Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
Encyclopedia
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.
The regiment was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry and The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry
as part of the Options for Change
. In 1999 it absorbed a squadron from The Queen's Own Yeomanry, bringing it to a strength of four squadrons plus the headquarters squadron.
The RMLY consists of a Recce Troop, and Command Troop (Within the Det. based in Hereford) and four sabre squadrons. Each of the sabre squadrons perpetuates a historic Yeomanry regiment, which is reflected in their subtitles:
In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. This incorporates the Mercian Eagle from the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry with the Red Rose from the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry. This is also the point at which H-Det joined the regiment, to provide a Recce troop.
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:...
regiment of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Territorial Army. It currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.
The regiment was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry and The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry
Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry
The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry has its origins in the various troops of light horse raised in the eighteenth century in the county of Lancaster, the earliest of which was the Bolton Light Horse formed in 1798....
as part of the 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....
. In 1999 it absorbed a squadron from The Queen's Own Yeomanry, bringing it to a strength of four squadrons plus the headquarters squadron.
The RMLY consists of a Recce Troop, and Command Troop (Within the Det. based in Hereford) and four sabre squadrons. Each of the sabre squadrons perpetuates a historic Yeomanry regiment, which is reflected in their subtitles:
- A (StaffordshireStaffordshire YeomanryThe Staffordshire Yeomanry 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 Staffordshire Yeomanry began as volunteer cavalry regiment. It first served overseas at the...
, WarwickshireWarwickshire YeomanryThe Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalgamated into The Queen's Own...
and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron - B (Shropshire YeomanryShropshire YeomanryThe 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, before being amalgamated with the Shropshire Royal Horse...
) Squadron - C (Cheshire YeomanryCheshire YeomanryThe Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Fleming Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France....
) Squadron - D (Duke of Lancaster's Own YeomanryDuke of Lancaster's Own YeomanryThe Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry has its origins in the various troops of light horse raised in the eighteenth century in the county of Lancaster, the earliest of which was the Bolton Light Horse formed in 1798....
) Squadron - H-Det (HerefordHerefordHereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
) - The Herefordshire (Light Infantry)Herefordshire Light InfantryThe Herefordshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army from 1861 to 1967. Its heritage survives as a platoon of Company, 4th Battalion the Mercian Regiment.The Regiment had no lineal connection with the 36th Regiment of Foot....
Detachment
In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. This incorporates the Mercian Eagle from the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry with the Red Rose from the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry. This is also the point at which H-Det joined the regiment, to provide a Recce troop.