 In addition to this, many British citizens (usually mid-upper class) volunteered to join the new regiment.The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers, 10,371 men with 20 battalions and 4 companies, which arrived in South Africa between February and April 1900.The 28th (Bedfordshire) Company of the 4th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry (also known as Compton's Horse) was raised in January 1900 by Lord Alwyne Compton, the local Bedfordshire MP.