Royal Yeomanry

The Royal Yeomanry
Cap badge of the Royal Yeomanry
Active	1 April 1967–
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Yeomanry
Role	Light Cavalry
Size	One Regiment
Part of	Royal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQ	RHQ – Fulham House, London C&S Squadron – Fulham A Squadron – Nottingham B Squadron – Dudley C Squadron – Croydon C Squadron Detachment – Windsor D Squadron – Telford E Squadron – Leicester Band - London
March	The Farmers Boy
Engagements	Iraq 2003
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Col Conn MacEvilly
Royal Honorary Colonel	HRH Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy LG GCVO
Honorary Colonel	Major General Simon Howe Brooks-Ward CVO OBE TD VR
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash

The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. The Regimental Headquarters is located at Fulham in London, with squadrons in London and the Midlands at Fulham, Nottingham, Dudley, Croydon, Windsor, Telford and Leicester. The regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is paired with the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

History

Fuchs CBRN Reconnaissance Vehicle

Y Squadron at the Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea, January 2003

The Royal Yeomanry was formed in 1967, following the amalgamation of six distinguished county yeomanry regiments, as a medium reconnaissance regiment equipped with armoured cars.^[1] It continued in this role until 1996, when it became the British Army's nuclear, biological and chemical defence regiment.

The Royal Yeomanry served exclusively in the NBC role until 1999. In that year, the Joint NBC Regiment was formed as a joint regular Army and Royal Air Force unit composed of four squadrons of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and 27 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment.^[2]

The Royal Yeomanry was therefore reconfigured and partly re-roled. Two of the Royal Yeomanry's squadrons (A and W) were retained in the NBC role to provide reserves for the Joint NBC Regiment. The remaining three squadrons converted to Challenger 2 to serve as reserves for armoured regiments.

In January 2003, A and W Squadrons were mobilised for Operation TELIC, the war in Iraq. The two squadrons were amalgamated with a number of augmentees from the other three squadrons of the Royal Yeomanry and from the Royal Logistic Corps to form a much-enlarged "Y" Squadron, which deployed as part of the Joint NBC Regiment. This was the first deployment of a formed TA unit (TA soldiers under TA command) for combat operations since the Suez crisis in 1956.^[1]

During the Iraq war, officers and soldiers of the Royal Yeomanry found themselves serving with 16 Air Assault Brigade, 7 Armoured Brigade (the Desert Rats) and 3 Commando Brigade as NBC specialists, before switching roles to infantry peace support operations once Saddam Hussein’s regime had collapsed.^[3]

The Royal Yeomanry maintained a constant presence in Iraq from March 2003 until the end of Operation TELIC. Since 2007, the Royal Yeomanry has provided approximately 400 officers and soldiers as individual replacements on Operation TELIC and Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan.^[4] It continues to provide officers and soldiers in support of the British Army's current operations, including Operations TOSCA and SHADER.

Equipment and Role

The regiment's main equipment is the Land Rover RWMIK reconnaissance vehicle a light armoured vehicle, equipped with the General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and the Browning M2 .50 Heavy Machine Gun (HMG), as well as individual BOWMAN digital battlefield communications systems and specialised surveillance optics, including thermal imaging.^[5]

The Royal Yeomanry's role is light cavalry: providing a rapidly deployable force with fast mobility and substantial firepower as part of the British Army's combat arm. Its soldiers provide reconnaissance, reassurance, security and, if the situation demands it, decisive tactical effects by raiding and attacking the enemy.^[6]

Soldiers in the Royal Yeomanry are trained in mounted manoeuvre and dismounted combat skills.  All Royal Yeomanry soldiers are expected to master all of the skills required of an armoured crewman as well as dismounted infantry skills appropriate to the role. When dismounted, Royal Yeomanry soldiers carry out localised tasks where organic ISTAR and communications capabilities can be used or re-positioned at speed. When mounted, troops can conduct numerous tasks in open or complex terrain. Examples include low level attacks and raids, feints and demonstrations, ambush, screen and infiltration.

Organisation

Royal Yeomanry Squadrons

Under Army 2020, in July 2014 'A (Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry) Squadron (Swindon)' transferred from the Royal Yeomanry to the Royal Wessex Yeomanry,^[7] and two squadrons transferred into the Royal Yeomanry from the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry. The Royal Yeomanry was paired with 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards and came under the command of 7th Infantry Brigade.^[8] In December 2016 under Army 2020 Refine it was announced that the D and E Squadrons, which had been due to be disbanded, would be retained.

The regiment currently consists of six squadrons and a military band:^[6]

• A (Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry) Squadron (Nottingham)
• B (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron (Dudley)
• C (Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry) Squadron (Croydon)
• D (Shropshire Yeomanry) Squadron (Telford)
• E (Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry) Squadron (Leicester)
• C&S (Westminster Dragoons) Squadron (London)
• The Royal Yeomanry Band (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry) (London), based at Holderness House, EC2A.^[9]

Battle honours

As a result of the Regiment's initial service during the Iraq war, in 2005 the Royal Yeomanry was awarded the theatre honour "Iraq 2003", the first battle honour the regiment has won since its formation, and the first – so far the only – battle honour awarded to an Army Reserve regiment since the Second World War.^[10]

The regimental guidon of the Royal Yeomanry, presented to the regiment on 7 May 2016,^[11] also bears a selection of 40 out of the 123 battle honours won by its antecedent regiments.

Lineage

Order of precedence

For the purposes of parading, the Regiments of the British Army are listed according to an order of precedence. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being the most senior.

References

External links

• Official Regimental website
• Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry Unofficial Website
• Westminster Dragoons Unofficial Website
• Kent & Sharpshooters Yeomanry Unofficial Website
• Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum Unofficial Website
• C Sqn Royal Yeomanry Recruiting Unofficial Website