The Denbighshire Hussars was a Welsh Yeomanry regiment of the British Army formed in 1794. It saw service in the First World War before being converted into a unit of the Royal Artillery. The lineage has been continued by 398 (Flint & Denbighshire Yeomanry) Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps.
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 Troop of Gentlemen and Yeoman of Wrexham, also known as the Wrexham Troop, was formed on 23 May 1795 at Wrexham, a rapidly growing industrial town in Denbighshire, North Wales. Another troop of Denbigh Cavalry under the command of Captain Richard Lloyd was raised at the town of Denbigh on 4 July 1799. In 1803, when the short-lived Peace of Amiens broke down and the Napoleonic Wars began, two more troops were raised at Wrexham and the force there became a regiment as the Wrexham Yeomanry Cavalry on 29 July 1803, under Major-Commandant Sir Foster Cunliffe, 3rd Baronet.Frederick, p. 28.Sleigh, p. 5.War Office, 1805 list.Mileham, pp. 80–81.Denbighshire Hussars at Uniformology.
19th century By 26 January 1820, when the regiment became the Denbighshire Yeomanry Cavalry, there were five troops under Colonel-Commandant Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet.Williams-Wynn at History of Parliament Online. Although the Yeomanry generally declined in importance and numbers after the end of the French wars,Spiers, p. 79. the Denbigh regiment was sometimes called out to suppress riots in the 1820s and 1830s. When Government support for the Yeomanry was withdrawn in 1828 the regiment carried on without pay until 1831 when pay for drills and periods of service was restored.
The regiment was used to quell a disturbance by colliery workers in Rhosllannerchrugog in 1830: the miners were angered by the truck shop system that forced them to spend their wages in shops owned by their employers and planned to destroy a truck shop owned by the British Ironworks Company. The regiment was ordered out on patrol under Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn to 'terrify the mob'. Their presence quieted matters and Williams Wynn and the civil officers persuaded the demonstrators to disperse. On their return march the Yeomanry passed Cinder Hill, a pile of blast furnace waste from which thousands of people were watching. A youth threw a piece of cinder, which hit one of the horses, whose rider and another man fired their pistols – luckily hitting no-one. Williams-Wynn and his officers immediately stopped their men from reacting further, but the 'Battle of Cinder Hill', became notorious. In 1831 the Denbighshire miners were still dissatisfied, and marched on Shrewsbury, being turned back by the Shropshire Yeomanry. Later they gathered at Acrefair and again the Denbighshire Yeomanry were called out under Williams-Wynn, who advised the masters and workers to negotiate.'Trouble in the Mining Industry' at Ruabon in Wrexham North Wales.Talbot.
When Col Sir Watkin Williams Wynn retired, he was succeeded on 1 March 1838 as Major-Commandant by Sir William Lloyd, a former major in the Honourable East India Company's army, who had seen action at the Battle of Seetabuldee and Siege of Nagpore. Lloyd joined the regiment after his return to Wales and as a captain in December 1830 had played a prominent role in defusing the difficult situation at 'Cinder Hill'. In 1850 the regiment consisted of three troops of 44 men each, with Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Wrexham.
Sir William Lloyd died on 16 May 1857 and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles John Tottenham of Plas Berwyn (late of the 2nd Life Guards and High Sheriff of Denbighshire) was appointed to the command on 12 June 1857. He was simultaneously CO of the Royal Merioneth Militia. In the 1860s, most of the regiment's officers were former officers in the 1st or 2nd Life Guards. Tottenham held the Yeomanry command until he retired and became the regiment's Honorary Colonel on 30 May 1874.Army List, various dates.Tottenham in Thomas Nicolas, Annals of the Counties and County Families of Wales, Vol 2 (Google Books). He was succeeded as CO by Lt-Col Tom Naylor-Leyland of Nantclwyd Hall, Ruthin (also late of the 2nd LG).Naylor-Leyland portrait at Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum.Naylor-Leyland Baronets, Burkes. The regimental headquarters was at Llangollen, moving to Ruthin in the 1870s. The Regiment became the Denbighshire (Hussars) Yeomanry Cavalry in 1876.
Following the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned Regular Army and Yeomanry units 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 Denbighshire, Derbyshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry were assigned to the Cavalry Brigade of VI Corps based at Crewe, alongside a Regular Royal Horse Artillery battery. 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 but they did have a Regular Army Brigade major. The Denbighshire Hussars together with the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry formed the 15th Yeomanry Brigade.
In 1885 Capt Sydney Platt began recruiting for the Denbighshire Hussars in neighbouring Caernarfonshire, which had no yeomanry.Owen, pp. 209–216.
Imperial Yeomanry Second Boer War
The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but following a string of defeats during Black Week in early December 1899, the British government realised that it would need more troops than just the regular army to fight the Second Boer War, particularly mounted troops. On 13 December, the War Office decided to allow volunteer forces to serve in the field, and a Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December that 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. 104–118.IY at Anglo-Boer War.
The Denbighshire Hussars raised the 29th (Denbighshire) Company for the IY, which arrived in South Africa on 5 March 1900 and served with other Welsh companies in 9th Battalion, IY.IY Companies at Roll of Honour.Amery (1909), Appendix to Chapters I-XIV, pp. 503–514. The company served until 1901, earning the regiment its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–01.Leslie.
Denbighshire Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry were trained and equipped as Mounted infantry. The concept was considered a success and the existing Yeomanry regiments at home were converted into Imperial Yeomanry in 1901, with an establishment of RHQ and four squadrons with a machine gun section. This included the Denbighshire Hussars Imperial Yeomanry (DHIY), with RHQ at Denbigh. The new establishment represented almost a trebling of the regiment's strength, which allowed the raising of C (Carnarvon) Squadron, recruited by Capt Eric Platt in Caernarfonshire, including a troop from Anglesey, and allocating D Squadron to Cheshire. The Yeomanry Brigade system was abolished at the same time.Mileham, p. 78.
C (Carnarvon) Sqn was represented at the 1901 regimental training at Ruabon, and was well enough organised and trained to provide mounted escorts for a visit to the county in May 1902 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. It was organised as follows: Squadron HQ: Bangor No 1 Troop: Bangor No 2 Troop: Anglesey (Beaumaris and Amlwch) No 3 Troop: Caernarfon and Llandudno No 4 Troop: Porthmadog and Llanrwst D Squadron was based at Birkenhead in Cheshire.
A.G. Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph, was appointed the Honorary Chaplain of the regiment on 2 August 1902, attaining the rank of Chaplain 1st Class (TF) in 1906.London Gazette, 1 August 1902.
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. and the regiment was officially titled the Denbighshire Yeomanry (Hussars) with the following organisation:Denbighshire Hussars at Long, Long Trail. RHQ at 1 Erdigg Road, Wrexham A Squadron at Wrexham, with detachments at Market Street, Llangollen,Denbighshire at Great War Centenary Drill Halls. Earl Street, Mold, FlintshireMold at Drill Hall Project. and Ruabon B Squadron at Love Lane, Denbigh,Denbigh at Drill Hall Project. with detachments at Prestatyn,Flintshire Drill stations at Drill Hall Project. John Street, Rhyl,Flintshire at Great War Centenary Drill Halls.Rhyl at Drill Hall Project. and Denbigh Road, RuthinRuthin at Drill Hall Project. C Squadron at Glynne Road, Bangor,Bangor at Drill Hall Project.Caernarvonshire at Great War Centenary Drill Halls. with detachments at Caernarvon, Argyll Road, LlandudnoLlandudno at Drill Hall Project. and Beaumaris D Squadron at 24 Clifon Road, Tranmere, Birkenhead, CheshireBirkenhead at Drill Hall Project.
The regiment formed part of the TF's Welsh Border Mounted Brigade.James, p. 36.
In 1911 the Regiment had the honour of being the escort to the Prince of Wales to his Investiture at Caernarfon Castle.
World War I Mobilisation When war was declared on 4 August 1914, the Denbighshire Hussars mobilised at their drill halls under the command of Lt-Col H.P. Sykes, a retired RegularArmy captain who had been in command since 21 December 1910. The regiment assembled with the WBMB and then went with it to its war stations in East Anglia.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 1–7.James, p. 17.
In accordance with 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, on 10 August 1914 the TF was invited to volunteer for overseas service. On 15 August 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, the 2nd Line was prepared for overseas service and a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.Becke, Pt 2a, p. 40.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.Rinaldi, p. 35.
1/1st Denbighshire Hussars
The 1/1st Welsh Border Mounted Brigade joined the 1st Mounted Division in September 1914. It was stationed around Bungay, moving to Beccles in February 1915. The brigade was dismounted in November 1915 and thereafter the regiments acted as infantry. Early in 1916 the 1/1st Welsh Border and 1/1st South Wales Mounted Brigade left 1st Mounted Division and were sent to Egypt, disembarking at Alexandria on 15 March. As soon as they arrived, on 20 March, they were amalgamated to form the 4th Dismounted Brigade.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 1–7.1st Mounted Division at Long, Long Trail.
At first this brigade was placed in the Suez Canal defences under 53rd (Welsh) Division, with 1/1st Denbighshire Hussars at Moghara, but in April it came under the command of Western Frontier Force (WFF).John, pp. 27–34.Dudley Ward, p. 20.