Royal Gloucestershire Hussars

Extract from Gloucestershire Archives.
https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/2038/sourcesformilitaryhistory-11841.pdf


The origins of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (RGH) lie in the various volunteer Yeomanry cavalry companies raised in Gloucestershire between 1795 and 1830 to counter the threat of French invasion and unrest at home. The first such troop was raised by Captain Powell Snell in Cheltenham in 1795. By 1798 there were troops in Bristol, Gloucester, Henbury, Minchinhampton, Stow, Stroud and Wotton-under-Edge. Following the Peace of Amiens in 1802 all the troops, except that of Cheltenham, were disbanded. The Yeomanry were revived when War broke out again but following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 interest waned, and all had been disbanded by 1827. In 1830 Mr. Codrington of Dodington Park formed a troop from his tenants in response to riots against the introduction of farm machinery. Other troops followed, in Fairford, Cirencester, Stroud, Gloucester, Bristol and Tetbury. In 1834 these companies were amalgamated as the Gloucestershire Yeomanry Cavalry (from 1841 the Royal Gloucestershire Yeomanry Cavalry). The Marquis of Worcester, heir to the 6th Duke of Beaufort, was appointed commanding officer the start of a long association between the RGH and the Beaufort family. In 1847, the regiment became the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars when Queen Victoria granted the title Royal. Volunteer regiments were not liable for service overseas. However, in times of crisis provision was made for units to volunteer for service abroad and for individual members to transfer to the regular army. The formation of the Imperial Yeomanry to fight in the Boer War (1899-1902) saw many RGH men volunteer for service in South Africa. The First Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry consisted of four companies, of which the 3rd was a Gloucestershire unit. A contingent of 123 men left for Cape Town under the command of Captain W.H.Playne, serving there for 18 months. They suffered casualties, more due to illness than to Boer gunfire. At the outbreak of the Great (First World) War in 1914 the regiment was assigned to home defence on the east coast. In April 1915 the Hussars were sent to Egypt and then to Gallipoli in Turkey, where they suffered heavy casualties. On 23 April 1916 an RGH. squadron, commanded by Captain M.G. Lloyd Baker, was overwhelmed by a vastly superior force of Turks at the Battle of Katia. There were many casualties and only nine of those surviving escaped capture. Two of the survivors of this battle, Sergeant George Hyatt (who was taken prisoner) and Charles Lovell (who was left for dead) are particularly well documented in the archives of the RGH. Following the Battle of Rumani, which ended the Turkish threat to the Suez Canal, the RGH participated in the advance through Sinai and Palestine. An interesting group of papers (of the Honorary Secretary to the Duchess of Beaufort’s Fund for RGH prisoners) provides an insight into the conditions under which POWs were held. In 1922, as part of a general reduction in the nation’s armed force, the RGH was reduced to company strength, becoming part of the Royal Tank Corps. By 1930, however, their strength had increased to three squadrons, one based at Gloucester, one at Bristol and one county wide. They were equipped with the “Peerless” armoured car, later to be replaced by the more favoured Rolls Royce version. In 1938 the regiment again adopted the title Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. In the face of the growing threat from Hitler’s Germany recruiting proceeded apace and by 1939 the regiment was sufficiently large, numbering over 1000 men, to be divided into 1st RGH and 2nd RGH. At the outbreak of the 2nd World War, 1st RGH was mobilized as an armoured unit. It functioned as a training and rehabilitation unit, remaining in England for the duration of the War, to be disbanded in 1946 after doing garrison duty in Austria. 2nd RGH sailed for the Middle East in August 1941 as part of 22nd Armoured Brigade and fought in North Africa. The regiment was equipped with Crusader tanks and took part in the operation to seize Sidi Rezegh, south of Tobruk. It suffered heavy losses in the battle fought on 19th November, losing 30 of its 52 tanks in the action against a greatly superior force of Germans and Italians. 2nd RGH then moved north, where the brigade came under heavy attack from the Germans. The regiment was pulled back to be re equipped with inferior Honey tanks and took part in an abortive advance towards Agedabia. On 1st January 1943, 2nd RGH was relieved and retired to Egypt to re-equip. On 27th May the regiment suffered heavy losses in the face of a massive attack master-minded by Rommel in his thrust against Tobruk. F squadron was decimated, losing all but one of its tanks. Re-equipped yet again, on 6th June the regiment was shattered in a battle at the Cauldron south of Tobruk. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel N.A. Birley and the 2nd in command, Major W.A.V. Trevor, were killed in swift succession. The regiment was disbanded in January 1943, its men dispersed to reinforce other regiments, especially the 4th and 8th Hussars, the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry and the 5th Royal Tank Regiment. In 1947 the R.G.H. was reformed as an armoured car regiment in the reconstituted Territorial Army. Squadrons were based in Cirencester, Bristol, Tetbury, Cheltenham, and Gloucester (their headquarters). They were affiliated to the 11th Hussars, who provided the permanent staff. In 1967, against a background of defence cuts by the Labour Government, the Territorial Army was drastically reduced and the RGH effectively disbanded. Over the next 18 months all the permanent staff left and all the equipment was handed back. By the end of 1968 all that remained was a permanent cadre of eight personnel. The return to power of the Conservatives in 1970 brought about a change in policy towards the armed forces. On 1st April 1971 the RGH were amalgamated with the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry and the Royal Devon Yeomanry to form a new regiment the Wessex Yeomanry. Each constituent regiment retained its original insignia, guidon and regimental march. The RGH provided three units within the new regiment: the HQ troop, based at Cirencester; A Squadron (Gloucester); C Squadron (Cirencester). On 1st April 1972 the RGH band transferred from the Royal Signals to the new regiment, which received the prefix Royal in
1979. The RGH celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1984 and major celebrations were organised. In 1990 a regimental museum was opened, based in the Customs House in Gloucester Docks. The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum reflects the history of both the Gloucestershire Regiment and the RGH. The RGH Old Comrades Association was formed in 1920 and reconstituted in 1945. An RGH Benevolent Fund was created after the Second World War to provide assistance to Hussars, ex-Hussars and their dependants. An RGH Charitable Trust was established in 1972, when all regimental property became vested in Trustees.