History of C Squadron (Kent & Sharpshooters Yeomanry), RY
Yeomanry in Kent were formed in 1794, originally as a series of independent troops based in the important towns of Kent but these were later formed into two regiments, the East Kent Yeomanry and the West Kent Yeomanry. In the latter part of the 19th century these yeomanry Regiments frequently found escorts for the Queen and members of the Royal Family, and as a result, in 1856 the East Kent Yeomanry became the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles and the West became the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry.
When the Boer War broke out in 1899, it was not possible to send complete regiments to South Africa and so a group of wealthy sportsmen met together to form a battalion of Imperial Yeomanry from people who could already ride and shoot well, to be called Sharpshooters.
 During the First and Second World Wars the Kent Yeomanry and the Sharpshooters followed similar careers. In the First both were sent to the Middle East, fought as infantry at Gallipoli, regained their horses to take part in Allenby's 1917 offensive and ended the war in France. In the Second both served in the Middle East and Italy. The Sharpshooters received 42 battle honours, a record surpassed by only one other regiment in the RAC, regular or territorial.
In 1961 the Kent Yeomanry was amalgamated with the Sharpshooters to form a reconnaissance regiment. Six years later the Kent and County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) was reduced to squadron strength to form C Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry.
More recently members of the Squadron have deployed on operational tours in support of their regular counterparts to Kosovo, Bosnia and Kuwait. In 2003 nine members of the Squadron were mobilised to form part of a Royal Yeomanry Squadron for the Joint NBC Regiment deploying on Operation TELIC, the invasion of Iraq, which led to the Royal Yeomanry being the first unit of the Reserve Forces to be granted a battle honour (“Iraq 2003”) since the end of the World War 2.
This was followed quickly in 2004 by the mobilisation of 29 further members of the Squadron in support of the Queen’s Royal Lancer’s deployment, peacekeeping in Iraq. Those deployed were split between D Squadron QRL, who deployed to the southern province of Basra, in support of 1 Royal Horse Artillery and A Squadron QRL, who deployed to the province of Maysan, supporting 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment in Al Amarah.
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