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Regiment Land Rover.

THE INNS OF COURT REGIMENT (THE DEVIL’S OWN)

Under various designations the Regiment can trace its history back to Elizabethan times. From then until 1859 the four Inns of Court in times of national crisis, raised bodies of men for the defence of the Country, but these were disbanded on each occasion on the return of peace. In 1584 the Inns formed associations to defend the country against the threatened Spanish invasion. Gentlemen from the Inns also formed part of the Royalist Army in 1644 and, in 1745, were called out against the Jacobite invasion of England. Again, in 1780, they helped restore order during the Gordon Riots and, at this time, Pitt was in the Lincoln's Inn Company. During the Napoleonic wars all the Inns raised Companies, the best known of which was the Bloomsbury & Inns of Court Volunteers. At this time, The Law Associa­tion, whose drums are still in the museum, was nicknamed "The Devil's Own" by George III at a Royal Review in Hyde Park in 1803; this name has clung to the Regiment ever since. The Colours of the Temple Association are also in the museum.

The continuous history of the Regiment dates from 1859. A detachment was sent to South Africa in 1900-1901 but it was in the 1914-18 War that the Regiment carried out one of the most important roles in its history. In four years it trained and commissioned no less than 11,000 officers; it continued to act as an Officer Training Unit between the war, during which period it was designated a Cavalry Regiment with one squadron of cavalry and two of mounted infantry.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Inns of Court provided the Staff for two O.C.T.U.s but, in 1940 was re-formed as an Armoured Car Regiment. From 1943 until the invasion of Europe it was under the direct command of 1 Corps, the assault formation of 21 Army Group. On D-Day, C Squadron landed in France and went into action; the remainder of the Regiment followed soon afterwards and. a month later, joined the 11th Armoured Division. The Inns of Court was continuously in action, from Caumont to the Seine, to Antwerp, and finally from the Rhine to the Kiel Canal. After the German surrender the Regiment occupied a considerable area Schleswig-Holstein.

After the War, in May 1947, the Inns of Court became the Armoured Car Regiment of 56 (London) Armoured Division but, when this became an Infantry Division in 1956, it was converted to a Reconnaissance Regiment.

THE CITY OF London YEOMANRY (THE ROUGH RIDERS)

The Regiment was raised in 1900 as the 20th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, and was part of the City Imperial Volunteers. In 1901 it was renamed the City of London Yeomanry and also took the name Rough Riders after a body of volunteer horsemen who fought under Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish American War of 1898.

From 1907 to 1914 the Regimental Headquarters were in Finsbury Square, the funds being raised from the City of London and from the Livery Companies.

In the sixty years from its formation to its amalgamation with the Inns of Court Regiment the City of London Yeomanry changed its role no less than seven times: It was in turn Cavalry, Machine Gait Corps, Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Artillery, light Anti-Aircraft Artillery, an Armoured Regiment and Infantry. One of its outstanding achievements between the Wars was to win the King's Cup (open to all R.H.A. regiments in the Territorial Army) on the two occasions on which it entered. in 1928 and 1933.

The Regiment spent the early years of the Second World War in this country, along with many other Territorial Regiments. Later it saw active service both in the Mediterranean area and in Northwest Europe.

After the War the City of London Yeomanry became an Armoured Regiment, equipped with tanks but, in 1956, it became Infantry and was affiliated to The Rifle Brigade.

THE INNS OF COURT AND CITY YEOMANRY

On 1st May, 1961. the Inns of Court Regiment and the City of London Yeomanry amalgamated to form The Inns of Count and City Yeomanry and became the Reconnaissance Regiment of 54 East Angolan Division. On 14th June 1963, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the Royal Honorary Colonel presented the Guidon at a Regi­mental Parade in the Gardens of Inner Temple. Upon the contraction of the Reserve Army in, March 1967, the Regiment was reduced to one Squadron, which formed part of the London Yeomanry & Territorials. Many serving members of the Regiment transferred to the Royal Yeomanry Regiment on its formation, and the Band of this Regiment was provided by the Inns of Court & City Yeomanry.