NA430
King & Country
You can almost hear the shout as this particular Dragoon charges forward to engage the opposition sabre held menacingly over his head.
For 13 years between 1803 and 1816, there was one major British Army unit that primarily consisted of German expatriates... The King’s German Legion. Under overall British command the Legion earned the unique distinction of being the only German military force to fight without interruption against the French during the Napoleonic Wars!
After the occupation of Hanover by Napoleon’s troops in 1803 many former Hanoverian officers and soldiers fled to Britain where GeorgeⅢ King of Great Britain was also Elector of Hanover. The King sanctioned a volunteer corps of all arms infantry, artillery and cavalry to be raised and named them, ‘The King’s German Legion’. Soon, it grew to a strength of 14,000 officers and men and played a vital role in Britain’s defeat of the French emperor.
Among the Legion’s most famous regiments were two Regiments of Light Dragoons.