The regiment was formed on the creation of the Territorial Force in April 1908. It was headquartered at Melbourne House, King’s Avenue, Clapham Park with the squadrons being headquartered as shown below. In 1914 it was attached to the South Eastern Mounted Brigade for training.
- A Squadron: Clapham Park (with a drill station at Aldershot)
- B Squadron: Guildford (Woking and Camberley)
- C Squadron: West Croydon (Clapham)
- D Squadron: Wimbledon (Clapham).
1/1st Surrey Yeomanry
- August 1914 : mobilised and moved to Kent.
- November 1914 : regiment begins to be split up as follows:
- A Squadron came under orders of 27th Division at Winchester on 21 November 1914; landed at Le Havre 22 December 1914; embarked at Marseilles for service at Salonika on 26 January 1916 and disembarked at Salonika on 11 February; left division and formed XVI Corps Cavalry on 27 December 1916. Remained in Salonika for rest of war.
- B Squadron came under orders of 28th Division at Winchester on 22 December 1914; landed at Le Havre 18 January 1915; embarked at Marseilles for service at Salonika on 4 November 1915, arrived at Alexandria 11 November and disembarked at Salonika on 2 December 1915; left division and formed XVI Corps Cavalry on 27 December 1916. Remained in Salonika for rest of war.
- C Squadron came under orders of 29th Division in Warwickshire in January 1915; embarked at Avonmouth for service at Gallipoli 17 March 1915, landed at Alexandria 2 April, went on to Imbros 26 June 1915 and remained there as GHQ Troops (i. e. did not land at Gallipoli as a unit); February 1916 evacuated to Egypt; 11 March 1916 landed with division at Marseilles for service on Western Front; 11 to 19 May left division and came under orders of XV Corps Cavalry Regiment on Somme; 19 May 1916 joined III Corps Cavalry Regiment (along with two squadrons of the Duke of Lancaster’s Yeomanry); July 1917 dismounted and moved to base for infantry training; September 1917 absorbed into 10th (Service) Battalion, the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment).
2/1st Surrey Yeomanry
- Formed at Clapham Park in September 1914 as a “second line” (training, draft-supplying reserve) for the 1/1st.
- Moved at first to Dorking, going on to Maresfield (May 1915), Wrotham (September 1915), Hastings (winter 1915-16).
- March 1916: came under orders of 2/1st Southern (later numbered 16th) Mounted Brigade, under orders of 4th Mounted Division at Manningtree (Essex).
- July 1916: converted to a cyclist unit in 7th Cyclist Brigade, under 2nd Cyclist Division.
- November 1916: merged with 2/1st Sussex Yeomanry to form 8th (Surrey and Sussex) Yeomanry Cyclist Regiment, under command of 3rd Cyclist Brigade at Ipswich.
- March 1917 : resumed original identity but in same brigade. Moved to Woodbridge by July 1917.
May 1918: moved to Ireland, being at Athlone and Galway.
3/1st Surrey Yeomanry
- Formed as a “third line” (training, draft-supplying reserve for the 1/1st and 2/1st) in Clapham Park in February 1915.
- June 1915 : affiliated to 3rd Reserve Cavalry Regiment at Canterbury.
- Early 1917: absorbed into 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment at the Curragh.
In the 1917 renumbering of the Territorials, the Surrey Yeomanry issued numbers from the block 45001-50000. Corps of Lancers.