Following a string of defeats during Black Week in early December 1899, the British government realised that it would need additional troops to help the Regular army fight the Second Boer War.

The battalion consisted of 72nd, 76th, 78th and 79th (Rough Rider) Companies, IY, under the command of Lt-Col Richard Colvin, of the Essex Troop, Loyal Suffolk Hussars, with Capt Viscount Maitland (formerly of the Scots Guards) as adjutant.

[12][13][14][15] During the campaign the 20th (Rough Riders) Battalion lost three officers and 27 other ranks killed or died, and 18 seriously wounded,[8] and its members received a number of decorations, including Lt-Col Colvin who was Mentioned in dispatches[16] and awarded a Companionship of the Bath (CB).

The 2nd Rough Riders sailed from Southampton aboard the German on 31 March under the command of Lt-Col Hugh Houghton Stewart of the 3rd (Fermanagh Militia) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, with Maj Viscount Dungarvan (lieutenant-colonel of the North Somerset Yeomanry) as his second-in-command.

[34][42] The dismounted regiment embarked at Alexandria aboard the Caledonia on 14 August and sailed for Lemnos where it transshipped to HMS Doris and continued to Suvla Bay where a fresh landing on the Gallipoli peninsula was under way.

The combined regiment rotated between the firing line and the reserve trenches during September and October, but its strength continued to decline from battle casualties and sickness.

The failure of the Doiran attack was followed by the move of several British formations, including 8th Mtd Bde, from the BSA to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was about to restart its own offensive into Palestine.

[54] Major Stedall was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for leading his men galloping over 500 yards (460 m) of open country under heavy rifle and machine gun fire despite being wounded twice.

During the early days of the fighting (the Battle of Beersheba) the Yeomanry Mtd Division remained in reserve holding an observation line until 5 November when it was moved to fill a gap on the flank of the formations attacking the Sheria position.

On 7 November it held the captured positions in the hills north of Beersheba while the rest of the Desert Mounted Corps (DMC) was launched through the Turks' broken centre.

Turkish reinforcements eventually drove the Bucks Yeomanry off the Beitunye, and 8th Mtd Bde covered the withdrawal to Beit Ur al-Fauqa that night[60][61] The Battle of Nebi Samwil continued until 24 November.

The Yeomanry Mtd Division was out of the line when Jerusalem was captured on 9 December; indeed, it was unable to move for lack of artillery, ammunition, food and water, and took no further part in the winter fighting.

[66][67][e] The Rough Riders and the Sharpshooters left 8th Mtd Bde on 7 April ahead of its 'Indianisation'[f] and were merged to form E Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC).

There had been a number of false air raid alarms soon after the declaration of war, but from late November occasional Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft began passing over Stanford-le-Hope too high for the LAA to engage them.

This composite unit, the first of its kind, was part of 1st Support Group (1st Sp Gp) in 1st Armoured Division, which was rushed to France to join the BEF after the German invasion of the Low Countries.

Armed only with Lewis guns, its Bofors not having arrived, 43 (CoLY) LAA Bty fought in the Battle of Abbeville as 1st Armoured Division attempted to break through to the surrounded BEF.

It was committed to Eighth Army's Operation Crusader piecemeal before it had time to prepare for desert warfare, where LAA detachments were attached to mobile Jock columns for 'snap' actions against aircraft and ground targets.

[97][104][105][106] When Rommel attacked on 27 May 1942 (the Battle of Gazala), D Trp of 43 (CoLY) LAA Bty under Lt Beachman distinguished itself in the defence of 1st Free French Brigade's box at Bir Hakeim in the extreme south of the line, which held out until ordered to withdraw on 10 June.

[87][120][121][122][123][124] By now the daylight Battle of Britain had been won, and the Luftwaffe switched to night bombing of London and other cities (The Blitz), so the role of 56 LAA Bde's guns at the VPs was reduced.

As the new batteries arrived from the training regiments they took over several of 11th (CoLY) LAA Rgt's VPs including Langley, (8 x Bofors) and Surbiton, Surrey (12 x Lewis).

By mid-January the 11th CoLY LAA Rgt had arrived and moved up to defend V Corps' assets in the forward area, where German and Italian divebombing and 'tank-busting' attacks were frequent.

[137][138] First Army renewed its offensive at the end of March with massive air support and by the time of the Fall of Tunis in May 1943, the whole regiment was assigned to airfield protection under 22 AA Bde.

[141][142] After a short period of refitting and re-training at Anzio in August, 2 AA Bde's units returned to the line between Arezzo and Florence in September, a 270 miles (430 km) journey across mountains that was unusually carried out as a single road convoy.

Some of its Bofors batteries re-equipped with 3-inch or 4.2-inch mortars and heavy machine guns for infantry support, as 2 AA Bde held a section of the line as an independent formation.

In April Macforce drove down Route 9 in pursuit of the retreating Axis forces, supporting the Friuli and Folgore Combat Groups of the Italian Co-belligerent Army.

After the end of the campaign, 2 AA Bde including 11th (CoLY) LAA Rgt was reorganised as a motor transport group based at Forlì and Faenza.

[145][147][148] 1st Airborne Division embarked from Italy on 22 November and on 10 December arrived back in the UK, where after refitting it spent the first part of 1944 training for the Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord).

When it joined the TF in 1908 the regiment adopted a Lancer style full dress and walking-out uniform in French grey, with the plastron front and overall stripes in purple.

Officers (and all ranks from the Coronation of 1911) wore a lance cap (Chapka) in French grey with a light blue plume, the plate carrying the City of London arms with its dragon supporters.

[186] The City of London Yeomanry was awarded the following battle honours:[24][31] South Africa 1900–02 Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1918, Macedonia 1916–17, Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Egypt 1915–16, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Palestine 1917–18 The Royal Artillery does not carry battle honours;[g] instead units that were temporarily converted to the RA were awarded an honorary distinction to be borne upon their colours or guidons (see above).