The Berkshire Yeomanry had a number of battle honours won from Europe to the Far East and Private Frederick Potts was awarded a Victoria Cross for service during the Gallipoli Campaign.

[6][8] Sir Morris Ximenes offered to raise and pay for an additional corps of volunteer infantry to be attached to the Wargrave troop, with wagons to travel in; it is not known if this proposal was taken up.

[9] In 1804, five troops in the north and west of the county – Abingdon, Donnington with Newbury, Hungerford, and the Vale of White Horse (two troops) – were regimented as the Western or 1st Berkshire Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon Charles Dundas, MP, former commanding officer of the Berkshire Provisional Cavalry.

An attempt the following year to regiment the Maidenhead, Windsor, Woodley (including Reading) and Wargrave troops was unsuccessful.

[6][7][8] However, just two years later a wave of unrest swept the country and the government restored Yeomanry pay for drills and periods of service in aid of the civil power.

This assigned Regular and Yeomanry units places in an order of battle of corps, divisions and brigades for the 'Active Army', even though these formations were entirely theoretical, with no staff appointed.

The Berkshire Yeomanry were assigned as 'divisional troops' to 1st Division of II Corps based at Aldershot, alongside Regular units of infantry, artillery and engineers.

[11] Following a string of defeats during Black Week in early December 1899, the British government realised that it would need more troops than just the regular army to fight the Second Boer War.

Although there were strict requirements, many volunteers were accepted with substandard horsemanship or marksmanship and had little time to train before arriving in South Africa.

[12][13][14][15] The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers, 10,371 men in 20 battalions of 4 companies,[16] which arrived in South Africa between February and April, 1900.

On 5 April Methuen learned of the presence of a small Boer Commando led by the French Comte de Villebois-Mareuil and ordered Chesham's IY and other mounted troops to saddle up at once.

On 14 May Methuen marched on Hoopstad and then continued into Orange Free State protecting the flank of Lord Roberts' main army.

The mounted column had a five-hour fight to force its way past 3000 Boers led by Christiaan de Wet.

Most of the force in Lindley had already surrendered, but the 5th and 10th Battalions IY under Lt-Col George Younghusband were able to free a number of the prisoners.

Methuen then pushed on to relieve 9th Division, which was besieged at Heilbron, completing a march of 267 miles (430 km) in under a month.

[18][23] Methuen's Column now took part in the pursuit of de Wet's force south down the railway towards Kroonstad, beginning with a sharp action at Rhenoster River on 24 June.

De Wet and half his force had got across the drift before Methuen arrived, but the rearguard was cleared and the column pressed forward.

Methuen sent Chesham and the IY towards Frederikstad to cut off de Wet, but after their long march the day before the yeomanry could not keep up with the Boers.

On 12 August the column engaged the Boers at Mooi River Bridge for four hours, capturing guns and wagons and freeing British prisoners.

On the night of 13/14 August his troops set out to catch the Boers, engaging them at Buffelshoek about 6 miles (9.7 km) from the pass.

[6][11][7][8] On 1 April 1908, the regiment was renamed for the final time as the Berkshire (Hungerford) Yeomanry and transferred to the Territorial Force, trained and equipped as dragoons.

[38] The brigade embarked for Mudros on 31 October and returned to Egypt in December 1915 where its component units were reformed and remounted.

[42] The complete brigade was transferred to the newly formed Yeomanry Mounted Division on 27 June 1917, joining it at el Maraqeb.

[45] By an Egyptian Expeditionary Force GHQ Order of 12 April 1918, the mounted troops of the EEF were reorganised when the Indian Army units arrived in theatre.

Following the experience of the war, it was decided that only the fourteen most senior yeomanry regiments would be retained as horsed cavalry,[51] with the rest being transferred to other roles.

[54] By 1939, it became clear that a new European war was likely to break out, and the doubling of the Territorial Army was authorised, with each unit forming a duplicate.

[54] With the outbreak of war in September 1939, 145th Field Regiment, RA was mobilised at Newbury and assigned to 61st Infantry Division.

The experience of the BEF in France 1940 showed the problem with this organisation: field regiments were intended to support an infantry brigade of three battalions.

He finally fixed a shovel to the equipment of his wounded comrade and using this as a sledge, dragged the man back over 600 yards to safety, being under fire all the way.

[69] The Berkshire Yeomanry has been awarded the following battle honours:[6] South Africa 1900–01 Arras 1918, Scarpe 1918, Ypres 1918, Courtrai, France and Flanders 1918, Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1915–17, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Palestine 1917–18 The Royal Artillery was present in nearly all battles and would have earned most of the honours awarded to cavalry and infantry regiments.