The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (RWY) was a Yeomanry regiment of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom established in 1794. It was disbanded as an independent Territorial Army unit in 1967, a time when the strength of the Territorial Army was greatly reduced. The regiment lives on in B (Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry) Squadron of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.
The regiment took part in the Second Boer War as part of the Imperial Yeomanry. In the First World War, it fought on the Western Front, but saw relatively little action as horsed cavalry. After conversion to infantry, it fought in the trenches, notably during 3rd Ypres in 1917 and during the German spring offensive in 1918.
In the Second World War, the regiment fought in the Middle East, seeing action in Syria against Vichy French forces, as well as operations in Iraq and Iran. It then joined 9th Armoured Brigade, seeing action in North Africa and Italy. With this formation, it took part in the Second Battle of El Alamein, spearheading the break-out of the 2nd New Zealand Division during Operation Supercharge on 2 November 1942.
The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry cap badge is the Prince of Wales's feathers on a red baize backing, and vehicles carry the New Zealand fern leaf emblem.
History
Formation and early history On 4 June 1794, a meeting of country gentlemen at the Bear Inn in Devizes decided to raise a body of ten independent troops of Yeomanry for the county of Wiltshire. The decision was implemented by the High Sheriff Richard Long. Five gentlemen were identified to be captains in the unit. The existing troops were regimented into the Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1797. Neither the Yeomanry, nor the Militia (the infantry counterpart of the Yeomanry), were liable for service overseas and so the regiment took no part in the Napoleonic or later wars of the 19th century. However the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry was called to deal with civil disorders, such as a mutiny by the county Militia in Devizes, the Swing Riots and the 'machine riots'. In recognition of this service, the regiment was awarded the title 'Royal' by King William IV in 1831; the first yeomanry regiment to be so honoured. Contrary to common belief, the regiment was not involved in the restoration of order after the Bristol riots, which followed the rejection of the 1830 Reform Bill (although they did mobilise for the duty before regular troops restored order).Order was restored by the 14th King's Hussars; see
In 1863, it provided an escort to the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) through the Savernake Forest, in recognition of which it was the first regiment in the British Army to be awarded the title of 'Prince of Wales's Own' (entitling it to wear the Prince of Wales's feathers as a badge). In 1884, it was placed at the head of the newly formed Yeomanry Order of Precedence by Queen Victoria.Official Programme for - "Royal Review of Serving Regiments & Yeomanry Old Comrades by HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN" Yeomanry Titles in order of Parade, 1994.
Second Boer War The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during Black Week in December 1899, the British government realized they were going to need more troops than just the regular army. A Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December 1899 to allow volunteer forces to serve in the Second Boer War. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each for the Imperial Yeomanry. The regiment provided: 1st (Wiltshire) Company, 1st Battalion in 1900 2nd (Wiltshire) Company, 1st Battalion in 1900 63rd (Wiltshire) Company, 16th Battalion in 1900, transferred to 1st Battalion in 1902
In 1900, the regiment represented the Yeomanry cavalry at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia.
On 17 April 1901, the regiment was renamed as the Royal Wiltshire Imperial Yeomanry (Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment) and reorganised in four squadrons and a machine gun section. On 1 April 1908, the regiment was renamed as the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment) and transferred to the Territorial Force, trained and equipped as hussars. The regiment was based at the Yelde Hall in Chippenham at this time. Its organisation was:
Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment)HQ ChippenhamA Squadron Warminster(detachments at Longbridge Deverill, Whiteparish, Salisbury, Amesbury, Trowbridge)B Squadron Chirton(detachments at Melksham, Marlborough, Devizes, Lavington, Urchfont)C Squadron Chippenham(detachments at Corsham, Wootton Bassett, Malmesbury, Calne, Purton, Ashton Keynes)D Squadron Swindon
It was ranked 1st (of 55) in the order of precedence of the Yeomanry Regiments in the Army List of 1914.
First World War
In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw. 7, c.9) which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF 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 the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.
1/1st Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry The regiment was mobilised in August 1914 in the 1st South Western Mounted Brigade, but did not proceed to France until December 1915. In May 1916, two squadrons joined the XV Corps cavalry unit, with two further squadrons joining IX Corps Cavalry regiment. During 1916–17, duties mainly involved policing, traffic control, despatch riding and similar activities. In March 1917, the regiment played its only part in the War as horsed cavalry, during the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Over an eleven-day period, German forces retreated 20–25 miles to prepared positions. The RWY formed part of the advanced guard of the British Army, attempting to keep in touch with the German rearguards, but this was difficult owing to the broken nature of the ground behind the original German lines. Contact was made several times with Uhlans and a lance captured in one of these engagements is still in possession of the regiment.The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Collection
In September 1917, it was finally conceded that there was little place for horsed cavalry in the Western Front. The regiment was converted to infantry and joined the 6th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment (6th Wilts), fighting in the trenches at Ypres and Cambrai in 1917. In March 1918, the German army mounted its Spring Offensive and 6th Wilts at one point took the whole weight of the offensive at Bapaume. After a week of combat, 6th Wilts (half of whom were ex-RWY) had taken over 500 casualties. In April, they received reinforcements but later that month took another 400 casualties on the Messines Ridge. Shortly after this, it was decided to disband 6th Wilts as they had effectively ceased to exist. The regiment won 13 battle honours for the First World War, most earned with 6th Wilts.
2/1st Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry The 2nd Line regiment was formed in 1914. In May 1915, it was with 2/1st South Western Mounted Brigade in the Calne area and moved in September to Canterbury. 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 at Colchester.
In July 1916, there was a major reorganization of 2nd Line yeomanry units in the United Kingdom. All but 12 regiments were converted to cyclists and as a consequence the regiment was dismounted and joined the 6th Cyclist Brigade (and the division became 2nd Cyclist Division) at Tolleshunt d'Arcy near Tiptree. Further reorganization in November 1916 saw the 2nd Cyclist Division being broken up and the regiment was merged with the 2/1st North Somerset Yeomanry to form 10th (Wiltshire and North Somerset) Yeomanry Cyclist Regiment in 4th Cyclist Brigade at Ipswich. In March 1917 it resumed its identity as 2/1st Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, still in 4th Cyclist Brigade at Ipswich. In July it was at Wivenhoe and later moved to Frinton and Clacton. Early in 1918, the regiment moved to Ireland with 4th Cyclist Brigade and was stationed in Dublin; there was no further change before the end of the war.
3/1st Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 that summer it was affiliated to a Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Tidworth. In the summer of 1916, it was affiliated to the 11th Reserve Cavalry Regiment, also at Tidworth. Early in 1917, it was absorbed in the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Aldershot. By 1918, it had left the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Regiment as the 1st Line had been converted to infantry. It joined the 4th (Reserve) Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment at Larkhill.
Between the wars Post war, a commission was set up to consider the shape of the Territorial Force (Territorial Army or TA from 1 October 1921). The experience of the First World War made it clear that cavalry was surfeit. The commission decided that only the 14 most senior regiments were to be retained as cavalry (though the Lovat Scouts and the Scottish Horse were also to remain mounted as "scouts"). Eight regiments were converted to Armoured Car Companies of the Royal Tank Corps (RTC), one was reduced to a battery in another regiment, one was absorbed into a local infantry battalion, one became a signals regiment and two were disbanded. The remaining 25 regiments were converted to brigades of the Royal Field Artillery between 1920 and 1922. As the most senior regiment in the order of precedence, the regiment was retained as horsed cavalry.
During the interwar period, it remained an important part of the social scene of the county having its officers drawn from the nobility, landowners, and larger farmers, while other ranks coming largely from their estates. Hunting, point-to-points, and social events seem to have been as important as military training. The chapter of the Regimental History relating to the period 1920–1939 is even entitled "The Long Weekend".
This brought the regiment into contact for the first time with someone it would later meet more seriously, Brigadier Bernard Law Montgomery (often referred to as "Monty"), then commanding the 9th Infantry Brigade in Portsmouth. In 1937, the brigade was on an exercise in Wiltshire and RWY was attached to it for their two-week annual camp. The brigade major wrote that "[The Regiment] was run like so much of the TA those days on rather feudal lines...when they heard they were going to have those tremendous exercises – three nights out at a time – they jibbed violently....Most of them had looked forward to exercises all day and then going out for a bit of jollity at night." The upshot was that the regiment was banished to a distant part of the camp where their socialising would not be disturbed by the Regulars. However, apparently the Yeomanry were so intrigued by Monty's exercises that their Commanding Officer (CO) approached him, asking to be included in the last brigade exercise.
Second World War