The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry is an Operational Hygiene Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps, originally formed as cavalry in 1794, and has also served in artillery and signals roles. The lineage is continued by 710 (Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars) Operational Hygiene Squadron, 165 Port and Maritime Regiment RLC.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars In March 1794 the government of William Pitt the Younger passed the Volunteer Act in response to the threat of invasion by French revolutionary forces. The act sought to encourage "gentlemen of weight or property" to establish volunteer military formations. The Prime Minister proposed that the Counties form a force of Volunteer Yeoman 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 his county.Rogers, p. 145.
A public meeting held in Aylesbury on 3 May 1794 resolved to raise such a force in Buckinghamshire, and soon Troops of Buckinghamshire Armed Yeomanry were in existence at Amersham, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Burnham, High Wycombe and Newport Pagnell, the earliest dating from 8 May. Most of the costs were borne by the Earl of Chesterfield and the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, the Marquess of Buckingham.Frederick, p. 21.White, p. 6.Buckinghamshire Yeomanry at Regiments.org.
Most of the Volunteers and Yeomanry were stood down after the Peace of Amiens in 1802, but this broke down the following year and units were formed or reformed. On 16 July 1803 the independent Yeomanry troops in Buckinghamshire were regimented into the 1st (or Southern), 2nd (or Middle) and 3rd (or Northern) Regiments of Buckinghamshire Cavalry, with the Marquess of Buckingham as lord lieutenant serving as Colonel of all three.War Office, 1805 List.
19th century
Following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 the British Volunteer Corps was fully disbanded and its mounted contingent, the Yeomanry Cavalry, was allowed to stand down if they wished. However, most yeomanry regiments, including the three in Buckinghamshire, volunteered to continue their service. Although not called upon, the 2nd Regiment was under orders to go to Manchester in July 1819, before the Peterloo Massacre.Sleigh, pp. 2–3. In 1827 the War Office withdrew support from the Yeomanry Cavalry. The 1st and 3rd Regiments were disbanded the following year, and the 2nd Regiment was only kept in existence by being privately funded by the Marquess of Chandos. However, further civil disorder, with Buckinghamshire being affected by the Swing Riots, led to a change in policy, and pay was restored to the Yeomanry in 1830. The regiment was accepted as the 2nd Buckinghamshire Yeomanry Cavalry, together with a newly raised independent troop at Taplow commanded by Viscount Kirkwall (the disbanded 1st Regiment had included a Taplow Troop). The 2nd Regiment included two 6-pounder cannons, first issued in 1820.Laird Mackay, 'Taplow Lancers', Hitcham & Taplow Society Newsletter 92, Autumn 2009.
The regiment was called out to deal with rioting at Otmoor in Oxfordshire from 6 to 10 September 1830, followed by duty at Hounslow Barracks, Great Marlow, High Wycombe and Brill from 22 November to 7 December. The regiment was then quartered at Aylesbury, 9–15 January 1831, and the new Taplow Troop at Princes Risborough, to protect the Special Commissioners trying the Swing rioters. The War Office withdrew funding from the Taplow Troop in 1838, but it continued to train without pay.
Officers of the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry had worn a Hussar-style undress jacket and Pelisse in the 1820s, but in the 1830s the regiment was equipped and dressed as Light Dragoons. However, for Queen Victoria's visit to the Duke of Buckingham at Stowe House in 1844, the regiment formed two troops of Hussars. The following year the Queen conferred the title 'Royal' on the regiment, as the 2nd Royal Bucks Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry, later known as the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Royal Bucks Hussars) – it had adopted Hussar uniforms throughout by 1850.Knight.
At the time of the Chartist disturbances in 1848, the Royal Bucks, under Colonel commandant Chandos (by now the 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos) relieved the 1st Life Guards at Windsor Barracks so that the Regulars could be deployed in London.Sleigh, p. xxvii. The Taplow Troop also offered its services at Slough, but was not required. By 1850 the Royal Bucks consisted of eight troops, including the gun troop. The Taplow Troop officially became the South Buckinghamshire Yeomanry Cavalry some time after 1850, but once it adopted a lancer style uniform in 1863 it was generally known as the Taplow Lancers. However, it struggled to find recruits and was disbanded in 1871 when the remaining members were absorbed in to the Royal Bucks.
Chandos died in 1861, and the following year his son took over command of the Royal Bucks Hussars with the rank of lieutenant-colonel commandant. He had a junior lieutenant-colonel as his second-in-command.Army List, various dates. The 6-pounders were handed in and gun troop converted to cavalry in 1875. The 3rd Duke of Buckingham died in March 1889, and on 24 April Lord Chesham, a former captain in the 16th Lancers who had joined the Royal Bucks Hussars in 1879, was promoted to commanding officer (CO) with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, while Lt-Col George Morgan, formerly of the 4th Dragoon Guards, who had been the duke's second-in-command, was appointed as the regiment's first Honorary Colonel.
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 Buckinghamshire Yeomanry were assigned as 'divisional troops' to 1st Division of I Corps based at Colchester, alongside Regular Army units of infantry, artillery and engineers stationed across Eastern England.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 Buckinghamshire Yeomanry together with the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars formed the 2nd Yeomanry Brigade, headquartered at Buckingham.White, pp. 6–7.
Imperial Yeomanry Second Boer War On 13 December 1899 it was decided to allow volunteer forces serve in the Second Boer War. Due to the string of defeats during Black Week in December 1899, the UK government realized they would need more troops than just the regular army, so on 24 December 1899 a Royal Warrant was issued that created the Imperial Yeomanry.
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 regiment. Although there were strict requirements, many volunteers were accepted with substandard horsemanship/marksmanship, however they had significant time to train while awaiting transport.
The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers, 10,371 men in 20 battalions of 4 companies, which arrived in South Africa between February and April 1900. Upon arrival, the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations. The Buckinghamshire Yeomanry sponsored: 37th (Buckinghamshire) Company, 10th Battalion 38th (High Wycombe) Company, 10th Battalion 56th (Buckinghamshire) Company, 15th Battalion 57th (Buckinghamshire) Company, 15th Battalion Lord Chesham was appointed in command of a battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry in January 1900. The battle honour 'South Africa' was awarded.
On 17 April 1901 the regiment was renamed the Buckinghamshire Imperial Yeomanry (Royal Bucks Hussars) and reorganised in four squadrons and a machine gun section. On 1 April 1908 the regiment was renamed for the final time as the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry (Royal Bucks Hussars) and transferred to the Territorial Force, trained and equipped as hussars. Its organisation was:Buckinghamshire Yeomanry at Long, Long Trail.
Buckinghamshire Yeomanry (Royal Bucks Hussars)HQ Yeomanry House, BuckinghamA Squadron Buckingham(detachments at Stony Stratford, Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Akeley)B Squadron Aylesbury(detachments at Kimble, Quainton, Wing)C Squadron High Wycombe(detachments at Stokenchurch, Taplow, Beaconsfield)D Squadron Chesham(detachments at Cholesbury, Chalfont St Peter, Great Missenden)
It was ranked as 21st (of 55) in the order of precedence of the Yeomanry Regiments in the Army List of 1914.
World War I
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 Buckinghamshire Yeomanry The regiment was mobilised with its brigade on 4 August 1914 upon the outbreak of World War I. Initially it concentrated in Berkshire and on 5 August 1914 joined the 1st Mounted Division. On 2 September it was transferred to the 2nd Mounted Division and in mid November 1914 it moved with its division to Norfolk on coastal defence duties.James, pp. 16–7.
In April 1915 the 2nd Mounted Division moved to Egypt arriving at Alexandria between 19 and 21 April and was posted to Cairo by the middle of May. The regiment was dismounted in August 1915 and took part in the Gallipoli Campaign. It left a squadron headquarters and two troops (about 100 officers and men) in Egypt to look after the horses.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 9–17.James, pp. 34–6.Westlake, Gallipoli, p. 251.
They landed at "A" Beach, Suvla Bay on 18 August and moved into bivouacs at Lala Baba on 20 August. On 21 August it advanced to Chocolate Hill via Salt Lake and Hetman Chair and took part in the attack on Scimitar Hill. Due to losses at the Battle of Scimitar Hill and wastage in August 1915, the 2nd Mounted Division had to be reorganised. On 4 September 1915 the 1st Composite Mounted Brigade was formed from the 1st (1st South Midland), 2nd (2nd South Midland) and 5th (Yeomanry) Mounted Brigades. Each brigade formed a battalion sized unit, for example, 2nd South Midland Regiment and each regiment a sub-unit. The brigade embarked for Mudros on 31 October and returned to Egypt in December 1915 where its component units were re-formed and remounted.
The brigade left the 2nd Mounted Division on 17 January 1916 and was sent to the Western Frontier of Egypt as an independent formation. On 31 March 1916 the remaining Mounted Brigades were numbered in a single sequence. As a consequence, the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade was redesignated as 6th Mounted Brigade. The brigade served with the Western Frontier Force from January to October 1916. It joined the newly formed Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917 and took part in the First and Second Battles of Gaza.Perry, pp. 55–6.