Surrey Yeomanry

A patrol of Surrey Yeomanry passing through the ruined village of Caulaincourt during the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, 1917.

On mobilisation the Surrey Yeomanry now known as the 1/1st Surrey Yeomanry was attached to the South Eastern Mounted Brigade of the 1st Mounted Division.[6] In late 1914 the regiment was split up, with the Regimental Headquarters and A Squadron being attached to the 27th Division ; B Squadron joined the 28th Division while C Squadron joined the 29th Division.[6] C Squadron would see service in the Dardanelles campaign at Gallipoli in 1916 moved to France as the XV Corps Cavalry squadron which lasted until July 1917 when they were dismounted and sent to be retrained as infantry, before being drafted into the 10th Battalion Royal West Surrey Regiment in September 1917.[6] In December 1916 the regiments A and B Squadrons reformed to become the XVI Corps Cavalry Regiment in Salonika.[6]

The 2nd Line regiment was formed at Clapham in September 1914 and moved to Dorking. In May 1915 it went to Maresfield, in September to Wrotham and in the winter of 1915–16 it was at Hastings, possibly in 1/1st South Western Mounted Brigade which became 2/1st Southern Mounted Brigade.[7] On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence;[8] the brigade was numbered as 16th Mounted Brigade and joined 4th Mounted Division in the Manningtree area.[7]

In July 1916, 4th Mounted Division became 2nd Cyclist Division and the regiment was converted to a cyclist unit in 7th Cyclist Brigade at Woodbridge . In November 1916 the division was broken up and the regiment was merged with the 2/1st Sussex Yeomanry to form 8th (Surrey and Sussex) Yeomanry Cyclist Regiment in 3rd Cyclist Brigade at Ipswich. In March 1917 it resumed its identity as 2/1st Surrey Yeomanry at Ipswich, and in July moved back to the Woodbridge area. In May 1918, the regiment moved with 3rd Cyclist Brigade to Ireland. It was stationed at Athlone and Galway; there was no further change before the end of the war.[7]

The 3rd Line regiment was formed in February 1915 at Clapham and in June it was affiliated to the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Canterbury. Early in 1917 it was absorbed in the 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment at The Curragh.[7]

18-Pounder being inspected in France, April 1940.

The regiment mobilised at Worthing under Lt-Col G.A. Ledingham, MC, TD, who had been the commanding officer (CO) since 1937, and it joined I Corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France by 27 September 1939.[14][15][16][17][18][19] Its guns were World War I vintage 18-pounders, some handed over by 1st and 2nd Regiments Royal Horse Artillery who were receiving more modern guns, and 98th also took over vehicles from its sister regiment, 144th.[20][21][22]

On 10 May 1940, the Phoney War ended with the German invasion of the Low Countries, so the BEF followed the pre-arranged Plan D and advanced into Belgium to take up defences along the River Dyle. 98th (S&SY) Field Rgt was with I Corps on the Dyle Line by 15 May 1940.[23] However, the Panzers of the Wehrmacht's Army Group A had broken through the Ardennes and threatened the BEF's flank, so on 16 May it began to withdraw to the River Escaut. The regiment was with I Corps on the Escaut Line by 21 May 1940.[24]

By now the enemy was in the BEF's rear. To hold the line of the Aire Canal north of Saint-Omer the BEF organised a scratch force of rear elements ('Polforce'), and on 22 May 392 Bty was hastily sent to join the defenders on the Canal Line. The battery only had seven 18-pounders, so each was sent to cover one of the bridges against the advancing 1st Panzer Division:[21][25][26]

• Hazebrouck: 15 minutes after digging in, the gun stopped an enemy column, knocking out the lead vehicles. It was then attacked by 11 tanks, putting one (possibly two) out of action before the gun crew were all wounded and the ammunition limber blown up. The gun was withdrawn with its wounded detachment.
• Arques: Sappers were blowing up the bridge when the gun arrived. Advancing enemy troops were firing on and nearing the gun position when it was relieved by the 12th Royal Lancers and withdrawn.
• Renescure: The gun destroyed enemy-held houses across the bridge and remained in action until late afternoon. One enemy tank was destroyed but mortar fire on the gun position forced a withdrawal; as the gun was being limbered up the tractor was hit and the position overrun.
• Wardrecques: The gun supported a party of French infantry, destroying houses opposite and silencing a machine gun, but heavy fire drove the French back and although the gun remained in action it was destroyed by a direct hit shortly afterwards.
• Blaringhem: The gun covered French and British troops. A morning attack was repulsed with the destruction of an enemy tank and two troop carriers. During another attack the gun fired 130 rounds before the enemy closed in. A shell broke the limber connection and the gun had to be abandoned.
• Wittes: This gun was in position during the night of 22/23 May. Nothing further was heard of it and the detachment was captured.
• Saint-Momelin: Here the bridge was held for three days with the help of gunners of 51st (Lowland) Heavy Rgt armed with a few rifles and Bren guns. The gun destroyed enemy-held houses and mortar positions across the canal and being well dug in it survived all retaliation and repulsed all attempts to cross. The gunners had the satisfaction of intercepting a German radio message that said 'Bridge at Momelin strongly held, try elsewhere'. The defenders at St Momelin were relieved by French troops on 25 May.

The RA regimental historian wrote: 'Seldom have two troops of field guns done so much to hold off an armoured division for so long. The delay they caused was vital and saved many Allied lives'.[21]

The regiment then fell back into the 'pocket' round Dunkirk from which the BEF was preparing evacuation (Operation Dynamo). Without the support of a divisional structure the Army field regiments had a difficult time, having to fend for themselves.[27] 98th (S&SY) Field Rgt attached itself to 44th (HC) Division, but got caught in a traffic jam at Saint-Jans-Cappel on 29 May and the gunners were forced to destroy and abandon their guns and vehicles before proceeding on foot to the beaches for evacuation.[18]

On arrival in England the regiment was sent to Okehampton Camp, and then to join a scratch '1st Infantry Brigade' formed by the Royal Artillery at Bourne, Lincolnshire. Detachments were sent to the Sussex coast on anti-invasion duties manning 12-pounder and 4-inch naval guns mounted on Albion and Scammell lorries.[18][27][28] By July the rest of the regiment was manning tradesmen's vans and an old Rolls-Royce car, first at Hall Green, Birmingham, then Ince Blundell, Lancashire, (where the Sussex detachments rejoined), and in October at Huyton, Lancashire. Detachments of gunners were sent out to man roadblocks and static guns. Part of 391 Bty was at Barford in the outer defences of Birmingham with Hotchkiss 6-pounders, the rest at Tarvin on airfield defence. 392 Battery was in detachments from Maryport to Speke with weapons ranging from obsolete 6-pounders to 1913-vintage 13-pounders.[18]

In December 1940 the regiment went to Portsmouth in Southern Command, where it joined V Corps. When field regiments were reorganised on a three-battery basis, 98th (S&SY) Fd Rgt formed 471 Bty in January 1941, armed with four French 75mm guns, while 391 and 392 Btys each had two of the new 25-pounders. By April 1941 the regiment was fully equipped with 24 x 25-pounders. It also gained an attached Royal Corps of Signals section and a Light Aid Detachment (LAD) of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The regiment did a spell as depot regiment at the School of Artillery at Larkhill Camp and was later stationed at Sturminster Marshall, the Isle of Wight, and Wimborne Minster.[18][29][30][31]

At the beginning of May 1942 the regiment came under direct War Office control preparatory to proceeding overseas.[32]

98th (S&SY) Field Regiment landed in Egypt where on 19 September 1942 it joined 10th Armoured Division in Eighth Army. It was equipped with 24 x 25-pounders with Stuart light tanks as observation posts (OPs).[18][33]

25-pounder and Quad tractor moving up to the front in the Western Desert, 29 October 1942.

On the second night of the Second Battle of El Alamein (24/25 October), 10th Armoured Division advanced with strong artillery support from its own regiments and several others, but the tanks could not keep up with the barrage and struggled up to Miteirya Ridge. On 27/28 October the division's lorried infantry brigade attacked the 'Woodcock' and 'Snipe' objectives, but because of the confusion on the objectives the artillery plan had to be very simple, and communication between brigade HQ and the guns broke down. The infantry took serious casualties and dug in short of their objectives. 10th Armoured Division was withdrawn into reserve, but after the battle it took part in the pursuit to Mersa Matruh.[34]

After Matruh, 10th Armoured Division withdrew to the Nile Delta,[35] and on 29 December 98th (S&SY) Fd Rgt came under Middle East Forces. In Egypt it re-equipped with M7 Priest 105mm self-propelled (SP) guns.[18][36]

98th (S&SY) Field Regiment rejoined Eighth Army for the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) in July 1943.[18][37] The landings began on 10 July. On 13 July a Commando and paratroop attack (Operation Fustian) had seized Primosole Bridge over the Simeto river and prevented its demolition, but had been unable to retain possession of the bridge. Early on 15 July the SP guns of 98th (S&SY) and 24th Fd Rgts were brought up to support 50th (Northumbrian) Division and 4th Armoured Brigade in their renewed attempts to gain a bridgehead. Aided by a heavy barrage, three battalions of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) forced their way across.[38][39]

The regiment came into action again on 17 July, together with six other field and medium regiments, in support of an attack on the Fossa Bottaceto, south of Catania, by 6th and 9th Bns DLI and the tanks of 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). The guns fired a concentration for 30 minutes before Zero (which was at 01.00), then barrages and concentrations as required. The operation bogged down in close country and an attempt to restart it the next night broke down when the artillery was directed to fire on the Bottaceto itself, while German troops were still in position in front of it.[40]

105mm Priest SP gun supporting 78th Division in Italy.

After Sicily had been secured, Eighth Army moved to the invasion of mainland Italy, crossing the Strait of Messina to land around Reggio di Calabria on 3 September (Operation Baytown). From Reggio, 98th (S&SY) Fd Rgt moved to Taranto where in October it embarked in Landing Ships, Tank for a four-day voyage round the 'heel' of Italy to Manfredonia, from where it advanced to Foggia.[18][41]

By November, Eighth Army faced the Germans' Bernhardt Line. An assault crossing of the River Sangro on 28 November by V Corps was supported by massive artillery fire, the field regiments (98th (S&SY) being attached to 78th Division for the operation) firing over 600 rounds per gun in the first three days. On 9 December 1st Canadian Division joined the battle round the Moro River, with 98th (S&SY) Fd Rgt among the units firing in support.[18][42]

Gunners of the Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry play an impromptu game of cricket in front of their Priest SP guns in Italy.

By January 1944 the regiment had been switched to the other side of Italy to join in X Corps' assault crossing of the Garigliano. The operation began on the night of 17/18 January with 98th (S&SY) Fd Rgt firing in support of 5th Division after the infantry had made a silent crossing.[43]

The opening of the 1944 Allied spring offensive in Italy saw 98th (S&SY) Fd Rgt assigned to 8th Indian Division to force a crossing of the River Gari as part of Operation Diadem. The attack began at 23.45 on the night of 11/12 May, with every gun employed in counter-battery bombardment from 23.00 to 23.40. The field guns concentrated on the Nebelwerfer mortar positions and then provided a creeping barrage for the infantry advancing at a rate of 100 yards (91 m) in six minutes. The leading battalions of 8th Indian Division crossed without much difficulty, covered by mist in the river valley, but aroused by the preliminary bombardment the Germans brought down their pre-arranged defensive fire. The infantry were pinned down and dug in, while the barrage rolled away from them beyond the German positions. However, by morning they had won a small bridgehead, bridges were being built and the first armour crossed before nightfall.[44]

Preserved Sexton 25-pounder SP gun.

After the fall of Rome on 4 June, the Allies pressed the German forces back to the Gothic Line, where the advance bogged down again.

In the winter of 1944–45 a number of units and formations were transferred from the Italian Front to 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe. 98th (S&SY) Field Regiment was one of those sent in March 1945, and was re-equipped with Sexton 25-pounder SP guns.[45][18] The regiment served in the Netherlands and in April 1945 it moved to Lübeck in Germany with the occupation forces. Demobilisation began in October 1945 and the regiment passed into suspended animation in June 1946.[9][18]

See main article 144th Field Regiment (Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry Queen Mary's)

The 144th Field Regiment remained in the United Kingdom in the early war years as part of Home Forces, attached to 4th Division after its return from the Dunkirk evacuation.[22] In November 1940 they were sent to Egypt and then attached to the 5th Indian Division seeing service in the Sudan, Abyssinia and Eritrea it was at Keru Gorge that 390 Battery were charged by about 60 Eritrean cavalry, almost certainly the last cavalry charge on the British Army.[22] The Regiment returned to Egypt with the division before being attached to the 70th Infantry Division during the Siege of Tobruk in September 1941.[22] After being withdrawn from Tobruk they were briefly attached to the 4th Indian Division in early 1942 and the British 1st Armoured Division in February to April 1942.[22] In May 1942 they were sent to Iraq with the 10th Army attached to the 17th Indian Infantry Brigade and then to 31st Indian Armoured Division. They remained with this formation until the end of the war serving in Syria, Persia, Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon.[22]