The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and World War I as horsed cavalry before being converted to an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artillery for service in World War II. In 1956, it was amalgamated with the Warwickshire Yeomanry to form the Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry. The lineage is maintained by B (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron, part of The Royal Yeomanry.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars were formed in 1794, as the Worcestershire Yeomanry, when King George III was on the throne, William Pitt the Younger was the prime minister of Great Britain, and across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation that had recently guillotined its king and possessed a revolutionary army numbering half a million men. The Prime Minister proposed on 14 March 1794 that the counties form a force of Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry, which 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 country.Rogers, p. 145.
Worcestershire responded quickly to this call: a meeting held on 29 April at the Guildhall in Worcester voted to raise money to augment the existing militia and to raise a corps of yeomanry cavalry. A further meeting on 15 August resolved to raise two yeomanry troops of 56 men each. This offer of service having been accepted, the Hon. John Somers Cocks was appointed captain and Thomas Spooner as lieutenant of the first troop, the Worcester Troop of Gentlemen and Yeomen, which held its first parade in front of the Unicorn Inn at Worcester on 25 October and began drilling at Powick. The second troop was raised in the summer of 1796 under the command of Spooner, and Capt Somers Cocks was promoted to major to command what was now a squadron. A further Act of Parliament in 1798 permitted local associations to raise additional troops of volunteer cavalry, whose service was restricted to operations within their county.Frederick, pp. 55–6.Owen, p. 1.Smith, pp. 1–2.
With the threat of a French invasion having receded after the signing of the Peace of Amiens in 1802, the King commended the Worcestershire Yeomanry for their 'honourable distinction in forming an essential part of the defence of the country against a foreign enemy in circumstances of extraordinary emergency'. However, the Worcester Yeomanry volunteered to serve on, and in the event the peace broke down in 1803. By the end of that year, a third troop had been added to the Worcester Cavalry and Maj Somers Cocks had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel to command the regiment, while seven troops of volunteer cavalry had been raised in the county:Owen, pp. 2–3.WO List 1805.
Worcester Cavalry (3 Trps) Bromsgrove Cavalry (23 May 1798) Dudley Cavalry Kidderminster Cavalry (15 November 1802)
Kings Norton Cavalry Stourbridge Cavalry (2 Trps, 6 November 1802, 14 September 1803) Wolverley Cavalry
The Yeomanry's training was now carried out with Regular cavalry units whenever possible. During the 1810 training, rioting broke out in Worcester and the Yeomanry were called upon to assist the militia in quelling it. Lord Somers (as Lt-Col Somers Cocks had now become) resigned the command in 1811 and there was a two-year hiatus before his son, the Hon. John Somers Cocks was appointed lieutenant-colonel. In October 1811, the lords lieutenant were required to incorporate the independent Volunteer cavalry into the Yeomanry, who were to train for 12 days a year, receiving Regular cavalry pay while training.
19th Century After the Battle of Waterloo, the remaining Volunteers were disbanded and the Yeomanry allowed to stand down if they wished, but most regiments, including the Worcestershires, volunteered to serve on. In 1818, the Worcestershire Yeomanry were called out to quell a disturbance in Pitchcroft, Worcester, where rioters were pulling down buildings that had been erected on common land, and the special constables had failed to intervene. The Yeomanry were met with a shower of stones and were glad to retire to the yard of the Star and Garter inn, after which the rioters dispersed peaceably. The regiment was also called out in 1822 during unrest amongst the South Staffordshire miners.Talbot.
The War Office ceased to support the Yeomanry after 1827 and most regiments were disbanded, including the Worcestershires. However, further civil disorder led to the reconstitution of many of these regiments in 1831. The Worcestershire magistrates decided to reform their regiment and it was accepted by the government on 29 April 1831, with the Earl of Plymouth as colonel and Lord Lyttelton as lt-col. The adjutant was Capt William Emmott, who had enlisted as a Trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, had served with it in the Napoleonic Wars and at Waterloo, and has retire as the regiment's quartermaster. The regiment consisted of ten 50-man troops:Owen, pp. 4–9.Smith, pp. 3–7.
Worcester Upton Stourbridge Kidderminster Northfield or Kings Norton
Droitwich or Westfield Tardebigge Hanbury Bromsgrove Pershore and Evesham
The regiment also had two 3-pounder 'galloper guns' attached to it (replaced by 6-pounders in 1853).
During its first year, the regiment was called out to deal with riots at Upton, Tewkesbury and Worcester, by miners at Dudley when the entire regiment was deployed, and riots at Dudley and Stourbridge in connection with the Great Reform Act.Sleigh, pp 39–40. The regiment raised an additional 100-man squadron at Dudley in 1832: mounted entirely on grey horses was known as the 'Grey Squadron'. In November 1832, Princess Victoria visited the Earl of Plymouth at Hewell Grange, for which the regiment provided her escort. After her accession as Queen Victoria in 1837 she conferred the title of 'Queen's Own' on the regiment in recognition of that visit: from now on the regiment bore the title of Queen's Own Regiment of Worcestershire Yeomanry.
The Earl of Plymouth died in 1833 and on 9 November was succeeded as colonel by his brother-in-law, Major the Hon. Robert Clive, who continued to support the regiment financially. The Kidderminster Troop was disbanded in 1836, but most of its members joined the Kings Norton Troop, which became a squadron. A new troop was raised at Witley in 1841.
The regiment continued to be called out to assist the civil powers, in 1832 during a boat hauliers' strike; at Dudley in 1833, 1834 and 1835; for six weeks' duty during the Chartist riots at Birmingham in 1839; and from April to September 1842 during the Staffordshire Potteries and South Staffordshire miners' riots. Of this service the Commanding Officer (CO) stated: Prevention is the cure we should look to; we do not wish to be called into activity to cause injury to our neighbours, especially circumstanced as we are, and locally known to many of them. Colonel Clive died in 1854 and Lord Ward (later Earl of Dudley), who had been lt-col since 1837, was promoted to replace him. Edwin Hughes served as Sergeant-Instructor with the Worcestershire Yeomanry starting from the day after his discharge from the 13th Hussars until his discharge for 'old age' on 5 January 1886. Edwin Hughes was the oldest survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade.
In 1871, control of the yeomanry was taken from the lords lieutenant and passed to the Secretary of State for War; in the Worcestershires, the Earl of Dudley and 12 other officers resigned their commissions as a result. However, the Earl remained as Honorary Colonel of the regiment; Lt-Col Lord Sandys, formerly of the 2nd Life Guards, succeeded as CO. The regiment was reorganised as follows:Army List, various dates.Smith, p. 13.Burke's: 'Sandys'.
A Trp at Stourbridge B Trp at Tardebigge C Trp at Dudley D Tp at Witley
E Trp at Upton F Trp at Upton G Trp at Droitwich H Trp at Worcester
The gun detachment was disbanded and the regiment adopted a Hussar uniform. In 1887, during Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, the regiment's title was changed to Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars. G and H Troops amalgamated to form a squadron and a new troop was raised at Malvern, amalgamating with one of the Upton troops. Lord Sandys resigned the command in 1878 and Lord Lyttelton (later Viscount Cobham) was promoted to replace him. He was succeeded by Lord Windsor in 1893.Burke's: 'Cobham'.
Following the Cardwell Reforms, a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned Regular 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 Worcestershire, Derbyshire and Denbighshire Yeomanry were assigned to the Cavalry Brigade of VI Corps based at Crewe, alongside a Regular Army 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 Worcestershire Yeomanry together with the Shropshire Yeomanry formed the 5th Yeomanry Brigade. The Yeomanry brigades disappeared from the Army List after the Second Boer War.Smith, pp. 16–7.
Under an Army Order of 22 January 1893, the yeomanry were organised by squadrons: A Squadron at Dudley B Squadron at Bromsgrove C Squadron at Malvern D Squadron at Worcester.
Imperial Yeomanry Second Boer War In 1899, they were called for service in the Imperial Yeomanry, for the Boer War. The War Office was not prepared for the Boer offensive and sent only 10,000 Indian troops, under command of Lord Methuen, to face some 70,000 Boers. After an initial success, the British found themselves in trouble owing to lack of cavalry. The result was the English Yeomanry Regiments were called upon and their response was immediate. Lord Windsor, the Commanding Officer asked for volunteers for a newly formed Imperial Yeomanry Cavalry and was able to select 129 men from the 3,021 men who offered their services.
The Worcestershire contingent formed the 16th Company of the 5th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry Cavalry under the command of Colonel Frederick Meyrick. The squadron's orders were to protect the railways, pacify the local Boer farmers and to capture the Boer forces their supplies, arms and equipment. The Regiment was armed with the Martini–Henry carbine and 2 lb and 3 lb guns which were, in fact, the private property of Lord Plymouth and paid for out of private funds. The Countess of Dudley, whose husband had been Colonel Commander of the Worcestershire Yeomanry, presented each yeoman with a pear blossom, the emblem of Worcestershire, worked in silk, to wear in their hat as a reminder of where they were from. When they returned in 1903, the Countess presented the regiment with a sprig of pear blossom made by Fabergé, in gold, diamond, rock crystal, and jade, which the unit still bring out on dinner nights.
A second draft for the IY went out to South Africa in 1901, including the 102nd (Worcestershire) Company. The Second Boer War ended in June 1902 and the Regiment returned to home having lost 16 NCOs killed in action and 20 wounded.
The Imperial Yeomanry was equipped and trained as Mounted infantry. The experiment was considered a success and, in 1901, all the existing yeomanry regiments were converted to IY: the regiment became the Worcestershire Imperial Yeomanry (The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars). The 'Imperial' part of the title was dropped when the yeomanry were transferred to the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908. The regiment was based at Silver Street in Worcester at this time (since demolished).
World War I