Formation and early history The regiment was first formed as the
Gentlemen and Yeomanry of Warwickshire in 1794, who raised four
troops of
yeomanry. These four troops were regimented in 1796 as the
Warwickshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry; the regiment expanded to a fifth troop in 1813, a sixth in 1831, and in 1854, with the
Crimean War causing an upsurge in martial sentiment, two more troops were formed.
Second Boer War The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during
Black Week 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
Second Boer War. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry
regiments to provide service
companies of approximately 115 men each for the
Imperial Yeomanry. The regiment provided the 5th (Warwickshire) Company for the 2nd Battalion in 1900 and the 103rd (Warwickshire) Company for the same battalion in 1901. In 1901, the regiment was reorganised as
mounted infantry as the
Warwickshire Imperial Yeomanry. In 1908, it was transferred into the
Territorial Force, returning to a cavalry role and equipped as
hussars, under the new title of
The Warwickshire 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 Warwickshire Yeomanry The regiment mobilised in August 1914, but remained in England until 1915, when they sailed for Egypt with
2nd Mounted Division. During the move, the horse transport
Wayfarer was torpedoed on 11 April 1915 having just left
Avonmouth; although she did not sink, the horses had to be rescued. Volunteers of the regiment saved 763 horses, receiving a
Military Cross and twelve
Meritorious Service Medals. They arrived in Egypt on 24 April, before being moved to Gallipoli for service as dismounted infantry. They landed at
Suvla Bay on 18 August and saw action at the
Battle of Scimitar Hill, on 21 August. The regiment took heavy losses, but remained in the line until withdrawn at the end of October. It was assigned to the
Australian Mounted Division in February 1917, serving in Palestine as cavalry, and seeing action at the
First and
Second Battles of Gaza, the
Charge at Huj as well as the
Battle of Mughar Ridge and the
Battle of Jerusalem. It was withdrawn in April 1918, and amalgamated with the
1/1st South Nottinghamshire Hussars into
B Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, soon renamed the
100th (Warwickshire and South Nottinghamshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, which would serve on the
Western Front for the remainder of the war. On 27 May 1918 this unit was on board the transport vessel which was sunk by with a loss of 101 lives. At the
Armistice, it was serving as army troops with the
Fourth Army.
2/1st Warwickshire Yeomanry The 2nd Line regiment was formed at
Warwick in September 1914. In April 1915, it joined the
2/1st South Midland Mounted Brigade at
Cirencester and in June moved to the
King's Lynn area where the brigade joined the
2/2nd Mounted Division. On 14 July 1915, it was at
Holkham and in October at
Fakenham. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence and the brigade became the
10th Mounted Brigade (and the division
3rd Mounted Division) at
Tunbridge Wells. 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;
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 and the
Scottish Horse were also to remain mounted as "scouts"). Eight regiments were converted to Armoured Car Companies of the
Royal Tank Corps (RTC), one was reduced to a
battery 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 2nd most senior regiment in the
order of precedence, the regiment was retained as horsed cavalry.
Second World War of 'B' Squadron, Warwickshire Yeomanry, passing Indian infantry in Frisa, Italy, 14 December 1943. The regiment did not mechanise before the outbreak of the
Second World War; on mobilisation, it was attached to the
1st Cavalry Division, and moved in 1940 to the Middle East, where it saw service in Iraq and Syria in 1941. It was mechanised as an armoured regiment in late 1941 and transferred into the
Royal Armoured Corps, with the division redesignating itself as
10th Armoured Division. The regiment then saw service in the
North African Campaign, fighting at the
Second Battle of El Alamein whilst attached to the
2nd New Zealand Division. It was deployed to Italy in 1944, where it saw action in the
Italian Campaign in June and July.
Post-war On 1 January 1947, the TA was reconstituted, and the regiment followed suite, reforming as the
Warwickshire Yeomanry and was armed with tanks shortly afterwards. It was then placed directly under
Northern Command and was reorganised into three squadrons: In 1956, the
British Government announced its intention to reduce the size of the
Territorial Army, due to its high running costs. One of the changes to be brought by this reorganisation was the merging of several
yeomanry regiments into new larger regiments. Therefore, in November 1956 it was announced that the Warwickshire Yeomanry and the
Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars were to be amalgamated. In 1957, the regiment completed this transition and became known as the '''Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry'''. ==Battle honours==