The Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry was a unit of the Territorial Army ('TA') that was formed in 1961 as the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) by the amalgamation of 297 (Kent Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Artillery and 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).

History

The unit was formed in 1961 as the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) by the amalgamation of two

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

regiments, the 297 (Kent Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Artillery and the 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). It served initially as an armoured reconnaissance regiment until 1967 and the re-organisation of the TA, when it was disbanded and reconstituted as three separate units: *'C' Squadron,

Royal Yeomanry The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in ...

*'R' Battery, The London and Kent Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

*'A' Company, 8th Battalion, the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

In 1969, the artillery battery was converted to (265 London & Kent) Squadron, part of

71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 11th Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. History The ...

, the

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

. In 1971, this squadron was re-designated 265 (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Squadron in 1971 and in 1987 the lineage was transferred to HQ (Kent and County of London Yeomanry) Squadron, part of 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment.

Present day

Lord Mayor's Show, London 2006 (295289181)

Today two squadrons retain the Sharpshooters name: *'C' (Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry) Squadron

. * 265 (Kent & County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)) Support Squadron,

71 (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 11th Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. History Th ...

Regimental museum

The Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum is at

Hever Castle Hever Castle ( ) is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally 'Bullen') family. ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Honorary Colonels

Honorary colonels have been: *Colonel John Nevill, 5th Marquess of Abergavenny 1961-1962 *Major-General George Philip Bradley Roberts 1962-1970 *Colonel Sir William John Herbert de Wette Mullens 1970-1974 *Major-General The Rt. Hon.

Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (Sout ...

1974-1979 *Lieutenant Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown 1979-1992 *Brigadier Sir Arthur Gooch 1992-2000 *Lieutenant-Colonel

Julian Radcliffe Julian Guy Yonge Radcliffe (born August 1948) is a British businessman, and the founder and chairman of the Art Loss Register (ALR). Early life He was educated at Eton, followed by New College, Oxford, from where he has a degree in politi ...

2000-2013 *Colonel Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames 2013-

Lineage

, - style="text-align: center; background: #444C38;" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3", , - , width="33%" rowspan="4" align="center" , Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry , width="33%" rowspan="2" align="center" , 297th (Kent Yeomanry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment , width="33%" align="center" , Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles (Duke of Connaught's Own) , - , width="33%" align="center" ,

Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. It amalgamated with the Royal East Kent (The Duke of Connaught's Own) Yeomanry (Mounted Rifles) to form the ...

, - , width="33%" rowspan="2" align="center" , 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) , width="33%" align="center" ,

3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) The 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. It was raised in 1901 from Second Boer War veterans of the Imperial Yeomanry. During the First World War it served dismounted at Gallipoli, was remount ...

, - , width="33%" align="center" ,

4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) The 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. It was raised in 1901 from Second Boer War veterans of the Imperial Yeomanry. During the First World War it served dismounted at Gallipoli, was remount ...

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 * Mollo, Boris, (1970). ''The Sharpshooters. The 3rd County of London Yeomanry and successor units 1900-1961. Kent and County of London Yeomanry 1961-1970'', Historical Research Unit, London.

External links

C (KSY) Squadron, Royal Yeomanry265 (KCLY) Support Squadron, Royal SignalsKSY MuseumKSY Association
Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1961 Military units and formations in Kent 1961 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations in London