Queen's Own Yeomanry

Last updated
Queen's Own Yeomanry
Queen's Own Yeomanry cap badge.png
Cap badge
Active1971–present
AllegianceFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Yeomanry
RoleLight Cavalry Regiment
Size Regiment
368 personnel [1]
Part of Royal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQRegimental Headquarters - Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne
A Squadron - York
B squadron - Wigan
C Squadron - Chester
D Squadron - Newcastle
ColoursPrussian Blue & Cavalry Gold
MarchD'ye Ken John Peel
Commanders
Commanding OfficerLt Col Neil Potter
Royal Honorary Colonel The Duchess of Edinburgh
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash Queen's Own Yeomanry TRF.svg

The Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY) is one of the Army Reserve light armoured reconnaissance regiments. [2]

Contents

History

The Queens Own Yeomanry was initially formed on 1 April 1971 as the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment from five of the yeomanry units across the North and Middle of England and South West Scotland. [3] During the Cold War The Queen's Own Yeomanry was a British Army of the Rhine Regiment with an Armoured Reconnaissance role in Germany. With the Strategic Defence Review in 1999 the geographical locations of the regiment changed to encompass East Scotland and Northern Ireland. [4] Soldiers from the regiment have served both in Iraq and Afghanistan. [5]

Under Army 2020, three squadrons transferred to the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry and it gained two squadrons from the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry. The unit is paired with the Light Dragoons and uses the Jackal 1. [6] [7] [8]

Recruitment

The regiment recruits its soldiers mainly from the following counties: Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Lancashire, Cheshire, Northumberland and Merseyside. [9]

Organisation

The Regiment is part of 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and consists of four squadrons: [10]

Order of precedence

For the purposes of parading, the Regiments of the British Army are listed according to an order of precedence. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being the most senior.

Preceded by British Army
Order of Precedence
Succeeded by

Guidon

QOY Guidon with Guard of Honour for TA 100 Celebrations GuidonQOY.jpg
QOY Guidon with Guard of Honour for TA 100 Celebrations

The Guidon, which is awarded by The Queen, is a flag of crimson silk damask embroidered and fringed with gold with the Regimental Battle Honours emblazoned upon it and the Regimental emblem embroidered in the centre. On 22 September 2007 Prince Charles, in his capacity as Royal Honorary Colonel of The Queen's Own Yeomanry, presented a new Guidon to the Regiment in an hour-long ceremony in the grounds of Alnwick Castle. This was the first Guidon the QOY has received since its formation. [12]

Armoured Vehicles

In late 2013, with the phasing out of CVR(T) across the British Army, the regiment was re-equipped with the Land Rover Defender-based RWMIK, a light armoured vehicle, equipped with the General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and the Browning .50 Heavy Machine Gun (HMG), as well as individual BOWMAN digital battlefield communications systems and specialised surveillance optics, including thermal imaging. [13] In 2018 the regiment re-equipped with Jackal 1's to harmonise vehicles with its sister regiment, The Light Dragoons. [8]

Uniform

Badges

The whole Regiment wears a variation of the running fox cap badge of the old East Riding Yeomanry. However, each of the Squadrons wears its own collar badges and buttons.

Stable Belt and Shoulder Flash

The Regimental Stable Belt or shoulder flashes are worn to show a soldier or officer is serving with the QOY in various forms of dress. The colour of both is Prussian blue with two horizontal stripes of cavalry gold (yellow):  [14]

 
 
 
 
 

Lineage

1908 Haldane Reforms 1956 Post-War Mergers1966 Defence White Paper 1990 Options for Change 1999 Strategic Defence Review 2015 Army 2020
Yorkshire Hussars (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own) Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry Y Squadron, Queen's Own YeomanryA Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry
Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons
East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry
Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry D Squadron, Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry B Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry
Cheshire Yeomanry (Earl of Chester's) C Squadron, Queen's Own YeomanryC Squadron, Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry C Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry
Northumberland Hussars HQ Squadron, Queen's Own YeomanryD Squadron, Queen's Own YeomanryC&S Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry

Freedoms

The regiment has received the Freedom of several locations throughout its history; these include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Armoured Corps</span> Armour arm of the British Army

The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Army's armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. Today it comprises twelve regiments, eight regular and four reserve. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment provide an armoured regiment, they are not part of the RAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeomanry</span> Designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve

Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles.

Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Yeomanry</span> British Army reserve regiment

The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in Leicester, with squadrons in Fulham, Nottingham, Dudley, Croydon, Telford, and Leicester. The regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is only reserve cavalry regiment to resubordinate into regular brigade as part of the Future Soldier Programme, which in turn arose from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Wessex Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Royal Wessex Yeomanry is a reserve armoured regiment of the British Army Reserve consisting of five squadrons. Formerly part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade, the regiment joined 3rd (UK) Division in July 2014, to provide armoured resilience to the three armoured regiments within the Reaction Force. In 2015 the regiment was moved from the operational command of 3rd (UK) Division to 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade, and later to 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, but members of the regiment still wear the 3rd (UK) Division formation badge to reflect their role in supporting the three armoured regiments in the division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's Royal Hussars</span> Military unit

The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish) (QRH) is a British armoured regiment. It was formed on 1 September 1993 from the amalgamation of the Queen's Own Hussars and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars. The regiment and its antecedents have been awarded 172 Battle Honours and eight Victoria Crosses. The regiment was based in Sennelager, Germany, until 2019 when it was relocated to Tidworth Camp, England. It is the armoured regiment for 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light Dragoons</span> Military unit

The Light Dragoons (LD) is a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment has a light cavalry role and specialises in mounted and dismounted reconnaissance. The Light Dragoons recruit mainly in Northern England, from County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire. For this reason, the regiment is known as "England's Northern Cavalry". It is currently based in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Dragoon Guards</span> Military unit

The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury Barracks, Wiltshire, the regiment currently serves as the armoured cavalry reconnaissance unit of 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Previously equipped with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, it started converting to the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Royal Hussars</span> British Army armored unit

The King's Royal Hussars (KRH) is a Royal Armoured Corps regiment of the British Army formed in 1992. Based at Tidworth it serves as the armoured regiment of the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). Under Army 2020 Refine, it is intended to exchange its Challenger 2 tanks for Ajax vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles</span> New Zealand Army unit

Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (QAMR) is an armoured regiment of the New Zealand Army and forms part of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps. The regiment was formed in 1864 and is currently an armoured cavalry unit equipped with NZLAV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's)</span> Military unit

The 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) (VIII CH) is a reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment in the Canadian Army, with two squadrons. It was formed on 4 April 1848 in the then-colony of New Brunswick, which remains the regiment's home to this day, its regimental headquarters (RHQ) and A Squadron being in Moncton, with B Squadron in Sussex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leicestershire Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two field artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery in the Second World War, before being amalgamated with the Derbyshire Yeomanry to form the Leicestershire and Derbyshire (Prince Albert's Own) Yeomanry in 1957. The regiment's lineage is currently perpetuated by E (Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry) Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment</span> Military unit

39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 1 Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. The Lynx badge is a reminder of the unit's connection with the Worshipful Company of Skinners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (RWY) was a Yeomanry regiment of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom established in 1794. 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 lives on in B and Y Squadrons of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry was formed in 1957 as a regiment of the British Army. It evolved to become part of the Royal Yeomanry. Its lineage is maintained by the E Squadron of that regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Ayrshire Yeomanry was a Regiment of the British Yeomanry and is now an armoured Squadron of the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (SNIY), part of the British Army Reserve. It is the Lowlands of Scotland's only Royal Armoured Corps Unit and has an unbroken history stretching back to the 1790s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northumberland Hussars</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineage is maintained by C Squadron, the Queen's Own Yeomanry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry</span> Military unit

The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (SNIY) is a reserve Light Cavalry Regiment, formed in 2014, created out of the restructuring of the British Army's Army Reserve. It is operationally paired with The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, based at Leuchars Station in Fife. The Regiment has numerous squadrons across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Lancers</span> Cavalry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015. It serves in the 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team. The Royal Lancers are part of the 3rd (UK) Division.

References

  1. "Army – Question for Ministry of Defence". p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. "Queen's Own Yeomanry". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  3. "A royal thumbs up: Ayr newlyweds meet Prince Charles on their big day". Evening Times. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  4. "Queen's Own Yeomanry". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  5. "A Squadron Queen's Own Yeomanry". Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  6. "Summary of Army 2020 Reserve Structure and Basing Changes, pages 1 and 2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  7. Army 2020 Report Archived June 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  8. 1 2 "Queen's Own Yeomanry deploy on exercise to Croatia". Ministry of Defence. 18 September 2019.
  9. "Queen's Own Yeomanry". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  10. "Queen's Own Yeomanry: contact details". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  11. "No. 63516". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 2021. p. 19472.
  12. "Prince is king of castle with soldiers". The Journal. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  13. "Queen's Own Yeomanry". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  14. "Sussex Yeomanry". Stable Belts. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  15. "Prince Charles takes salute in Newcastle veterans parade". BBC. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  16. "Honorary Freemen of the City from 1886 – 1976" (PDF). City of Newcastle. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  17. "York soldiers to be honoured". York Press. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  18. Stockman, Cindy (30 April 2014). "The Prince of Wales to take salute at Honorary Freedom of South Ayrshire ceremony" . Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  19. Sherlock, Gemma (2019-10-11). "Road closures for parade in Chester city centre this weekend". chesterchronicle. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  20. Green, Michael (2019-10-02). "Chester to welcome Cheshire Yeomanry for Freedom of the City march". chesterchronicle. Retrieved 2019-10-12.