_Guidons._--The first or King's guidon to be of crimson silk, embroidered and fringed with gold and silver; in the centre the rose and thistle conjoined and crown over them, with the motto _Dieu et mon Droit_ underneath: the white horse in a compartment in the first and fourth corners, and I.D in gold characters on a blue ground in a compartment in the second and third corners. The second and third guidons to be of blue silk, in the centre the crest of England within the garter on a crimson ground: the white horse on a scarlet ground in the first and fourth compartments, and I.D within a wreath of roses and thistles upon a scarlet ground in the second and third compartments. [Sidenote: 1752] [Sidenote: 1753] [Sidenote: 1754] In 1752 the ROYAL DRAGOONS returned to England, and were stationed at York, from whence they marched, in October, 1753, into quarters in Norfolk and Essex, and in September of the following year they proceeded into extensive cantonments in Kent. [Sidenote: 1755] Disputes having occurred between England and France relating to the boundaries of the British possessions in North America, hostilities commenced in 1755, when an augmentation of one hundred men was made to the establishment: a _light troop_, consisting of three officers, one quarter-master, two serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and sixty private soldiers,[48] was raised and added to the regiment on the same principle as the light companies to regiments of infantry. [Sidenote: 1756] [Sidenote: 1757] War was declared against France in 1756, when the French monarch made preparations for a descent on the British coast, and the ROYAL DRAGOONS were stationed in the maritime towns in the southern counties: during the summer of 1757 they were encamped near Salisbury. [Sidenote: 1758] The British military establishment having been considerably augmented, His Majesty was prepared to act offensively against France; and in 1758 the _light troop_ of the ROYAL DRAGOONS formed part of an expedition commanded by Charles, Duke of Marlborough, which landed on the coast of Brittany and destroyed the French shipping and magazines at _St. Maloes_. This troop was afterwards engaged in a second expedition to the coast of France, commanded by General Bligh, when a landing was effected in the Bay des Marées, and _Cherbourg_ was taken: it was also engaged in the second descent on the coast of Brittany. [Sidenote: 1759] [Sidenote: 1760]