Formation and early history The regiment was formed in 1794, originally as a series of independent troops based in the important towns of
Kent, England, as part of the response to the
French Revolutionary Wars. In 1830
George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea, was appointed as lieutenant-colonel in command. In the middle years of the 19th century, the regiment frequently provided escorts for
Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family, and as a result, in 1856 the East Kent Yeomanry became the Royal East Kent Regiment of Mounted Rifles and, in 1873, the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles (The Duke of Connaught's Own). The first contingent of recruits contained 550
officers, 10,371 men with 20
battalions and 4
companies, which arrived in
South Africa between February and April, 1900. Upon arrival, the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations. The Royal East Kent Yeomanry provided troops for the 33rd and 53rd (East Kent) Companies, in the 11th and 14th Battalions respectively. The Imperial Yeomanry was equipped and trained as
Mounted infantry. This experiment was considered a success, and all the existing Yeomanry regiments were converted into IY in 1901, the East Kent unit becoming the '''Royal East Kent Imperial Yeomanry (Duke of Connaught's Own)'''. When the Yeomanry were subsumed into the
Territorial Force in 1908, the 'Imperial' part of the title was dropped. The regiment was based at
St Peter's Lane in
Canterbury at this time.
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 Royal East Kent Yeomanry The 1st Line regiment was mobilised on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the
First World War and was in the Canterbury area (under Second Army of Central Force) until September 1915. It was dismounted and left Kent for
Liverpool; on 24 September it boarded
RMS Olympic and sailed the next day. It arrived at
Lemnos on 1 October. The regiment landed in
Gallipoli on 8 October and was attached to the
42nd (East Lancashire) Division. On 30 December it was evacuated to
Mudros with 42nd Division; it left the Division at Mudros on 2 January 1916. The brigade, with the regiment, was withdrawn to
Egypt in February 1916 and formed part of the
Suez Canal Defences. On 22 February, South Eastern Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the
3rd Dismounted Brigade (along with the
Eastern Mounted Brigade). By the end of the year, it was back on the Suez. The brigade was with the Suez Canal Defences when, on 14 January 1917,
Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) Order No. 26 instructed that the
2nd, 3rd and
4th Dismounted Brigades be reorganized as the
229th,
230th and
231st Brigades. on 1 February 1917 and redesignated
10th (Royal East Kent and West Kent Yeomanry) Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment). On 23 February, the
GOC EEF (
Lt-Gen Sir A.J. Murray) sought permission from the
War Office to form the 229th, 230th and 231st Brigades into a new division. The War Office granted permission and the new
74th (Yeomanry) Division started to form. The 230th Brigade joined the division at
Deir el Balah between 9 and 13 April. With the 74th Division, the battalion took part in the invasion of
Palestine in 1917 and 1918. It fought in the
Second and
Third Battles of Gaza (including the capture of
Beersheba and the Sheria Position). At the end of 1917, it took part in the capture and defence of
Jerusalem and in March 1918 in the
Battle of Tell 'Asur. On 3 April 1918, the Division was warned that it would move to France and by 30 April 1918 had completed embarkation at Alexandria. the brigade was numbered as
14th Mounted Brigade and joined
4th Mounted Division, still at Canterbury. with the rest being transferred to other roles. As a result, on 20 August 1920, the Royal East Kent (The Duke of Connaught's Own) Yeomanry (Mounted Rifles) was amalgamated with the
West Kent Yeomanry (Queen's Own) to form the
Kent Yeomanry and simultaneously re-roled as
field artillery to form
6th (Kent) Army Brigade, RFA. ==Battle Honours==