The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders)
Encyclopedia
The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) was a yeomanry
regiment
of the British
Territorial Army, formed in 1901 and amalgamated in 1961.
It was originally formed in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War
as the 20th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry
. The battalion
's adopted nickname of "Rough Riders" originated from a US cavalry regiment
that fought in the Spanish-American War
. An additional battalion, the 22nd Rough Riders, was formed in 1901 from the 20th.
After the 20th Battalion was disbanded in 1901, a new regiment was formed from Boer War veterans. The regiment was entitled the City of London Imperial Yeomanry (Rough Riders), with headquarters at the Guildhall
. The HQ later transferred to Finsbury Square
and the regiment, upon joining the newly established Territorial Force in 1908, retitled as the 1st City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders). At the beginning of the First World War
, the regiment consisted of four squadrons attached to the London Mounted Brigade. Two duplicate battalions were raised in 1914 and 1915, designated as the 2/1st and 3/1st respectively. The 2/1st served with the 2/2nd Mounted Division
.
The original 1/1st initially served as dismounted infantry in Gallipoli
, where it fought in the Battle of Scimitar Hill
. The yeomanry suffered heavy casualties before it was evacuated to Egypt, after which it moved to Salonika
in 1916. Following its return to Egypt in 1917, the regiment participated in the Allied advance into Ottoman
-controlled Palestine
. In 1918, it formed E Battalion, Machine Gun Corps
, which served on the Western Front
.
After reconstitution in the Territorial Force in 1920, the regiment was reduced to a battery of the 11th (Honourable Artillery Company and City of London Yeomanry) Regiment
, RHA
. In 1938, as World War II
approached, the battery was split off to form the 11th (City of London Yeomanry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA, part of which served in a defensive role at Bentley Priory
, the RAF's Fighter Command headquarters in Stanmore
, Middlesex. The remainder of the regiment was in London
during the Blitz
. Service in North Africa
and Italy
followed from 1942 to the end of the war.
The City of London Yeomanry was reconstituted in 1947 as an armoured regiment within the Royal Armoured Corps
. A further conversion to infantry occurred in 1956, when it became a battalion of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
. On 1 May 1961, the Rough Riders
amalgamated with the Inns of Court Regiment
, to form the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
.
In April 1967, the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve replaced the old Territorial Army. The unit was then reduced in size to form 68 (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, within the 71st (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals
. Although the new squadron did not inherit the freedoms of the boroughs that its predecessors had been awarded, it has maintained the Rough Riders' annual tradition of providing an escort to the Lord Mayor of London at the annual Lord Mayor's Show
. Its heritage can also be seen in both the officers' metal cap badge (which shows the four Inns of Courts' coats of arms overlaid by those of the City of London); and in the cloth cap badge (which shows the Inns of Court Regiment's Devil holding the Rough Riders' cavalry spur).
In 2009, the IC&CY in turn merged with The Essex Yeomanry
to form The Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry (ICCEY).
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
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Territorial Army, formed in 1901 and amalgamated in 1961.
It was originally formed in 1900 for service in the Second 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...
as the 20th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry
Imperial Yeomanry
The Imperial Yeomanry was a British volunteer cavalry regiment that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of mid-upper class English volunteers. In...
. The battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
's adopted nickname of "Rough Riders" originated from a US cavalry regiment
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
that fought in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. An additional battalion, the 22nd Rough Riders, was formed in 1901 from the 20th.
After the 20th Battalion was disbanded in 1901, a new regiment was formed from Boer War veterans. The regiment was entitled the City of London Imperial Yeomanry (Rough Riders), with headquarters at the Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
. The HQ later transferred to Finsbury Square
Finsbury Square
Finsbury Square is a square in central London. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the east of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the parish of St Luke's and near Moorfields. It is sited on the east side of City Road, opposite the east side of Bunhill Fields....
and the regiment, upon joining the newly established Territorial Force in 1908, retitled as the 1st City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders). At the beginning of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the regiment consisted of four squadrons attached to the London Mounted Brigade. Two duplicate battalions were raised in 1914 and 1915, designated as the 2/1st and 3/1st respectively. The 2/1st served with the 2/2nd Mounted Division
2/2nd Mounted Division
The 2/2nd Mounted Division was a British cavalry division composed of Yeomanry and Territorial Force units active during World War I.It was formed on 6 March 1915 as a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad on active service...
.
The original 1/1st initially served as dismounted infantry in Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
, where it fought in the Battle of Scimitar Hill
Battle of Scimitar Hill
The Battle of Scimitar Hill was the last offensive mounted by the British at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. It was also the largest single-day attack ever mounted by the Allies at Gallipoli, involving three divisions...
. The yeomanry suffered heavy casualties before it was evacuated to Egypt, after which it moved to Salonika
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
in 1916. Following its return to Egypt in 1917, the regiment participated in the Allied advance into Ottoman
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...
-controlled 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 1918, it formed E Battalion, Machine Gun Corps
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...
, which served on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
.
After reconstitution in the Territorial Force in 1920, the regiment was reduced to a battery of the 11th (Honourable Artillery Company and City of London Yeomanry) Regiment
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...
, RHA
Royal Horse Artillery
The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
. In 1938, as World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
approached, the battery was split off to form the 11th (City of London Yeomanry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA, part of which served in a defensive role at Bentley Priory
Bentley Priory
Bentley Priory was a medieval priory or cell of Augustinian Canons in Harrow Weald, then in Middlesex but now in the London Borough of Harrow. There are no remains of the priory, but it probably stood near Priory House, off Clamp Hill....
, the RAF's Fighter Command headquarters in Stanmore
Stanmore
Stanmore is a suburban area of the London Borough of Harrow, in northwest London. It is situated northwest of Charing Cross. The area is home to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, high.-Toponymy:...
, Middlesex. The remainder of the regiment was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. Service in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
followed from 1942 to the end of the war.
The City of London Yeomanry was reconstituted in 1947 as an armoured regiment within the Royal Armoured Corps
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
. A further conversion to infantry occurred in 1956, when it became a battalion of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
The Rifle Brigade was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, formed in 1800 to provide sharpshooters, scouts and skirmishers...
. On 1 May 1961, the Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
amalgamated with the Inns of Court Regiment
Inns of Court Regiment
The Inns of Court Regiment was a British Army regiment which existed under that name between May 1932 and May 1961. However, the unit traces its lineage back much further, to at least 1584, and its name lives on within The Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry .-History:The first organised...
, to form the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
Known by its new title since 2009, the Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry is a Royal Signals squadron in the British Territorial Army with its headquarters in Chancery Lane, London...
.
In April 1967, the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve replaced the old Territorial Army. The unit was then reduced in size to form 68 (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, within the 71st (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals
Royal Corps of Signals
The Royal Corps of Signals is one of the combat support arms of the British Army...
. Although the new squadron did not inherit the freedoms of the boroughs that its predecessors had been awarded, it has maintained the Rough Riders' annual tradition of providing an escort to the Lord Mayor of London at the annual Lord Mayor's Show
Lord Mayor's Show
The Lord Mayor's Show is one of the longest established and best known annual events in London which dates back to 1535. The Lord Mayor in question is that of the City of London, the historic centre of London that is now the metropolis's financial district, informally known as the Square Mile...
. Its heritage can also be seen in both the officers' metal cap badge (which shows the four Inns of Courts' coats of arms overlaid by those of the City of London); and in the cloth cap badge (which shows the Inns of Court Regiment's Devil holding the Rough Riders' cavalry spur).
In 2009, the IC&CY in turn merged with The Essex Yeomanry
Essex Yeomanry
The Essex Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army raised in 1797. The regiment recruited volunteers from the county of Essex in the East of England.-Origins:...
to form The Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry (ICCEY).
Battle honours
- South Africa 1900-02Second Boer WarThe 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...
- The Great War: Pursuit to MonsHundred Days OffensiveThe Hundred Days Offensive was the final period of the First World War, during which the Allies launched a series of offensives against the Central Powers on the Western Front from 8 August to 11 November 1918, beginning with the Battle of Amiens. The offensive forced the German armies to retreat...
, France and Flanders 1914-18Western Front (World War I)Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, Macedonia 1916-17Balkans Campaign (World War I)The Balkans Campaign of World War I was fought between Central Powers Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, and Germany on one side and the Allies Serbia, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Montenegro on the other side.-Overview:The prime cause of World War I being the hostility between Serbia and...
, Suvla, Scimitar HillBattle of Scimitar HillThe Battle of Scimitar Hill was the last offensive mounted by the British at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. It was also the largest single-day attack ever mounted by the Allies at Gallipoli, involving three divisions...
, Gallipoli 1915Battle of GallipoliThe Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
, RumaniBattle of RomaniThe Battle of Romani was fought east of the Suez Canal, near the Egyptian town of Romani and the site of ancient Pelusium on the Sinai Peninsula during the First World War...
, Egypt 1915-16Sinai and Palestine CampaignThe 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...
, GazaBattle of GazaBattle of Gaza may refer to:* Battle of Gaza , fought between Ptolemy I of Egypt and Demetrius I of Macedon* Battle of Raphia, also known as Battle of Gaza, fought between Ptolemy IV of Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom in 217 BC* Three World War I battles between British...
, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Palestine 1917-18Sinai and Palestine CampaignThe 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... - The Second World War: As battle honours are not awarded to the Royal Artillery, the honour of "1942-45", with scrolls "ItalyItalian Campaign (World War II)The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
" and "North AfricaNorth African campaignDuring the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
", was conferred upon the regiment as part of its RA cap badgeCap badgeA cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as well as uniformed civilian groups such as the Boy...
.