Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry

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The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
Cap badge of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
Active	1 November 1992-
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Type	Yeomanry
Role	Armour Replacement
Size	One regiment
Part of	Royal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQ	RHQ - Telford A Squadron - Dudley B Squadron - Telford C Squadron - Chester D Squadron - Wigan
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	HM The Queen
Honorary Colonel	Major General The Duke of Westminster KG OBE TD DL

The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. It currently serves in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.

The regiment was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry and The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry as part of the Options for Change. In 1999 it absorbed a squadron from The Queen's Own Yeomanry, bringing it to a strength of four squadrons plus the headquarters squadron.^[1]

The RMLY consists of an HQ Squadron and four sabre squadrons. Each of the sabre squadrons perpetuates a historic Yeomanry regiment, which is reflected in their subtitles:

A (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry) Squadron
B (Shropshire Yeomanry) Squadron
C (Cheshire Yeomanry) Squadron
D (Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry) Squadron

In October 2006, the RMLY became a single cap badge regiment, when the individual cap badges of each squadron were replaced by the newly designed RMLY cap badge. This incorporates the Mercian Eagle from the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry with the Red Rose from the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry.

[edit] Lineage

Lineage to 1992
The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry (1992)	The Mercian Yeomanry (1971) renamed The Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry (1973)	The Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry (1956)	The Warwickshire Yeomanry (1794)
			The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars (1831)
		The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) (1794)
		The Shropshire Yeomanry (1872)	North Salopian Yeomanry (1795) South Salopian Yeomanry (1795)
	TheDuke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (Royal Tank Regiment) (1967) renamed The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (1971)	The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (1797)
		The 40th/41st Royal Tank Regiment (1956)	15th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps (1860) 4th Volunteer Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (1888) 7th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (1908) 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment (1938)
			22nd Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps (1860) 6th Volunteer Battalion, The Manchester Regiment (1888) 10th Battalion, The Manchester Regiment (1908) 41st (Oldham) Royal Tank Regiment (1938)