2/4th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment

The 2/4th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment (2-4 Regiment Jagers te Paard, 2/4 Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval) was a cavalry regiment in the Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. The regiment was the armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Motorized Brigade. In March 1814, Prince Ferdinand de Croÿ received permission to create a regiment of Hussars. It was part of Légion Belge until 1 September 1814, when it was integrated in the army of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. When William I became King of the Netherlands, the Belgian Regiment of Hussars of Croÿ becomes the 8th Regiment of Hussars. The regiment kept its original uniform until after the Battle of Waterloo, where it was part of the Dutch-Belgian cavalry. After the Belgian Revolution, the 8th Hussar Regiment become the 2nd Regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval (ChCh), by decree of the Provisional Government of Belgium in October 1830. Its first commander was Colonel d'Hanne de Steenhuyse in Ghent. On 20 August 1914, the regiment distinguished itself during the Siege of Antwerp. On 16 October 1914 the Battle of the Yser began, leading to four years of battles in the trenches on the Yser front. On 6 March 1918, the 2nd ChCh was able to withstand a massive attack by the enemy at Reigersvliet. The regiment was part of a counter-attack together with other units of the Cavalry Division. After the Allied occupation of the Rhineland, the 2nd ChCh moved to Namur. On 10 May 1940, the regiment (by then motorized) occupied bridges over the river Ourthe in the Ardennes. On 13 and 14 May 1940, it took part in a hard battle behind the river Gette. From 25 May 1940 until the end of the hostilities, the 2nd ChCh is able to stop all enemy attacks on the river Lys. The regiment was definitively reformed in 1952. From then onwards, it was based in Germany at Camp Vogelsang, Arnsberg Kassel and Ludenscheid. An American organizational structure and material was adopted. It was equipped with American Patton tanks. In 1973, it was re-equipped with the CVR-T tank which was replaced in 1986 by the Leopard 1.