The Northumberland Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, transferred to the Royal Artillery for the duration of the Second World War. 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's name lives on in the title of the command and support squadron of the Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY), a Formation Reconnaissance Regiment based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
History
Formation and early history In 1794, King George III was on the throne, William Pitt the Younger was Prime Minister of Great Britain and, across the 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 that the Counties form a force of Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry that could be called upon by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the country. However, it was not until 1819 that The Newcastle Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry was raised. Shortly afterward, in 1831, the regiment was used against its own countrymen, putting down the miners' strikes of that year. In 1849 an Army Riding School was established in Northumberland Road for the use of the regiment. In 1876, the regiment was renamed the Northumberland (Hussars) Yeomanry Cavalry.
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 equipped as Mounted infantry. The regiment provided:
14th (Northumberland) Company, 5th Battalion in 1900 15th (Northumberland) Company, 5th Battalion in 1900 55th (Northumberland) Company, 14th Battalion in 1900, transferred to 5th Battalion in 1902 100th (Northumberland) Company, 5th Battalion in 1901 101st (Northumberland) Company, 5th Battalion in 1901 105th (Northumberland) Company, 5th Battalion in 1901 110th (Northumberland) Company, 2nd Battalion in 1901 The mounted infantry experiment was considered a success and the regiment was designated the Northumberland Imperial Yeomanry (Hussars) from 1901 to 1908.
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 Northumberland Hussars
The 1st Line regiment was mobilised in August 1914, at the Army Riding School in Newcastle upon Tyne, and attached to the Yorkshire Mounted Brigade. In September, it joined the 7th Infantry Division at Lyndhurst. On 6 October it landed at Zeebrugge with the division. In April 1915, the regiment was split up
Regimental Headquarters and A Squadron remained with the 7th Division B Squadron joined the 1st Division C Squadron joined the 8th Division This lasted until May 1916, when the squadrons were reunited in France to act as the Cavalry unit for XIII Corps. The regiment would then move between Corps, being attached to the VIII Corps in August 1917, III Corps in November 1917 and, finally, XII Corps in October 1918 where it remained until the end of the war.
2/1st Northumberland Hussars The 2nd Line regiment was formed in October 1914. In April 1916, the regiment was split up:
Regimental Headquarters and B Squadron joined the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division A Squadron operated as an independent unit based in Scarborough C Squadron joined the 59th (2nd North Midland) Division In February 1917, the regiment reassembled and, on 19 March 1917, it moved to France, where it constituted XIX Corps Cavalry Regiment a few days later. It was the only 2nd Line Yeomanry regiment to be posted overseas on active service in the First World War. On 28 August 1917, the regiment moved to Étaples for infantry training; this completed on 25 September, at which time the unit amalgamated with the 9th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers as the 9th (Northumberland Hussars) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers.
3/1st Northumberland Hussars The 3rd Line regiment was formed at Gosforth Park in February 1915 and then move to Stocksfield-on-Tyne. In the summer, it was affiliated to the 5th Reserve Cavalry Regiment at York. In January 1917, it was absorbed into the 5th Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Tidworth.
Menin Gate Four Northumberland Hussars, who died in the First World War and have no known grave, are commemorated on panel 5 of the Menin Gate. A fifth, Shoeing Smith G. Stephenson, was added to Panel 60 in 2017.
Between the wars Post war, a commission was set up to consider the shape of the Territorial Force (Territorial Army 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 14th most senior regiment in the order of precedence, the regiment was retained as horsed cavalry.
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