Royal Yeomanry

The Royal Yeomanry Regiment (Volunteers) was raised on 1 April 1967, following the disbandment of the Territorial Army the previous day under the Reserve Forces Act 1966 and its replacement by a newly-constituted organisation, the TAVR (Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve).[4]

The legal effect of the Act and the orders implementing it (Army Order 2 dated 28 January 1967 and the Army Reserves Succession Warrant 1967)[4] was that there was no succession of lineage from the disbanded regiments and battalions of the old Territorial Army to the new units being raised. However, the warrant also stated ‘the wish to provide for succession of units raised' and then listed those new units which would be deemed to be successors to previous Territorial Army units. The Royal Yeomanry Regiment (Volunteers) was to be regarded as the successor to the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry, the North Irish Horse, and the Berkshire and Westminster Dragoons.[5]

The Act established four categories of army reservists: TAVR I ('Ever Readies') consisted of high-readiness soldiers and specialists. TAVR II ('Volunteers') consisted of units with a limited war or general war role. Equipped to regular army scales they had a substantial training commitment, more arduous that in the old Territorial Army. TAVR III ('Territorials') were the home defence units with light equipment scales and a much-reduced training commitment; this category was disbanded on 1 April 1969. TAVR IV was a miscellany of units such as University Officer Training Corps and bands.[6]

The Royal Yeomanry Regiment (Volunteers) was in TAVR II.[7] For four years, it was the only Royal Armoured Corps yeomanry reserve regiment: hence its generic name. In 1971, three new RAC Yeomanry regiments (the Queen's Own Yeomanry, the Mercian Yeomanry and the Wessex Yeomanry) were raised and the Royal Yeomanry's name was shortened to its current one; the opportunity to give it a more distinctive name was missed. The Queen's Own Yeomanry was given the same NATO role as the Royal Yeomanry, while the other two were Home Defence light reconnaissance.[5]

The Royal Yeomanry's role during the Cold War was medium armoured reconnaissance. Its primary task was to operate as a mobile force to protect the massive, widespread logistic assets of the Corps, and certain key bridges against covert attacks and airborne descents by Soviet special forces. In addition it trained to perform the full range of medium armoured reconnaissance tasks for general war. The Royal Yeomanry was equipped with armoured cars,[1] first Saladin, Saracen and Ferret, then Fox, Spartan and Sultan.[8] Each squadron had an establishment (maximum number of personnel) of around 120, operated 30 armoured vehicles and around 15 soft-skinned vehicles and was supported by a team of 11 regular army instructors and five local civilian staff.[8]

The ‘peace dividend’ review of the Armed Forces (‘Options for Change’) which followed the end of the Cold War saw substantial changes to the Royal Yeomanry's role, equipment and establishment. These were justified by the then Secretary of State for Defence on the basis of a perceived "need to adapt [the Territorial Army's] roles to support and complement the new roles of the regular army. Under the previous strategy, it had important roles defending positions close to the previous West German border in support of the substantial British stationed forces. Clearly this task is no longer relevant in a unified Germany and under the new NATO strategy of greater flexibility and mobility. Instead, new opportunities arise to be part of the Rapid Reaction Corps and in national defence, and it is for these new roles and responsibilities that the Territorial Army units must now be structured and trained."[9]

As a result, in 1992 the Royal Yeomanry was reduced in status and function to align with what were by then four other RAC yeomanry regiments and become national defence light reconnaissance, converting from armour to the Scout Land Rover and reducing in establishment by half, to between 50-60 personnel per squadron.[10] At this time, the Royal Yeomanry lost two squadrons to the Queen's Own Yeomanry (one in Nottingham, which later returned to the Regiment, and the other in Northern Ireland) and gained one (in Leicester).[11]

Fuchs CBRN Reconnaissance Vehicle

The Royal Yeomanry's national defence role encompassed a wide spectrum of possible operational uses. They included NATO, United Nations and national operations worldwide, as well as military aid to the civil authorities in the United Kingdom and military home defence.[12] However, the role was perceived to be ill-defined and too broad a set of potential outputs to train against using limited resources. At a time when the Territorial Army was under continuing pressure to reduce in size and capabilities, this was regarded as potentially imperilling the regiment's existence. A more definite role that would address a clear Defence requirement was needed. Consequently, in 1996[13] the Royal Yeomanry accepted the role of being the British Army's only[14] specialist nuclear, biological and chemical defence regiment,[13][1] taking on the 11 Fuchs CBRN reconnaissance vehicles which had been acquired by the British Army during the 1990 Gulf War.[15]

The Royal Yeomanry served exclusively in the CBRN (or NBC) role from 1996 until 1999. During this time, its first operational deployments began. On 1 April 1999, on the recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review, the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment (originally, the Joint NBC Regiment) was formed as a joint regular Army and Royal Air Force unit composed of four squadrons of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and 27 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment.[16][17] The Royal Yeomanry was therefore reconfigured and partly re-roled. Two of the Royal Yeomanry's squadrons (A and W) were retained in the CBRN role to provide reserves for the new Joint NBC Regiment.[18] The three non-CBRN squadrons converted to Challenger 2 to serve as reserves for armoured regiments. The establishment of each squadron was increased to 80-90. The regiment lost D (Berkshire Yeomanry) Squadron in Slough to disbandment but regained S (Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry) Squadron in Nottingham from the Queen's Own Yeomanry.[19]

In 2006, as a result of the changes to the Territorial Army triggered by the Future Army Structure unveiled by the Ministry of Defence in 2004,[20] the Royal Yeomanry's role ceased to be split between CBRN and Challenger 2 reserves. It was consolidated into a single role: 'formation CBRN reconnaissance'. In practice, this meant continuing to train as CBRN specialists and as RAC crew using the Scout Land Rover as a surrogate training platform, while also training as CVR(T) crew. This change paved the way for the uplift of each squadron's vehicle fleet to include two CVR(T) Spartan armoured fighting vehicles for training purposes.[21] Soldiers and officers of the Royal Yeomanry then began to deploy to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK as Scimitar, Spartan and Samaritan gunners, drivers and loaders.[22]

Since 2013 the Royal Yeomanry has been a reserve light cavalry regiment. In that year, under the Reserves in the Future Force 2020 White Paper[23] and the reserves basing plan announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 5 July 2013,[24] the regiment was paired with 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG). On 24 February 2015, as part the same Army 2020 reorganisation programme, the Royal Yeomanry was transferred from under the command of Headquarters London District to that of 7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East within 1st (United Kingdom) Division as the brigade switched from its armour role into that of an infantry brigade and regional point of command.[25][26] The regiment gained two squadrons (in Telford and Dudley)[27] of the disbanded Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry but lost a squadron (in Swindon) to the Royal Wessex Yeomanry under the Army 2020 reforms.[28]

Under Army 2020 (Refine), it was confirmed that the Royal Yeomanry would (exceptionally) retain all six of its squadrons, two of which had been under threat of deletion under the 2013 plan. It was also confirmed that the squadron which the regiment had lost to the Royal Wessex Yeomanry would also be retained at squadron size.[29]

The Royal Yeomanry's current light cavalry role is to provide a rapidly deployable force with fast mobility and substantial firepower as part of the British Army's combat arm. Its soldiers provide reconnaissance, reassurance, security and, if the situation demands it, decisive tactical effects by raiding and attacking the enemy.[1]

The Royal Yeomanry's first operational deployment was in 1998 as CBRN/NBC specialists, to Kuwait.[13] Some 35 members of the regiment deployed in August 1998 to set up biological detection systems in advance of Operation DESERT FOX (the Bombing of Iraq (1998)) and stayed on as part of Operation BOLTON. Between 1998 and 2002, some 44 members of the regiment deployed on operations to Kuwait, Bosnia & Herzegovina (Operation PALATINE) and Kosovo (Operation AGRICOLA).[13]

Y Squadron at the Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea, January 2003

In January 2003, A (Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry) and W (Westminster Dragoons) Squadrons were mobilised together with the Regimental Headquarters for Operation TELIC, the war in Iraq. The two squadrons were amalgamated with a number of augmentees from the other three squadrons of the Royal Yeomanry and from 160 Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps to form a much-enlarged "Y" Squadron comprising 116 personnel, which deployed as part of the Joint NBC Regiment. Despite being held at 180 days' notice for mobilisation, the Royal Yeomanry deployed to the operational theatre by 4 March 2003, three months after the Commanding Officer had received a warning order and less than six weeks after those who mobilised had received their call-out notices. This was the first deployment of a formed TA unit (TA soldiers under TA command) for combat operations since the Suez crisis in 1956.[3]

During the warfighting phase, formed complete troops (an officer and 12 soldiers) of the Royal Yeomanry were attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade,[30] 7 Armoured Brigade (the Desert Rats) and 3 Commando Brigade for the invasion as NBC specialists. The remainder of the squadron had responsibility for NBC support to 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division's rear area. The Regimental Headquarters was detached from 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division to the US 75th Exploitation Task Force and Coalition Force Land Component Command to act as the liaison between the UK and US NBC efforts throughout the theatre of operations. Once the war-fighting phase was over, Y Sqn reverted to being under the operational command of Commanding Officer Royal Yeomanry and undertook peace support operations to the north of Al-Qurnah following a relief-in-place with elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade.[3]

The Royal Yeomanry maintained a constant presence in Iraq from March 2003 until the end of Operation TELIC, including a substantial deployment on Op TELIC 4 of 53 members of the non-NBC squadrons to augment the Queen's Royal Lancers and 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment, serving principally as infantry but also in the armoured role.[31]

From 2007 to 2014, the Royal Yeomanry also provided officers and soldiers for Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan,[22][32] including a deployment of seven soldiers on Operation HERRICK 7 (one of whom, Corporal James Dunsby, served as gunner in HRH Prince Harry's armoured fighting vehicle).[33]

In 2018, the Royal Yeomanry undertook its first operational deployments with its paired regular regiment, the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, sending 3 officers and 11 soldiers on Operation CABRIT 3 and 4 to Poland as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence. Officers were mobilised primarily as liaison officers working to the US Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States) in Poland and to the UK's Enhanced Forward Presence Command (eFP-C) in Tallinn, Estonia, which oversees both the UK-led Estonian NATO eFP Battlegroup, and retains operational command of UK troops in Battlegroup Poland. Soldiers were mobilised as integrated crewmen and key positions within the UK Light Cavalry Squadron Group in NATO Battlegroup Poland.[1]