Staffordshire Yeomanry
Encyclopedia
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 volunteer cavalry regiment. It first served overseas at the time of the Boer War
. Following distinguished action in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War, it developed with the deployment of artillery and tanks.
From 1971, the Regiment formed part of the Mercian Yeomanry, renamed The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry
in
1973. From 1992 it amalgamated with The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry to form The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
, and as such it remains today a yeomanry
regiment of the Territorial Army. In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. The Regiment currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.
, Norfolk
, was ordered to join the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
in 1915. The Regiment was attached to the Yeomanry Mounted Division in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
against the Ottoman Turkish
and German
army 1916-1918. It fought in the indecisive First Battle of Gaza
and Second Battle of Gaza
in March and April 1917. They finally won through in the Third Battle of Gaza
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 on 9 December 1917.
In July 1918 the Division was reformed as the Fourth Cavalry Division under the command of General Allenby and the Regiment played a key role in the decisive Battle of Megiddo (1918)
. The 1/1st Staffordshire Yeomanry joined the Desert Mounted Corps
under the Australian General Henry George Chauvel
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 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 Syria
n 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
valley. However, Aleppo was captured on 25 October 1918. Five days later, Turkey surrendered.
, with the Warwickshire Yeomanry
and Cheshire Yeomanry
.
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 and then served in North Africa in the 8th Armoured Brigade which was part of the 10th Armoured Division.
The Staffordshire Yeomanry, during its time in North Africa, fought at the Battles of Alam Halfa
and El Alamein
fighting the Afrika Korps
all the way into Tunisia
.
The unit was transferred to England to serve in the 27th Armoured Brigade
, part of Montgomery's Second Army
. At Normandy, the Staffordshire Yeomanry was probably the only conventional tank regiment (i.e. equipped with neither DD nor flail
) to land on D-Day, on Sword Beach
. The 27th Armoured Brigade was disbanded in Normandy in July 1944 after heavy losses and the Staffordshire Yeomanry was once again transferred back to England to join the 79th Armoured Division.
It converted to Sherman DD tank
s and B Squadron supported the 52nd (Lowland) Division in the assault on South Beveland, during the Battle of the Scheldt
. After a swim of seven miles, carried out without casualties, the terrain proved impassable and only three tanks were able to advance with the infantry. More training ensued and, on 23 March 1945, the regiment used Sherman DD tank
s in the Rhine crossings
http://www.warlinks.com/armour/8th_armoured/chapter_6.html
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 volunteer cavalry regiment. It first served overseas at the time of the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. Following distinguished action in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War, it developed with the deployment of artillery and tanks.
From 1971, the Regiment formed part of the Mercian Yeomanry, renamed The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry
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 Yeomanry...
in
1973. From 1992 it amalgamated with The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry to form The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. It currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments....
, and as such it remains today a yeomanry
Yeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...
regiment of the Territorial Army. In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. The Regiment currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.
World War I
The Staffordshire Yeomanry, after a short period of training at DissDiss
Diss is a town in Norfolk, England close to the border with the neighbouring East Anglian county of Suffolk.The town lies in the valley of the River Waveney, around a mere that covers . The mere is up to deep, although there is another of mud, making it one of the deepest natural inland lakes...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, was ordered to join the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
in 1915. The Regiment was attached to the Yeomanry Mounted Division in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...
against the Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
army 1916-1918. It fought in the indecisive First Battle of Gaza
First Battle of Gaza
The First Battle of Gaza was fought in and around the town of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast in the southern region of Ottoman Palestine on 26 March 1917, during World War I...
and Second Battle of Gaza
Second Battle of Gaza
The Second Battle of Gaza, fought in southern Palestine during the First World War, was another attempt mounted by British Empire forces to break Ottoman defences along the Gaza-Beersheba line...
in March and April 1917. They finally won through in the Third Battle of Gaza
Third Battle of Gaza
The Third Battle of Gaza was fought in 1917 in southern Palestine during the First World War. The British Empire forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby successfully broke the Ottoman defensive Gaza-Beersheba line...
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 on 9 December 1917.
In July 1918 the Division was reformed as the Fourth Cavalry Division under the command of General Allenby and the Regiment played a key role in the decisive Battle of Megiddo (1918)
Battle of Megiddo (1918)
The Battle of Megiddo took place between 19 September and 1 October 1918, in what was then the northern part of Ottoman Palestine and parts of present-day Syria and Jordan...
. The 1/1st Staffordshire Yeomanry joined the Desert Mounted Corps
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I Allied army corps that operated in the Middle East during 1917 and 1918.Originally formed on 15 March 1916 as the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division under the command of Major General Harry Chauvel The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I...
under the Australian General Henry George Chauvel
Henry George Chauvel
General Sir Harry Chauvel GCMG, KCB was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle Eastern theatre during the First World War. He was the first Australian to attain the rank of lieutenant general and later general, and the first to lead a corps...
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 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 Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n city of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
with Allenby on 1 October 1918.
After a week, the Regiment started on a 200-mile trek to Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, having been reduced to just 75 men, 200 of them having become casualties from malignant malaria caught in the Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
valley. However, Aleppo was captured on 25 October 1918. Five days later, Turkey surrendered.
World War II
In 1939, the Staffordshire Yeomanry was part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry DivisionBritish 1st Cavalry Division
The 1st Cavalry Division was a regular Division of the British Army during the First World War where it fought on the Western Front. During the Second World War it was a second line formation, formed from Yeomanry Regiments...
, with the Warwickshire Yeomanry
Warwickshire Yeomanry
The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalgamated into The Queen's Own...
and Cheshire Yeomanry
Cheshire Yeomanry
The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Fleming Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France....
.
The 6th Cavalry Brigade arrived in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
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 and then served in North Africa in the 8th Armoured Brigade which was part of the 10th Armoured Division.
The Staffordshire Yeomanry, during its time in North Africa, fought at the Battles of Alam Halfa
Battle of Alam Halfa
The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Panzerarmee Afrika—a German-Italian force commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel—attempted an envelopment of the British 8th Army,...
and El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
fighting the Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
all the way into Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
.
The unit was transferred to England to serve in the 27th Armoured Brigade
British 27th Armoured Brigade
- History :This armoured brigade was formed from the conversion of the 1st Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade on 26 November 1940 and attached to the 9th Armoured Division...
, part of Montgomery's Second Army
British Second Army
The British Second Army was active during both the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front and in Italy...
. At Normandy, the Staffordshire Yeomanry was probably the only conventional tank regiment (i.e. equipped with neither DD nor flail
Mine flail
A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a mine-field by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II....
) to land on D-Day, on Sword Beach
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 France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
. The 27th Armoured Brigade was disbanded in Normandy in July 1944 after heavy losses and the Staffordshire Yeomanry was once again transferred back to England to join the 79th Armoured Division.
It converted to Sherman DD tank
DD tank
DD tanks , were a type of amphibious swimming tank developed by the British during the Second World War...
s and B Squadron supported the 52nd (Lowland) Division in the assault on South Beveland, during the Battle of the Scheldt
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations of the Canadian 1st Army, led by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from 2 October-8 November 1944...
. After a swim of seven miles, carried out without casualties, the terrain proved impassable and only three tanks were able to advance with the infantry. More training ensued and, on 23 March 1945, the regiment used Sherman DD tank
DD tank
DD tanks , were a type of amphibious swimming tank developed by the British during the Second World War...
s in the Rhine crossings
Operation Plunder
Commencing on the night of 23 March 1945 during World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the River Rhine at Rees, Wesel, and south of the Lippe River by the British 2nd Army, under Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey , and the U.S. Ninth Army , under Lieutenant General William Simpson...
http://www.warlinks.com/armour/8th_armoured/chapter_6.html
Sources
- C. Nicholas ManderSir Nicholas Mander, 4th BaronetSir Nicholas Mander, 4th Baronet is a British baronet.He is the elder son of Charles Marcus Mander, 3rd baronet of The Mount, by Maria Dolores , née Brödermann, of Hamburg, whom he succeeded in 2006. He was educated at Downside School, Trinity College, Cambridge , and Grenoble University...
, Varnished Leaves: a biography of the Mander FamilyMander familyThe Mander family has held for over 200 years a prominent position in the Midland counties of England, both in the family business and public life....
of WolverhamptonWolverhamptonWolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, 1750-1950 (OwlpenOwlpenOwlpen is a small village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, set in a picturesque valley in the Cotswold hills. It is about one mile east of Uley, and three miles east of Dursley. The Owlpen valley is set around the settlement like an amphitheatre of wooded hills...
Press, 2004) [for First World War campaigns]