The South Nottinghamshire Hussars is a unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794. Converted to artillery in 1922, it presently forms part of 103 (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment,

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 ...

History

Formation and early history

The regiment was formed as the Nottinghamshire (South Nottinghamshire) Yeomanry Cavalry in 1794 as part of the response to the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. It became the Southern Nottinghamshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry in 1826.

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 ...

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 Sout ...

. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry

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 conscripted ...

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 su ...

, equipped 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 ...

. The mounted infantry experiment was considered a success, and the regiment was designated the Nottinghamshire Imperial Yeomanry (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) from 1901 to 1908. The regiment formed the 12th (South Nottingham) Company of the 3rd Battalion in 1900. The regiment moved to a new drill hall at Derby Road in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in around 1910.

First World War

In accordance with the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ('' 7 Edw. 7, c.9'') was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territori ...

('' 7 Edw. 7, c.9''), which brought 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 i ...

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 South Nottinghamshire Hussars

The 1st was formed in

in April 1908 on the creation of the new

and became part of the

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The tradition ...

, which was a component of the

1st Mounted Division The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three ...

.South Notts Hussars at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> It became the 1/1st in 1914 when the TF created its second-line units. The Brigade was transferred to serve with the

2nd Mounted Division The 2nd Mounted Division was a yeomanry ( Territorial Army cavalry) division that served in the First World War. At the outbreak of war it was assigned to defence of the Norfolk coast. In March 1915 it formed a 2nd Line duplicate of itself, the ...

, and saw service in the Gallipoli Campaign. In 1916, the Division was broken up and the Brigade was redesignated the

7th Mounted Brigade The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade (later numbered as the 7th Mounted Brigade) was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908. It served dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign before be ...

and moved to

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

in 1917. The regiment returned to Egypt in June 1917, when it was attached to the

Desert Mounted Corps The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Palestine ...

, until April 1918, when it left the Brigade and was dismounted to form B Battalion,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) 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 the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

with the 1/1st Warwickshire Yeomanry. The battalion left Egypt for France, arriving in June 1918. It was later numbered as the 100th (Warwickshire and South Nottinghamshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Machine Gun Corps. At the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, it was serving as Army Troops with the Fourth Army.

2/1st South Nottinghamshire Hussars

The 2nd Line regiment began to form in Nottingham on 20 September 1914. It was based at Colwick Racecourse for the winter of 1914/15. At the end of February 1915, it moved to

Ollerton Ollerton is a town in the Newark and Sherwood District, Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. It forms part of the civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton. OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: ...

and joined the 2/1st Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade. By June, the brigade was in the

2/2nd Mounted Division The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad ...

at Narford Park near

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence and the brigade became the 9th Mounted Brigade (and the division

3rd Mounted Division The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division (military), Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which wa ...

). 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; the brigade was redesignated as the 9th Cyclist Brigade and the division as the

1st Cyclist Division The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three ...

. The regiment was in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

area and was still there when the brigade was renumbered as

5th Cyclist Brigade Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

in November 1916. The regiment remained near Canterbury in 1917 and the brigade was an independent formation from September to December 1917. During 1918, the regiment was at

Littlebourne Littlebourne is a village and civil parish east of Canterbury in Kent, South East England. History The significant Howletts Anglo-Saxon cemetery is in the parish. It is regarded as " Jutish"; finds are in the British Museum and elsewhere, and i ...

(near Canterbury), still in the 5th Cyclist Brigade but now in

The Cyclist Division The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad o ...

3/1st South Nottinghamshire Hussars

The 3rd Line regiment was formed at

in May 1915. In September, it moved to

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and was affiliated to the

14th Reserve Cavalry Regiment Seventeen Cavalry Reserve Regiments were formed by the British Army on the outbreak of the Great War in August, 1914. These were affiliated with one or more active cavalry regiments, their purpose being to train replacement drafts for the active ...

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 Alders ...

. In October 1916, it moved to Ireland with the 14th Reserve Cavalry Regiment and in February 1917 it was absorbed into the

2nd Reserve Cavalry Regiment Seventeen Cavalry Reserve Regiments were formed by the British Army on the outbreak of the Great War in August, 1914. These were affiliated with one or more active cavalry regiments, their purpose being to train replacement drafts for the active r ...

The Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the f ...

Between the wars

Post war, a commission was set up to consider the shape of the Territorial Force ( Territorial Army (TA) from 1 October 1921). The experience of the First World War made it clear that

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

was surfeit. The commission decided that only the 14 most senior regiments were to be retained as cavalry, the others would be converted to other roles. Many became brigades of the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

(RFA), including the South Notts Hussars, which became a two-battery brigade as the 107th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry) Army Brigade, RFA, in 1922. It served as 'Army Troops' in 46th (North Midland) Divisional Area.Litchfield, pp. 198–9. In 1924 the RFA was subsumed into the

(RA) and in November 1938, the Royal Artillery renamed its brigades as regiments, when the regiment was designated as

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

(RHA). In April 1939, as part of the general doubling of the TA following the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

, the 107th (SNHY) formed 150th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) Regiment, RHA, as a duplicate from a

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

of 107th and 210 Battery of a local RA Unit, and a Searchlight battery of the Royal Engineers.

Second World War

107th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) Regiment, RHA

At the start of the war, the 107 Royal Horse Artillery (South Notts Hussars Yeomanry), which was part of Northern Command, consisted of two batteries, the 425th and the 426th, each with 8

Ordnance QF 18-pounder The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the World War I, Fi ...

field guns. It soon came under the command of the 1st Cavalry Division, with which it served in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. The regiment later served at

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway ...

, Egypt, the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

, Tmimi, the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

Sidi Bishr Sidi Bishr ( ar, سيدي بشر) is a neighborhood in the Montaza District of Alexandria, Egypt. Established as a summering site by the Egyptian middle class before the Revolution of 1952, it has since become one of the largest neighborhoods of ...

(Alexandria) and Beni Yusef. In April 1942, the regiment was redesignated as the 107th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry) Field Regt RHA (by which time it had gained a third battery, the 520th). Shortly thereafter, it was destroyed almost to a man while fighting the Battle of Knightsbridge, providing a suicidal defensive rear-guard action to cover the retreat of the British Army during the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the ( Erwin Rommel) consisting of German and I ...

campaign. The remnants were reformed as the 107th (SNH Yeo) Medium Battery RA. The battery served with the 7th Medium Regiment RA, as part of the 8th Army, in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. In March 1944, the regiment returned to the UK to join the 2nd Army. At this time, the 107th Battery was redesignated as the 425th Battery and left to join the newly formed 107th Medium Regiment RA - the recently disbanded 16th Medium Regiment RA provided the Regimental HQ and the 426th Battery. In June, the 107th Regiment was assigned to 2nd Army's 9th Army Group Royal Artillery ('9th AGRA'), with which it served in NW Europe.

=Equipment

= The 107th was equipped with the following during the course of the war: :16 x 18 pdr Mk IV & Lorries :

Ordnance QF 18 pounder The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War ...

Mk II :18 pdr Mk IIPA, 425 Bty :4.5-inch howitzer, 426 Bty :25 pdr & Quads, Bren Carrier OP

150th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) Regiment, RHA

The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H18493

The 150th, which was also part of Northern Command at the start of the war, also had two batteries, the 434th and the 435th. In June 1940, it was redesignated as the 150th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry) Field Regiment RA. A third battery, the 514th, was formed in January 1941. During the war, the regiment was at various times part of the 148th Infantry Brigade,

79th Armoured Division The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy Hob ...

and 4th AGRA. It was equipped with 25pdr field guns for the first time in November 1940, whilst stationed in Ireland. It was the first TA Artillery Unit to be equipped with the brand new MKII 25pdr, on MKII Chassis. The recce party of the regiment landed in France on 7 June 1944 and the guns arrived two days later. 150th (SNH Yeo) Regiment RA was disbanded in November 1944, owing to a lack of Infantry in the British Army, but an excess of gunners without guns.

Postwar

The two regiments were reconstituted in the TA in 1947, the 107th as 307th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA, the 150th becoming 350th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry) Heavy Regiment, RA. In 1950 the 350th merged into 350 (Robin Hood Foresters) Light Regiment, RA. The 307th regained its RHA distinction in 1955, first as 307th (RHA) (South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA, then from 1967 as The South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry (RHA). In 1969 it was reduced to cadre strength and placed under 101st (Northumbrian) Medium Regiment, then was restored to battery strength the following year (as 307th (South Notts Hussars) Battery). Latterly it formed part of

100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery 100 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery was part of the Territorial Army and had sub-units throughout the South of England. It had three gun batteries all equipped with the L118 Light Gun. The regiment's original role was British Army of the Rhi ...

but was placed in suspended animation under

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

.289–322 Rgts RA at British Army 1945 on.
/ref> In January 2018, the unit was raised again as C (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) Troop, 210 (Staffordshire) Battery, of 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment, RA.

Regimental museum

The Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum The Royal Lancers & Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum traces the history of three old and famous cavalry regiments, the Queen's Royal Lancers, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry and the South Nottinghamshire Hussars. It is located at Thoresby Hall in N ...

is based at

Thoresby Hall Thoresby Hall is a grade I listed 19th-century English country house, country house in Budby, Nottinghamshire, some 2 miles (4 km) north of Ollerton. It is one of four neighbouring country houses and estates in the Dukeries in north Notting ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

Battle honours

The South Nottinghamshire Hussars 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

* * * * * Norman E.H. Litchfield, ''The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, . * * * * ''Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army'', London: War Office, 7 November 1927 (RA sections also summarised in Litchfield, Appendix IV).

External links

The Long, Long Trail

* ttps://ra39-45.co.uk Royal Artillery 1939–1945
British Army units from 1945 on
{{Royal Horse Artillery Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Yeomanry regiments of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations in Nottinghamshire Military units and formations established in 1794 Military units and formations disestablished in 2014 Regiments of the British Army in World War II