Royal East Kent Yeomanry The Royal East Kent Yeomanry were formed in 1794 , originally as a series of independent troops based in the important towns of Kent , England . In the latter part of the 19th century they frequently provided escorts for the Queen and members of the Royal Family , and as a result , in 1856 the East Kent Yeomanry became the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) . Boer War . On 13 December 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 24 December 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 officer s , 10 , 371 men with 20 battalion s and 4 companies , which arrived in South Africa between February and April , 1900 . Upon arrival , the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations . < br > The Royal East Kent Yeomanry provided troops for the 33rd Company , 11th Battalion . World War I . During World War I the Royal East Kent Yeomanry formed three regiments , the original regiment now known as the 1 / 1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry , was joined by a second line regiment ( 2 / 1st ) and a third line regiment ( 3 / 1st ) . 1 / 1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry . The 1 / 1st Royal East Kents Yeomanry were mobilised in August 1914 and as part of the South Eastern Mounted Brigade , 1st Mounted Division . In September 1915 the regiment was dismounted and moved to the Dardanelles and saw action at the Battle of Gallipoli , landing on 8 October 1915 and attached to the 42nd Division . After the evacuation of Gallipoli , they were sent to Egypt , arriving in February 1916 joining the 3rd Dismounted Brigade . The regiment was then amagamated in February 1917 with the West Kent Yeomanry , together they formed the 10th Battalion ( Royal East Kent and West Kent Yeomanry ) , the Buffs and moved to France in May 1918 as Infantry . 2 / 1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry . The 2 / 1st was formed September 1914 , they were converted to a cyclist unit in 1916 attached to the 4th Mounted Division and would remain in the United Kingdom until April 1918 when moved to Ireland . They ended the war in Ireland and did not see active service . 3 / 1st Royal East Kent Yeomanry . The 3 / 1st was formed in 1915 , they also remained in United Kingdom until being disbanded in early 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 Brigade s ) the remaining Yeomanry Regiments would be re roled as Artillery . The Royal East Kent Yeomanry was one of the regiments now re - designated and formed part of the Royal Artillery . Together with Kent ' s other Yeomanry regiment The West Kent Yeomanry ( Queen ' s Own ) , 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 . 97th ( Kent Yeomanry ) Field Regiment . The 97th ( Kent Yeomanry ) Field Regiment served with the 5th Infantry Division , during the Battle of France , seeing action at St . Valery - en - Caux in June 1940 , after the German advance the regiment destroyed its guns and equipment and headed to Dunkirk for evacuation in Operation Dynamo . The regiment then moved to the Middle east and served in the 10th Army as part of the 10th Indian Infantry 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 .