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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Imperial Yeomanry
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
