The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) 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 a volunteer cavalry regiment. It first served overseas at the time of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. Following distinguished action in Egypt and Palestine in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it developed with the deployment of artillery and tanks. The Staffordshire Yeomanry became part of the Mercian Yeomanry in 1971 (renamed the

Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry was a cavalry regiment of the Territorial Army, formed in 1971 by the reconstitution of squadrons from the Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry, the Staffordshire Yeomanry and the Shropshire Yeom ...

in 1973) with one of the squadrons being designated B (Staffordshire Yeomanry) Squadron.

History

Formation and early history

The regiment was formed on 4 July 1794 with commanding officer being Colonel George, ''Earl'' Gower. The regiment was divided into

Troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

associated with the Staffordshire towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Lichfield, Leek and Walsall. The uniform of the regiment was: a red jacket with yellow facings, white waistcoat, white leather breeches and military boots. On their head the members wore a helmet with a bearskin crest and feather at the side and were armed with a sword and pistol. The regimental motto was "Pro aris et focis" and the badge was the Staffordshire knot. The regiment was first called out in 1795 in order to support the civil powers in suppressing a bread riot. Future Prime Minister Robert Peel was an officer in the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1820. In 1842, the regiment was embodied for 6 weeks when riots took place. As a result, the regiment was presented with 12 silver trumpets inscribed "Presented by a grateful County to the Queen's Own Royal Yeomanry for their services in 1842". By 1875, the regiment had expanded to 12 Troops with headquarters at Lichfield. The strength on 1 December 1875 was stated to be 495 with 104 wanting to complete. At this point, the uniform was blue with scarlet facing and silver lace.

Imperial Yeomanry

The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during

Black Week Black Week refers to the week of 10–17 December 1899 during the Second Boer War, when the British Army suffered three devastating defeats by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. In total, 2,776 British s ...

in December 1899, the British government realized they were going to need more troops than just the regular army. A Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December 1899 to allow volunteer forces to serve in the

. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry

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 conscript ...

s to provide service

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

of approximately 115 men each for the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

. The regiment provided the 6th (Staffordshire) Company for the 4th Battalion in 1900 and the 106th (Staffordshire) Company for the same battalion in 1901. The regiment moved to Tamworth Street in Lichfield (since demolished) in 1905 and to Friar's Walk (off Bailey Street) in Stafford in 1914.

First World War

In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ('' 7 Edw. 7, c.9'') which brought the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.

1/1st Staffordshire Yeomanry

The Staffordshire Yeomanry, after a short period of training at Diss,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

with the

North Midland Mounted Brigade North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, was ordered to join the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...

in 1915. The Regiment was attached to the

22nd Mounted Brigade The North Midland Mounted Brigade (later numbered as the 22nd Mounted Brigade) was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. ...

, Yeomanry Mounted Division in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Turkish and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

army 1916–1918. It fought in the indecisive

First Battle of Gaza The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from th ...

and

Second Battle of Gaza The Second Battle of Gaza was fought on 17-19 April 1917, following the defeat of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) at the First Battle of Gaza in March, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Gaza was defended by ...

in March and April 1917. They finally won through in the

Third Battle of Gaza The Third Battle of Gaza was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1917 between British and Ottoman forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I and came after the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory at the ...

in October 1917 and the crucial follow up Battle of Beersheba on 6 November 1917, where Allied victory at last left the field open for the capture of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

on 9 December 1917. WilliamHerbertRichardson

In July 1918, the Division was reformed as the Fourth Cavalry Division under the command of

General Allenby Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...

and the Regiment played a key role in the decisive

Battle of Megiddo (1918) The Battle of Megiddo ( tr, ), also known in Turkish as the ("Rout of Nablus") or the ("Breakthrough at Nablus"), was fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, on the Plain of Sharon, in front of Tulkarm, Tabsor and Arara in the Judean Hil ...

. The 1/1st Staffordshire Yeomanry joined the

Desert Mounted Corps The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Pales ...

under the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

General

Harry Chauvel General Sir Henry George Chauvel, (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World W ...

and took part in his strategic cavalry 'bound' from the desert through Beisan, a forced march which covered an epic 87 miles in 33 hours: a record in cavalry history. After resting for four days, during which they took 5,800 prisoners, they converged with the spearhead of the Allied advance and made a triumphal entry into the Syrian city of Damascus with Allenby on 1 October 1918. After a week, the Regiment started on a 200-mile trek to Aleppo, having been reduced to just 75 men, 200 of them having become casualties from malignant malaria caught in the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

valley. However, Aleppo was captured on 25 October 1918. Five days later, Turkey surrendered.

2/1st Staffordshire Yeomanry

The 2nd Line regiment was formed in 1914. In 1915, it joined the 2/1st North Midland Mounted Brigade. In October, the brigade joined the

1st Mounted Division The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three ...

, replacing the 1st Line brigade. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence and the brigade became the 3rd Mounted Brigade. In July 1916, there was a major reorganization of 2nd Line yeomanry units in the United Kingdom. All but 12 regiments were converted to

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

and as a consequence the regiment was dismounted and joined the

3rd Cyclist Brigade Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

(and the division became 1st Cyclist Division) in the Holt area. A further reorganization in November 1916 saw the regiment remounted along with the rest of the brigade which was redesignated as the new 2nd Mounted Brigade in the new 1st Mounted Division (originally

3rd Mounted Division The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad o ...

) at

Stansted London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

. By May 1917, it was at

Leybourne Leybourne is a small village and civil parish in Kent, England situated off Junction 4 of the M20 Motorway. Leybourne is adjacent to New Hythe, Larkfield and West Malling. As of 2020 Leybourne Parish had a population of 4,372. Historically, the ...

near

West Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, a Nor ...

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 ...

. The regiment was once again converted to cyclists in August 1917 and joined 12th Cyclist Brigade in The Cyclist Division. By the end of 1917, it was at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

and then to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

where it remained until the end of the war.

3/1st Staffordshire Yeomanry

The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 and in the summer it was affiliated to a Reserve Cavalry Regiment at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

. In the summer of 1916, it was affiliated to

12th Reserve Cavalry Regiment 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 r ...

also at Aldershot. Early in 1917, the regiment was absorbed into the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Regiment still at Aldershot.

Between the wars

Post war, a commission was set up to consider the shape of the Territorial Force ( Territorial Army from 1 October 1921). The experience of the First World War made it clear that cavalry was surfeit. The commission decided that only the 14 most senior regiments were to be retained as cavalry (though 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 ...

and the

Scottish Horse The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army's Territorial Army raised in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. It saw heavy fighting in both the First World War, as the 13th Battalion, Black Watch, and in the Second World Wa ...

were also to remain mounted as "scouts"). Eight regiments were converted to Armoured Car Companies of the

Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

(RTC), one was reduced to a

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

in another regiment, one was absorbed into a local infantry battalion, one became a signals regiment and two were disbanded. The remaining 25 regiments were converted to brigades of the Royal Field Artillery between 1920 and 1922. As the 5th most senior regiment in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

, the regiment was retained as horsed cavalry.

Second World War

North Africa

In 1939, the Staffordshire Yeomanry was part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, with the

Warwickshire Yeomanry The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalg ...

and

Cheshire Yeomanry The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineag ...

. The 6th Cavalry Brigade arrived in Palestine in January 1940 and took part in mounted operations with the police to suppress disturbances between the Arab and Jewish populations. The Staffordshire Yeomanry retained its horses until 1941, when it converted to tanks as part of the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...

(RAC) and then served in North Africa in the 8th Armoured Brigade, which was part of the

10th Armoured Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. When the 10th Armoured Division was ordered back to Egypt, the 8th Armoured Brigade was left behind as an independent brigade. At the end of November, the brigade came under the command of the 7th Armoured Division, the famous

Desert Rats The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname. After the Muni ...

and was involved in the battles around

El Agheila El Agheila ( ar, العقيلة, translit=al-ʿUqayla ) is a coastal city at the southern end of the Gulf of Sidra in far western Cyrenaica, Libya. In 1988 it was placed in Ajdabiya District; it was in that district until 1995. It was removed from ...

Staffordshire Yeomanry Operation Goodwood

During its time in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, the Staffordshire Yeomanry fought at the Battles of Alam Halfa and El Alamein, fighting the

Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

all the way into

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Invasion of Normandy

The British Army in the Normandy Campaign 1944 B5185

The regiment was transferred to England to serve in the

27th Armoured Brigade The 27th Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army that served in the Second World War and played a crucial role in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 and the following Battle of Normandy until disbandment in late 1944. Orig ...

, part of the

British Second Army The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...

, commanded by Lieutenant-General

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Miles Dempsey General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, (15 December 1896 – 5 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars. During the Second World War he commanded the Second Army in north west Europe. A highly professional an ...

. The Staffordshire Yeomanry was probably the only conventional tank unit (i.e. equipped with neither DD nor

flail A flail is an agriculture, agricultural tool used for threshing, the process of separating cereal, grains from their husks. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the othe ...

) to land on D-Day, 6 June 1944, on

Sword Beach Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied Fr ...

. The Shermans of the Staffordshire Yeomanry landed on the morning of D-Day to support 185th Brigade, the spearhead of 3rd Division's attack inland. The regiment continued to fight in the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

as part of the 27th Armoured Brigade until July 1944, when the brigade was disbanded after suffering heavy losses and the regiment was once again transferred back to England to join the

79th Armoured Division The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy ...

Battle of the Scheldt

The Staffordshire Yeomanry converted to Sherman DD tanks and B Squadron supported the

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

in the assault on South Beveland, during the

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...

Operation Plunder

More training ensued and, on 23 March 1945, the regiment used Sherman

DD tank DD or Duplex Drive tanks, nicknamed " Donald Duck tanks", were a type of amphibious swimming tank developed by the British during the Second World War. The phrase is mostly used for the Duplex Drive variant of the M4 Sherman medium tank, that w ...

s in the Rhine crossings.

Post war

The Staffordshire Yeomanry reformed in the RAC in 1947 with the following organisation: * HQ at Stafford * A Squadron at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

* B Squadron at Stoke-on-Trent * C Squadron at

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

In 1967, the regiment was reorganised as infantry as The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment). It absorbed some Staffordshire

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 ...

(RA) and Royal Engineers (RE) units, but also transferred some personnel to the 5th/6th Battalion

Staffordshire Regiment The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales') (or simply "Staffords" for short) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of the South Staffordshire Re ...

), giving the following organisation: * HQ at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

* A Squadron at Wolverhampton, formed from Staffordshire Yeomanry and HQ RA 48th (South Midland) Division * B (887 Locating Battery) Squadron at Stafford, formed from 887 Locating Battery, RA (formerly 61st (North Midland) Field Regiment, RA) and part of 125 Engineer Regiment, RE (originally

59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power ...

RE) * C Squadron at Burton-on-Trent, formed from Staffordshire Yeomanry and HQ RA 48th (South Midland) Division The Staffordshire Yeomanry became part of the Mercian Yeomanry in 1971 (renamed the

in 1973) with one of the squadrons being designated B (Staffordshire Yeomanry) Squadron. In July 1999 B (Staffordshire Yeomanry) Squadron amalgamated with A (

Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry The Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry (QOWWY) was a regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, forming part of the Territorial Army (TA). Following reductions in 1969 and 1971 respectively the regiment was reduced to two and late ...

) Squadron, also part of the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry, to form A (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron, The

Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. It served in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments. History The regiment was fo ...

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

. In July 2014 B (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron re-subordinated to The

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 ...

. However, in 2021 the squadron lost its Stafford lineage, becoming

B (Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron The Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry (QOWWY) was a regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, forming part of the Territorial Army (TA). Following reductions in 1969 and 1971 respectively the regiment was reduced to two and later ...

following an internal reorganisation of the

Battle honours

The Staffordshire Yeomanry was awarded the following

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s (honours in bold are emblazoned on the

regimental colours In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* *
British Army units from 1945 on
{{British Cavalry Regiments World War I Staffordshire Yeomanry Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Yeomanry regiments of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations established in 1794 Military units and formations disestablished in 1973 1973 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1794 establishments in Great Britain Military units and formations in Staffordshire Military units and formations disestablished in 2021 Regiments of the British Army in World War II