Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry
Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry | |
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First World War
Second World War
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Battle honours | See battle honours below |
Commanders | |
Honorary Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel Ewart L. Baxter, TD |
Insignia | |
Stable Belt Colours[a] |
The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was a Regiment of the British Yeomanry and is now an armoured Squadron of the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (SNIY), part of the British Army Reserve. It is the Lowlands of Scotland's only Royal Armoured Corps Unit and has an unbroken history stretching back to the 1790s.
The squadron is part of
The Ayrshire Yeomanry has won numerous
History
Formation and early history
The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was formed as an independent troop of
Following the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned Regular and Yeomanry units places in an order of battle of corps, divisions and brigades for the 'Active Army', even though these formations were entirely theoretical, with no staff or services assigned. The Ayrshire Yeomanry were assigned as 'divisional troops' to 1st Division of VIII Corps based at Edinburgh, alongside Regular Army and Militia units of infantry, artillery and engineers. This was never more than a paper organisation, but from April 1893 the Army List showed the Yeomanry regiments grouped into brigades for collective training. They were commanded by the senior regimental commanding officer but they did have a Regular Army Brigade major. The Ayrshire Yeomanry together with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry formed the 11th Yeomanry Brigade. The Yeomanry brigades disappeared from the Army List after the Second Boer War.[5]
In 1897, the regiment was granted permission to use the title Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Earl of Carrick's Own) in honour of the future
Second Boer War
The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during Black Week in December 1899, the British government realized they were going to need more troops than just the regular army. A Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December 1899 to allow volunteer forces to serve in the Second Boer War. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each for the Imperial Yeomanry.[3][6] With the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, the regiment co-sponsored the 17th (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire) Company for the 6th (Scottish) Battalion in 1900.[7]
On their return in 1901, the regiment was reorganized as mounted infantry and titled the Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Imperial Yeomanry. In 1908, it was transferred into the new Territorial Force, returning to the cavalry role as the Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry.[4] The regiment was based at Wellington Square in Ayr at this time.[3][8]
First World War
Lowland Mounted Brigade |
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Organisation on 4 August 1914 |
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In accordance with the
1/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry
On the outbreak of the
2/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry
The 2nd line regiment was formed in 1914.
In July 1916, there was a major reorganization of 2nd Line yeomanry units in the United Kingdom. All but 12 regiments were converted to cyclists[16] and as a consequence the regiment was dismounted and the brigade converted to 13th Cyclist Brigade. Further reorganization in October and November 1916 saw the brigade redesignated as 9th Cyclist Brigade in November, still at Dunbar.[10][17]
About May 1918, the brigade moved to Ireland and the regiment was stationed at Omagh, County Tyrone. There were no further changes before the end of the war.[10][17]
3/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry
The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 and in the summer was affiliated to a Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Aldershot. In June 1916, it left the Reserve Cavalry Regiment and went to Perth. The regiment was disbanded in early 1917 with personnel transferring to the 2nd Line regiment or to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers at Catterick.[10]
Between the wars
Post war, a commission was set up to consider the shape of the Territorial Force (
Second World War
Between the First and Second World Wars, the regiment returned to its horsed cavalry training in Scotland. However, at the beginning of Second World War, the Ayrshire Yeomanry was not required as a cavalry or as an armoured regiment. In 1940, the regiment was transferred into the
151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA
The 151st remained in the United Kingdom until 1942, when it was assigned to
152nd (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA
The 152nd was attached to the
Both Regiments fought with great courage and between them they won four Distinguished Service Orders, twenty one Military Crosses and twenty four Military Medals.[23]
Post war
After the War, the regiment reconstituted in the
In 1961, the Ayrshire Yeomanry paraded at Culzean Castle and were presented with their First
In 1999, following the Government's "Strategic Defence Review", the Scottish Yeomanry amalgamated with the Queen's Own Yeomanry. Two of the Scottish Yeomanry's four Squadrons – The Ayrshire Yeomanry in Ayr, and The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse in Cupar continued to operate under command of The Queen's Own Yeomanry.[4] On 1 July 2014, the squadron left The Queens Own Yeomanry to form the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry.[26] Following the latest defence review, the squadron became 'light cavalry' and uses the Land Rover RWMIK.[25]
Organisation
A (Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry) Squadron is based at Yeomanry House on Chalmers Road in Ayr.[27]
Battle honours
The Ayrshire Yeomanry was awarded the following
Second Boer War | South Africa 1900–02 |
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First World War | Palestine 1917–18
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Second World War | The Royal Artillery was present in nearly all battles and would have earned most of the honours awarded to cavalry and infantry regiments. In 1833, William IV awarded the motto Ubique (meaning "everywhere") in place of all battle honours.[28]
Italy "
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Guidon
The guidon of The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was presented by General Sir Horatius Murray KBE CB DSO at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire on 24 June 1961.[25] The battle honours of the regiment emblazoned on both sides of the Guidon are as follows:[29]
SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02 | YPRES 1917
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FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1918
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GALLIPOLI 1915
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RUMANI | EGYPT 1916–17
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GAZA | JERUSALEM
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TELL’ASUR | PALESTINE 1917–18
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Placed under the central tie of the Union wreath is the Honorary Distinction: the badge of the
1942-45 | NW EUROPE | N AFRICA | ITALY |
Victoria Cross
The only member of the regiment to be awarded the Victoria Cross was
Uniform
Prior to 1893, the Ayrshire Yeomanry wore black-leather helmets and black plumes with a dark blue uniform and scarlet facings. This was replaced by a hussar style uniform, including a fur
Regimental music
The Ayrshire Yeomanry song, The Proud Trooper, was written as a poem following the regiment's actions in South Africa and the first verse is now often sung, to the tune of Amazing Grace, when several Ayrshire Yeomen are together. The lyrics of the first verse of The Proud Trooper are as follows:[32]
- "I’ve Listed in The County Horse,
- A Yeoman don’t you know,
- With spurs of steel upon my heel,
- full swagger now I go,
- I’ve sworn an oath to serve the Queen,
- And to defend Her Throne,
- I’m proud to be a Trooper in,
- The Earl of Carrick’s Own."
The Ayrshire Yeomanry Locomotive
Of the 842 LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 Locomotives, commonly known as "Black Fives", only four were named, and those were in honour of Scottish Regiments: Lanarkshire Yeomanry, The Queens Edinburgh, Ayrshire Yeomanry, Glasgow Highlander and Glasgow Yeomanry.[33]
Alliances
See also
- Imperial Yeomanry
- List of Yeomanry Regiments 1908
- Yeomanry
- Yeomanry order of precedence
- British yeomanry during the First World War
- Second line yeomanry regiments of the British Army
- List of British Army Yeomanry Regiments converted to Royal Artillery
Notes
- ^ The Queen's Own Yeomanry Stable Belt is now worn by the squadron.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "RWMIK Land Rover". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ^ "The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Frederick, p. 19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Ayrshire Yeomanry (Earl of Carrick's Own) at Regiments.org". Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Army List various dates.
- ^ Mileham 1994, p. 27
- ^ "Imperial Yeomanry at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ^ "Scotland's Drill Halls: Preliminary Report". Historic Environment Scotland. p. 18. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914".
- ^ a b c d e f g James, p. 16.
- ^ Rinaldi 2008, p. 35
- ^ Ayrshire Yeomanry at Long, Long Trail.
- ^ a b "No. 31108". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 January 1919. pp. 305–307.
- ^ Lanarkshire Yeomanry at Long, Long Trail.
- ^ Lothians and Border Horse at Long, Long Trail.
- ^ a b James, p. 36
- ^ a b James, pp 21, 24.
- ^ Mileham 1994, pp. 48–51
- ^ Mileham 1994, p. 73
- ^ "Field Regiments Royal Artillery, 1939-1945". Unit Histories. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Barton, Derek. "151 (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment RA(TA)". The Royal Artillery 1939-45.
- ^ Barton, Derek. "152 (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment RA(TA)". The Royal Artillery 1939-45.
- ^ "The Proud Trooper" W.S. Brownlie 1964
- ^ THE TERRITORIAL ARMY 1947 Archived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c "A (Ayrshire (EOCO) Yeomanry) Squadron". MOD. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Summary of Army 2020 Reserve Structure and Basing" (PDF). British Army. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ "A (Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry) Squadron". Reserve Forces and Cadets’ Association. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Royal Regiment of Artillery at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Photograph of the Guidon of the Ayrshire Yeomanry
- ^ R.G. Harris, plate 1, "50 Years of Yeomanry Uniforms" Frederick Muller Ltd, London 1972
- ISBN 0-948251-26-3.
- ^ "The Earl of Carrick's Own". Maybole. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Rowledge & Reed 1977, p. 83.
Bibliography
- J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3.
- Brig E.A. James, British Regiments 1914–18, London: Samson Books, 1978, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9.
- Mileham, Patrick (1994). The Yeomanry Regiments; 200 Years of Tradition. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic. ISBN 1-898410-36-4.
- Rinaldi, Richard A (2008). Order of Battle of the British Army 1914. Ravi Rikhye. ISBN 978-0-97760728-0.
- Rowledge, John Westbury Peter; Reed, Brian (1977). "The Stanier 4-6-0s of the LMS : (the Jubilees, Class 5s, and the BR Standard Class 5s)". OCLC 1256510000.