Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars

Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars
cap badge
Active	1888–1922
Country	Britain
Branch	Army
Type	Yeomanry
Role	Cavalry World War I Artillery World War II Signals Port Maritime Present
Size	Squadron
Part of	Royal Logistics Corps
Garrison/HQ	Banbury[1]
Nickname(s)	Queer Objects On Horseback
Colors	Mantua Purple
Engagements	South Africa 1900–1901 World War I Messines 1914 Armentières 1914 Ypres 1915 St Julien Bellewaarde Arras 1917 Scarpe 1917 Cambrai 1917–18 Somme 1918 St Quentin Lys Hazebrouck Amiens Bapaume 1918 Hindenburg Line Canal du Nord Selle Sambre France and Flanders 1914–18 World War II No battle honours were awarded. It is tradition within artillery units that the Regiment's guns represent its colours and battle honours.[2]
Website	oxfordshireyeomanry
Commanders
Colonel of the Regiment	Winston Churchill

The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars^[3] was the designated name of a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army between 1888 and 1922. In response a call by the government for troops of volunteers to be formed in the shires, meeting of "Nobility, Gentry, Freeholders and Yeomanry" was called at the Star Inn in Cornmarket, Oxford in 1794.^[4] This led to the formation in 1798 of a troop of yeomen known as the County Fencible Cavalry at Watlington, Oxfordshire in 1798. Renamed several times before becoming the QOOH,^[5] it saw service in the Boer War with 40 and 59 Companies of the Imperial Yeomanry and also served in Belgium and France during the Great War.^[6] In 1922, the regiment became part of the Royal Artillery. In 1998 it celebrated its bi-centenary by being granted the Freedom of Banbury.^[7]

The Churchill connection

Francis Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill, brother of the 5th Duke of Marlborough, consolidated some of the original independent troops of yeomanry into a regiment in 1818. George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough took over the command himself in 1845, and the Churchill family continued this close personal connection with the QOOH well into the 20th century.

Blenheim Palace provided a fitting background for annual camps and spectacular full-dress parades, while the dukes gained personal prestige from their patronage of a yeomanry regiment, and the regiment benefited from their wealth and influence. It was not unusual for several Churchills to be in the regiment at the same time.

Charles Richard Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough was commissioned in 1892 as a humble Cornet, and was an officer for many years, including service with the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War. He finally became Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the regiment from 1910 to 1914.

Sir Winston Churchill joined the QOOH in 1902 and remained an enthusiastic supporter for the rest of his life, having a significant influence on the fortunes of the regiment during both World Wars, and even giving it a special place of honour at his funeral.^[8] The latter's great personal friend, F.E. Smith, later 1st Lord Birkenhead joined the same regiment in 1913^[9] and was ultimately a Major in 1921.^[10]

History

Blue plaque commemorating the founding of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry

Boer War

The Imperial Yeomanry was raised to match the Boers' skill as fast moving, mounted infantry. 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.^[11] Britain's answer to the Boers was the Imperial Yeomanry, hurriedly dispatched in January 1900. Among the officers chosen to organise this force was Viscount Valentia, CO of the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars, who became Assistant Adjutant General. The 9th Duke of Marlborough was also appointed to the Headquarters Staff.^[12] Volunteers were called for from present and past members of Yeomanry regiments and from new recruits. Over 20,000 men came forward in two years, among them about 240 from Oxfordshire.^[11]

Some came because they saw a chance of emigrating at government expense; some for love of sport and excitement; some because their domestic affairs were in a tangle from which enlistment offered a ready escape; some because they were tired of their present occupation; some because they wanted a job; some because they wanted a medal, and some because others came.—Trooper Sidney Peel, one of the Imperial Yeomanry from Oxfordshire^[11]

World War I

In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw. 7, c.9) which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments.^[13]

1/1st Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars

In 1914, after only a month's training, the regiment received a telegram from the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, instructing them to prepare for immediate embarkation. They were to join the Naval Brigade which he was sending to Flanders to prevent a German advance towards the Channel ports.^[14] The QOOH became the first Territorial unit to see action. It was typical of Churchill's enthusiasm for amateur soldiering that he should have thought up this plan for his old yeomanry regiment, in which his younger brother, Jack Churchill, was then serving.^[14]

The regiment soon hardened to the realities of war. Although disparagingly nicknamed by men of the regular army 'Queer Objects On Horseback' or 'agricultural cavalry', the QOOH took part in many actions from Ypres in 1914 to Amiens and the final advance in 1918, winning battle honours and the lasting respect of their fellow members of the 2nd Cavalry Division.^[15] As such it was one of only six yeomanry regiments to be posted to a regular cavalry division in the war.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

As cavalry they spent frustrating periods waiting in readiness to push on through the gap in the enemy's line, which never came. They toiled in working parties bringing up supplies, digging defensive positions, suffering the discomforts of appalling conditions, and frequently dismounting to fight fierce engagements on foot and in the trenches themselves.^[15]

2/1st Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars

The 2nd Line regiment was formed at Oxford in September 1914. In January 1915 it was with 2/2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade and in April 1915 it joined 2/2nd Mounted Division at King's Lynn in Norfolk.^[19] On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence;^[20] the brigade was numbered as 11th Mounted Brigade and the division as 3rd Mounted Division.^[19]

In July 1916, the regiment was converted to a cyclist unit in 9th Cyclist Brigade, 1st Mounted Division (3rd Mounted Division renamed). The brigade was renumbered as the 5th Cyclist Brigade at Bridge near Canterbury. In February 1917, it joined the 4th Cyclist Brigade at Ipswich, in July at Wivenhoe, in November at Frinton and then to Manningtree. About January 1918 it went to Ireland with the 4th Cyclist Brigade and was stationed at Dublin until the end of the war.^[19]

3/1st Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars

The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 at Oxford and in the summer it was affiliated to a Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Tidworth. In the summer of 1916 it was affiliated to the 8th Reserve Cavalry Regiment at The Curragh. Early in 1917 it joined the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Regiment, also at The Curragh.^[19]

Between the wars

The QOOH was converted from cavalry to artillery after 1922. Some saw this as the end of the Yeomanry, which had originally been a mounted force based on hunting and horsemanship.^[21]

World War II

CWGC headstone of a QOOH gunner who died a few months after the end of the Second World War. The stone bears the dual insignia of the Royal Artillery (left) and QOOH (right).

When World war II loomed, the size of the Territorial Army was doubled, and the role of the QOOH changed again, merging with the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars and becoming the 53rd and 63rd (Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiments, Royal Artillery. The Kidderminster-based 53rd later became an air-landing regiment and dropped the Oxfordshire title, but the Oxford-based 63rd continued in the anti-tank role throughout the war.^{[22][23][24][25]} This time there was no sudden order to join the front line action, and the regiment was detailed to perform home defence duties, at first in England, but then for three years in Northern Ireland. One Battery (251), however, was detached in 1941 and found itself part of the hastily assembled force sent to defend Singapore from the Japanese.^[22]

Churchill then influenced the QOOH's history again. When the regiment saw others leave for the D-Day landings, they were anxious to join the action. The main part of the regiment had remained on second-line duties in Ireland and then back in England. However, Winston Churchill, though now Prime Minister, was still Honorary Colonel of the QOOH,^[26] and in 1944 it was decided to make a personal appeal to him in the spirit of his famous intervention of 1914. Colonel John Thomson arranged to send this request via Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead, Churchill's godson and a former QOOH officer. The effect was dramatic. By October 1944 the QOOH found themselves dispatched to France on the personal orders of the Prime Minister.^[22]

Prisoners on the Burma Railway

On 15 February 1942, Singapore fell and the men of 251 Battery who had been involved in the attempt to defend it became some of the 60,000 prisoners taken by the Japanese. For three and a half years they were prisoners and used as slave labour to build the notorious Burma Railway.^[27]

Post war

The reorganisation after World War II caused many changes. In 1947 the QOOH was reformed as the 387 Field Regiment Royal Artillery, TA. Then in 1950 it was amalgamated with Royal Bucks Yeomanry and redesignated 299 Field Regiment, with the QOOH forming Q Battery based in Oxford and Banbury. Further changes occurred in 1956 when they were joined by the Berkshire Yeomanry.^[28]

In 1967 the Regiment disbanded. This was part of a major cutback in Britain's armed forces and the switch to a defence policy based on the nuclear deterrent. This lasted until 1971 when they were re-formed as 5 Squadron,39th City of London Signal Regiment (SC)(V) Royal Signals, based in Banbury, reviving the QOOH title and tradition.^[28]

On 5 April 2014 the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars became part of The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC), forming 142 (QOOH) Vehicle Squadron based at Banbury. They operate within 165 Regiment RLC, whose RHQ is based at Plymouth.

Churchill's funeral

Sir Winston Churchill remained Honorary Colonel until the time of his death in 1965. When he left detailed instructions in the safe at the TA Centre, Oxford, for his funeral, he included a special honour for the QOOH. Just as he had sent them to Flanders in 1914 and to France in 1944, so now he singled them out to have a prominent position immediately ahead of his coffin at the state funeral, in preference to many senior and more prestigious regiments. As the huge procession was forming up, a Brigade Major of the Guards stormed up to the officer commanding the QOOH detachment and told him his men were incorrectly arranged according to accepted protocol.

The OC replied:

"In the Oxfordshire Yeomanry we always do state funerals this way."^[8]

See also

• Imperial Yeomanry
• List of Yeomanry Regiments 1908
• Yeomanry
• Yeomanry order of precedence
• British yeomanry during the First World War
• Second line yeomanry regiments of the British Army
• List of British Army Yeomanry Regiments converted to Royal Artillery

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Becke, Major AF (1935). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 1. The Regular British Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-09-4. 
• James, Brigadier EA (1978). British Regiments 1914–18. London: Samson Books Limited. ISBN 0-906304-03-2. 
• Mileham, Patrick (1994). The Yeomanry Regiments; 200 Years of Tradition. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic. ISBN 1-898410-36-4. 
• Perry, FW (1993). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5B. Indian Army Divisions. Newport, Gwent: Ray Westlake Military Books. ISBN 1-871167-23-X. 
• Rinaldi, Richard A (2008). Order of Battle of the British Army 1914. Ravi Rikhye. ISBN 978-0-97760728-0. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars.

• Baker, Chris. "The Oxfordshire Yeomanry". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 6 April 2015. 
• "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2015.  CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
• The Royal Artillery 1939–1945