Active 1961–present Type Signals Mascot The Devil with spur Part of Royal Corps of Signals | Country United Kingdom Colours Guidon Branch British Army Size Squadron | |
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Role National Communications Nickname(s) The Ice Cream, Chocolate and Eclair Yeomanry Motto Salus Populi Suprema Lex ([our] paramount law is the wellbeing of the people) Similar City of London Yeomanr, British Army, Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry, Home Service Force, Royal Wessex Yeomanry | ||
The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry is the modern incarnation of several predecessor units of the British Army.
Contents
- History
- Foundation
- 1960s defence reforms
- The Home Service Force
- Merger with the Essex Yeomanry
- Current Structure
- Inns of Court City Yeomanry Museum
- References
History
The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry (IC&CY) has its headquarters in Chancery Lane, London (pictured). It is the successor to three historic volunteer units, namely The Inns of Court Regiment (ICR), The City of London Yeomanry (COLY) and briefly 2010-14 also The Essex Yeomanry (EY), which has subsequently been reformed in its own right.
Foundation
The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry (IC&CY) was formed only in 1961, through the amalgamation of The Inns of Court Regiment (The Devil's Own) and The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders). But it can trace its direct roots back at least to the first written records of the former in 1584, when 95 members of The Inns of Court entered into a solemn pledge to defend Queen Elizabeth I against the threat of Spain's Armada.
Just like today, many volunteers were recruited among the legal community at times of national peril, and so it was at an inspection in Hyde Park in 1803, during the Napoleonic Wars, that George III is reputed to have styled such a litigious body as 'The Devil's Own' – a title that lives on today.
By mid-nineteenth century, the Inns of Court Regiment (ICR) had evolved from a Volunteer Rifle Corps. The other half of the unit, The City of London Yeomanry, was raised from volunteers of the 20th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry only in the late 1890s, and served with distinction in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Its nickname, The Rough Riders was taken from a famous body of volunteer horsemen who fought in the Spanish–American War of 1898.
1960s defence reforms
During the period prior to 1967, the IC&CY served as an armoured car regiment (as did many other Yeomanry units). The 1967 reorganisation of the TA then led to the regiment being reduced to an infantry company, and assigned as A Company (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry), the London Yeomanry and Territorials.
In 1968, the London Yeomanry and Territorials was disbanded, but a cadre of the Regiment, consisting of 3 officers and 5 other ranks, was retained in the Royal Armoured Corps, thereby ensuring the continuation of the Regiment's name in the Army List, and the retention of its headquarters and historical mess at Lincoln's Inn. Personnel from A Company were then used to form 68 (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, in the newly formed 71st (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment.
The Home Service Force
A Home Service Force Squadron was badged as IC&CY and designated as 348 (IC&CY) Signals Squadron HSF from 1986 to 1993. The squadron was based at Lincoln's Inn and wore the original IC&CY cap badge. 348 Squadron was organised on the lines of an infantry rifle company and had a key point defence role. The HSF unit ran on for another 12 months as a semi-official Defence Platoon, its final parade being in 1994.
Merger with the Essex Yeomanry
Following the reorganisation of the Royal Signals Reserves in 2009, '68 (IC&CY) Signal Squadron' merged with '70 (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron' to form '68 (The Inns of Court & City and Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron', or 'ICCEY' for short.
Under SDSR in 2014 907 Signal Troop was subordinated to 36 Signal Squadron, which then became 36 (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron. 68 squadron reverted to the name of 68 (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, with a footprint solely inside north London.
Current Structure
Today the organisation consists of three separate entities:
The Signal Squadron operates out of three locations: its HQ is in a Georgian townhouse in Lincoln's Inn, Holborn; more austere post-war premises in Whipps Cross, Leytonstone some 17 kilometers away in East London; and at the TA Centre housing 907 (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Troop at Chelmsford, Essex. The Signal Squadron is a Close Support Squadron within 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment (Volunteers), itself part of the Royal Corps of Signals within the British Army Reserve.
Inns of Court & City Yeomanry Museum
The Regimental Museum, which contains a variety of records, photographs and other militaria relating to the IC&CY, ICR and COLY, is located at 10 Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, London.