Queen's Own West Kent Hussars

The English Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry can trace its origins to 1794 when  local volunteer troops were raised to assist the civil powers. Each troop was about 50 strong with three officers (Captain, Lieutenant, Cornet), they were required to provide their own uniforms and mounts while the government would supply their arms and ammunition.

In 1827 the government disbanded the Yeomanry Regiments in those districts where they had not been mobilised in the previous 10 years. The Kent Regiment was stood down and their equipment returned to the regular army. But for this gap in service, the Kent Yeomanry formations would have been the most senior Yeomanry Regiments in the country in terms of the date of acceptance of its senior troop - the Cinque Ports Cavalry.

In 1830 the West Kent Yeomanry was reformed and in 1864 the West Kent Yeomanry was awarded the title Queen's Own and became known as the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomany.

Boer War
On December 13, 1899, the decision to allow volunteer forces serve in the Second Boer War was made. 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, thus issuing a Royal Warrant on December 24, 1899. This warrant officially created the Imperial Yeomanry.

The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each. In addition to this, many British citizens (usually mid-upper class) volunteered to join the new regiment. Although there were strict requirements, many volunteers were accepted with substandard horsemanship/marksmanship, however they had significant time to train while awaiting transport.

The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers, 10,371 men with 20 battalions and four companies, which arrived in South Africa between February and April, 1900. Upon arrival, the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations. The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry provided troops for the 36th Company, 9th Battalion.

World War I
During World War One the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry supplied three regiments for service the original regiment became known as the 1/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry, the second line regiment was the 2/1st and the third line regiment the 3/1st

1/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry
The 1/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was placed in the South Eastern Mounted Brigade. On the outbreak of war in August 1914 they were sent to the Canterbury area where they contributed to the Kent coastal defences. In September 1915 they sailed for Gallipoli and the Dardanelles Campaign against Turkey, here they were dismounted and served as infantry. In March 1917 they were amalgamated with the 1/1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry and formed the 10th (Yeomanry) Battalion, The Buffs. The 10th Buffs was attached to the 74th (Yeomanry) Division, and participated in General Allenby's successful Palastine offensive against the Turkish Army and took part in the Second Battle of Gaza and the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917. In December 1917 the 10th Buffs played a major part in the capture of Jerusalem. In July 1918 they were moved to France and took part in the action at Merville on the Somme. After the War the 10th (Yeomanry) Battalion, The Buffs was disbanded.

2/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry
The 2/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was formed in September 1914, they converted to a cyclist unit in October 1916 they remained in the United Kingdom until April 1918 when they were moved to Ireland. They ended the war in Ireland and did not see any active service.

3/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry
The 3/1st Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was formed in late 1914, they also remained in the United Kingdom until being disbanded in February 1917.

Between the Wars
On the reforming of the TA, the 14 senior Yeomanry Regiments remained as horsed cavalry regiments (6 forming the 5th and 6th Cavalry Brigades) the remaining Yeomanry Regiments would be re-roled as Artillery. The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was one of the regiments now re-designated and formed part of the Royal Artillery. Together with the other Yeomanry regiment in Kent (The Royal East Kent Yeomanry), they formed the 6th (Kent) Army Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, in 1920. In 1921 it became the 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, consisting of the Canterbury based 385th, and 386th Ashford based (Duke of Connaught’s Own Yeomanry) Batteries, and the Bromley based 387th and the Maidstone based 388th (Queen’s Own Yeomanry) Batteries. In 1938 the unit was re-designated as the 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Army Field Regiment, Royal Artillery,

World War II
Dunkirk for evacuation in Operation Dynamo. The regiment moved to the Middle East and served in the 10th Army as part of the 10th Indian Division in Iraq during 1941. It later joined the 7th Armoured Division the Desert Rats in July 1942, being involved in the Battle of Alam el Halfa the First and Second Battle of El Alamein, until October 1943 when it rejoined the 10th Indian Division, serving in North Africa, Palestine and Italy, where it ended the war on the Adriatic coast near Trieste.

143rd (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment
In 1939 the 143rd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (Kent Yeomanry) was formed as a duplicate of 97th Regiment. The Second Line regiment spent the first two years of the war in Iceland. On its return to the UK in 1941 the regiment joined the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division they were involved in the D Day actions giving support to the forces attacking Caen. They were also in action around Le Havre and at the Turnhout Canal. The winter of 1944-45 was spent on the Dutch - German border along the River Maas. Their final action was at Arnhem in April 1945.

Post war
In 1947 it became the 297th (Kent Yeomanry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery.

In 1961 the Kent Yeomanry was amalgamated with the Sharpshooters to form a reconnaissance regiment. Six years later the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was reduced to squadron strength to form C Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry More recently members of the Squadron have been deployed on operational tours in support of the regular army to Kosovo, Bosnia and Kuwait.

In 2003 nine members of the Squadron were mobilised to form part of a Royal Yeomanry Squadron for the Joint NBC Regiment deploying on Operation TELIC. Further deployments have been to the southern province of Basra and Al Amarah, in Iraq.

Battle Honours

 * South Africa 1900-1902
 * Great War: Somme 1918, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épehy, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1918, Gallipoli 1915, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Palestine 1917–18
 * Second World War: No battle honours were awarded. It is tradition within artillery units that the Regiment's guns represent its colours and battle honours.