians. He signalled for assistance, which was afforded him by the Life Guards and the Blues with the Horse Artillery, and the 7th Dragoon Guards. Then came the so-called Midnight Charge. Considering that the attack was not seriously begun till 4.30 p.m., and that General Graham ordered a general return to camp at 8.45 p.m., the title is certainly a misnomer. When they arrived near enough to the scene of the conflict for bullets to drop among the troopers, they halted just to breathe the tired horses, and then came the order to charge. Like a thunderbolt, furious and irresistible, the heavy troopers rode for the enemy. A terrible scene of slaughter and confusion ensued; the enemy fled in great disorder, and the battle was won.
Open edition print. Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (58cm x 38cm). Price £25.00
Open edition print. Image size 12 inches x 8 inches (31cm x 20cm). Price £14.00
**Open edition print. (Two copies reduced to clear) Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (58cm x 38cm). Price £35.00
ITEM CODE DHM0124
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Knightsbridge No. 1 Turnout by Mark Churms.
Open edition print. Image size 18 inches x 23 inches (46cm x 58cm). Price £40.00
Signed open edition print. Image size 18 inches x 23 inches (46cm x 58cm). Price £40.00
Open edition print. Image size 9 inches x 12 inches (23cm x 31cm). Price £14.00
Signed open edition print. Image size 9 inches x 12 inches (23cm x 31cm). Price £26.00
Original painting by Mark Churms. Image size 36 inches x 28 inches (91cm x 71cm). Price £3800.00
Postcard size 6 inches x 4 inches (15cm x 10cm). Price £2.00
ITEM CODE DHM0269
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Son of the Empire by Calderton.
Open edition print. Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (58cm x 38cm). Price £40.00
**Open edition print. (One copy reduced to clear) Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (58cm x 38cm). Price £20.00
ITEM CODE DHM0088
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Cavalry of the Guard by Michael Angelo Hayes
Showing the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards ( The Blues), Royal Dragoons, 1st Dragoons.
Open edition print. Image size 9 inches x 12 inches (23cm x 31cm). Price £14.00
**Open edition print. (2 ex display copies reduced to clear) Image size 9 inches x 12 inches (23cm x 31cm) . Price £9.00
ITEM CODE UN0505
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The Life Guards by Douglas Anderson
Open edition print. Image size 11 inches x 8 inches (28cm x 20cm). Price £14.00
ITEM CODE UN0206
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Wellington and Blucher the meeting at the Belle Alliance, Waterloo 1815 by Daniel Maclise.
Open edition print. Image size 30 inches x 9 inches (76cm x 23cm). Price £48.00
ITEM CODE DHM0891
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Kassassin Charge of the Household Cavalry by J Richards
Cavalry of the Guard by Michael Angelo Hayes Showing the 1st Life Guards,
2nd Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards ( The Blues), Royal Dragoons, 1st
Dragoons.
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