YEOMANRY AT WAR: FROM HORSES TO TRUCKS

In 1794 the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales’ Own Royal Regiment) came into existence at the Bear Hotel in Devizes, which today remains the RWY’s spiritual home. The motto ‘Primus in Armis’, meaning ‘First in Arms’, reflects the regiment’s position in the order of precedence decided by the War Office in 1885.

Following mobilisation in September 1939 the regiment continued with mounted training in rural Somerset and Nottinghamshire, with the awful winter weather the only significant threat to the horses’ welfare and the troops’ morale. A bitterly cold January followed and on the 30th of that month the order to move overseas was finally received. By February 1940, the RWY had left England with a strength of 33 officers and 752 other ranks; the journey