The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that can trace their formation back to 1796. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. It was amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and the 1st/2nd Lothians and Border Horse to form the Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry in 1956. Its lineage was revived by B (Lanarkshire and Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry) Squadron, the Scottish Yeomanry in 1992 until that unit was disbanded in 1999.
History
Formation and early history In 1793, the prime minister, William Pitt the Younger, proposed that the English Counties form a force of Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry that 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. The regiment was first raised in 1796 as " The Glasgow Light Horse". It was subsequently disbanded in 1822 but re-raised as "The Glasgow and Lower Ward of Lanarkshire Yeomanry Cavalry" in 1848. The additional title of "Queen's Own Royal" was conferred by Queen Victoria the following year.
Second Boer War On 13 December 1899, the decision to allow volunteer forces serve in the Second Boer War was made. 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, thus issuing a Royal Warrant on 24 December 1899. This warrant officially created the Imperial Yeomanry (IY). The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each, equipped as Mounted infantry. In addition to this, many British citizens (usually mid-upper class) volunteered to join the new force. The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers, 10,371 men with 20 battalions and 4 companies, which arrived in South Africa between February and April 1900.
The Queen's Own Glasgow Yeomanry provided troops for the 6th (Scottish) Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry; the companies were:
17th (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire) Company, raised 1900; co-sponsored by Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and Lanarkshire Yeomanry Cavalry 18th (Queen's Own Royal Glasgow and Lower Ward of Lanark) Company, raised 1900 19th (Lothians and Berwickshire) Company, raised 1900 20th (Fife and Forfar Light Horse) Company, raised 1900; co-sponsored by 1st Fifeshire Light Horse Volunteers, and 1st Forfarshire Light Horse Volunteers 107th (Lanarkshire) Company, raised 1901 108th (Royal Glasgow) Company, raised 1901 The mounted infantry experiment was considered a success and the existing yeomanry regiments were converted to IY, the regiment becoming the Lanarkshire Imperial Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Glasgow and Lower Ward of Lanarkshire). The 'Imperial' part of the title was dropped in 1908 when the yeoamnery became part of the Territorial Force (TF). The regiment had its headquarters at the Yorkhill Parade drill hall at this time.
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 Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry On mobilisation, in August 1914, the 1/1st Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry was attached to the Lowland Mounted Brigade and moved with it to Cupar, Fife on coastal defence duties. In May 1915, it left the brigade and was split up as divisional cavalry.
RHQ and C Squadron moved to Egypt in June 1915, landing at Port Said on 22 June. In October, they joined the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division at Gallipoli as dismounted troops and participated in the Gallipoli Campaign. In January 1916, they returned to Egypt with the division. In May 1916, RHQ moved to France and joined V Corps Cavalry Regiment. C Squadron remained with the division until August 1917 when it joined XXI Corps Cavalry Regiment, along with A Squadron, Hertfordshire Yeomanry and A Squadron, Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry. In May 1918, it returned to Egypt for the rest of the war. A Squadron initially joined 11th (Northern) Division at Aldershot on 2 June 1915 but moved to 24th Division by the end of the month. On 1 September 1915, it landed at Le Havre. The squadron was attached to 2nd Cavalry Division from 30 April to 14 May 1916 and joined V Corps Cavalry Regiment on 21 May. B Squadron joined 9th (Scottish) Division in France in May 1915, leaving them a year later in May 1916 for V Corps Cavalry Regiment. V Corps Cavalry Regiment was assembled in France in May 1916 with the RHQ, A and B Squadrons along with B Squadron, Lothians and Border Horse. In July 1917, the regiment was dismounted and the squadrons were sent to No. 21 Infantry Base Depot at Étaples for infantry training on 23 August. On 29 September, 4 officers and 146 other ranks joined 18th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 106th Brigade, 35th Division at Aizecourt-le-Bas which was redesignated as 18th (Royal Glasgow Yeomanry) Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. The battalion was still in 106th Brigade, 35th Division at the end of the war, west of Grammont, Belgium.
2/1st Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry The 2nd Line regiment was formed in Glasgow in 1914. It remained there until May 1915, when it moved to Hawick. In March 1916, the regimental HQ, A and B Squadrons joined the 65th (2nd Lowland) Division in Essex. They were later reduced to a single squadron. In January 1917, they moved to Ireland with 65th Division and in February 1918 were absorbed into the 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment at The Curragh. In the meantime, C Squadron joined the 64th (2nd Highland) Division in Norfolk in 1916 and was disbanded in 1917.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
