The Scottish Yeomanry (SCOTS YEO) was a

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 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 ...

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 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, ...

with headquarters at Inchdrewer House, Colinton Road,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

by transfer and resuscitation of old regiments as squadrons. The regiment consisted of a headquarters and three sabre

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

s: *"HQ" (

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 (Had ...

) Squadron (

) was formed by the re-roling of 225 Squadron, 154 (Lowland) Regiment

Royal Corps of Transport The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a British Army Corps established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider Defence community. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and ...

. *"A" (

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 Roya ...

) Squadron (

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

) was transferred into the new regiment from the QOY where they had been serving on both CVR(W) Fox and other

CVR(T) The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), abbreviated CVR(T), is a family of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) developed in the 1960s and is in service with the British Army and others throughout the world. They are small, highly mobile, air ...

variants. *"B" (

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

and

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 Lanarkshir ...

) Squadron (

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 ...

) was formed by the re-roling of 222 Squadron, 154 (Lowland) Regiment Royal Corps of Transport. *"C" ( Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse) Squadron (

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fif ...

) was formed by the re-roling of 239 (Highland Yeomanry) Squadron, 153 (Highland) Regiment Royal Corps of Transport. Until 1999 "C" Squadron also maintained part of the lineage of 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 ...

. On 1 July 1999, following 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 t ...

, elements were of the regiment ("A" and "C" Squadrons) were transferred to the

Queen's Own Yeomanry The Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY) is one of the Army Reserve(United Kingdom), Army Reserve light armoured reconnaissance regiments. History The Queens Own Yeomanry was initially formed on 1 April 1971 as the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment from five of th ...

. "B" Squadron was re-roled to become 52 Squadron of 32 Signal Regiment and HQ Squadron and regimental headquarters disbanded.

Uniform

The Scottish Yeomanry wore a grey beret of the

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest surviving Cavalry Regiment of the Line in the British ...

bearing a

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

of the regiment consisting of the Lion Rampant of Scotland upon crossed lances under the Scottish Crown. The officers and men of the regiment wore the Duke of Atholl's Tartan, Murray of Atholl, in various forms of dress. The regimental stable belt which was adopted was a reversed version of the Ayrshire Yeomanry belt. This looked exactly like the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars' belt.

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-scotland/vcav/5ScotY.htm, title=Scottish Yeomanry, publisher=Regiments.org, accessdate=18 November 2017, url-status=bot: unknown, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018072312/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-scotland/vcav/5ScotY.htm, archivedate=18 October 2007 Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Scottish regiments Military units and formations established in 1992