20/05/2026
This photograph and accompanying sketches come from an album belonging to John Gilbert Browne, CMG CBE DSO, of the 14th King's Hussars.
In 1899, after attending both Wellington College and RMC, Sandhurst, Browne commissioned into the regiment. He saw his first action during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). During this combat Browne would be saved by, then, Major E.D. Brown-Synge-Hutchinson, for which he was awarded the VC.
J.G. Browne's album contains numerous photographs, sketches, and various other ephemera, which details his time whilst serving with the regiment, and also whilst at a course at the Staff College, Camberley. The selection we have chosen here are from Browne's time in South Africa, India, and Mesopotamia. They show snippets of his daily life, as well as military positioning.
The first photograph is of the 14th King's Hussars officers whilst in India, just before the outbreak of the First World War (c.1906-1914). Browne can be seen in Row 2, third along.
Between 1921-25, Brigadier-General Browne commanded his own regiment, which, in October 1922, would amalgamate and be renamed the 14th/20th King's Hussars. He retired from military life in 1933. He would return briefly to the army in the Second World War, serving in the Home Guard and the Civil Defence. He died in February 1968, aged 89.
