existing Yeomanry Cavalry. The 2nd County of London Imperial Yeomanry was formed on 24 August 1901 with four squadrons and a machine gun section, perpetuating the 24th (Metropolitan Mounted Rifles) Battalion. Over 800 members of the regiment served in South Africa, and the regiment was awarded the Battle Honour South Africa 1902. On 2 August 1902 Westminster Council granted permission for the regiment to adopt the subtitle '(Westminster Dragoons)' (to perpetuate the 1779-1829 units) and to use the city's coat-of-arms as its cap badge. The King approved this addition early the following year. From the start it was smart regiment filled with wealthy gentlemen from the City and the West End. Their attitude and attire was such that, as they strutted across West London, members became known as the 'Piccadilly Peacocks'. Several of the unit's first officers were former officers of the 1st The Royal Dragoons, forerunners of the Blues and Royals; one of the first troop leaders was Raj Rajendra Narayan, Maharaj Kumar (Prince) of Cooch Behar. They brought with them the Royals' pre-Waterloo cap badge, which was later adopted by Colonels and Brigadiers of the staff, which is why, until a common Royal Yeomanry capbadge was adopted in 2006, young WD officers often found themselves amused at being saluted by officers of higher rank. The WD stable belt (worn in barracks) bears the Royal racing colours – the imperial hues of purple, gold and scarlet as a result of the personal friendship of its first commanding officer, Colonel Charles Rosedew Burn, with King Edward VII, whose Aide-de-camp Burn had been when he was Prince of Wales. As an urban regiment, the yeomen were unable to supply their own horses, so the senior Westminster officers made use of their links to the highest ranks of Society to borrow mounts from the Household Cavalry for summer training camps. Later horses were hired. Even at this time, the WDs were at the forefront of using new equipment, being the second unit in the British army after the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry to be equipped with mobile wireless. In 1910, Lord Howard de Walden presented two Marconi pack sets to the regiment. In 1907 the regimental headquarters (RHQ) was at 102 Victoria Street, but by 1914 it had moved to 1 Elverton Street, Westminster. Territorial Force When the IY were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of