| St Mary's drill hall | |
|---|---|
| Huntingdon | |
 St Mary's drill hall | |
  St Mary's drill hall Location within Cambridgeshire | |
| Coordinates | 52°19′41″N0°10′57″W / 52.32805°N 0.18255°W Coordinates: 52°19′41″N0°10′57″W / 52.32805°N 0.18255°W |
| Type | Drill hall |
| Site history | |
| Built | Late 19th century |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | Late 19th century-1920s |
The St Mary's Street drill hall is a former military installation in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
The building was designed as the headquarters of the 1st Huntingdonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps and completed in the late 19th century. [1] The unit evolved to become the 4th Volunteer Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment in 1900. [2] The presence at the drill hall was reduced to a single company, H Company, 5th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment in 1908 but restored to a full battalion when the Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion was formed in February 1914. [2] The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 but remained in the United Kingdom throughout the First World War. [3] The battalion was disbanded at the end of the War and the drill hall was subsequently decommissioned and converted for retail use. [4]
The 143rd Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars. In the First World War the brigade served on both Western Front and later the Italian Front. During the Second World War the brigade fought in Belgium and France before being evacuated to England where it remained for the rest of the war and was finally disbanded in 1946. Raised again in the 1980s, this brigade disbanded under Army 2020 in November 2014.
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The Army Cyclist Corps was a corps of the British Army active during the First World War, and controlling the Army's bicycle infantry.
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The Highland Cyclist Battalion was a bicycle infantry battalion of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army. Formed as part of the Volunteer Force in 1860, it became a Volunteer Battalion of the Black Watch in 1881. In 1909 it became an independent unit and served in the United Kingdom throughout the First World War. In 1920 it was converted as part of the Highland Divisional Signals.
The Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion was a bicycle infantry battalion of the British Army. Formed in the Territorial Force in February 1914, it remained in the United Kingdom throughout the First World War. After the war, in 1920, it was converted to infantry and became the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, in the Territorial Army. The battalion saw extensive service in the Second World War, fighting in France in 1940, Tunisia from 1942–43 and later Sicily and Italy from 1943–45 before ending the war in May 1945 in Austria. It continued to serve after the Second World War until May 1961 when it was amalgamated with the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, to form the 4th/5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.
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Yeomanry House is a military installation in Hertford. It is a Grade II* listed building.
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The 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment was a mobile coast defence unit of Britain's Territorial Force. It was formed in 1908 from a nucleus provided by a Volunteer battalion first raised in 1859. It carried out its defence duties along the East Coast throughout World War I and after the war it was incorporated into a unit of the new Royal Corps of Signals.