West Yorkshire Regiment

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The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It amalgamated with The East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) in 1958 to form The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. Subsequently, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire was one of the Yorkshire infantry regiments which amalgamated to form The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) on 6th June 2006.

[edit] History

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Raised by Sir Edward Hales in 1685 By order of King James II. One of the nine new regiments of foot, rasied to meet the Duke of Monmouth rebellion and was termed "Hales's Regiment". The Regiment served in Flanders between 1693 and 1696 and gained its first Battle Honour at Namur in 1695. In 1694 the Regiment took precedence as the 14th Regiment of Foot.

1715 saw the Regiment moved to Scotland to fight the Jacobite Rebellion. In 1727 the Regiment and played a major part in defending Gibraltar against the Spanish, where it remained garrisoned for the next 15 years. 1745 saw the Regiment in Flanders fighting at Fontenoy before being recalled to Scotland to fight '45 Rebellion. fighting at Falkirk and Culloden, becoming the 14th of Foot in 1751.

Service the followed in various posts, more garrison duty in Gibraltar, tour of the West Indies before moving to North America for the War of Independence. Regiment fought at Great Bridge, Virginia in 1775. In 1782 the 14th was named "The 14th (Bedfordshire) Regiment". With the arrival of the French Revolution and the subsequent French invasion of the Low Countries caused troops to be sent to protect trade interests. The 14th gained its second battle honour around Lille. In 1793 at the battle of Famars in Flanders the 14th became the only regiment ever to win its regimental march in battle. It is the French revolutionary song “Ca Ira”. They returned to England in 1795, then the Regiment was posted to the West Indies where it was on duty until 1803.

1803 saw the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, the British Army was expanded and the 14th formed a second battalion in Belfast in 1804. In 1808-9, the 2nd Battalion joined the Peninsular Army and gained the Battle Honour "Corunna" The 2/14th saw service in the Walcheren Campaign and was disbanded in 1817. The 1st Battalion spent much of the war on garrison duty in Bengal. In 1809 the Regiment was re-titled "The 14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment". The 1/14th served in India for 25 years until 1831. A third battalion was formed in 1813 and fought at Waterloo in 1815. The 3/14th was disbanded in 1816. Apart from taking part in campaigns against the French in Mauritius in 1810 and the Dutch in Java in 1811, the latter adding another Battle Honour.

The 14th then were posted to the West Indies, Canada, Malta and in 1855 the Regiment the served in the Crimean war. In 1876 the Prince of Wales, presented new Colours to the 1st Battalion and conferred on the 14th the honoured title of "The Prince of Wales's Own". 1858 saw a second battalion raised once more and took part in the Maori Wars of 1860-6 and the Second Anglo-Afghan War 1879-80.

During 1880 the British army saw major changes, The "Cardwell Reforms". The 14th was given the title "The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)". The Depot of the 14th was established at York.

1899 saw The 2nd Battalion of The West Yorkshire Regiment sent to Second Boer War 1899-1902 in South Africa and after a number of engagements two members of the Battalion were awarded the Victoria Cross- Captain (later Colonel) Mansel-Jones in February 1900 and Sergeant Traynor in February 1901.

World War 1 saw numerous battalions of The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) serving at Neuve-Chappelle, Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele, Ypres, Marne, Cambrai and Gallipoli. At its peak The West Yorkshire Regiment numbered 37 battalions, 66 Battle Honours were bestowed and four Victoria Crosses were awarded.

Interwar years saw the various battalions serving in Germany, India, Kurdistan, Sudan, Palestine, Jamaica and Bermuda. In the Second World War, The 1st Battalion served in the Far East, The 2nd Battalion served in Africa and subsequently in the Far East and the various other battalions served in Iceland, France, Antwerp, the Scilly Isles, the Falkland Islands and as Home Defence.

In 1948 the 1st and 2nd Battalions were amalgamated and were stationed in Austria. They then moved to Egypt and on to Malaya. After a tour of duty in Northern Ireland in 1955-56, the 1st Battalion took part in the Suez Operation and was then stationed in Dover until the amalgamation in July 1958