the French wars of 1793-1815 auxiliary troops
were raised for home defence, known as yeomanry,
volunteers, or fencible infantry and cavalry. Of
these only fencibles were regular troops. Most of
the forces were volunteers, but some were paid.
By 1800 there were about 100,000 men in these
units and by 1805 330,000.
In the spring of 1794 the first troop of
Berkshire Yeomanry, styled the Abingdon
Independent Cavalry, was formed, and by 1804
eleven independent troops had been raised in
Berkshire. In 1804 four of these troops were
united to form 'The First Regiment of Berkshire
Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry'.
A
Berkshire Yeomanry soldier
As a result of Government cutbacks in 1827 all
yeomanry cavalry troops in Berkshire were
disbanded. But following riots by agricultural
workers in 1830, four troops were re-established
and actively deployed in dealing with civil
unrest. Further Government economies in 1838
forced the disbandment of three troops leaving
the Hungerford Yeomanry Cavalry as the sole troop
in Berkshire. In 1852, following yet further
fears of a French invasion, troops were again
raised at Reading and Newbury, and some years
later at Wantage, Wokingham and Windsor. By this
time the Regiment had become styled 'The Royal
Berkshire Yeomanry Cavalry'.
The Boer War 1899-1901 and after
Volunteers from the Regiment saw service in
the Boer War in the two volunteer Berkshire
Yeomanry companies in the Imperial Yeomanry. The
lessons of the Boer War led to a more recognised
role for the Yeomanry as a whole which
encompassed in the reforms of 1908 when the
Regiment changed its title to the Berkshire
Yeomanry.
The Great War
Mobilised in August 1914 the Berkshire
Yeomanry trained at Churn on the Berkshire Downs
for three months and then proceeded to the East
Coast to guard against a possible German invasion.
In April 1915 the Regiment sailed for Egypt and
from there a few months later they were shipped,
this time without their horses, to the Gallipoli
peninsular where, against the Turks, they first
saw action. In a bloody battle on August 21, 1915,
Private Fred Potts earned the first yeomanry VC
for 'most conspicuous bravery in rescuing a
comrade under heavy fire'. After three months in
the trenches, the Regiment was withdrawn, their
strength reduced by casualties and sickness to a
mere 50 men.
Pte.
Fred Potts, VC
Returning to Egypt and brought up to strength,
the Regiment campaigned during the spring of 1916
in the Western Desert. In 1917 the Berkshire
Yeomanry joined the British advance on Jerusalem.
After two unsuccessful baffles in March and April
to evict the Turkish Army from Gaza, the British
forces were reorganised under their new commander
General Allenby and the third Battle of Gaza was
a notable success culminating in the capture of
Jerusalem in December 1917. During this campaign
the Berkshire Yeomanry were involved in two
successful cavalry charges against the Turks.
In April 1918 the Regiment was amalgamated
into 101 (Bucks & Berks Yeomanry) Battalion,
Machine Gun Corps. They reached France in July
and saw action in support of 51st Highland
Division and in the final baffles in Belgium in
the Second Army.
The Second World War 1939-1945
In 1922 the Berkshire Yeomanry were re-established
as part of the 99th (Bucks and Berks) Field
Brigade RFA. With the doubling of the Territorial
Army in 1939, the unit was split into two county
regiments and 145 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Field
Regiment HA (TA) was born. Embodied at Newbury in
September 1939 the Berkshire Yeomanry remained
there until moving to Kingston Bagpuize in
February 1940. The Regiment was deployed on
airfield defence until July 1940 when it was
moved to Northern Ireland until returning to
England in July 1943. The Regiment was earmarked
as one of the units to join the spearhead of the
second front. Shortly before D Day, however, they
were held back in order to serve as part of the
breakthrough that was to follow the initial
landings on the Normandy beaches.
Following better than anticipated progress
with the invasion, and fewer casualties, it
became War Office policy to make up units in
France with individual reinforcements and within
a few weeks the Berkshire Yeomanry provided more
than fifty fully trained reinforcements. Late in
1944 many of those posted to France were returned
to the Regiment and in January 1945 the Regiment
sailed to India.
In July 1945 the Berkshire Yeomanry sailed
with the invasionary force on Operation Zipper
aimed at the recapture of Malaya. Landing on
Morib beaches the Regiment was very soon occupied
with wholesale rounding up and disarming of the
Japanese, who had by then surrendered. After some
time in Malaya the Regiment took ship once more
for Java to help deal with the native Indonesian
uprising against the Colonial Dutch. For a period
of several months the Regiment was in the centre
of bitter fighting almost daily in close support
of Indian and Gurkha infantry brigades. Fighting
continued into 1946 and it was not until May 1946
that most of the Regiment were en route back to
England.
By May 1947 the Berkshire Yeomanry was
reconstituted as two artillery regiments, later
combined into 345th (Berkshire Yeomanry) Medium
Regiment RA (TA) and in 1957 they became part of
299th Field Regiment HA (TA). In 1967 the
Territorial Army was reorganised and the unit at
Windsor was re-roled to infantry and became 'A' (Berkshire
Yeomanry) Company, Royal Berkshire Territorials.
In January 1969 with the further
reorganisation of all TAVR units, the Berkshire
Yeomanry were again re-roled and renamed 94 (Berkshire
Yeomanry) Signal Squadron with troops at Reading,
Windsor, and Southampton. In 1977 a detachment
was formed at Chertsey and in 1991, further
Government cuts led to the loss of the Troop
location at Southampton.
The Regiment has its own dedicated museum in
Windsor. Founded in 1974 the museum contains a
modest collect of regimental artefacts covering
the roles, arms and uniforms adopted since its
foundation in 1794. The collection also covers
the Regiment's activities during the Boer War and
the First and Second World Wars. The museum is
gradually building up a database of information
on those who have served in the past 200 years.
Because it is staffed entirely by volunteers such
research can be very time-consuming, but museum
staff are always ready to help those seeking
information on their ancestors.
The museum is currently researching the names
of all those who died in service with the
Berkshire Yeomanry in order to create a memorial
in their honour in the form of a Book of
Remembrance. This should be completed by the end
of this year.
Copies of William Spencer, Records of the
Militia and Volunteer Forces 1757-1945, published
by the PRO, is available from the Society
Bookshop.
