EMPEROR'S CHAMBERMAIDS: THE STORY OF THE 14th/20th KING'S HUSSARS. by Oatts, L.B., Lt.-Colonel. Foreword by M.R.D. Foot - 1973

London: Ward Lock, 1973. 518 pp, large 8vo (9 15/16" H). B&w photographs, reproductions, maps, colour plates. "(T)he story of two Cavalry regiments, the 14th and 20th Light Dragoons, which were eventually amalgamated after the First World War to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars. Colonel Oatts has written a fascinating and often amusing story of the two Regiments in peace and war, deftly intertwined, and presented against a background of the history of Europe and the development of the British Empire. He takes us from the Jacobite Rebellions through the long struggle with Napoleon, the Indian Wars, with both Regiments fighting the Boers in South Africa at the turn of the nineteenth century. The horrors and discomforts of the Great War in France and Mesopotamia are fully described. With the rise of Hitler's Germany the horse gave way to the tank and the amalgamated Regiment went through its frustrating period of the Second World War and the post-war period as part of the Royal Armoured Corps. The Author takes us up to 1970, with the first visit to the Regiment of the newly appointed Colonel-in-Chief, H.R.H. The Princess Anne. Part of the Regiment was shortly destined to serve, for the first time, in the Far East and after 1971 play its part in turbulent Ulster. The title of the book is the nickname of the 14th dating from 1813 when the Regiment captured the silver chamber-pot, originally owned by Napoleon, from King Joseph Bonaparte's carriage after the battle of Vittoria. It has since been a valued possession of the Officers' Mess." Cigarette odour, minor browning in page margins, very light browning to edges of textblock, light wrinkling at top/bottom of spine, very light edgewear, light fading to top 1" of boards and spine, small corner bumps on boards, minor soiling to bottom of textblock. Dust jacket has been lined with stiff paper (glued on), light browning to edges and spine, moderate edgewear/wrinkling, a few small tears/creases. . Hard Cover. Good+/Fair.