County of London Yeomanry Several British Army regiments have born the title County of London Yeomanry ( CLY ) . Most have been mounted , then armoured regiments . 1st County of London Yeomanry ( Middlesex , Duke of Cambridge ' s ) . The 1st CLY saw service in the Boer War , 1900 – 1901 , and in World War I at Gallipoli , Macedonia and Palestine . The regiment was first founded in May 1797 as the Uxbridge Volunteer Cavalry becoming the Uxbridge Yeomanry Cavalry in 1798 . It was disbanded in 1801 . It was reformed in December 1830 as the Middlesex Yeomanry Cavalry , based at Harefield and West Drayton and later had a troop based in Brighton . Over the following years there were further name changes : Middlesex ( Duke of Cambridge ' s Hussars ) Yeomanry Cavalry ( in 1884 ) ; Middlesex Imperial Yeomanry ( Duke of Cambridge ' s Hussars ) ( 17 April 1901 , with four squadrons and a machine - gun section ) ; 1st County of London Yeomanry ( Middlesex , Duke of Cambridge ' s ) ( 1 April 1908 ) and transferred to the London Mounted Brigade in the Territorial Forces . Now in the Territorial Army , the regiment was transferred to the Royal Signals in 1920 as the 2nd Cavalry Divisional Signals ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ; Mobile Divisional Signals ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ( 1938 ) ; 1st Armoured Divisional Signals ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ( 1939 ) ; 9th Armoured Brigade Signal Squadron ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ( 1941 ) . It returned to the Territorial Army on 1 January 1947 as 16th Airborne Divisional Signal Regiment ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ; then as Middlesex Yeomanry Signal Regiment ( 44 Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron ) ( 1 October 1956 ) ; 40th Signal Regiment ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ( 44 Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron and 303 Signal Squadron ) ( 1 September 1959 ) ; 47th Signal Regiment ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) ( 1961 ) . The regiment was amalgamated with the 47th ( London ) Signal Regiment on 1 April 1967 to form 47 ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) Signal Squadron , 31st ( Greater London ) Signal Regiment , Royal Signals ; disbanded and immediately reconstituted in the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve . In 1995 47 ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) Signal Squadron came under command of the 39th ( Skinners ) Signal Regiment ( Volunteers ) . In 2006 the squadron moved under the command of 71 ( Yeomanry ) Signal Regiment . The squadron took command of 831 Troop based at Southfields on 1 Oct 2009 . 47 ( Middlesex Yeomanry ) Signal Squadron is the modern day iteration of the 1st County of London Yeomanry . 2nd County of London Yeomanry ( The Westminster Dragoons ) . In World War I , the regiment was attached to the London Mounted Brigade . It served in the Middle East from September 1914 until August 1917 and then reformed , first as XX Corps Cavalry Regiment then , in April 1918 as " F " Battalion , Machine Gun Corps . During World War II , 2nd CLY served as a unit in the 79th Armoured Division . The regimental history goes back to 1779 , when it was formed as the London and Westminster Light Horse . It was repeatedly disbanded and reformed over the following fifty years as the Westminster Volunteer Cavalry . It was reformed on 24 August 1901 as the 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry from South African war veterans with four squadrons and a machine gun section and in 1902 the name became 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry ( Westminster Dragoons ) , to continue the 1779 – 1829 regiment . On 1 April 1908 , the regiment transferred to the Territorial Forces and then in 1920 to the Territorial Army . On 26 March 1920 , the regiment transferred to the Tank Corps as 22nd ( London ) Armoured Car Company ( Westminster Dragoons ) , in 1939 changing its name to 22nd ( Westminster Dragoons ) Battalion in the Royal Tank Corps . After a short spell as 2 Officer Cadet Training Unit , on 30 November 1940 , the regiment renamed as 2nd County of London Yeomanry ( Westminster Dragoons ) , converted and transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps . After the war , in 1947 , it was reconstituted in the Territorial Army , based in London and in 1951 it became The Westminster Dragoons ( 2nd County of London Yeomanry ) . The regiment was amalgamated , on 1 May 1961 , with " R " ( Berkshire Yeomanry ) Battery , 299 ( Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry , Berkshire Yeomanry , and The Queen ' s Own Oxfordshire Hussars ) Field Regiment RA , to form The Berkshire and Westminster Dragoons . 3rd County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . Formed on 23 July 1901 as the 3rd County of London Imperial Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . On 25 September 1920 , the regiment became the 5th ( London ) Armoured Car Company , Tank Corps , based at St . John ' s Wood and subsequently the 23rd ( London ) Armoured Car Company , Royal Tank Corps ( June , 1922 ) , 23rd Cavalry Armoured Car Regiment , Royal Tank Corps ( 1938 ) ( transferred to Royal Armoured Corps on 30 April 1939 . On 24 August , the name reverted to 3rd County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . On 27 September 1939 , 3rd CLY formed a separate unit as a nucleus of the 4th County of London Yeomanry . This lasted until 1 August 1944 when losses in Normandy prompted the amalgamation of 3rd CLY and 4th CLY , to form 3rd / 4th County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . 4th County of London Yeomanry . The original 4th County of London Imperial Yeomanry ( King ' s Colonials ) was formed in November 1901 at Charing Cross , London , as a yeomanry regiment from overseas volunteers resident in England , with four " colonial " squadrons : An additional , New Zealand Squadron , was formed in 1902 , leaving C Squadron as Australian . In 1905 , the regiment was renamed as The King ' s Colonials , Imperial Yeomanry . In 1909 , the separate " colony " squadrons were discontinued and in 1910 , the regiment was again renamed , as King Edward ' s Horse ( The King ' s Overseas Dominions Regiment ) . The regiment was transferred to Special Reserve and lost yeomanry status in 1913 and 21 March 1924 , it was disbanded . The army began to expand as the international situation worsened and on 27 September 1939 , the 4th County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) was formed as a duplicate of the 3rd County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) starting with a nucleus detached from the 3rd CLY . During the Battle of Normandy , 4th CLY served as part of the 7th Armoured Division , the " Desert Rats " . On June 13 , they advanced with a battalion of the 1st Rifle Brigade by road from Villers - Bocage and were ambushed by a detachment of Tiger tanks . A single Tiger , commanded by SS - Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann , knocked out the CLY ' s lead Cromwell and then took out the rest of the column , trapped in the embanked road . This was the prelude to a counter - attack by Panzer - Lehr - Division Division which forced the British out of Villers - Bocage . On 1 August 1944 the two regiments were amalgamated to form 3rd / 4th County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . 3rd / 4th County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . Action in Normandy so depleted the 3rd and 4th CLY that they were merged on 1 August 1944 , at Carpiquet . The Sharpshooters continued as a Territorial Army ( TA ) Regiment after World War 2 , initially as an armoured regiment in the 56th London Armoured Division . They changed role in 1956 as a result of TA reorganisation and became the reconnaissance regiment for 44th ( Home Counties ) Infantry Division . In 1959 the affiliation with the Royal Tank Regiment ended and the Royal Dragoons became the parent regiment . In 1960 the number of Yeomanry Regiments was halved and the Sharpshooters were amalgamated with the Kent Yeomanry – descended from the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles and the Queen ' s Own West Kent Yeomanry – to become the Kent and County of London Yeomanry ( Sharpshooters ) . The regiment ' s role was to be that of an armoured reconnaissance regiment consisting of a Headquarters and three sabre squadrons . In 1967 the former HQ Squadron of the Kent and County of London Yeomanry became part of a new TAVR III Regiment , the London and Kent Regiment . 265 ( Kent and County of London Yeomanry ) Support Squadron ( Sharpshooters ) . After yet more reorganisation during the late 1960s a new Signal Regiment was formed ( 71st Signal Regiment ) and the name of the London and Kent Regiment was preserved in one of its squadrons , 265 ( London and Kent ) Squadron primarily to perform a regimental headquarters function , but eventually as a fully operational Signal Squadron . In 1974 the new signals regiment adopted the title 71 ( Yeomanry ) Signal Regiment and the Squadron ' s title changed to 265 ( Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry ) Signal Squadron . In 1985 the squadron ' s title changed once more and became 265 ( Kent and County of London Yeomanry ) Signal Squadron . Then two years later a new squadron was formed from its RHQ elements and titled Headquarters ( Kent and County of London Yeomanry ) Squadron . The two squadrons remained as such until further reorganisation in 2006 when 265 ( Kent and County of London Yeomanry ) Signal Squadron was disbanded and the majority of its personnel absorbed into the former Headquarters Squadron to form the new 265 ( Kent and County of London Yeomanry ) Support Squadron ( Sharpshooters ) , effectively reverting to its combined RHQ and signals role prior to the formation of Headquarters Squadron in 1987 . 265 ( Kent and County of London Yeomanry ) Support Squadron ( Sharpshooters ) continues in this role today and by carrying the titles of the former Yeomanry Regiments continues to maintain the traditions and history of those regiments .