County of London Yeomanry
Encyclopedia
Several British Army regiments have born the title County of London Yeomanry (CLY). Most have been mounted, then armoured regiments.
, 1900–1901, and in World War I at Gallipoli
, Macedonia
and Palestine
.
The regiment was first founded in May 1797 as the Uxbridge Yeomanry Cavalry and disbanded in 1801. It was reformed in December 1830 as the Uxbridge Squadron of Yeomanry Cavalry, based at Harefield
and West Drayton
and later became the Uxbridge Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry, based in Middlesex
, with a contingent from Brighton.
In 1871, it was yet again renamed, as Middlesex Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry (Uxbridge) with troops in London, Middlesex and Brighton. Over the following years there were further name changes: Middlesex (Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) Yeomanry Cavalry (in 1884); Middlesex Imperial Yeomanry (Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) (17 April 1901, with four squadrons and a machine-gun section); 1st County of London Yeomanry (Middlesex, Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) (1 April 1908) and transferred to Territorial Forces.
Now in the Territorial Army, the regiment was transferred to the Royal Signals in 1920 as the 2nd Cavalry Divisional Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry); Mobile Divisional Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1938); 1st Armoured Divisional Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1939); 9th Armoured Brigade Signal Squadron (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1941).
It returned to the Territorial Army on 1 January 1947 as 16th Airborne Divisional Signal Regiment (Middlesex Yeomanry); then as Middlesex Yeomanry Signal Regiment (44 Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron) (1 October 1956); 40th Signal Regiment (Middlesex Yeomanry) (44 Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron and 303 Signal Squadron) (1 September 1959); 47th Signal Regiment (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1961).
The regiment was amalgamated with the 47th (London) Signal Regiment on 1 April 1967 to form 47th (Middlesex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, 31st (Greater London) Signal Regiment, Royal Signals; disbanded and immediately reconstituted in Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve II.
On 20 October 1995, 47 Squadron was transferred to 39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment, Royal Signals.
2nd County of London Yeomanry (The Westminster Dragoons
In World War I, the regiment was attached to the London Mounted Brigade. It served in the Middle East from September 1914 until August 1917 and then reformed, first as XX Corps Cavalry Regiment then, in April 1918 as "F" Battalion, Machine Gun Corps
.
During World War II, 2nd CLY served as a unit in the 79th Armoured Division.
The regimental history goes back to 1779, when it was formed as the London and Westminster Light Horse. It was repeatedly disbanded and reformed over the following fifty years as the Westminster Volunteer Cavalry.
It was reformed on 24 August 1901 as the 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry from South African war veterans with four squadrons and a machine gun section and in 1902 the name became 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons), to continue the 1779–1829 regiment. On 1 April 1908, the regiment transferred to the Territorial Forces and then in 1920 to the Territorial Army.
On 26 March 1920, the regiment transferred to the Tank Corps as 22nd (London) Armoured Car Company (Westminster Dragoons), in 1939 changing its name to 22nd (Westminster Dragoons) Battalion in the Royal Tank Corps. After a short spell as 2 Officer Cadet Training Unit, on 30 November 1940, the regiment renamed as 2nd County of London Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons), converted and transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps.
After the war, in 1947, it was reconstituted in the Territorial Army, based in London and in 1951 it became The Westminster Dragoons (2nd County of London Yeomanry). The regiment was amalgamated, on 1 May 1961, with "R" (Berkshire Yeomanry) Battery, 299 (Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, Berkshire Yeomanry, and The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars) Field Regiment RA, to form The Berkshire and Westminster Dragoons.
on 30 April 1939. On 24 August, the name reverted to 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).
On 27 September 1939, 3rd CLY formed a separate unit as a nucleus of the 4th County of London Yeomanry. This lasted until 1 August 1944 when losses in Normandy prompted the amalgamation of 3rd CLY and 4th CLY, to form 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).
An additional, New Zealand Squadron, was formed in 1902, leaving C Squadron as Australian.
In 1905, the regiment was renamed as The King's Colonials, Imperial Yeomanry. In 1909, the separate "colony" squadrons were discontinued and in 1910, the regiment was again renamed, as King Edward's Horse
(The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment). The regiment was transferred to Special Reserve and lost yeomanry status in 1913 and 21 March 1924, it was disbanded.
The army began to expand as the international situation worsened and on 27 September 1939, the 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was formed as a duplicate of the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) starting with a nucleus detached from the 3rd CLY.
During the Battle of Normandy
, 4th CLY served as part of the 7th Armoured Division, the "Desert Rats". On June 13, they advanced with a battalion of the 1st Rifle Brigade by road from Villers-Bocage
and were ambushed by a detachment of Tiger
tanks. A single Tiger, commanded by SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann
, knocked out the CLY's lead Cromwell
and then took out the rest of the column, trapped in the embanked road. This was the prelude to a counter-attack by Panzer-Lehr-Division Division which forced the British out of Villers-Bocage.
On 1 August, 1944 the two regiments were amalgamated to form 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).
3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry
Action in Normandy so depleted the 3rd and 4th CLY that they were merged on 1 August 1944, at Carpiquet
.
The Sharpshooters continued as a Territorial Army (TA) Regiment after World War 2, initially as an armoured regiment in the 56th London Armoured Division.
They changed role in 1956 as a result of TA reorganisation and became the reconnaissance regiment for 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division. In 1959 the affiliation with the Royal Tank Regiment ended and the Royal Dragoons became the parent regiment.
In 1960 the number of Yeomanry Regiments was halved and the Sharpshooters were amalgamated with the Kent Yeomanry – descended from the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles and the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry – to become the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). The regiment's role was to be that of an armoured reconnaissance regiment consisting of a Headquarters and three sabre squadrons.
In 1967 the former HQ Squadron of the Kent and County of London Yeomanry became part of a new TAVR III Regiment, the London and Kent Regiment.
In 1974 the new signals regiment adopted the title 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment
and the Squadron's title changed to 265 (Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry) Signal Squadron.
In 1985 the squadron's title changed once more and became 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Signal Squadron. Then two years later a new squadron was formed from its RHQ elements and titled Headquarters (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Squadron.
The two squadrons remained as such until further reorganisation in 2006 when 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Signal Squadron was disbanded and the majority of its personnel absorbed into the former Headquarters Squadron to form the new 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Support Squadron (Sharpshooters), effectively reverting to its combined RHQ and signals role prior to the formation of Headquarters Squadron in 1987.
265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Support Squadron (Sharpshooters) continues in this role today and by carrying the titles of the former Yeomanry Regiments continues to maintain the traditions and history of those regiments.
1st County of London Yeomanry
The 1st CLY saw service in the Boer WarSecond Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, 1900–1901, and in World War I at Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
The regiment was first founded in May 1797 as the Uxbridge Yeomanry Cavalry and disbanded in 1801. It was reformed in December 1830 as the Uxbridge Squadron of Yeomanry Cavalry, based at Harefield
Harefield
Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London, England. It is situated on top of a hill, northwest of Charing Cross, near the Greater London boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north...
and West Drayton
West Drayton
West Drayton is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the far west of London, England. Formerly part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District of Middlesex, the district became part of Greater London in 1965....
and later became the Uxbridge Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry, based in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, with a contingent from Brighton.
In 1871, it was yet again renamed, as Middlesex Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry (Uxbridge) with troops in London, Middlesex and Brighton. Over the following years there were further name changes: Middlesex (Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) Yeomanry Cavalry (in 1884); Middlesex Imperial Yeomanry (Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) (17 April 1901, with four squadrons and a machine-gun section); 1st County of London Yeomanry (Middlesex, Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) (1 April 1908) and transferred to Territorial Forces.
Now in the Territorial Army, the regiment was transferred to the Royal Signals in 1920 as the 2nd Cavalry Divisional Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry); Mobile Divisional Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1938); 1st Armoured Divisional Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1939); 9th Armoured Brigade Signal Squadron (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1941).
It returned to the Territorial Army on 1 January 1947 as 16th Airborne Divisional Signal Regiment (Middlesex Yeomanry); then as Middlesex Yeomanry Signal Regiment (44 Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron) (1 October 1956); 40th Signal Regiment (Middlesex Yeomanry) (44 Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron and 303 Signal Squadron) (1 September 1959); 47th Signal Regiment (Middlesex Yeomanry) (1961).
The regiment was amalgamated with the 47th (London) Signal Regiment on 1 April 1967 to form 47th (Middlesex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, 31st (Greater London) Signal Regiment, Royal Signals; disbanded and immediately reconstituted in Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve II.
On 20 October 1995, 47 Squadron was transferred to 39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment, Royal Signals.
2nd County of London Yeomanry (The Westminster DragoonsWestminster DragoonsThe Westminster Dragoons are central London’s only Territorial Army cavalry unit. One of the Royal Yeomanry's five squadrons, their current role is to support the Formation Reconnaissance Regiments and the Joint Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Regiment on operations by providing...
)
In World War I, the regiment was attached to the London Mounted Brigade. It served in the Middle East from September 1914 until August 1917 and then reformed, first as XX Corps Cavalry Regiment then, in April 1918 as "F" Battalion, Machine Gun CorpsMachine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...
.
During World War II, 2nd CLY served as a unit in the 79th Armoured Division.
The regimental history goes back to 1779, when it was formed as the London and Westminster Light Horse. It was repeatedly disbanded and reformed over the following fifty years as the Westminster Volunteer Cavalry.
It was reformed on 24 August 1901 as the 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry from South African war veterans with four squadrons and a machine gun section and in 1902 the name became 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons), to continue the 1779–1829 regiment. On 1 April 1908, the regiment transferred to the Territorial Forces and then in 1920 to the Territorial Army.
On 26 March 1920, the regiment transferred to the Tank Corps as 22nd (London) Armoured Car Company (Westminster Dragoons), in 1939 changing its name to 22nd (Westminster Dragoons) Battalion in the Royal Tank Corps. After a short spell as 2 Officer Cadet Training Unit, on 30 November 1940, the regiment renamed as 2nd County of London Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons), converted and transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps.
After the war, in 1947, it was reconstituted in the Territorial Army, based in London and in 1951 it became The Westminster Dragoons (2nd County of London Yeomanry). The regiment was amalgamated, on 1 May 1961, with "R" (Berkshire Yeomanry) Battery, 299 (Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, Berkshire Yeomanry, and The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars) Field Regiment RA, to form The Berkshire and Westminster Dragoons.
3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)
Formed on 23 July 1901 as the 3rd County of London Imperial Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). On 25 September 1920, the regiment became the 5th (London) Armoured Car Company, Tank Corps, based at St. John's Wood and subsequently the 23rd (London) Armoured Car Company, Royal Tank Corps (June, 1922), 23rd Cavalry Armoured Car Regiment, Royal Tank Corps (1938) (transferred to Royal Armoured CorpsRoyal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
on 30 April 1939. On 24 August, the name reverted to 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).
On 27 September 1939, 3rd CLY formed a separate unit as a nucleus of the 4th County of London Yeomanry. This lasted until 1 August 1944 when losses in Normandy prompted the amalgamation of 3rd CLY and 4th CLY, to form 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).
4th County of London Yeomanry
The original 4th County of London Imperial Yeomanry (King's Colonials) was formed in November 1901 at Charing Cross, London, as a yeomanry regiment from overseas volunteers resident in England, with four "colonial" squadrons:- A Squadron ("British Asian")
- B Squadron ("British American" or Canadian)
- C Squadron (Australasian)
- D Squadron ("British African" or South African)
An additional, New Zealand Squadron, was formed in 1902, leaving C Squadron as Australian.
In 1905, the regiment was renamed as The King's Colonials, Imperial Yeomanry. In 1909, the separate "colony" squadrons were discontinued and in 1910, the regiment was again renamed, as King Edward's Horse
King Edward's Horse
King Edward's Horse was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1901, which saw service in the Boer War and the First World War.-Early history:...
(The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment). The regiment was transferred to Special Reserve and lost yeomanry status in 1913 and 21 March 1924, it was disbanded.
The army began to expand as the international situation worsened and on 27 September 1939, the 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was formed as a duplicate of the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) starting with a nucleus detached from the 3rd CLY.
During the Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
, 4th CLY served as part of the 7th Armoured Division, the "Desert Rats". On June 13, they advanced with a battalion of the 1st Rifle Brigade by road from Villers-Bocage
Villers-Bocage, Calvados
-External links:* *...
and were ambushed by a detachment of Tiger
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
tanks. A single Tiger, commanded by SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann
Michael Wittmann
Michael Wittmann was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. Wittmann would rise to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer and was a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross holder....
, knocked out the CLY's lead Cromwell
Cromwell tank
Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell ,The designation as the eighth Cruiser tank design, its name given for ease of reference and its General Staff specification number respectively and the related Centaur tank, were one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second...
and then took out the rest of the column, trapped in the embanked road. This was the prelude to a counter-attack by Panzer-Lehr-Division Division which forced the British out of Villers-Bocage.
On 1 August, 1944 the two regiments were amalgamated to form 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).
3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry3rd/4th County of London YeomanryThe 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry was formed in July 1944 by the amalgamation at Carpiquet Airfield in Normandy of the two existing Sharpshooters' regiments: the 3rd County of London Yeomanry and 4th County of London Yeomanry , both of which were veterans of the 8th Army...
(Sharpshooters)
Action in Normandy so depleted the 3rd and 4th CLY that they were merged on 1 August 1944, at CarpiquetCarpiquet
Carpiquet is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France. Caen – Carpiquet Airport is located in Carpiquet.-Geography:Carpiquet is on the western side of the Caen metropolitan area...
.
The Sharpshooters continued as a Territorial Army (TA) Regiment after World War 2, initially as an armoured regiment in the 56th London Armoured Division.
They changed role in 1956 as a result of TA reorganisation and became the reconnaissance regiment for 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division. In 1959 the affiliation with the Royal Tank Regiment ended and the Royal Dragoons became the parent regiment.
In 1960 the number of Yeomanry Regiments was halved and the Sharpshooters were amalgamated with the Kent Yeomanry – descended from the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles and the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry – to become the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). The regiment's role was to be that of an armoured reconnaissance regiment consisting of a Headquarters and three sabre squadrons.
In 1967 the former HQ Squadron of the Kent and County of London Yeomanry became part of a new TAVR III Regiment, the London and Kent Regiment.
265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Support Squadron (Sharpshooters)
After yet more reorganisation during the late 1960s a new Signal Regiment was formed (71st Signal Regiment) and the name of the London and Kent Regiment was preserved in one of its squadrons, 265 (London and Kent) Squadron primarily to perform a regimental headquarters function, but eventually as a fully operational Signal Squadron.In 1974 the new signals regiment adopted the title 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment
71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment
71 Signal Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 2 Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations....
and the Squadron's title changed to 265 (Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry) Signal Squadron.
In 1985 the squadron's title changed once more and became 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Signal Squadron. Then two years later a new squadron was formed from its RHQ elements and titled Headquarters (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Squadron.
The two squadrons remained as such until further reorganisation in 2006 when 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Signal Squadron was disbanded and the majority of its personnel absorbed into the former Headquarters Squadron to form the new 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Support Squadron (Sharpshooters), effectively reverting to its combined RHQ and signals role prior to the formation of Headquarters Squadron in 1987.
265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Support Squadron (Sharpshooters) continues in this role today and by carrying the titles of the former Yeomanry Regiments continues to maintain the traditions and history of those regiments.