Staffordshire Yeomanry
| Staffordshire Yeomanry | |
|---|---|
Badge of the Staffordshire Yeomanry
|
|
| Active | 1794–2006 |
| Country |
 Kingdom of Great Britain (1794–1800) United Kingdom (1801–2006) |
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Yeomanry |
| Size | Three regiments (First World War) One regiment (Second World War) |
| Part of |
Territorial Force Royal Armoured Corps |
| Engagements | |
| Battle honours | See battle honours below |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Francis Perceval Eliot |
Second Boer War
First World War
The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a unit of the British Army.
Raised in 1794 following Prime Minister William Pitt's order to raise volunteer bodies of men to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion, the Staffordshire Yeomanry began as a volunteer cavalry regiment. Future Prime Minister Robert Peel was an officer in the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1820.
It first served overseas at the time of the Boer War. Following distinguished action in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War, it developed with the deployment of artillery and tanks.
In 1971, the Regiment formed part of the Mercian Yeomanry, renamed The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry in 1973. In 1992, it amalgamated with The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry to form The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, and as such it remains today a yeomanry regiment of the Territorial Army. In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. The Regiment currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.
The regiment was formed on 4 July 1794 with commanding officer being Colonel George, Earl Gower. The regiment was divided into Troops associated with the Staffordshire towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford, Lichfield, Leek and Walsall. The uniform of the regiment was: a red jacket with yellow facings, white waistcoat, white leather breeches and military boots. On their head the members wore a helmet with a bearskin crest and feather at the side and were armed with a sword and pistol. The regimental motto was "Pro aris et focis" and the badge was the Staffordshire knot. The regiment was first called out in 1795 in order to support the civil powers in suppressing a bread riot.
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