Scotland For Ever (Cavalry Officers) (Military) Postcard

This design features a painting by Elizabeth Thompson (1846–1933), which shows the start of the charge of the Royal Scots Greys, a British cavalry regiment that charged alongside the British heavy cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. It is a romanticised image, because it seems that the Scots Greys never, in fact, charged at a gallop, choosing to advance instead at a quick walk. However, the battle was deadly: around two hundred men and two hundred horses of the Royal Scots Greys were killed or wounded during the charge that is shown here. During the First World War, both the British and the Germans used this evocative image in their propaganda material, intending to boost the morale of their forces.