The Lanarkshire Yeomanry was a

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the British Army, first raised in 1819, which served as a dismounted

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and provided two field artillery regiments in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, before being amalgamated into The

Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry The Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry was a British Army unit formed in 1956 and disbanded in 1975. History The regiment was formed through the amalgamation of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry The Queen's Own Royal ...

in 1956. Its lineage was revived by B (Lanarkshire and Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry) Squadron, the

Scottish Yeomanry The Scottish Yeomanry (SCOTS YEO) was a Yeomanry Regiment of the British Territorial Army formed in 1992. It was disbanded in 1999. History The Scottish Yeomanry was raised on 1 November 1992 as a result of Options for Change with headquarters at ...

in 1992 until that unit was disbanded in 1999.

History

Formation and early history

The units which would become the regiment were first raised in 1819, as independent

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...

s of

around Lanarkshire. The five existing troops were regimented in 1848 as the Upper Ward and Airdrie Corps of Lanarkshire Yeomanry Cavalry, later retitled as the Lanarkshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry.

Second Boer War

The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during

Black Week Black Week refers to the week of 10–17 December 1899 during the Second Boer War, when the British Army suffered three devastating defeats by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. In total, 2,776 British s ...

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 Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry

s to provide service

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

of approximately 115 men each for the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

. With the

Ayrshire Yeomanry 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 ...

, the regiment co-sponsored the 17th (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire) Company for the 6th (Scottish) Battalion in 1900; in 1901 it provided the 107th (Lanarkshire) Company. In 1901, the regiment was reorganized as

mounted infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely specially m ...

as the Lanarkshire Imperial Yeomanry. In 1908 it was transferred into the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

, returning to a cavalry role and equipping as lancers, under the new title of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry. The regiment was based at Broomgate in

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

during the first half of the 20th century.

First World War

In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ('' 7 Edw. 7, c.9'') which brought the

into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.

1/1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry

The regiment mobilised into the

Lowland Mounted Brigade The Lowland Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 1st Dismounted Brigade in February 1916. Formation Under the terms ...

in August 1914, but remained in England until 1915. They landed at Gallipoli in September 1915, serving as dismounted infantry, and were attached to

52nd (Lowland) Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

in October; they were withdrawn in January 1916 and moved to Egypt. In early 1917 the regiment was amalgamated with The Ayrshire Yeomanry to form the 12th (Ayr and Lanark Yeomanry) Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers in

74th (Yeomanry) Division The 74th (Yeomanry) Division was a Territorial Force infantry division formed in Palestine in early 1917 from three dismounted yeomanry brigades. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, mostly as part of XX Corps. ...

, seeing service in the Palestine campaign before moving to the Western Front in May 1918. Whilst on the Western Front, Sergeant Thomas Caldwell of the regiment was awarded a

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

2/1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry

The 2nd Line regiment was formed in 1914. In 1915 it was under the command of the 2/1st Lowland Mounted Brigade in Scotland (along with the

2/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry 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 ...

and the 2/1st Lothians and Border Horse) and by March 1916 was at

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

, East Lothian. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were numbered in a single sequence and the brigade became

20th Mounted Brigade The 20th Mounted Brigade previously known as the 2/1st Lowland Mounted Brigade was a 2nd Line yeomanry brigade of the British Army during the First World War. In July 1916 it was converted to a cyclist formation as 13th Cyclist Brigade and in No ...

, still at Dunbar under

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. The Scottish District was comman ...

. 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 Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

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. About May 1918 the Brigade moved to Ireland and the regiment was stationed at Derry. There were no further changes before the end of the war.

3/1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry

The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 and in the summer was affiliated to a Reserve Cavalry Regiment at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

. In June 1916 it left the Reserve Cavalry Regiment and went to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. The regiment was disbanded in early 1917 with personnel transferring to the 2nd Line regiment or to the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at

Leven Leven may refer to: People * Leven (name), list of people with the name Nobility * Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland Placenames * Leven, Fife Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central ...

Between the wars

Post war, a commission was set up to consider the shape of the Territorial Force ( Territorial Army from 1 October 1921). The experience of the First World War made it clear that cavalry was surfeit. The commission decided that only the 14 most senior regiments were to be retained as cavalry (though the

Lovat Scouts The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment of the British Army. They were the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit and in 1916 formally became the British ...

and the

Scottish Horse The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army's Territorial Army raised in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. It saw heavy fighting in both the First World War, as the 13th Battalion, Black Watch, and in the Second World Wa ...

were also to remain mounted as "scouts"). Eight regiments were converted to Armoured Car Companies of the

Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

(RTC), one was reduced to a

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

in another regiment, one was absorbed into a local infantry battalion, one became a signals regiment and two were disbanded. The remaining 25 regiments were converted to brigades of the Royal Field Artillery between 1920 and 1922. As the 13th most senior regiment in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

, the regiment was retained as horsed cavalry. Future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, then Lord Dunglass, served in the regiment from commission as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in 1924, rising to Major in 1933.

Second World War

The regiment apparently did not mechanise before the outbreak of the

; after mobilisation, it was converted to the artillery role. It transferred into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in February 1940 as ''155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA''; in April 1940, ''156th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA'' was formed as a second-line duplicate. Both served as field artillery regiments.

155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA

The 155th moved to India in May 1941, and joined 9th Indian Division, equipped with 25 pounder guns; in August, it moved to Malaya with the division, leaving one battery behind to form the nucleus of 160th Field Regiment, RA. In September it re-equipped with 4.5" guns, and in October it was transferred into 11th Indian Division. It fought in the

Battle of Malaya The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles betwee ...

and the

Battle of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

; with the surrender of Singapore, it was taken prisoner on 15 February 1942.

156th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA

The 156th moved to North Africa in July 1942, and was attached to 5th Infantry Division in August; it remained with the division through the remainder of the war, fighting in the

Invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

, the Italian Campaign and in North-Western Europe.

Post war

After the War, the regiment reconstituted in the Territorial Army as a yeomanry regiment, under its old title of The Lanarkshire Yeomanry, and transferred into the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...

. In 1956 it amalgamated with the

Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that can trace their formation back to 1796. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the Lanarkshi ...

and the 1st/2nd

Lothians and Border Horse The Lothians and Border Horse was a Yeomanry regiment, part of the British Territorial Army. It was ranked 36th in the Yeomanry order of precedence and was based in the Scottish Lowland area, recruiting in the Lothians – East Lothian ( Ha ...

to form The

. The lineage of the regiment was revived with the formation of B (Lanarkshire and Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry) Squadron, the

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

in November 1992 but that regiment was disbanded a result of the

Strategic Defence Review The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a British policy document produced in July 1998 by the Labour Government that had gained power a year previously. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of ...

in July 1999.

Battle honours

The Lanarkshire Yeomanry was awarded the following

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s (honours in bold are emblazoned on the

regimental colours In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * {{Authority control Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Yeomanry regiments of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations established in 1819 Military units and formations in Lanarkshire Lanark Scottish regiments R Military units and formations disestablished in 1956 Regiments of the British Army in World War II