Northumberland Hussars

The Northumberland Hussars is a British Territorial Army Squadron equipped with FV107 Scimitar and FV103 Spartan armoured reconnaissance vehicles. The squadron is part of The Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY), a Formation Reconnaissance Regiment. The 'Hussars' are based in Newcastle upon Tyne and are part of the 15th (North East) Brigade of the 2nd Division.

On mobilisation, the 'Hussars' would reinforce one of the regular formation reconnaissance regiments. Some personnel from the squadron were attached to regular Royal Armoured Corps units for Operations Tellic and Herrick.

Formation and early years
In 1794, King George III was on the throne, William Pitt the Younger was Prime Minister of Great Britain and, across the Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation that had recently guillotined its King and possessed a revolutionary army numbering half a million men. The Prime Minister proposed that the Counties form a force of Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry that could be called upon by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the country.

However, it was not until 1819 that The Newcastle Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry was raised. Shortly afterward, in 1831, the regiment was used against its own countrymen, putting down the miners' strikes of that year. In 1876, the regiment was renamed the Northumberland Hussars.

Boer War
The Boer War brought unexpected defeats for the British army at the hands of the Boers in "Black Week", December 1899. This was attributed to the skill and determination of the Boer farmers-fast moving, highly skilled horsemen operating in open country. Britain's answer to the Boers was the Imperial Yeomanry. Among the officers chosen to organise this force was Viscount Valentia, Commanding officer of the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars, who became Assistant Adjutant General. The 9th Duke of Marlborough was also appointed to the Headquarters Staff. During 1900-1901, more than 25,000 Volunteers joined the Imperial Yeomanry for service in southern Africa during the Second Anglo-Boer War; of these men, about a third were sponsored by the part time Yeomanry Regiments. The Northumberland Hussars, who sponsored six Imperial Yeomanry Companies, was awarded the battle honour, “South Africa”.

World War I
During the First World War, the Northumberland Hussars formed second and third line regiments, the 2/1st Northumberland Hussars and the 3/1st Northumberland Hussars; the original regiment was redesignated the 1/1st Northumberland Hussars.

1/1st Northumberland Hussars
The 1/1st was mobilised in August 1914, at Newcastle upon Tyne, and attached to the Yorkshire Mounted Brigade. In September, they joined the 7th Infantry Division. In April 1915, the regiment was split up; while regimental Headquarters and 'A' Squadron remained with the 7th Division, 'B' Squadron joined the 1st Infantry Division and 'C' Squadron joined the 8th Infantry Division. This lasted until May 1916, when the squadrons were reunited in France to act as the Cavalry unit for XIII Corps. The regiment would then move between Corps, being attached to the VIII Corps in August 1917, III Corps in November 1917 and, finally, XII Corps in October 1918.

2/1st Northumberland Hussars
The 2/1st was formed in October 1914. In April 1916, the regiment was split up, with the regimental headquarters and 'B' Squadron joining the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division, 'A' Squadron operating as an independent unit based in Scarborough and 'C' Squadron joining the 59th Infantry Division. In February 1917, the regiment reassembled and, on 19 March 1917, it moved to France, where it joined the XIX Corps a few days later. On 28 August 1917, the regiment moved to Etaples for infantry training; this completed on 25 September, at which time the unit was designated as the 9th (Northumberland Hussars Yeomanry) Battalion, the Northumberland Fusiliers.

3/1st Northumberland Hussars
The 3/1st, which was formed in February 1915, remained in the United Kingdom until early 1917, when it was absorbed by the 5th Cavalry Reserve Regiment.

Menin Gate
Four Northumberland Hussars, who died in World War I and have no known grave, are commemorated on panel 5 of the Menin Gate. A Fifth, Shoeing Smith G. Stephenson, was recently added to Panel 60.

Between the wars
Following the post-war reformation of the territorial forces, now known as the Territorial Army (TA), only the 14 most senior Yeomanry Regiments were retained as horsed cavalry regiments (principally forming the 4th, 5th and 6th Cavalry Brigades) - the Northumberland Hussars being the 14th regiment.

World War II
In February 1940, the regiment transferred to the Royal Artillery (RA) as the 102nd Light Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Tank Regiment, RA (Northumberland Hussars); two batteries were equipped with 2 pounder Anti-Tank Guns (2pdr A/Tk Guns), the other two were light anti-aircraft (LAA) batteries. Following conversion, the regiment joined the 2nd Armoured Division's 2nd Support Group.

In October 1940, the division set sail for the Middle East, arriving in the new year. Two months later, the 'Hussars' converted to a three-battery anti-tank regiment, with one LAA battery re-equipping with 2pdrs and the other, 'A' Battery, transferring to the 25th LAA Regiment. (Following the conversion, the regiment was unofficially considered to be a Royal Horse Artillery unit.)

In April, the 'Hussars', and other elements from the 2nd Support Group, joined the 1st Armoured Brigade for Operation Lustre, (the move to Greece). At this time, the regiment had a strength of 578 men, 168 vehicles and 48 x 2pdrs.

After their arrival, the regiment was deployed to hold the Metamorphos Pass in conjunction with the Greek Horse Artillery. On 22 April, they were subjected to dive bombing and tank attacks. Together with their New Zealand allies, the 'Hussars' acted as a rearguard. After a 12 hour battle and a 160 mile march through the night, they reached Athens on 25 April. The next day, they headed off to the nearby Rafina Beach and waited to be evacuated, having by now, destroyed their guns and equipment. Most of the unit were taken aboard HMS Havoc  on 27 April and landed at Suda on the island of Crete. However some elements were evacuated to Alexandria. On the island, they were equipped with rifles and tasked to fight as infantry on the Akrotiri Peninsula between Canea and Suda. On 15 May, they again came under air attack; 11 German gliders also landed in the regimental area. By 26 May, the peninsula was under allied control and the gliders had all been destroyed. On 27 May, the allies decide to evacuate Crete; the regiment had to withdraw across the mountains from the town of Suda to the evacuation beaches at Sphakia, a distance of 50 miles. Many troops did get away, but owing to heavy shipping losses, the embarkation was stopped on 31 May and over 200 men from the regiment were left behind and ordered to surrender to the advancing German forces.

Evacuated to Egypt, the regiment began re-equipping and was brought back up to strength with men from the 106th (Lancashire Hussars) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, which unit had been suspended due to losses incurred in the fighting on Crete. The 102nd was attached to the 7th Armoured Division for Operation Crusader, in November 1941. By February 1942, the 'Hussars' had moved to the 1st Armoured Division, with whom they participated in the Battle of Gazala. In October 1942, they became part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, with whom they took part in the Second Battle of Alamein and fought in Sicily and at Salerno in Italy.

In October 1943, the 50th Division set sail for England, arriving at Liverpool on 5 November 1943; the 102nd had returned to the UK after an absence of almost three years. The Northumberland Hussars were, by this stage, a very experienced unit with six major battle honours, including two amphibious landings under their belts. They were an obvious choice to be placed at the forefront of Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings. For the next six months, they joined thousands of allied servicemen training in Britain for the assault on the French Coast.

In preparation for the assault, the Northumberland Hussars equipped their 99th and 288th batteries with eight 6pdrs and four M10 SP A/Tk Guns - a normal infantry division A/Tk battery had four 6pdrs and eight 17pdrs. In addition, the regiment was reinforced by the 198th and 234th SP A/Tk Batteries (both with 12 M10s), which were detached from XXX Corps's 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment RA.

The 50th (Northumbrian) Division was to assault Gold Beach with the 69th and 231st Infantry Brigades. The 69th Brigade, supported by the 99th battery, would land at La Rivière and move south toward Crépon and Creully to Saint-Léger, which was on the strategically important Bayeux-Caen road. The 231st Brigade would be supported by the 234th SP and 288th batteries. The 198th SP Battery was scheduled to land six hours after the first assault.

Once the lead Brigades had secured their objectives, they were to consolidate their position with the help of the 'Hussars' two other batteries. Meanwhile, the follow-up Infantry Brigades (the 151st and the independent 56th, which had been attached to the division for the assault) would continue the push inland, supported by the 8th Armoured Brigade and the rest of the anti-tank units.

The 50th (Northumbrian) Division was considered to have performed very well in Normandy; out of the three divisions that were veterans of the desert (the others being 7th Armoured Division and 51st Highland Division), it was considered to have performed the best. It was one of the driving forces behind the British advance, and was exhausted by the end of the battle. It later played a minor role in Operation Market Garden, where the 231st Infantry Brigade was detached to help support the advance of the Guards Armoured Division.

In December 1944, when the rest of the division returned to Britain, the Northumberland Hussars remained in Northern Europe as part of the 15th (Scottish) Division, with which it remained until the end of the war.

World War II timeline

 * UK 1940-1 - 2nd Armoured Division
 * Greece 1941 - 1st Armourd Brigade
 * N Africa 1941-2 - 7th Armoured Division
 * N Africa 1942-3 - 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
 * El Alamein Oct 42 - 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
 * Sicily 1943 - 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
 * UK 1943-4 - 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
 * D Day 1944 - 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
 * NW Europe 1944 - 50th Northumbrian Infantry Division
 * NW Europe 1944-5 - 15th (Scottish) Division

Post-War

 * 1946 – The regiment was disbanded from Regular service in the Royal Artillery and returned to the TA Order of battle.
 * 1949 – Equipped with Cruiser Tanks as The Northumberland Hussars
 * 1967 – Reduced to Cadre strength after the formation of the TAVR
 * 1971 – Reformed as HQ Sqn (The Northumberland Hussars), The Queen's Own Yeomanry - equipped with Ferret Armoured Cars and Alvis Saracen Armoured Cars
 * 1986 – 'D' Sqn (The Northumberland Hussars) formed at Cramlington, Northumberland - equipped With Fox armoured reconnaissance vehicle
 * 1999 – 'D' Sqn and HQ Sqn amalgamated to form 'D' Sqn, (The Northumberland Hussars) in Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne - equipped with CVR(T) Sabre then FV107 Scimitar Tracked Armoured Reconnaissance vehicles



Iraq and Afghanistan
The Northumberland Hussars has not been deployed as a unit in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it has provided personnel for Operations Tellic and Herrick.

Battle honours

 * South Africa 1900

Notable Old Comrades

 * Major Lawrence Johnston (1871–1958), creator of Hidcote Manor Garden, which is now in the care of the National Trust; Boer War and World War I
 * Sir Hubert Swinburne, of Capheaton, 8th Baron Swinburne; Boer War
 * William Henry Armstrong Fitzpatrick Watson-Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong; World War I
 * Stanley Norman Evans (1898–1970) was a British industrialist and Labour Party politician; World War I
 * John Arthur Tournay Middleton (1906–1939), Lieutenant. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Northumberland; World War I
 * Colonel Douglas Clifton Brown, 1st and last Viscount Ruffside, (1879–1958). He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and later Brevet Colonel, in the service of the Northumberland Hussars Yeomanry Territorial Army. He held the office of Member of Parliament (MP) for Hexham between 1918 and 1923 and between 1924 and 1951. He held the office of Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons between 1938 and 1943. He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1941. He held the office of Speaker of the House of Commons between 1943 and 1951; World War I
 * Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland; World War II
 * Major David Muir Langton (1912–1994), actor best remembered for playing Richard Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs; World War II
 * Captain Sir Laurence Pumphrey, Eichstatt, Oflag VII-B POW tunnel escaper (63 escaped), sent to Colditz July 1943; World War II
 * (Harry) John Neville Vane, 11th Baron Barnard (b. 1923) of Barnard Castle, Lieutenant-Colonel 1964-1966; Post-War
 * Matthew White Ridley, 2nd Viscount Ridley, Conservative politician, rose to Lieutenant-Colonel commanding 1913-1915; Home service World War I
 * Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, Brevet Colonel in the Northumberland Hussars, he would become Honorary Colonel in 1979; Post-War
 * Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale (1929-1993), Post-War, rose to Captain.

Nicknames

 * The Noodles

Alliances

 * - Light Dragoons
 * - 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars, historic

Other sources

 * CWGC website
 * Army List
 * Overlord by Max Hastings
 * The Northumberland Hussars 1924-1949 by Joan Bright
 * The History of the Northumberland (Hussars) Yeomanry 1819-1923 by Howard Pease
 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/81/a5761181.shtml