Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
Encyclopedia
Known by its new title since 2009, the Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry (ICCEY) is a Royal Signals squadron
Squadron
Squadron has different meanings:*Squadron , a cavalry or other unit that consists of a number of troops.*Squadron , a unit of aircraft that consists of three or four "flights", with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, depending on aircraft type and air force.*Squadron , a unit of 3-4 major naval vessels...

 in the British Territorial Army (TA) with its headquarters in Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...

, London. It is the successor to three historic volunteer units, namely The Inns of Court Regiment (ICR), The City of London Yeomanry (COLY) and The Essex Yeomanry (EY).

History

The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry (IC&CY) was formed in 1961 through the amalgamation of The Inns of Court Regiment (The Devil's Own) and The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders). It can therefore trace its roots back to the first written records of the former in 1584. Both regiments underwent various changes in their history. During the period up to 1967, the IC&CY served as an armoured car regiment (as did many other Yeomanry units). The 1967 reorganisation of the TA then led to the regiment being reduced in size to an infantry company, assigned as A Company (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry), the London Yeomanry and Territorials. In 1968, the London Yeomanry and Territorials was disbanded, but a cadre of the Regiment, consisting of 3 officers and 5 other ranks, was retained in 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...

, thereby ensuring the continuation of the Regiment's name in the Army List, and the retention of its headquarters and historical mess at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

. Personnel from A Company were then used to form 68 (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron
68 Signal Squadron
68 Signal Squadron is a British Territorial Army unit of the Royal Corps of Signals. It operates out of three locations: a townhouse in Lincoln's Inn, Central London; a more barrack-style premises in Whipps Cross, Leytonstone some 17 kilometers away in East London; and at the TA Centre housing...

, in the newly-formed 71st (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment. The cadre itself was disbanded in 1975.

There was a Home Service Force Squadron badged as IC&CY and designated as 348 (IC&CY) Signals Squadron HSF from 1986 to 1993. The squadron was based at Lincolns Inn and wore the original IC&CY cap badge. 348 Squadron was organised on the lines of an infantry rifle company and had a key point defence role. The HSF unit ran on for another 12 months as a semi-official Defence Platoon, its final parade being in 1994.

Following the reorganisation of the Royal Signals TA in 2009, the Squadron merged with the Essex Yeomanry
Essex Yeomanry
The Essex Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army raised in 1797. The regiment recruited volunteers from the county of Essex in the East of England.-Origins:...

 to form The Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry (ICCEY).

Present day

Today, the Inns of Court & City Yeomanry maintains two distinct sub-units in the TA: 68 (ICCEY) Signal Squadron remains in 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment, which is part of 2 (National Communications) Signal Brigade
2 (National Communications) Signal Brigade
2 Signal Brigade is an operational Brigade of the Royal Corps of Signals with a Regular HQ, 1 Regular Regiment, 8 TA Regiments and a number of specialist sub-units...

, while the IC&CY Band, which was formed along with the regiment in 1961, has become the band of 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...

. The Band still retains its distinctive original uniform, however.

Both Band and Mounted Detachment of the Sabre Squadron are publicly most visible in providing an escort to the Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

 of the City of London in the annual Lord Mayor's Show
Lord Mayor's Show
The Lord Mayor's Show is one of the longest established and best known annual events in London which dates back to 1535. The Lord Mayor in question is that of the City of London, the historic centre of London that is now the metropolis's financial district, informally known as the Square Mile...

. The Band also performs a large number of charitable performances both nationally, and at its Clifton Street HQ.

Although their primary role remains UK Operations-focused, squadron members have raised significant sums for charitable causes in recent years. Individual members of the Signal Squadron have also deployed overseas to support UK military operations in the Balkans, Iraq, Cyprus and Afghanistan.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK