Yeoman Soldiers

About the Book

Formed in 1795 the Gloucestershire Yeomanry was raised as a cavalry force, their primary role being the defence of the country and the quelling of civil riots.

They were later incorporated into the Territorial Army and volunteers saw service in 1900 in South Africa. Mobilised at the outbreak of war in 1914 the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, as they were now named landed at Gallipoli. After the evacuation they became part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

Told through the letters and diaries of those who took part, the author relates how the Yeomen armed with sabres and mounted on horseback between 1916 and 1918 drove the Turks back from the banks of the Suez Canal to Aleppo. More often than not in the van they participated in delivering a blow to the Ottoman Empire from which it never recovered.

The ending of the war brought to an end the Regiments role as mounted cavalry, but it was far from being the end of the Regiment. As an armoured formation they went on to win further honours and are still doing so today. It did however mean the ending of a phase in their glorious history.

About the Author

John Lewis is a member of a family partnership that farms in the Cotswold Vale. Keenly interested in conservation and wildlife he is a council member of the Three Counties Agricultural Society. He lists his hobbies as bird photography and the study of agricultural and military history. Previous works by the same author:

• Foreman of the Fields
• Three into One
• Skokholm the Islanders
• Islands Lovely Islands
• Foreman of the Bench.