The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) 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.
The squadron is part of 51st (Scottish) Brigade within the Army's Support Command. The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry is the only yeomanry regiment that serves in the reconnaissance role, equipped with the Wolf Land Rover with Weapons Mount Installation Kit (WMIK) and with HMG (heavy machine gun 12.7mm L1A1) and GMPG (General purpose machine gun 7.62mm L7A2). On mobilisation, it provides squadrons to reinforce the regular Light Cavalry regiments. It has provided personnel to both Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq, who have served with their regular counterparts in the Royal Armoured Corps and other arms and services.
The Ayrshire Yeomanry has won numerous battle honours and one Victoria Cross.
History
Formation and early history
The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was formed as an independent troop of Fencible Cavalry by The Earl of Cassillis sometime around 1794. It was formally adopted into the Army List in 1798 as The Ayrshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry. The Yeomanry were established and recruited at this time to provide Britain with a defence against any invasion by French forces under Napoleon. The regiment spent its formative years as an aid to the civil powers, reacting to and controlling riots across Ayrshire and beyond, most notably in Paisley. In 1897, the regiment was granted permission to use the title Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Earl of Carrick's Own) in honour of the future King Edward VII, as Earl of Carrick is a subsidiary title of the Princes of Wales deriving from the Ayrshire district of Carrick.
Second Boer War
The Yeomanry was not intended to serve overseas, but due to the string of defeats during Black Week in December 1899, the British government realized they were going to need more troops than just the regular army. A Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December 1899 to allow volunteer forces to serve in the Second Boer War. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each for the Imperial Yeomanry. With the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, the regiment co-sponsored the 17th (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire) Company for the 6th (Scottish) Battalion in 1900.
On their return in 1901, the regiment was reorganized as mounted infantry and titled the Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Imperial Yeomanry. In 1908, it was transferred into the new Territorial Force, returning to the cavalry role as the Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry. The regiment was based at Wellington Square in Ayr at this time.
First World War
In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw. 7, c.9), which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.
1/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry
On the outbreak of the First World War, the regiment was one of the fastest to react to the mobilisation order and received congratulations from Scottish Command, even though there was an initial delay in that the orders came in a code that had not been issued to the regiment! Following mobilisation, the regiment joined the Lowland Mounted Brigade and remained in the United Kingdom, on home defence duties, until 1915. The regiment finally deployed overseas in September of that year, where it took part in the Gallipoli landings, serving as dismounted infantry. The regiment was attached to the 52nd (Lowland) Division in October; it was withdrawn in January 1916 and moved to Egypt. In early 1917, the regiment was amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry to form the 12th (Ayr and Lanark Yeomanry) Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 74th (Yeomanry) Division (The Broken Spurs), seeing service in the Palestine campaign before moving to the Western Front in May 1918. A member of this regiment, Thomas Caldwell, won the Victoria Cross on 31 October 1918 at Oudenaarde in Belgium.