Formation and early history The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was formed as an independent troop of
Fencible Cavalry by The
Earl of Cassillis sometime around 1794. It was formally adopted into the Army List in 1798 as
The Ayrshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry. The Yeomanry were established and recruited at this time to provide Britain with a defence against any invasion by French forces under
Napoleon. The regiment spent its formative years as an aid to the civil powers, reacting to and controlling riots across Ayrshire and beyond, most notably in
Paisley. Following the
Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the
Army List from December 1875. This assigned Regular and Yeomanry units places in an order of battle of corps, divisions and brigades for the 'Active Army', even though these formations were entirely theoretical, with no staff or services assigned. The Ayrshire Yeomanry were assigned as 'divisional troops' to 1st Division of
VIII Corps based at
Edinburgh, alongside
Regular Army and
Militia units of infantry, artillery and engineers. This was never more than a paper organisation, but from April 1893 the
Army List showed the Yeomanry regiments grouped into brigades for collective training. They were commanded by the senior regimental commanding officer but they did have a Regular Army
Brigade major. The Ayrshire Yeomanry together with the
Lanarkshire Yeomanry and
Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry formed the 11th Yeomanry Brigade. The Yeomanry brigades disappeared from the
Army List after the
Second Boer War. In 1897, the regiment was granted permission to use the title '''Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Earl of Carrick's Own)''' in honour of the future
King Edward VII, as
Earl of Carrick is a subsidiary title of the
Princes of Wales deriving from the
Ayrshire district of
Carrick. With the
Lanarkshire Yeomanry, the regiment co-sponsored the 17th (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire) Company for the 6th (Scottish) Battalion in 1900. On their return in 1901, the regiment was reorganized as
mounted infantry and titled the '''Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Imperial Yeomanry
. In 1908, it was transferred into the new Territorial Force, returning to the cavalry role as the Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry'''.
First World War In accordance with the
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (
7 Edw. 7, c.9), which brought the
Territorial Force 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 Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry On the outbreak of the
First World War, the regiment was one of the fastest to react to the mobilisation order and received congratulations from Scottish Command, even though there was an initial delay in that the orders came in a code that had not been issued to the regiment! Following mobilisation, the regiment joined the
Lowland Mounted Brigade and remained in the
United Kingdom, on home defence duties, until 1915. The regiment finally deployed overseas in September of that year, where it took part in the
Gallipoli landings, serving as dismounted
infantry. The regiment was attached to the
52nd (Lowland) Division in October; it was withdrawn in January 1916 and moved to Egypt. In early 1917, the regiment was amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry to form the
12th (Ayr and Lanark Yeomanry) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in
74th (Yeomanry) Division (The Broken Spurs), seeing service in the
Palestine campaign before moving to the
Western Front in May 1918. In June it was transferred to
94th (Yeomanry) Brigade in
31st Division and fought with this through the final
Hundred Days Offensive. A member of this regiment,
Thomas Caldwell, won the
Victoria Cross on 31 October 1918 at
Oudenaarde in Belgium.
2/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry The 2nd line regiment was formed in 1914. In 1915, it was under the command of the
2/1st Lowland Mounted Brigade in Scotland (along with the
2/1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry and the
2/1st Lothians and Border Horse) and by March 1916 was at
Dunbar,
East Lothian. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were numbered in a single sequence and the brigade became
20th Mounted Brigade, still at Dunbar under
Scottish Command. 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 and as a consequence the regiment was dismounted and the brigade converted to
13th Cyclist Brigade. Further reorganization in October and November 1916 saw the brigade redesignated as
9th Cyclist Brigade in November, still at Dunbar. About May 1918, the brigade moved to Ireland and the regiment was stationed at
Omagh,
County Tyrone. There were no further changes before the end of the war.
3/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 and in the summer was affiliated to a
Reserve Cavalry Regiment at
Aldershot. In June 1916, it left the Reserve Cavalry Regiment and went to
Perth. The regiment was disbanded in early 1917 with personnel transferring to the 2nd Line regiment or to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion of the
Royal Scots Fusiliers at
Catterick.
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 there was a surplus of
cavalry. The commission decided that only the 14 most senior regiments were to be retained as cavalry. As the 7th most senior regiment in the
order of precedence, the regiment was retained as horsed cavalry.
Second World War Between the First and Second World Wars, the regiment returned to its horsed cavalry training in Scotland. However, at the beginning of Second World War, the Ayrshire Yeomanry was not required as a cavalry or as an armoured regiment. In 1940, the regiment was transferred into the
Royal Artillery and duly formed two Regiments of
Field Artillery;
151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA, formed in February, and
152nd (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA, formed in April as a second-line duplicate.
151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA Initially, the new regiment's activities were focused on conversion training for the new role. Then in September 1940, the Regiment became officially operational and was assigned home defence duties in
Fife and
Angus. In November it came briefly under the command of the
1st Polish Army, which had responsibility for the coastal defence of the area between the
Firth of Forth and
Montrose. Equipment at this time was a mixture of
4.5" howitzers,
18 pdr guns and
US 75mm M1916 guns. At the end of 1940, the Regiment formally became part of
46th Infantry Division and moved initially to Norfolk, again in the home defence role, while continuing its artillery training. Home defence duties took elements to Kent and other vulnerable parts of the English coastline, while artillery training involved frequent moves to training areas on
Salisbury Plain and in
Northumberland. By late 1941, the regiment was re-equipped with the
25-pounder gun. In May 1942 the Regiment was transferred to the
11th Armoured Division. In September 1942 the regiment was mobilised to reinforce the
Dieppe Raid, but after the rapid failure of the raid, was not called upon. In February 1943 the Regiment (with the rest of 11 Div) delivered its equipment to the docks and prepared to embark as part of
Operation Torch (the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa) but at the last minute the sailing order was cancelled and additional infantry were sent. Instead, the Regiment remained in the United Kingdom, and trained for the now anticipated invasion of Europe. Sailing from
Tilbury on 11th June 1944, the Regiment landed in France at
Ouistreham beach and was fully disembarked by 14th June as 11 Div gathered strength in the bridgehead. The Regiment's first action was in support of the 3rd Canadian Division, at
Lantheuil on 14th June, and was then involved throughout
Operation Epsom before rejoining 11 Div at the end of the month. The Regiment subsequently participated in Operations
Goodwood and
Bluecoat which laid the ground for the rapid Allied advance across northern France and into Belgium, in August and September. The Regiment crossed the
Seine on 29th August, reached
Arras on 1st September and
Antwerp on 4th September. The speed of the Allied advance then slowed, but the Regiment was kept steadily in action, with the emphasis on the removal of the remaining German forces west of the
river Maas. In February 1945 the Battle of the Reichswald or
Operation Veritable began, with the intention of forcing the enemy to retreat across the
Rhine. This saw a period of intense activity for the Regiment with almost constant calls for fire support. 11th Armoured Division was pulled back from the operation in early March, to prepare for the crossing of the Rhine. The bombardment of enemy positions across the Rhine began on 23rd March and continued for three days, with the Regiment firing approximately 1,000 rounds per gun. The Regiment crossed the Rhine into Germany on 28th March, and reached the
Dortmund-Ems canal on 1st April. The advance continued, with at one point the Regiment spread out over a distance of forty miles. On 5th April, the
Weser was reached at
Stolzenau. The Regiment passed through
Lunenburg on 18th April and the following day was in a position to engage targets beyond the
Elbe. After supporting the assault across the Elbe on the night of 28th April, the Regiment crossed the river the following day. The Regiment's final rounds of the war were fired on 1st May. With enemy resistance now visibly collapsing, the advance towards the Baltic coast continued, with the Regiment north of
Bad Oldesloe on
VE Day. Following the capitulation, the Regiment was stationed in and around the small Baltic port of
Eckernforde, where its duties revolved around the re-establishment of civic order and the setting up of the
military government. Thousands of Soviet and other prisoners of war required assistance and did large numbers of
displaced persons. Additionally, the large numbers of prisoners had to be screened for suspected war criminals. While many members of the Regiment were being posted to other units and equipment was being withdrawn, these responsibilities continued during the remainder of 1945 and until February 1946, when 151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment Royal Artillery was formally disbanded. During the campaign in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the Regiment lost 40 men killed and 109 were wounded.
152nd (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA The 152nd was attached to the
6th Armoured Division in mid-1942, and moved with the division to North Africa that November. It remained with the division through the remainder of the war, fighting in the
Tunisia Campaign, and the
Italian Campaign, ending the war in Austria. Both Regiments fought with great courage and between them they won four
Distinguished Service Orders, twenty one
Military Crosses and twenty four
Military Medals.
Post war After the War, the regiment reconstituted in the
Territorial Army as a Yeomanry Regiment, under its old title of '''The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry''', and transferred into the
Royal Armoured Corps. The regiment was made part of
30 (Lowland) Independent Armoured Brigade. During this time, the regiment were issued with a wide variety of equipment, including at one stage
flamethrower tanks. The regiment consisted of Sabre Squadrons at
Ayr,
Dalry and
Kilmarnock with Regimental Headquarters and Carrick Troop (HQ Squadron) in Ayr. The Ayrshire Yeomanry continued as an independent Regiment until 1969 when, in common with most of the Yeomanry Regiments, it was reduced to a
Cadre of just a few men. Following the latest defence review, the squadron became 'light cavalry' and uses the
Land Rover RWMIK. ==Organisation==