The Surrey Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army first formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794. It was reformed in 1901 and saw varied service in the First World War. During the interwar period, it converted to artillery and during the Second World War one of its regiments distinguished itself during the retreat to Dunkirk, saw action during the Second Battle of El Alamein, and also saw service in Sicily and Italy. Its other regiment served in East Africa, the Siege of Tobruk, and in Iraq and Persia. The regiment's lineage is maintained today by 2 (Surrey Yeomanry) Field Troop, 579 Field Squadron (EOD), part of 101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) (Volunteers).
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Following Britain's entry into the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger proposed on 14 March 1794 that the counties should form a force of volunteer yeoman cavalry (which became known as the Yeomanry Cavalry) that could be called on by the Crown to defend the country against foreign invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to suppress civil disorder within the county.Rogers, p. 145. Four troops of yeomanry were raised in Surrey on 9 May 1794, and were formed into a regiment in 1797 under the command of Lord Leslie. It was headquartered at Clapham and recruited from London and its suburbs, with many of those in its ranks being men of standing in the City of London. The troops were distributed as follows:Buckell.Frederick, pp. 54, 525.Mileham, p. 113. Battersea Troop Clapham Troop Wimbledon Troop Deptford Troop (actually in Kent) Lambeth Troop
In the spring of 1798 the threat of a French-led invasion seemed more acute, and the government encouraged the formation of local armed associations of cavalry and infantry for purely local defence. Although their terms of service were more limited, there was little difference between the Volunteer Cavalry and the Yeomanry. The following cavalry units were on parade when King George III reviewed the Surrey Yeomanry and Volunteers on Wimbledon Common on 4 July 1799:Butt.
Left Wing Holmesdale Volunteer Cavalry, Lieutenant-Colonel John Petrie, MP for Gatton – 45 men, recruited from Reigate and Dorking Clapham Volunteer Cavalry, Lt-Col Samuel Thornton, MP – 40 Croydon Volunteer Cavalry, Captain John Brickwood – 40 Wimbledon Volunteer Cavalry, Capt Francis Fowke – 29 Lambeth Volunteer Cavalry, Lt-Col Sir Robert Burnett – 39 Wandsworth Volunteer Cavalry, Capt Charles Semple – 25 Southwark Volunteer Cavalry, Capt John Collingdon – 54 Woking Volunteer Cavalry, Capt John W. Weston – 40
Right Wing Surrey Yeomanry, Colonel Lord Leslie – 253 Richmond Yeomanry, Major Commandant Sir Robert Baker, 1st Baronet – 80 Battersea & Streatham Volunteer Cavalry, Capt Henry Thornton, MP – 31
Total cavalry – 676
The Volunteers were disbanded when hostilities ended in 1802 with the Treaty of Amiens. When the Peace of Amiens broke down and the war was resumed in 1803, the Volunteers were quickly re-established in larger numbers, some units being reformed (sometimes with a different name), others being newly formed. They still had a variety of terms of service (the Wandsworth Cavalry were restricted to around Wandsworth) and in some cases they were mixed units of cavalry troops and infantry companies. By 1806 the Yeomanry and Volunteers were grouped under 'inspecting field officers', Surrey having three such 'divisions':Cambridge.Haythornthwaite.Volunteer Return 1803.Volunteer Return 1806.
Lt-Col Jackson Surrey Yeomen and Riflemen, Col Lord Leslie – 6 Troops (accepted 31 October 1802) + 1 Company (18 July 1803) Richmond Yeomanry, Sir Robert Baker, later Lt-Col Smith – 1 Tp (21 August 1803) + 1 Co (22 September 1803) Woking Volunteer Cavalry, Capt John W. Weston – 1 Tp (21 August 1803) Guildford & Blackheath Volunteer Cavalry, Maj J.M. Molyneux – 2 Tps (21 August 1803) Godley Hundred Volunteer Cavalry, Capt Edgell Wyatt – 1 Tp (21 December 1803) Croydon Volunteer Cavalry, Capt John Brickwood – 1 Tp (22 September 1803)
Lt-Col Hardy Wimbledon Light Horse Volunteers, Capt Benjamin Patterson – 1 Tp (after 1803) Clapham Legion, Lt-Col William Prescott, later Maj Brogden – 1 Tp + 3 Cos (22 December 1803) Wandsworth Volunteer Cavalry, Capt Charles Semple, later George Tritton – 2 Tps (22 December 1803)
Lt-Col Addenbrooke Lambeth Volunteer Cavalry, Capt Joseph Warden, later John Astley – 1 Tp (22 September 1803) Southwark Volunteer Cavalry, Capt John Collingdon – 2 Tps (21 August 1803)
Lieutenant-Cols Jackson and Hardy's cavalry units, together with the Berkshire Yeomanry, formed a brigade under Brigadier-General Prince. Lieutenant-Col Addenbrooke's cavalry units were included with the Lambeth and Southwark Volunteer Infantry in an infantry brigade under Brig-Gen Layard.
Enthusiasm for the Volunteers waned as the likelihood of invasion decreased. By 1812 the cavalry Troops of the Lambeth, Richmond, and Southwark Volunteers had disappeared from the lists, and the returns show no 'effective' men for the Croydon, Guildford, Wandsworth or Wimbledon corps. Only the Surrey Yeomanry (184 troopers and 60 riflemen), the Clapham Legion (27 troopers and 114 infantry) and the Egham & Godley Volunteers (40 troopers) were still effective.Yeomanry Return 1812.
19th century
The Volunteers were stood down in 1814, while some of the Yeomanry continued for internal security in the years after Waterloo. The Surrey Yeomanry and the London and Westminster Light Horse provided pickets on Westminster Bridge during crowd trouble in support of Queen Caroline when she was excluded from George IV's coronation in 1820. However, by 1824 all but four troops had disappeared in Surrey, and the whole regiment was disbanded in 1828.
A new Corps of Surrey Yeomanry was raised at Clapham on 12 December 1831 becoming the Surrey Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry in 1832. However, this too was finally disbanded in 1848. During the enthusiasm for the Rifle Volunteer Movement in the 1860s, a 1st Surrey Mounted Rifle Volunteer Corps was formed at Clapham on 2 April 1860, chiefly composed of foxhunters. It was redesignated the 1st Surrey Light Horse Volunteer Corps in February 1861, but although it held a fundraising Grand Ball in February 1867, it disbanded in 1868.Beckett, pp. 72, 116, Appendix X.
Imperial Yeomanry
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, especially mounted troops. The Imperial Yeomanry (IY) was accordingly organised as county service companies of volunteers, recruited both from the Yeomanry and from civilians, and was equipped to operate as Mounted infantry.Rogers, p. 228.Spiers, p. 239.Dunlop, pp. 104–18. While no Surrey units were formed, a number of returning IY veterans formed a permanent regiment in the county on 30 April 1901, which was granted the title Surrey Imperial Yeomanry (The Princess of Wales's) in June 1902. (It changed the subtitle to (Queen Mary's Regiment) after the accession of the Prince and Princess of Wales as King George V and Queen Mary in 1910.) Recruiting from London and Surrey, it was organised as follows: Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Clapham Park A Squadron at Pimlico B Squadron at Guildford C Squadron at Epsom D Squadron at Wimbledon
Territorial Force
The Imperial Yeomanry were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908.Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. Like the other yeomanry regiments the 'Imperial' part of the title was dropped, and the Surrey Yeomanry (QMR) was organised as follows:Conrad, British Army 1914. RHQ at Melbourne House, 73 King's Avenue, Clapham ParkJames, pp. 28–9.Clapham at Drill Hall Project.Wandsworth at Stepping Forward London. A Squadron at Clapham Park, with a detachment at Aldershot B Squadron at 58 Denzil Road, Guildford,Guildford at Drill Hall Project. with detachments at London Road, Camberley,Surrey at Great War Drill Halls. and at 259 Walton Road, WokingWoking at Drill Hall Project. C Squadron at Tamworth Road, West Croydon,Croydon at Stepping Forward London. with a detachment at Clapham D Squadron at Coombe Villa, 105 Merton Road, Wimbledon,Wimbledon at Drill Hall Project.Merton at Stepping Forward London. with a detachment at Clapham E (Cadet) Squadron
Equipped and trained as Lancers, the Surrey Yeomanry was attached for field training to the TF's South Eastern Mounted Brigade.James, pp. 35–6.Mounted Brigades at Long, Long Trail.Surrey Yeomanry at Long, Long Trail.
First World War When the regiment was mobilised on 4 August 1914, it was under the command of Lt-Col Sir John Humphery, one of the Sheriffs of the City of London, who had been commanding officer since 15 May 1912.Who's Who. The regiment immediately went with SE Mounted Bde to its war station in Kent. On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. 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, and they took in the many volunteers coming forward. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Later 3rd Line units were formed to provide reinforcement drafts to the 1st and 2nd lines.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
1/1st Surrey Yeomanry In November–December 1/1st Surrey Yeomanry was split up to provide a divisional cavalry squadron to each of the three new infantry divisions being formed from battalions brought back from India and other Imperial posts.
A Squadron On 21 November 1914 the squadron joined 27th Division at Magdalen Hill Camp, just outside Winchester. The division began embarking at Southampton on 19 December, and the squadron landed at Le Havre on 22 December, making it one of the first TF units to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front.Becke, Pt 1, pp. 97–104.Edmonds, 1914, Vol II, Appendix 2.Edmonds & Wynne, 1915, Vol I, p. 11.A Sqn War Diary December 1914–October 1915, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/2257/1.
27th Division went into the line at St Eloi south of Ypres on the nights of 5/6 and 6/7 January 1915. The conditions were miserable, and mounted troops could play little part in Trench warfare. Under the command of Maj C.A. Calvert, A Squadron's usual work was road patrols and providing orderlies to headquarters, though they took part in anti-sniper stalking during the German attack on St Eloi on 14–15 March. In April 27 Division moved north as the BEF took over defence of the Ypres Salient. The division played a minor role in the Second Battle of Ypres beginning on 22 April, but on 3 May it had to swing back a little to conform with a withdrawal in the rest of the Salient. In these new positions the division came under heavy attack in the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge (8–13 May) and was in action again at the Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge (23–4 May) when the Germans carried out a gas attack. The squadron's role was to guide supply wagons and reinforcements to and from the line. Other duties included making a dugout for the divisional commander, and working parties spent much of the summer erecting barbed wire in front of the British subsidiary line. It also instructed the newly arrived Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry in its duties. From late August the squadron began sending two dismounted Troops at a time to do front line trench duty with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.Edmonds & Wynne, 1915, Vol I, pp. 26–31, 158–9, 171–2, 184, 204, 257, 277, 287, 292–4, 310–8, 327–35, 339–45, 350.