History
The Berwickshire Yeomanry Cavalry 1797 to 1827
Four troops were raised between 1797 and 1804: the Coldstream; Duns; 'Eagle'; and Greenlaw troops. The Regiment was disbanded in December 1827.
The Royal Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry 1979 to 1871
The Royal Edinburgh Volunteer Light Dragoons and the Midlothian Yeomanry were united in one regiment of six troops in 1800. In 1837 all the Scottish Yeomanry Corps (except for the Ayrshire and Lancashire Regiments) were disbanded. The Royal Midlothian Y.C. was re-raised in 1843 and eventually ceased to exist in 1871.
The East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry 1797 to 1888
Three troops were raised in 1797: the Seton Troop; the Salton Troop; and the Gifford Troop. The Seton Troop's guidon includes a grab or wheatsheaf. A fourth troop, the Dunbar Troop was raised in 1803. The Salton, Seton and Gifford Troops disappeared in 1827 and the corps was disbanded in 1837. The East Lothian Y.C. was re-raised in 1846 as two troops and was added to in 1848 by a Berwickshire Troop. This gave rise to the first unofficial title of The East Lothian and Berwickshire Yeomanry Cavalry. A new troop was added from Midlothian in 1879.
The Lothians and Berwickshire Yeomanry Cavalry 1888 to 1901
The official titular change was made in 1888. In 1899 the War Office announced the formation of a new force of mounted infantry to be known as the Imperial Yeomanry. Twenty battalions were raised from the various Yeomanry regiments. The 6th Battalion, commanded by Col. Burn, was raised in Scotland and formed from the following: 17 Coy Ayrshire and Lanarkshire Yeomanries; 18 Coy Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry; 19 Coy Lothians and Berwickshire Yeomanry; 20 Coy Fife Light Horse and Forfar Light Horse. They sailed from Glasgow on the SS Carthaginian on February 23rd 1901 to take part in the Boer War.
The Lothians and Berwickshire Imperial Yeomanry 1902 to 1908
The Boer War resulted in an increase in serving personnel numbers. B and D Squadrons were recruited from Edinburgh, Mid and West Lothian. A Squadron was recruited from East Lothian and Berwickshire, while C Squadron represented the Border Districts. The expansion also produced a further change in title - The Lothians and Berwickshire Imperial Yeomanry.
The Lothians and Border Horse 1908 to 1921
The Volunteers, Militia and Yeomanry were combined in the new Territorial Force and resulted in a further title change. This was to be modified for two periods during the decades of mechanisation, by replacing 'Horse' with 'Yeomanry'.
The Great War: 1914 - 1919
A Squadron was assembled at Dunbar, B and D Squadrons in Edinburgh and C Squadron in Hawick. Intensive training took place to convert the unit from a mounted infantry to a cavalry role. At the end of July 1915, the regiment itself was split up. A Squadron was posted to the 26th Division on Salisbury Plain; B Squadron accompanied by R.H.Q. and the Machine Gun Sction, joined the 25th Division and D Squadron joined the 22nd Division, both formations being stationed in Aldershot.
The 19th Armoured Car Company (Lothians & Border Yeomanry): the 19th (Lothians and Border Horse) Armoured Car Company, R.T.C. 1921 to 1938
In 1921, horses were displaced by armoured cars for many yeomanry regiments, including the L&B. Also, the Territorial Force became the Territorial Army and the unit chose a new title the 19th Armoured Car Company (Lothians & Border Yeomanry). The company was drawn from the Border District and from Edinburgh but in 1923 the two Border sections were discontinued and all four sections were drawn from Edinburgh, giving rise to "The Edinburgh Tank Corps".
The Lothians and Border Horse Yeomanry 1938 to 1956
By May 1939, the 19th A.C.C. had expanded to a regiment of two lines known as the 1st and 2nd Lothians. Armoured cars gave way to light tanks - the Mark VIb was used in World Wat Two. Service-dress was superseded by battle-dress and a further modification was made to the title. The name was seldom used by the regiment itself. Major H.J. Younger chose the 1st Lothians and Border Yeomanry for the First Line. The Second Lothians were referred to as the L&B Horse.
1940: The Campaign in France
On 3 September 1939, the 1st Lothians under Lieut. Col. Younger took up the role of Divisional Cavalry for the 48th (South Midlands) Division, the first all T.A. division and travelled southwards to Lambourn in Berkshire. Later from Tidworth (Bhurtpore Barracks) they went on to embark from Southampton on 11th January 1940 and on reaching Le Havre, became the first cavalry regiment of the first T.A. division to land in France. Surrounded at St Valery-en-Caux, only 3 officers and 17 other ranks managed to escape to England.
The 1st Lothians Reformed: 1940 - 1946
The unit was reformed at Bovington, Dorset, around the nucleus of the survivors of St. Valery during the autumn of 1940. The reconstructed regiment joined the 30th Armoured Brigade along with the 22nd Dragoons and the Westminster Dragoons, an association that lasted until the end of the war. In September 1943, 30th Armoured Brigade was transferred to the 79th Armoured Division, known as 'The Funnies'. The 1st Lothians (second line) took over the Sherman Crab in 1944. The various units of the 79th were attached to other formations as circumstances dictated. Thus the 1st Lothians found themselves fighting as detached squadrons in support of various brigades and divisions of the British, Canadian and American Armies. When St. Valery was taken in September 1944, the massed pipes and drums of the 51st Highland Division gave a display of 'beating retreat' to which the 1st Lothians pipe-band were invited as spectators.
The 2nd Lothians: 1939 - 1946
The 2nd Lothians were mobilized as a separate active service regiment in May 1939. It was as a motorized machine gun unit that they joined the 2nd Motorised M.G. Brigade (later to become the 26th Armoured Brigade) along with the 16th/5th and 17th/21st Lancers - an association that lasted until 1946 - as part of General Montgomery's mobile reserve in the defence of the south coast. However, in November 1942, they embarked with the 6th Armoured Division with the First Army for North Africa, equipped with a mixture of Crusader and Valentine tanks. At the end of the war, the regiment spent two months policing the Austrian/Jugoslavian Border and then moved to Milan as part of the occupational force. The 2nd Lothians were disbanded in the spring of 1946. Soon afterwards Regimental Orders stated that the regiment would be known as the 'Lothians and Border Horse'. In April 1946, the Reconnaissance Regiment of the 52nd (Lowland) Division was amalgamated with the L&B.
1st/2nd Lothians and Border Horse 1947 to 1956
The Territorial Army was re-established on January 1st 1947 and four Squadrons were recruited, all based in the Edinburgh District. In 1956, the Government ordered a re-organisation of the Territorial Army which resulted in the disappearance of many distinguished names from the Army List. Among these were the Lothians and Border Horse
The wheatsheaf
A field officers' field service cap of 1895 exhibited in the Museum at Edinburgh Castle is in dark blue cloth with a gold-wire garb or wheatsheaf badge and possibly dates the adoption of this emblem by the regiment for most forms of head-gear other than the full-dress helmet.
