The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on the Western Front in the First World War. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it continued to operate in the mounted role and then as a specialist signals unit. Postwar it joined the Royal Armoured Corps and later became infantry. Its lineage today is maintained by 93 (North Somerset Yeomanry) Squadron 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars After Britain was drawn into the French Revolutionary Wars, the government of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger proposed on 14 March 1794 that the counties should form Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry that could be called on by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the county.Rogers, p. 145. A meeting of householders at Frome in Somerset on 2 May 1798 resolved to form a military association to defend the town. Its services were accepted on 2 June, and the Frome Troop of Cavalry was formed. A condition of service was that it should not be required to march more than 10 miles from the town. Other troops were formed at about the same time at Road, Wolverton, Mells, Beckington and Bath.Frederick, pp. 50–1.Barlow & Smith, p. 2.
These independent troops all served until the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 when they were disbanded. The peace was short-lived and Britain declared war on France again in May 1803, beginning the Napoleonic Wars. The Frome Volunteers offered their services again in July and were accepted on 17 August as the Frome Selwood Troop of Volunteer Cavalry. The volunteers formed two troops, becoming a squadron in June 1804 when they united with the East Mendip Cavalry to become the Frome and East Mendip Regiment of Volunteer Cavalry. The regiment became the North Somerset Yeomanry in 1814 with six troops: Frome (two troops) Mells (two troops) Shepton Batcombe
Further troops were then added: Bath Cavalry, January 1814 Ston Easton May 1815 East Harptree (two troops) March 1817 Keynsham, April 1817 Bedminster, after 1817 Bath Rifles, attached
19th Century Although the Yeomanry generally declined in importance and numbers after the end of the French wars,Spiers, p. 79. the North Somerset unit continued at strength, and was regularly called out to suppress riots, in 1810, 1812 and 1817 at Bath, among miners at Radstock in 1813 and 1817, and weavers at Frome in 1816 and 1822.Barlow & Smith, p. 3. The actions of the Yeomanry in the 'Battle of Frome' in 1816 were discussed in Cobbett's Political Register.Accounts of the 'Battle of Frome' in Cobbett's Political Register, Vol 31, 20 July 1816.Rule.
In 1817 the regiment adopted a squadron organisation, with the Bath and Keynsham Troops forming the Right Squadron, the two Frome Troops the Frome or Right Centre Squadron, Ston Easton and East Harptree the Centre Squadron, the Mells Troops the Mells or Left Centre Squadron, while the Shepton and Batcombe Troops formed the Left Squadron. Two years later this organisation was abandoned in favour of two divisions: Bath Division: A Bath B Ston Easton C Keynsham D & E East Harptree F Bedminster Frome Division: G & H Frome I & K Mells L Shepton M Batcombe
From 1820 to 1840 the regimental headquarters was at Mells Park, home of Thomas Strangways Horner, commanding officer (CO) from 1804 to 1839, when he was succeeded by his son. Another long-serving CO was Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork and Orrery, Lt-Col Commandant 1867–93, who afterwards became Honorary Colonel, while his son, Viscount Dungarvan, took over as CO.Army List, various dates.London Gazette, 30 May 1893.
For some years the Keynsham Troop was without any officers, and although its members were keen and turned out promptly when required, their appearance and discipline had deteriorated to the point where they were known locally as 'The Cossacks'. It was disbanded in May 1842, but many of its members transferred to other troops of the regiment or joined the Gloucestershire Yeomanry Cavalry.Barlow & Smith, p. 4. In 1854 on the outbreak of the Crimean War, 342 out of 398 men in the regiment volunteered to serve in any part of the United Kingdom.Maj A. McK. Annand, 'The North Somerset Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry, 1854', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol 42, No 172 (December 1964), pp. 179–81.
Following the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned Yeomanry units to 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 North Somerset Yeomanry was assigned as 'divisional troops' to 2nd Division of V Corps based at Warminster, 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 (CO) but they did have a Regular Army Brigade major. The North Somerset Yeomanry together with the West Somerset Yeomanry formed the 4th Yeomanry Brigade, headquartered at Taunton. The Yeomanry brigades disappeared from the Army List after the Second Boer War.
Imperial Yeomanry The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during Black Week in December 1899, the British government realised that it was going to need more troops than just the regular army to fight the Second Boer War. On 13 December, the decision to allow volunteer forces to serve in the field was made, and a Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December. This officially created the Imperial Yeomanry (IY). The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each. In addition to this, many British citizens (usually mid-upper class) volunteered to join the new force.Rogers, p. 228.Spiers, p. 239.Dunlop, pp. 104–18.
The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers, 10,371 men with 20 battalions of four companies. The first company left Southampton on 31 January 1900, bound for Cape Town, and the whole first contingent arrived in South Africa between February and April. Upon arrival, the IY battalions were sent throughout the zone of operations.
The North Somerset Yeomanry raised the 48th (North Somerset) Company for the IY, which arrived in South Africa on 23 March 1900 and served in 7th Battalion, IY.Barlow & Smith, p. 11. The company served until 1901, earning the regiment its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–01.Leslie. The regiment's CO, Viscount Dungarvan was already serving in South Africa in February 1900 and was seconded to the IY as second-in-command of the 22nd Battalion in 1901–02.London Evening News, 24 February 1900.London Gazette, 2 April 1901.London Gazette, 12 April 1901.London Gazette, 21 February 1902.
The Imperial Yeomanry were trained and equipped as mounted infantry. After the Boer War all Yeomanry regiments were termed Imperial Yeomanry until 1907, with an establishment of HQ and four squadrons with a machine gun section. In 1903 the North Somerset Imperial Yeomanry had HQ and A Squadron at Bath, B Squadron at Wells, and C Squadron at Bristol, while D Squadron was being formed.Barlow & Smith, p. 12.
Territorial Force
The Imperial Yeomanry were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908.London Gazette, 20 March 1908.Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. The North Somerset Yeomanry (TF) was affiliated to the regular Dragoons and was organised as follows:Barlow & Smith, p. 15.North Somerset Yeomanry at Long, Long Trail.North Somerset Yeomanry at Regimental Warpath.Conrad, British Army 1914.Somerset at Great War Centenary Drill Halls. RHQ at Shepton Mallet, moving to a new Upper Bristol Road drill hall, Bath in 1912Bath at Drill Hall Project. A Squadron at Bath, with detachments at Bathampton, Farmborough, Frome, Mells and Road B Squadron at Weston-super-Mare, with detachments at Axbridge, Clevedon, Langford, and Nailsea C Squadron at Shepton Mallet, with detachments at Queen Camel, Ston Easton, Wells, Wincanton and Castle Cary D Squadron at Bristol, with detachments at Queen Charlton, Barrow Gurney and Keynsham
The North Somerset Yeomanry formed part of the TF's 1st South Western Mounted Brigade.
First World War Mobilisation The North Somerset Yeomanry were mobilised on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914 under the command of Lt-Col G.C. Glyn, DSO, who had taken command on 10 March. Under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw. 7, c.9) which brought the TF into being, it was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, after the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for 'Imperial Service'. On 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.Barlow & Smith, p. 16.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
1/1st North Somerset Yeomanry The 1st Line regiment mobilised at Bath in August 1914 as part of the 1st South Western Mounted Brigade. In October 1914 it moved to Sussex with the brigade, but left it shortly afterwards. It landed in France on 3 November and joined the 6th Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division, on 13 November, replacing the 10th Hussars who moved to the newly formed 8th Cavalry BrigadeBecke, Pt 1, p. 20.3 Cavalry Division at Long, Long Trail. As such, it was one of only six yeomanry regiments to be posted to a regular cavalry division in the war.
Trench warfare meant there was little scope for cavalry operations. Nevertheless, in 1915 the brigade and division took part in the Second Battle of Ypres (Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, 11–13 May) and the Battle of Loos (26–28 September). 1916 saw no notable actions, but in 1917 the division saw action in the Battle of Arras (First Battle of the Scarpe, 9–12 April).Becke, Pt 1, p. 22. At other times, the regiment served in the trenches as part of a dismounted regiment under the command of the brigade commander.Becke, Pt 1, p. 19.
The regiment left 6th Cavalry Brigade on 10 March 1918. Originally it was slated to become a cyclist unit, then to form a machine gun battalion with the Leicestershire Yeomanry. The German spring offensive forestalled this plan, and the regiment was remounted and returned to the Cavalry Corps. From April 1918 it was split up with a squadron joining each regiment in 6th Cavalry Brigade (3rd Dragoon Guards, 1st Dragoons and 10th Hussars).
2/1st North Somerset Yeomanry The 2nd Line regiment was formed in 1914 and in January 1915 it joined 2/1st South Western Mounted Brigade. In May it was in the Calne area, it moved in September to the Canterbury area and to the Colchester area in March 1916. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence; the brigade became the 15th Mounted Brigade and joined 4th Mounted Division.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 27–30.