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The main vehicles operated by Lord Strathcona's Horse are the Leopard tank, the Coyote APC reconnaissance vehicle, and the Cougar AFV fire support vehicle.
Recent deployments include two six-month missions in Bosnia: 1994 with the United Nations and 1997 with NATO. In 2002 the Reconnaisance Squadron fought as part of the Canadian battle group during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Volunteers from the regiment form the Mounted Troop, a ceremonial cavalry troop equipped with scarlet tunics, brass helments, lances and sabres. The regiment has the honour of being the only unit other than the Household CavalryThe Household Cavalry is part of the British Army and is made up of two regiments, The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st The Royal Dragoons). They are amongst the oldest and most senior regiments in the British Army with tra and the King's Troop, Royal Horse ArtilleryThe King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery is a ceremonial unit of the British Army. It was formed in 1947 when King George VI decided that, following the mechanisation of the last batteries of horse drawn artillery, a troop of horse artillery should be kept to mount the guardThe Queen's Guard is the name given to the contingent of infantry responsible for guarding Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace in London. A detachment is also responsible for providing the guard at the Tower of London (see Ceremony of the Keys) The gu at Horse GuardsHorse Guards Road usually just Horse Guards is a road in the City of Westminster, London. It runs south from The Mall, down to Birdcage Walk. To the west of the road is St James's Park and to the east are various government buildings, including the Old Ad in LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri.
The regiment was one of the last in the British EmpireThe British Empire in the early decades of the 20th century, held sway over a population of 400 500 million people (roughly a quarter of the world's population), and covered nearly 30 million square kilometres, (roughly two-fifths of the world's land area to be created and raised by a private individual. During the Boer WarThere were two Boer wars one in 1880- 81 and the second from October 11, 1899- 1902 both between the British and the settlers of Dutch origin (called Boere, Afrikaners or Voortrekkers) in South Africa that put an end to the two independent republics that, Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount RoyalDonald Alexander Smith ( August 6, 1820- January 21, 1914) was a Canadian fur trader, financier, railroad baron and politician. Smith was born in Forres, in Morayshire, Scotland, and briefly apprenticed to become a town clerk. He emigrated to Lower Canada, recruited and equipped the cavalry regiment at his own expense for service in South Africa. Many skilled horsemen ( cowboys and North West Mounted Police members) enlisted, allowing for a short training period and rapid deployment to Africa. Along with The Royal Canadian Dragoons , the regiment won renown for their scouting skills.
Supposedly General Kitchener was astonished at the size of the newly arrived Canadian soldiers. Their commander, Sam Steele, is said to have replied "My apologies, sir. I combed all of Canada and these are the smallest I could find."
After the war, the regiment was disbanded, but it was recreated as regiment of the Permanent Force in 1909. In the First World War, the regiment served dismounted during the long static portion of the war, but when the front lines began to move back and forth in 1918, it fought as cavalry again and was one of keys in halting Germany's Operation Michael in late March.
In the 1930s the regiment was converted from cavalry to armoured. During the Second World War, it fought first in Italy, and then later in the Netherlands and Germany.
During the Cold War, the regiment was deployed on serveral rotations to West Germany, and some of the regiment's squadrons fought in the Korean War as part of the 1st Commonwealth Division.