Cavalry regiments of the British Army
Encyclopedia
There are currently nine regular cavalry regiments of the British Army, with two tank
regiments provided by the Royal Tank Regiment
, traditionally classed alongside the cavalry, for a total of eleven regiments. Of these, five serve as armoured regiments
, and five as formation reconnaissance regiments, with one in a specialist role. All are part of the Royal Armoured Corps
, with the exception of the Household Cavalry
, nominally a separate corps
. A further four regiments of the Territorial Army are classed as yeomanry
, and serve in the cavalry role.
It should be noted that in British terminology, a "regiment" of cavalry or of armour is a battalion
-sized unit; this leads to the unusual situation of the Royal Tank Regiment
consisting of two full regiments. However, it is still only one regiment for ceremonial purposes - battle honours and the like are held by the Royal Tank Regiment as a whole, and prior to the 1920s the individual units were titled as subordinate battalions.
, intended to provide reconnaissance
for a higher-level formation, usually a division
or a heavy brigade
. In a large-scale defensive operation, they would delay attacking forces, while screening heavier units as they moved to engage the enemy. The regiments are, currently, almost entirely equipped with vehicles of the CVR(T) family
.
Following the 2003 Defence Review
, five regular army regiments are equipped for the formation reconnaissance role:
1:The Household Cavalry Regiment consists of four squadrons, two each from The Life Guards
and The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)
. Each regiment also provides a single squadron to the composite Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
, which serves in a ceremonial role during peacetime.
, intended to provided massed armour for use in a major conflict. As the likelihood of a major Cold War
confrontation died down, and the Army has been deployed to lower-intensity conflicts, the role of heavy armour has become less well-defined, focusing more on infantry co-operation and support rather than pure armoured conflict. Armoured regiments are currently equipped with the Challenger 2 main battle tank.
Following the 2003 Defence Review
, five regular army regiments are equipped for the heavy armoured role:
, which serves in two separate roles. One of its two squadrons is based at Warminster
, as part of the Combined Arms Training Centre, while the other squadron forms part of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment. This is an unusual unit, both in role and in structure; it is intended to provide a specialist organisation for identifying and responding to the use of weapons of mass destruction
, and is equipped with detection vehicles and decontamination equipment. Organisationally, it is operated jointly by the Army and by the Royal Air Force
; the other constituent unit, in addition to the 1st RTR, is No. 27 Squadron
of the RAF Regiment
.
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
is not formally a regiment, but rather the mounted squadrons of the Household Cavalry Regiment
. It is administered separately and has a ceremonial role, providing horse guards for public duties in London
.
. None are intended to mobilise as separate units, but rather to reinforce existing regular regiments. The Royal Yeomanry
is intended to provide additional squadrons to the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment; the Queen's Own Yeomanry
is tasked for the formation reconnaissance role; on mobilisation, it would provide a fourth squadron to each of the existing line cavalry reconnaissance regiments (the Household Cavalry Regiment has a permanent fourth squadron). The Royal Wessex Yeomanry
and Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
will provide replacement crews for tanks in the armoured regiments.
, in the modern sense of the standing army under the Crown, was formed following the Restoration of King Charles II
in 1661. At this point, the small standing forces included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Troops of Horse Guards
and the Royal Regiment of Horse; some of these had been raised in exile and some as part of the New Model Army
. The horsemen of the period were equipped as cuirassiers, with armour on the head and the body; the regulations of Charles II, in 1663, provided for them to be armed with "a sword and a case of pistolls ... each Trooper of our Guards to have a carbine besides".
By the start of the eighteenth century, the cavalry establishment had been divided into household and line units. The household establishment consisted of four troop
s of Horse Guards and two of Horse Grenadier Guards, while the regular establishment was composed of nine regiments of Horse and eight of Dragoons. The "horse" regiments would in theory fight mounted as cavalry, while dragoons were originally mounted infantry - they would fight dismounted, but were provided with horses for swift movement. By the middle of the century, the term had come simply to mean light cavalry
.
Regiments were, at this time, known by semi-permanent nicknames or by the names of their colonels; in 1751, in an attempt to reduce confusion, regiments were assigned numbers in order of their seniority. The cavalry regiments of the line were numbered in three separate sequences; 1st through 4th Horse, then 1st through 3rd Dragoon Guards, then 1st through 14th Dragoons. "Dragoon Guards" was a new title, and did not denote a Guards' role; it was adopted by the three senior horse regiments in 1746, when George III reduced them to the status of dragoons in order to save money.
The first "light horse" regiment was raised in 1745, for service in the Second Jacobite rising, and proved so successful that light troops were added to most cavalry regiments in 1755. In 1759, five complete regiments (the 15th to 19th) of Light Dragoons were formed, and the distinction was made between the light cavalry
(Light Dragoon regiments) and the heavy cavalry
(Dragoon and Dragoon Guard regiments). Henceforth, all newly raised regiments of cavalry would be denoted Light Dragoons. By 1783, the 7th to 14th Dragoons had become the 7th to 14th Light Dragoons, changing from heavy to light roles.
The various troops of Horse Guards and Horse Grenadier Guards were regimented in 1788, forming the 1st Regiment of Life Guards
and 2nd Regiment of Life Guards
; together with the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards they formed the Household Cavalry. The same year, the remaining four Horse regiments were retitled as the 4th through 7th Dragoon Guards.
in 1802. At the same time, a large number of troops of volunteer cavalry were raised on a county level, consisting of local gentry and yeoman
farmers; from the latter they took the description yeomanry
. These troops formed into yeomanry regiments, organised broadly by county, around 1800; their history thereafter is complex, with many disbanding, reforming, and changing title intermittently. However, most remained in existence throughout the nineteenth century, seeing occasional service quelling riots and helping to maintain public order.
; at their peak in 1794, there had been some 33 regiments of light dragoons, but by 1822 the most junior regiment was the 17th Light Dragoons
.
In 1806, the 10th Light Dragoons became the 10th Hussars, taking a title made popular by Continental cavalry; the 5th, 15th and 18th followed in 1807. In 1816 three more regiments changed their title to "Lancers", and in 1818 two more dragoon regiments became light dragoons. By 1861, the last light dragoons retitled as hussars, leaving three regiments of dragoons and seven of dragoon guards in the heavy cavalry, with nine regiments of hussars and five of lancers in the light cavalry. By this point, the distinction between heavy and light cavalry regiments had effectively vanished, as both fought in the same manner and were equipped in the same way - with the exception of the lancers, who retained their lance
s. In 1862 the army received a further four regiments of cavalry, the European light cavalry regiments formerly part of the forces of the Honourable East India Company.
for overseas service; they were only liable for service in the British Isles, to resist invasion or for internal security. As a result, the Imperial Yeomanry
was created in January 1900 as a volunteer cavalry corps. Some 34,000 men were sent to South Africa on one-year enlistments through 1900 and 1901, most coming initially from existing regiments of yeomanry. Many companies were raised and sponsored by yeomanry regiments - for example, the Leicestershire Yeomanry
sponsored the 7th (Leicestershire) and the 65th (Leicestershire) Companies - and these regiments later took the battle honours of their sponsored companies.
All Imperial Yeomanry battalions were equipped as mounted infantry
, using infantry organisation and terminology (note "battalion" and "company", rather than "regiment" and "squadron"); this proved highly useful in South Africa, where fast-moving infantry was invaluable for a fluid war spread over enormous areas. As the first contingent of volunteers returned, and the lessons of the war were absorbed by the Army, it was decided to convert the Yeomanry into mounted infantry along the same lines.
The new Yeomanry regiments, appropriately retitled as "Imperial Yeomanry", comprised four companies of mounted infantry with carbines, and a machine-gun section; by 1903, an additional nineteen regiments of Imperial Yeomanry had been raised, with several perpetuating the lineages of volunteer units in South Africa or of previously disbanded Yeomanry regiments. In 1908, the reserve forces were reformed; the Yeomanry and the infantry Volunteers were consolidated into the Territorial Force
. The Yeomanry dropped its designation of "Imperial Yeomanry", and most regiments converted back from the mounted infantry role to become lancers, hussars or dragoons. Four regiments were assigned to the Special Reserve, rather than the Territorials, and were no longer considered Yeomanry.
, most notably at the Battle of Beersheba.
While it generally appears that no new regiments of cavalry were raised during the War, this is not entirely accurate. Many yeomanry units raised second- and third-line battalions from new recruits, and on the outbreak of war some seventeen Cavalry Reserve Regiments
were formed. Few of these units saw active service, instead serving to train and equip men for the front-line regiments, or as reserve units for home defence. The Tank Corps
- the forerunner of the Royal Tank Regiment - was formed in 1917, but was not considered as "cavalry" until the 1940s.
Following the War, and the subsequent reduction in the strength of the Army, it was apparent that future warfare would involve much less of a role for cavalry. As such, the regular force was reduced from 31 regiments of cavalry to 22. Unlike previous reductions, however, this was carried out by the amalgamation
of regiments rather than the disbanding of junior regiments; this allowed the traditions and honours of both "parents" to be perpetuated.
Before the Second World War, cavalry recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 2 inches tall, but could not exceed 5 feet 9 inches. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve.
became the first regular cavalry regiment to "mechanise", to change from a horsed cavalry role to a motorised one, re-equipping with armoured cars previously used by the Royal Tank Corps. Other regiments followed suit; in April 1939, the Royal Armoured Corps
was formed to encompass the eighteen mechanised cavalry regiments of the line alongside the eight battalions of the Royal Tank Regiment
, but did not include the Household Cavalry. The remaining two regular cavalry regiments were based in Palestine, and following the outbreak of war retained their horses until 1940 (the Royal Dragoon Guards
) and 1941 (the Royal Scots Greys). Following mechanisation, the few remaining distinctions of unit type became meaningless; cavalry regiments moved between the heavy and light armoured roles regardless of their names.
Seven regiments of the Yeomanry, previously affiliated with the Royal Tank Regiment, were taken into the Royal Armoured Corps on its formation, and a number more would convert to the armoured role during the Second World War. However, in the reorganisation of the reserve forces in the late 1930s, many Yeomanry regiments were reorganised as artillery units, and transferred into the Royal Artillery
.
The Royal Armoured Corps itself formed a number of armoured regiments, converted from territorial infantry battalions, and the Reconnaissance Corps
(taken into the Royal Armoured Corps in 1944) several mechanised reconnaissance units, all of which were classed with the cavalry. Other war-formed units included twelve Territorial Army battalions of the Royal Tank Regiment
, converted from infantry in 1938 and 1939, and six new line cavalry regiments, the 22nd through 27th. These were arbitrarily termed as hussars, lancers or dragoons, but with no meaning; none would survive past 1948.
After the war, the regular cavalry was quickly reduced to its pre-war establishment, and reduced further by the 1957 Defence White Paper
; as a result of this, seven regular cavalry regiments were lost through amalgamation, leaving two household, sixteen line, and (by 1960) five regiments of the Royal Tank Regiment. The subsequent round of cuts, in 1969-71, saw a further three line regiments disappear, and the 1990 Options for Change
defence review reduced the establishment by another five line regiments and two regiments of the Royal Tank Regiment, along with amalgamating the regiments of the Household Cavalry
.
The Yeomanry had been reduced even further in the post-war years; most regiments were amalgamated in the 1950s and then reduced to cadres in the late 1960s, with a sizable fraction being converted to infantry, artillery, or support roles. By the end of the Cold War, there were five regiments of "pure" Yeomanry in the Territorial Army, all in the light reconnaissance role, with five regiments of the Royal Artillery
, eight of the Royal Engineers
and eleven of the Royal Signals titled as "Yeomanry" and retaining lineages from a yeomanry regiment.
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
regiments provided by the Royal Tank Regiment
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
, traditionally classed alongside the cavalry, for a total of eleven regiments. Of these, five serve as armoured regiments
Armoured regiment (United Kingdom)
The Type 58 armoured regiment is one of two organisations currently provided by cavalry regiments of the British Army, and is a battalion-sized formation equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks. It is the descendant of traditional heavy cavalry, intended to provided massed armour for use in a...
, and five as formation reconnaissance regiments, with one in a specialist role. All are part of the Royal Armoured Corps
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
, with the exception of the Household Cavalry
Household Cavalry Regiment
The Household Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and is one of two regiments that are formed from the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the amalgamation of The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Both regiments were...
, nominally a separate corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
. A further four regiments of the Territorial Army are classed as yeomanry
Yeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...
, and serve in the cavalry role.
Modern cavalry
There are currently eight regiments of cavalry and two tank regiments in the regular Army, and a further four Yeomanry regiments in the Territorial Army. They retain the traditional distinctions between household and line cavalry, "heavy" and "light" cavalry regiments, though these have no contemporary significance; light and heavy regiments serve interchangeably in reconnaissance and heavy armour roles.It should be noted that in British terminology, a "regiment" of cavalry or of armour is a battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
-sized unit; this leads to the unusual situation of the Royal Tank Regiment
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
consisting of two full regiments. However, it is still only one regiment for ceremonial purposes - battle honours and the like are held by the Royal Tank Regiment as a whole, and prior to the 1920s the individual units were titled as subordinate battalions.
Formation reconnaissance regiments
The formation reconnaissance regiment is the descendant of traditional light cavalryLight cavalry
Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
, intended to provide reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
for a higher-level formation, usually a division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
or a heavy brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
. In a large-scale defensive operation, they would delay attacking forces, while screening heavier units as they moved to engage the enemy. The regiments are, currently, almost entirely equipped with vehicles of the CVR(T) family
Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)
The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance —or CVR—is a family of armoured fighting vehicles s in service with the British Army and others throughout the world...
.
Following the 2003 Defence Review
Delivering Security in a Changing World
The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to the immediate challenges to security in the aftermath of the...
, five regular army regiments are equipped for the formation reconnaissance role:
- Household Cavalry RegimentHousehold Cavalry RegimentThe Household Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and is one of two regiments that are formed from the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the amalgamation of The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Both regiments were...
1 - 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, and is the senior cavalry regiment, and therefore senior regiment, of the line of the British Army...
- 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's)
- The Light DragoonsThe Light DragoonsThe Light Dragoons is a cavalry regiment in the British Army.It was formed in 1992 from the amalgamation of two regiments, the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars becoming the first dragoon regiment in the British Army for over twenty years.-Present day:The Light...
- The Queen's Royal LancersThe Queen's Royal LancersThe Queen's Royal Lancers is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of two other regiments:*16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers*17th/21st Lancers...
1:The Household Cavalry Regiment consists of four squadrons, two each from The Life Guards
Life Guards (British Army)
The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army and with the Blues and Royals, they make up the Household Cavalry.They originated in the four troops of Horse Guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards which were raised some...
and The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)
Blues and Royals
The Blues and Royals is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. The Colonel-in-Chief is Her Majesty The Queen and the Colonel is HRH The Princess Royal...
. Each regiment also provides a single squadron to the composite Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is a ceremonial cavalry regiment of the British Army. It is classed as a regiment of guards, and carries out mounted ceremonial duties on State and Royal occasions. These include the provision of the Sovereign's Escort, most commonly seen at the present...
, which serves in a ceremonial role during peacetime.
Armoured regiments
The armoured regiment is the descendant of traditional heavy cavalryHeavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
, intended to provided massed armour for use in a major conflict. As the likelihood of a major Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
confrontation died down, and the Army has been deployed to lower-intensity conflicts, the role of heavy armour has become less well-defined, focusing more on infantry co-operation and support rather than pure armoured conflict. Armoured regiments are currently equipped with the Challenger 2 main battle tank.
Following the 2003 Defence Review
Delivering Security in a Changing World
The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to the immediate challenges to security in the aftermath of the...
, five regular army regiments are equipped for the heavy armoured role:
- The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)
- The Royal Dragoon Guards
- The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish)
- The King's Royal Hussars
- 2nd Royal Tank Regiment2nd Royal Tank RegimentThe 2nd Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps...
Specialist roles
The eleventh regiment is the 1st Royal Tank Regiment1st Royal Tank Regiment
The 1st Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It was originally formed as 1st Battalion, Royal Tank Corps in 1934....
, which serves in two separate roles. One of its two squadrons is based at Warminster
Warminster
Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...
, as part of the Combined Arms Training Centre, while the other squadron forms part of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment. This is an unusual unit, both in role and in structure; it is intended to provide a specialist organisation for identifying and responding to the use of weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
, and is equipped with detection vehicles and decontamination equipment. Organisationally, it is operated jointly by the Army and by the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
; the other constituent unit, in addition to the 1st RTR, is No. 27 Squadron
No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment is a field squadron of the RAF Regiment in the Royal Air Force. Its mission is protection of RAF bases from ground attack. The squadron's current HQ is at RAF Honington. The motto of 27 Squadron is Defensores Defendo . - History :No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment was formed...
of the RAF Regiment
RAF Regiment
The Royal Air Force Regiment is a specialist airfield defence corps founded by Royal Warrant in 1942. After a 32 week trainee gunner course, its members are trained and equipped to prevent a successful enemy attack in the first instance; minimise the damage caused by a successful attack; and...
.
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is a ceremonial cavalry regiment of the British Army. It is classed as a regiment of guards, and carries out mounted ceremonial duties on State and Royal occasions. These include the provision of the Sovereign's Escort, most commonly seen at the present...
is not formally a regiment, but rather the mounted squadrons of the Household Cavalry Regiment
Household Cavalry Regiment
The Household Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and is one of two regiments that are formed from the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the amalgamation of The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Both regiments were...
. It is administered separately and has a ceremonial role, providing horse guards for public duties in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Yeomanry
The Territorial Army currently includes four regiments of YeomanryYeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...
. None are intended to mobilise as separate units, but rather to reinforce existing regular regiments. The Royal Yeomanry
Royal Yeomanry
The Royal Yeomanry is an armoured regiment of the Territorial Army consisting of five squadrons and a military band:*A Squadron *B Squadron...
is intended to provide additional squadrons to the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment; the Queen's Own Yeomanry
Queen's Own Yeomanry
The Queen's Own Yeomanry is an armoured regiment of the British Territorial Army. The Queen's Own Yeomanry is the only Yeomanry regiment that serves in the formation reconnaissance role, equipped with the CVR family of armoured reconnaissance vehicles, including Scimitar and Spartan.On...
is tasked for the formation reconnaissance role; on mobilisation, it would provide a fourth squadron to each of the existing line cavalry reconnaissance regiments (the Household Cavalry Regiment has a permanent fourth squadron). The Royal Wessex Yeomanry
Royal Wessex Yeomanry
The Royal Wessex Yeomanry is an armoured regiment of the British Territorial Army consisting of four squadrons, each of which bears the cap badge of an old yeomanry regiment:*B Squadron*A Squadron...
and Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. It currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments....
will provide replacement crews for tanks in the armoured regiments.
Early regiments
The British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, in the modern sense of the standing army under the Crown, was formed following the Restoration of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in 1661. At this point, the small standing forces included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Troops of Horse Guards
Horse Guards
Horse Guards or horse guards can refer to:* A Household Cavalry regiment:** Troops of the Horse Guards Regiment of the British Army from 1658-1788** The Royal Horse Guards, which is now part of the Blues and Royals...
and the Royal Regiment of Horse; some of these had been raised in exile and some as part of the New Model Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
. The horsemen of the period were equipped as cuirassiers, with armour on the head and the body; the regulations of Charles II, in 1663, provided for them to be armed with "a sword and a case of pistolls ... each Trooper of our Guards to have a carbine besides".
By the start of the eighteenth century, the cavalry establishment had been divided into household and line units. The household establishment consisted of four troop
Troop
A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...
s of Horse Guards and two of Horse Grenadier Guards, while the regular establishment was composed of nine regiments of Horse and eight of Dragoons. The "horse" regiments would in theory fight mounted as cavalry, while dragoons were originally mounted infantry - they would fight dismounted, but were provided with horses for swift movement. By the middle of the century, the term had come simply to mean light cavalry
Light cavalry
Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
.
Regiments were, at this time, known by semi-permanent nicknames or by the names of their colonels; in 1751, in an attempt to reduce confusion, regiments were assigned numbers in order of their seniority. The cavalry regiments of the line were numbered in three separate sequences; 1st through 4th Horse, then 1st through 3rd Dragoon Guards, then 1st through 14th Dragoons. "Dragoon Guards" was a new title, and did not denote a Guards' role; it was adopted by the three senior horse regiments in 1746, when George III reduced them to the status of dragoons in order to save money.
The first "light horse" regiment was raised in 1745, for service in the Second Jacobite rising, and proved so successful that light troops were added to most cavalry regiments in 1755. In 1759, five complete regiments (the 15th to 19th) of Light Dragoons were formed, and the distinction was made between the light cavalry
Light cavalry
Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...
(Light Dragoon regiments) and the heavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry
Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
(Dragoon and Dragoon Guard regiments). Henceforth, all newly raised regiments of cavalry would be denoted Light Dragoons. By 1783, the 7th to 14th Dragoons had become the 7th to 14th Light Dragoons, changing from heavy to light roles.
The various troops of Horse Guards and Horse Grenadier Guards were regimented in 1788, forming the 1st Regiment of Life Guards
1st Regiment of Life Guards
The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated with the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards to form the Life...
and 2nd Regiment of Life Guards
2nd Regiment of Life Guards
The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated with the 1st Life Guards to form the Life...
; together with the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards they formed the Household Cavalry. The same year, the remaining four Horse regiments were retitled as the 4th through 7th Dragoon Guards.
The yeomanry and fencible cavalry
Some thirty-four regiments of fencible cavalry - regiments raised for home service only - were raised in 1794 and 1795, in response to an invasion scare; all had disbanded by the end of the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
in 1802. At the same time, a large number of troops of volunteer cavalry were raised on a county level, consisting of local gentry and yeoman
Yeoman
Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
farmers; from the latter they took the description yeomanry
Yeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...
. These troops formed into yeomanry regiments, organised broadly by county, around 1800; their history thereafter is complex, with many disbanding, reforming, and changing title intermittently. However, most remained in existence throughout the nineteenth century, seeing occasional service quelling riots and helping to maintain public order.
Nineteenth century
By the turn of the century, in 1800, the Household Cavalry establishment consisted of three regiments of guards, while the line cavalry had some twenty-seven regiments of dragoons and dragoon guards. The heavy cavalry consisted of twelve regiments, the 1st to 7th Dragoon Guards and the 1st to 6th Dragoons - the missing regiment was the 5th Dragoons, disbanded for mutiny in 1799 without renumbering younger regiments - while the light cavalry consisted of the 7th through 29th Light Dragoons and two regiments of German cavalry on the British establishment. Many of the light cavalry regiments were disbanded after the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
; at their peak in 1794, there had been some 33 regiments of light dragoons, but by 1822 the most junior regiment was the 17th Light Dragoons
17th Lancers
The 17th Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War...
.
In 1806, the 10th Light Dragoons became the 10th Hussars, taking a title made popular by Continental cavalry; the 5th, 15th and 18th followed in 1807. In 1816 three more regiments changed their title to "Lancers", and in 1818 two more dragoon regiments became light dragoons. By 1861, the last light dragoons retitled as hussars, leaving three regiments of dragoons and seven of dragoon guards in the heavy cavalry, with nine regiments of hussars and five of lancers in the light cavalry. By this point, the distinction between heavy and light cavalry regiments had effectively vanished, as both fought in the same manner and were equipped in the same way - with the exception of the lancers, who retained their lance
Lance
A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...
s. In 1862 the army received a further four regiments of cavalry, the European light cavalry regiments formerly part of the forces of the Honourable East India Company.
Imperial Yeomanry
The outbreak of the South African War in 1899 caused some sharp setbacks for the British forces, leading to a high demand for additional troops to be despatched, especially light cavalry. However, it was not possible to embody the YeomanryYeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...
for overseas service; they were only liable for service in the British Isles, to resist invasion or for internal security. As a result, the Imperial Yeomanry
Imperial Yeomanry
The Imperial Yeomanry was a British volunteer cavalry regiment that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of mid-upper class English volunteers. In...
was created in January 1900 as a volunteer cavalry corps. Some 34,000 men were sent to South Africa on one-year enlistments through 1900 and 1901, most coming initially from existing regiments of yeomanry. Many companies were raised and sponsored by yeomanry regiments - for example, the Leicestershire Yeomanry
Leicestershire Yeomanry
The Leicestershire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the South African War and First World War and provided two field artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery in the Second World War,...
sponsored the 7th (Leicestershire) and the 65th (Leicestershire) Companies - and these regiments later took the battle honours of their sponsored companies.
All Imperial Yeomanry battalions were equipped as mounted infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, using infantry organisation and terminology (note "battalion" and "company", rather than "regiment" and "squadron"); this proved highly useful in South Africa, where fast-moving infantry was invaluable for a fluid war spread over enormous areas. As the first contingent of volunteers returned, and the lessons of the war were absorbed by the Army, it was decided to convert the Yeomanry into mounted infantry along the same lines.
The new Yeomanry regiments, appropriately retitled as "Imperial Yeomanry", comprised four companies of mounted infantry with carbines, and a machine-gun section; by 1903, an additional nineteen regiments of Imperial Yeomanry had been raised, with several perpetuating the lineages of volunteer units in South Africa or of previously disbanded Yeomanry regiments. In 1908, the reserve forces were reformed; the Yeomanry and the infantry Volunteers were consolidated into the Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
. The Yeomanry dropped its designation of "Imperial Yeomanry", and most regiments converted back from the mounted infantry role to become lancers, hussars or dragoons. Four regiments were assigned to the Special Reserve, rather than the Territorials, and were no longer considered Yeomanry.
Twentieth century
The last major use of conventional cavalry by the Army was in the First World War. However, the anticipated war of manoeuvre on the Western Front never took place, and the cavalry forces were never employed in their intended role; instead, many saw intermittent service as dismounted infantry. This was especially true of the yeomanry regiments; indeed, the 74th (Yeomanry) Division was composed entirely of yeomanry regiments serving as infantry, and in 1918 many regiments began to be formally converted to infantry units. However, mounted cavalry did play a major role in the Sinai and Palestine theatreSinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...
, most notably at the Battle of Beersheba.
While it generally appears that no new regiments of cavalry were raised during the War, this is not entirely accurate. Many yeomanry units raised second- and third-line battalions from new recruits, and on the outbreak of war some seventeen Cavalry Reserve Regiments
Cavalry Reserve Regiments (United Kingdom)
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 regiments. In 1915, the 3rd Seventeen Cavalry Reserve...
were formed. Few of these units saw active service, instead serving to train and equip men for the front-line regiments, or as reserve units for home defence. The Tank Corps
Tank Corps
Tank Corps may refer to:* Tank Corps, later Royal Tank Corps, early name of the Royal Tank Regiment* Tank Corps , a type of Red Army formation used up to World War II...
- the forerunner of the Royal Tank Regiment - was formed in 1917, but was not considered as "cavalry" until the 1940s.
Following the War, and the subsequent reduction in the strength of the Army, it was apparent that future warfare would involve much less of a role for cavalry. As such, the regular force was reduced from 31 regiments of cavalry to 22. Unlike previous reductions, however, this was carried out by the amalgamation
Consolidation (business)
Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...
of regiments rather than the disbanding of junior regiments; this allowed the traditions and honours of both "parents" to be perpetuated.
Before the Second World War, cavalry recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 2 inches tall, but could not exceed 5 feet 9 inches. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve.
Mechanisation
In October 1928, a new era began as the 11th Hussars11th Hussars
The 11th Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.-History:The regiment was founded in 1715 as Colonel Philip Honeywood's Regiment of Dragoons and was known by the name of its Colonel until 1751 when it became the 11th Regiment of Dragoons...
became the first regular cavalry regiment to "mechanise", to change from a horsed cavalry role to a motorised one, re-equipping with armoured cars previously used by the Royal Tank Corps. Other regiments followed suit; in April 1939, the Royal Armoured Corps
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
was formed to encompass the eighteen mechanised cavalry regiments of the line alongside the eight battalions of the Royal Tank Regiment
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
, but did not include the Household Cavalry. The remaining two regular cavalry regiments were based in Palestine, and following the outbreak of war retained their horses until 1940 (the Royal Dragoon Guards
Royal Dragoon Guards
The Royal Dragoon Guards is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards...
) and 1941 (the Royal Scots Greys). Following mechanisation, the few remaining distinctions of unit type became meaningless; cavalry regiments moved between the heavy and light armoured roles regardless of their names.
Seven regiments of the Yeomanry, previously affiliated with the Royal Tank Regiment, were taken into the Royal Armoured Corps on its formation, and a number more would convert to the armoured role during the Second World War. However, in the reorganisation of the reserve forces in the late 1930s, many Yeomanry regiments were reorganised as artillery units, and transferred into the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
.
The Royal Armoured Corps itself formed a number of armoured regiments, converted from territorial infantry battalions, and the Reconnaissance Corps
Reconnaissance Corps
The Reconnaissance Corps or simply Recce Corps was a short-lived elite corps of the British Army whose units provided the mobile spearhead of infantry divisions from the Far East to Europe during the Second World War. It was formed from Infantry Brigade Reconnaissance Groups on 14 January 1941...
(taken into the Royal Armoured Corps in 1944) several mechanised reconnaissance units, all of which were classed with the cavalry. Other war-formed units included twelve Territorial Army battalions of the Royal Tank Regiment
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
, converted from infantry in 1938 and 1939, and six new line cavalry regiments, the 22nd through 27th. These were arbitrarily termed as hussars, lancers or dragoons, but with no meaning; none would survive past 1948.
After the war, the regular cavalry was quickly reduced to its pre-war establishment, and reduced further by the 1957 Defence White Paper
1957 Defence White Paper
The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry...
; as a result of this, seven regular cavalry regiments were lost through amalgamation, leaving two household, sixteen line, and (by 1960) five regiments of the Royal Tank Regiment. The subsequent round of cuts, in 1969-71, saw a further three line regiments disappear, and the 1990 Options for Change
Options for Change
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in 1990, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War....
defence review reduced the establishment by another five line regiments and two regiments of the Royal Tank Regiment, along with amalgamating the regiments of the Household Cavalry
Household Cavalry
The term Household Cavalry is used across the Commonwealth to describe the cavalry of the Household Divisions, a country’s most elite or historically senior military groupings or those military groupings that provide functions associated directly with the Head of state.Canada's Governor General's...
.
The Yeomanry had been reduced even further in the post-war years; most regiments were amalgamated in the 1950s and then reduced to cadres in the late 1960s, with a sizable fraction being converted to infantry, artillery, or support roles. By the end of the Cold War, there were five regiments of "pure" Yeomanry in the Territorial Army, all in the light reconnaissance role, with five regiments of the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
, eight of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
and eleven of the Royal Signals titled as "Yeomanry" and retaining lineages from a yeomanry regiment.