The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry was a

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

of the Territorial Army, formed in 1971 by the reconstitution of squadrons from the

Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry The Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry (QOWWY) was a regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, forming part of the Territorial Army (TA). Following reductions in 1969 and 1971 respectively the regiment was reduced to two and late ...

, the

Staffordshire Yeomanry The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a unit of the British Army. Raised in 1794 following Prime Minister William Pitt's order to raise volunteer bodies of men to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion, the Staffordshir ...

and the

Shropshire Yeomanry The Shropshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1795, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an artillery regiment in the Second World War. It ...

. It amalgamated into the

Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. It served in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments. History The regiment was fo ...

in 1992.

History

The regiment was created as The Mercian Yeomanry, the Territorial Army's fourth

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

regiment, with three squadrons in 1971. It adopted the title of The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry in 1973, and in 1982 converted to a light

formation reconnaissance regiment The Formation Reconnaissance Regiment is one of two organisations currently provided by cavalry regiments of the British Army. Until recently, it was known as the Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. Formation reconnaissance regiments, as the name ...

, intended for home defence, and equipped with Land Rovers. In 1988, it absorbed a fourth squadron from the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

which became part of the

Home Service Force The Home Service Force was a Home Guard type force established in the United Kingdom in 1982. Each HSF unit was placed with either a Regular Army or Territorial Army regiment or battalion for administrative purposes and given that formation’s ...

. In 1992, following the

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

reductions in the Army, it amalgamated with The

Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (DLOY) was a yeomanry unit of the British Army from 1798 to 1992. Originally raised as part-time cavalry for home defence and internal security, the regiment sent mounted infantry to serve in the Second Boer ...

to form the

Organisation

The regiment had three squadrons: *A ( Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron *B (

) Squadron *C (

) Squadron

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last = Mileham , first = Patrick , year = 1994 , title = The Yeomanry Regiments; 200 Years of Tradition , publisher = Canongate Academic , location = Edinburgh , isbn = 1-898410-36-4 Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1971 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992