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The Ayrshire Yeomanry (Earl of Carrick's Own)



Ayrshire Yeomanry (Earl of Carrick's Own) can be traced back to 1794. In 1940 the regiment became part of the Royal Field Artillery. Today it is part of The Scottish Yeomanry .
Battalions during the Second World War.



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List of those who served with the Ayrshire Yeomanry (Earl of Carrick's Own) during The Second World War

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Gunner Charles Alfred "Lakey" Lake 151st Ayrshire Yeomanry Royal Artillery

My Grandfather was a Gunner in HQ Battery, 151st Ayrshire Yeomanry, 11th Armored Division, British Army. He fought in Normandy and in Holland before pushing into Germany until the War ended when he went to India. I recall a story he told me which I haven't forgotten. He gave me permission to share his story. He and his outfit were stationed in Caen just after D-Day. The regiment was then given the word to advance to a new posistion. In the process a random shell had fallen and wounded a nearby despatch rider. My Grandfather was ordered to tend to the man, whilst the rest of his outfit moved forward. He stayed with him and used his field dressing to bandage the mans numerous wounds until medical personnel arrived. When they arrived they took over. "I'd done my bit", and he went about finding his unit. "I knew roughly where they were". He followed their tracks and after a couple of hours of walking he found them after crossing through a large field. He reported to his battery office and continued his normal duties. Overnight the Royal Engineers had been in and cordened off a field in white tape, indicating it was a minefield. When my Grandfather woke he saw the tape and the field, "I nearly had a fit when I saw it". He had realised he had walked across 5 acres of mine field to rejoin his unit. When I asked him "so after you'd walked through the field you realised it was a minefield" he replied "Yes, after my afternoon stroll through the minefield". "Thats what serving in the forces is all about, luck". After hearing this story I shall never again complain about my familys lack of luck. It was used when needed most.



Pvt William Barr Webster Ayrshire Yeomanry

My Dad, Willie Webster was called up 1940, first stop Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow.

Dad confirmed he was a Lorry Driver in Civies but the Army, being the Army, made him a signaler.

Attached to the Ayrshire Yeomanry, he saw action in Sicily, Italy and North Africa. He was involved in blocking Jerry at the Kasserine Pass, where he always said we stopped the rout with smaller guns than the Yanks going the other way!

I always loved the stories he told, he was very matter of fact, no heroics just human stories about his life as a soldier in WW11.

After seeing the movie "To Hell and Back" with me as a kid, which was about Audie Murphy,American's most decorated soldier, Dad realised that Murphy had paralled his tour in Italy but mentioned he'd never heard of this hero!

Out pinching eggs with a Yorkshire pal one night, they came across an immaculate Jerry Officier, who pulled out his side arm. Dad, nor the Yorkie, didn't have a pea shooter between them and thought their number was up...until the Jerry offered surrender and passed over his side arm....seems he'd only landed recently with German Youth and realised the game was coming to a close...he could tell Dad was a Jock and his pal was a Bradford man as he'd spent time in the UK before the War at University. Apart from relief, Dad's immediate reaction was joy contemplating how much the side arm was worth to the next Yank!

The stories seemed endless and were repeated time and time again to my delight. I used to rib him about never seeing an angry German. As time has gone by and I've experienced more of the world and had time to think about it, who the hell did I think I was, if I could only take these words back, he was a hero and the truth is they were all heros in the every true sense of the word!! I miss you Dad.



S/Sgt. Denis George "Lofty" Goddard MID Royal Artillery

My Father Denis George "Lofty" "Badgie" Goddard joined the Royal Artillery Boys Service in Woolwich in 1938. His early wartime service 1939-42 included being a very young staff sergeant training anti tank crews in Wales, most of whom ended up in North Africa.

Overseas wartime service from 1943-45 included Special Operations Executive (SOE) attachment as radio operator in various Greek Islands followed by special forces operations in the Balkans, Northern Italy and Southern France in the following units:- Special Raiding Squadron (SRS), Raiding Support Regiment (RSR), and Special Air Service (SAS)

He finished the back end of the war in a 25 pounder RA unit (the Ayeshire Yeomanry) in Northern Italy (Argenta gap etc.) and Southern Austria where he was part of the operation that handed back to the Soviet Red Army the White Russian Cossacks who fought for the Nazis.

Post WW2 Lofty continued as a professional soldier until 1972. Units included 33rd RA, 66th RA, 7th RHA, 17 RA. Postings included:- India 1945/6 , Palestine 1946/7, Malaya 1950/52, Singapore 1952/53, Dusseldorf 1954/56? , Cyprus 1956?/60 then was UK based after that.

Lofty faded away in June 2007.





A Short History Of The Ayrshire Yeomanry 151st Field Regiment, R.A. 1939-1946

Major Young & Capt Gray


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