Bedfordshire Yeomanry Regiment GILT Officers Collar Badge

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original Bedfordshire Yeomanry Regiment collar badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military badges for sale including other Bedfordshire Yeomanry Regiment collar badges.

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The Bedfordshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. Serving intermittently between 1797 and 1827, it was re-raised in 1901 for the Second Boer War. It participated in the First World War before being converted to an artillery regiment. It served in the Second World War (as a heavy and a field artillery regiment). At the outbreak of the First World War, the regiment was attached to the Eastern Mounted Brigade. It mobilised on 4 August 1914 and was stationed at Hatfield Peverel and Stansted until June 1915. On 12 June 1915 it joined the 9th Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in France, eventually dismounting to serve in the Battle of the Somme, Battle of Cambrai and the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918. As such, it was one of only six yeomanry regiments to be posted to a regular cavalry division in the war. On 10 March 1918 it left the 1st Cavalry Division with the intention of converting it to a cyclist unit, then to form a machine gun battalion with the Essex Yeomanry. The German Spring Offensive changed these plans and the regiment was re-mounted and returned to the 1st Cavalry Division. There it was split up, sending a squadron to each of the regiments in 9th Cavalry Brigade (8th, 15th and 19th Hussars). The record of the unit’s service was set out by L. R. C. Southern (Lieutenant), an officer of the regiment, in The Bedfordshire Yeomanry in the Great War (Rush & Warwick, Bedford, 1935).

On 7 February 1920, the Regiment was reconstituted in the Territorial Army with HQ still at Bedford. Following the experience of the war, it was decided that only the fourteen most senior yeomanry regiments would be retained as horsed cavalry, with the rest being transferred to other roles. As a result, on 5 August 1920, the Regiment was transferred to the Royal Artillery to form 10th (Bedford) Army Brigade, RFA. The brigade / regiment underwent a number of redesignations before the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1921 it was renumbered and regained its yeomanry title as 105th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Army Brigade, RFA. Another title change came in 1924 as the Royal Field Artillery was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery as 105th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) (Army) Field Brigade, RA. Another change came in 1938 as artillery brigades became regiments, hence 105th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Army Field Regiment, RA. In 1939 the Territorial Army was “duplicated” – existing units formed a second unit. On 1 November 1938, 105th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA (417 and 418 Batteries) formed 148th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA (419 and 420 Batteries).

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military collar badges for sale including other Bedfordshire Yeomanry Regiment collar badges.