The Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY) is one of the Army Reserve light armoured reconnaissance regiments.[2]
| Queen's Own Yeomanry | |
|---|---|
 Cap badge | |
| Active | 1971–present |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Yeomanry |
| Role | Light Cavalry Regiment |
| Size | Regiment 368 personnel[1] |
| Part of | Royal Armoured Corps |
| Garrison/HQ | Regimental Headquarters - Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne A Squadron - York B squadron - Wigan C Squadron - Chester D Squadron - Newcastle |
| Colours | Prussian Blue & Cavalry Gold |
| March | D'ye Ken John Peel |
| Commanders | |
| Commanding Officer | Lt Col Neil Potter |
| Royal Honorary Colonel | Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
History
editThe 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
editThe regiment recruits its soldiers mainly from the following counties: Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Lancashire, Cheshire, Northumberland and Merseyside.[9]
Organisation
editThe 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]
- A (Yorkshire Yeomanry) Squadron
- B (The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry) Squadron
- C (Cheshire Yeomanry (The Earl of Chester's)) Squadron[11]
- D (Northumberland Hussars) Squadron
Order of precedence
editFor 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.
Guidon
edit
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
editIn 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
editBadges
editThe 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
editThe 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
edit| 1908 Haldane Reforms | 1956 Post-War Mergers | 1966 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 Yeomanry | A 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 Yeomanry | C Squadron, Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry | C Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry | ||
| Northumberland Hussars | HQ Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry | D Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry | C&S Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry | ||
Freedoms
editThe regiment has received the Freedom of several locations throughout its history; these include:
1971: Newcastle upon Tyne (Originally Granted to the Northumberland Hussars on 8 January 1969).[15][16]- 3 December 2009: York.[17]
3 May 2014: South Ayrshire.[18]- 12 October 2019: On 12 October 2019, C (The Duke of Chester's Cheshire Hussars (Yeomanry)) Squadron was granted the freedom of the city of Chester following the 225th anniversary of the yeomanry and 80th anniversary of the Royal Armoured Corps. The squadron was last awarded the honour in 1996 and their bi-centenary in 1997.[19][20]
References
edit- ^ "Army – Question for Ministry of Defence". p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ "Queen's Own Yeomanry". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ^ "A royal thumbs up: Ayr newlyweds meet Prince Charles on their big day". Evening Times. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "Queen's Own Yeomanry". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "A Squadron Queen's Own Yeomanry". Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Army 2020 Report Archived June 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Queen's Own Yeomanry deploy on exercise to Croatia". Ministry of Defence. 18 September 2019.
- ^ "Queen's Own Yeomanry". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
- ^ "Queen's Own Yeomanry: contact details". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "No. 63516". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 2021. p. 19472.
- ^ "Prince is king of castle with soldiers". The Journal. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "Queen's Own Yeomanry". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "Sussex Yeomanry". Stable Belts. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ "Prince Charles takes salute in Newcastle veterans parade". BBC. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ "Honorary Freemen of the City from 1886 – 1976" (PDF). City of Newcastle. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ "York soldiers to be honoured". York Press. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Stockman, Cindy (30 April 2014). "The Prince of Wales to take salute at Honorary Freedom of South Ayrshire ceremony". Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Sherlock, Gemma (2019-10-11). "Road closures for parade in Chester city centre this weekend". chesterchronicle. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
- ^ Green, Michael (2019-10-02). "Chester to welcome Cheshire Yeomanry for Freedom of the City march". chesterchronicle. Retrieved 2019-10-12.