| The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) |
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Cap Badge of the Yorkshire Regiment |
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| Active | 6 June 2006 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Role | 1st Battalion - Light Role 2nd Battalion - Light Role 3rd Battalion - Armoured Infantry 4th Battalion - TA Reserve |
| Size | Four battalions |
| Part of | King's Division |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ - York 1st Battalion - Münster, Germany 2nd Battalion - Episkopi, Cyprus 3rd Battalion - Warminster 4th Battalion - York |
| Nickname | Yorkshire Warriors |
| Motto | Fortune Favours The Brave |
| March | Quick - Ça Ira Slow - The Duke of York |
| Mascot | 1st Battalion - Ferrets (Imphal & Quebec) 3rd Battalion - Indian Elephant |
| Anniversaries | Regimental Day D-Day 6 June Battalion Days Waterloo Day 18 June Imphal Day 22 June Yorkshire Day 1 August Quebec Day 13 September Alma Day 20 September |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-Chief: Deputy Colonel-in-Chief |
HRH The Duke of York KG KCVO HG The Duke of Wellington KG LVO OBE MC DL |
| Colonel of the Regiment |
Major General Graham Binns CBE DSO MC |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash | |
| Abbreviation | YORKS |
The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated YORKS) is one of the largest infantry regiments of the British Army. The regiment is currently the only line infantry or rifles unit to represent a single geographical county in the new infantry structure, serving as the county regiment of Yorkshire covering the historical areas of the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Riding of Yorkshire and West Riding of Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and the current county areas of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. Its northern border is the historic Yorkshire boundary of the River Tees, which today includes the majority of Redcar and Cleveland and the south westerly part of County Durham. The regiment's antecedent units also recruited in areas that are now part of Northumberland, Cumbria, Lancashire and Tameside. The 3rd Battalion (Duke of Wellington's) (formerly the Duke of Wellington's Regiment) was given the Freedom of Mossley in Tameside on 8 July 1967 when Mossley was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
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The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the infantry - it was formed from the merger of three regular battalions, plus a TA battalion:
The regiment was officially formed on 6 June 2006. The TA battalion re-badged in TA Centres on the same day, but later paraded publicly to re-badge in York on Saturday 10 June in the Museum Gardens, York. That same afternoon representatives of the affiliated Army Cadet Forces and Combined Cadet Forces detachments (approx 50) rebadged in Imphal Barracks, York.
HRH The Duke of York KG has been appointed Colonel-in-Chief and His Grace The Duke of Wellington KG LVO OBE MC DL the Deputy Colonel-in-Chief by HM The Queen.[1]
The four battalions of the regiment were presented with new Queens and Regimental Colours at a parade in Imphal Barracks, York, to replace the antecedent regiments former colours, on Friday, 18 June 2010. The 'Honorary' set of Colours carried by the 3rd Battalion (Duke of Wellington's) was paraded by the battalion. The following day the new colours of all four battalions were paraded through the streets of York from Cliffords Tower to York Minster.
The 1st Battalion, serving as light role infantry, is based at Oxford Barracks in Münster, Germany, as part of 20 Armoured Brigade (The Iron Fist). The battalion was the last of 20 Brigade's combat troops to leave Iraq, as part of the 12th roulement of Operation Telic, when Britain withdrew from Iraq, in 2009.[2] They are due to begin their first deployment to Afghanistan in September 2011. The Battalion Commanding Officer is Lieutenant Colonel D Bradbury.[1]
The 2nd Battalion, serving as light role infantry, is currently based at Weeton Barracks in Weeton, Lancashire under the command of 19 Light Brigade. 2 Yorks will shortly be moving to Cyprus (August 2011). This was the first regimental amalgamation the Green Howards had undergone in their 308 year history. The Battalion deployed to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 11 in October 2009. The current Battalion Commanding Officer is Lieutenant Colonel AM Roe.[1]
The 3rd Battalion, serving as armoured role infantry, is based at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster, as part of 12 Mechanised Brigade. They retain the set of honorary colours presented to the 76th Foot, for service in India; however, these will only be on parade when the 3rd Battalion is in attendance. This is the only British battalion to carry two stands of colours. Alma Company and the Mortar Platoon was the last infantry sub-unit to serve in Iraq (having taken over from the 1st Battalion), in a protection force role in Baghdad and the Mortar Platoon securing the Iraqi Military Academy. The current Battalion Commanding Officer is Lieutenant Colonel Z Stenning.[1]
The 4th Battalion, serving as reserve infantry is the Territorial Army (TA) battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. The battalion headquarters is in Worsley Barracks, York and forms part of 15 (North East) Brigade. The Battalion operates from Territorial Army Centres across the Regimental footprint with companies dispersed throughout Yorkshire in Sheffield; Barnsley; Huddersfield; Keighley; Hull; Beverley; Leeds; York; Scarborough; Northallerton and Middlesbrough. The current Battalion's Commanding Officer is Lieutenant Colonel IG Crowley MC. He was appointed in November 2010 and is the first regular officer to command the battalion.
The majority of soldiers in the battalion are spare time members, with full time civilian careers or are educational students. They train and acquire military skills during evening, weekend and works holiday periods. Many are entitled to special leave from their employer to train with the battalion. They are supported by a small number of full time regular army and civilian staff.
Soldiers from the battalion routinely serve on military operations overseas, alongside their regular counterparts. Most operational deployments are for a fixed period of six months, although when pre deployment training and post operational leave are taken into accounts, soldiers are away from their work and families for up to ten months. Spare time TA soldiers can be mobilised for overseas operations in this way once every three years, although it is rarely more often than once every five years.
The history of the 4th Battalion clearly shows the changing attitudes over the last 40 years, toward the links between regular army battalions and territorial army battalions. The 1966 Defence White Paper dramatically reduced the number of TA units. The effect of this in Yorkshire was the amalgamation of the territorial battalions of the Yorkshire infantry regiments into a single regiment, the Yorkshire Volunteers, created in 1967. that was no longer affiliated with any of the regular army regiments. The Yorkshire Volunteers continued in existence until 1993 when it was disbanded. The driver for disbandment was the 1990 defence review, Options for Change which recommended that the link between TA units and regular units be reintroduced.[3] Thus the Yorkshire Volunteers were broken up into three battalions, one attached to each of the remaining Yorkshire infantry regiments.[3]
The 1997 Strategic Defence Review again cut the size of the TA. As far as the Yorkshire regiments were concerned this involved not only the Yorkshire TA infantry battalions but the TA battalions of the Kings Own Yorkshire Yeomanry and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Too big to be amalgamated into one unit, they were instead split into two units; The East and West Riding Regiment covering those regiments covering the historical geographic areas of York, and the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire,[3] and the Tyne-Tees Regiment covering the historical areas of the North Riding, Durham and Northumberland.[3] Within both regiments the individual companies maintained their identities towards their previous units.
Barely five years later a further defence review Delivering Security in a Changing World concluded that a new infantry structure, that was geographically based and included both regular and territorial units in the same structure, was required.[4] It was as a result of this white paper that the Yorkshire Regiment was created; and the 4th Battalion was created from those parts of the Tyne-Tees Regiment and the East and West Riding Regiment that traced their history to the regular regiments amalgamated into the Yorkshire Regiment.
Thus in a 40 year period, the Yorkshire TA infantry have moved from integration with regular units, to a separate entity (The Yorkshire Volunteers), back to integration and affiliation with the regular army units, once again amalgamation into non affiliation with the regulars (Tyne-Tees and East and West Riding Regiments) and finally, re-integration with the regular army.
As a newly formed regiment in its own right, consisting of five main antecedent units and their territorial and militia units, the regiment's older history can be seen in their antecedent regiments articles shown in the 'Lineage' sections below:
The deployment of 1 YORKS Battle Group to Basra, Iraq in Nov 2006 was the first major operational deployment for the Yorkshire Regiment. A Company, under command of Major Richard Hall were based initially in Basra Palace with responsibility from Abu Al Kasib to the whole Al-Faw Peninsula, before moving to Shaibah Logistics Base and being charged with handing over security responsibilites of the base to the Iraqi Army. B Company, under command of Major Dan Bradbury, were based in Shiaba Logistics Base and had responsibility for Az Zubayr, whilst C Company were detached to 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment in the COB. During Op Telic 9 Private Luke Simpson of A Company, from Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire, was killed, becoming the 1st Battalion and the Regiment's first operational fatality.[5] Two members of the 1st Battalion, Major Ian Crowley of C Company,[6] of Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire and Captain Ibrar Ali of A Company,[7] were awarded the Military Cross.
The 2nd Battalion (Green Howards) of the regiment were deployed to the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in September, 2007 in an 'Operational Mentoring and Liaison' role with the Afghan National Army. Whilst there they took part in the Battle of Musa Qala during which Sgt Lee Johnson was killed shortly after 10am on 8 December 2007, in the lead up to the operation to retake the town from the Taliban forces, after his Vector armoured vehicle ran over a landmine.[8] Sgt Johnson had previously received a MID for assisting his Company commander, Major Jake Little, to extract soldiers who were surrounded by Taliban fighters. Major Little was later awarded a Military Cross for his "inspirational leadership" to extract his men.[9][10] Acting Sergeant John Cockburn was also awarded a Military Cross for his actions in the same tour of duty.[9][11]
The 2nd Battalion returned to their barracks in Weeton, Lancashire during April, 2008 and were presented with their service medals at a parade there on 30 April 2008 [12] by Major General Andrew Farquhar, Honorary Colonel of the Battalion, along with Brigadier Andrew Mackay, of 52 Infantry Brigade, and Brigadier Mike Griffiths, of 42 (North West) Brigade.
Under command of Major D Bradbury, B Company Group of 1st Battalion deployed for six-months on Op OCCULUS(K) as the last UK Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Task Force (ISR TF). They presided over the immediate aftermath of the declaration of independence.
In November 2008, elements of the 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales's Own) redeployed to Iraq on Op Telic 13. In May 2009, 'A Company' of the 1st Battalion handed over their Iraq British military HQ protection duties, in Baghdad, to Alma Company of the 3rd Battalion. Alma Company were subsequently amongst the last British soldiers to leave Iraq at the end of July 2009,[13] having also been amongst the first British units to enter Iraq in the 2003 invasion of Iraq (as The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)).
Over 90 members of the 3rd Battalion deployed in August 2009 as Battle Casualty Replacements to various other British regiments in Helmand Province. Burma Company of the 3rd Battalion deployed to Afghanistan in August 2009 and were then followed by members of Corunna Company.
18-year-old Pte Jonathon Young, of Burma Company, who was attached to the 2nd Battalion of The Rifles, was killed by an Improvised explosive device in Sangin, on Thursday 20 August, three weeks after arriving in Afghanistan.[14] A Serjeant, from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles, 29-year-old Serjeant Paul McAleese, was killed when he went to the assistance of Pte Young.
On 1 February 2010, 22-year-old Corporal Liam Riley, of Sheffield, and 27-year-old Lance Corporal Graham Shaw, of Golcar in Huddersfield were killed by separate IED's, Malgir, near Gereshk in Helmand Province, whilst on base security foot patrols. Both soldiers, from Corunna Company of the 3rd Battalion, were attached to the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, as Battle Casualty Replacements.[15][16] Prince Harry had trained with Cpl Riley at Suffield in Canada and paid tribute to him in a news release.[17]
The 2nd Battalion, plus 60 members of the 4th Battalion, deployed with 11th Light Brigade in September 2009 for a 7 month posting in Op Herrick XI as the OMLT Battle Group.[18] Their actions featured in a series of Newsnight programmes shown both during the deployment and after their return, which focused on OMLT 2 in Sangin under Maj Rob Palfrey. Two members of the Battalion were awarded the Military Cross, Lieutenant Colin Lunn of Doncaster, and Acting Corporal Andrew Wardle of Hetton-le-Hole in Sunderland. In addition, Sergeant John Swithenbank and Corporal John Hardman received the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
On 23 June 2010, 26-year-old Lance Corporal David Ramsden of Otley, who was serving with the 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, was killed. The NCO from 1st Battalion was serving as part of the Police Advisory Team which was tasked to respond to an incident at a checkpoint near Gereshk in Helmand Province, when the Ridgeback armoured vehicle he was travelling in rolled into a waterway. He was killed alongside colleagues Colour Sergeant Martyn Simon Horton, Private Douglas Niall Halliday and Private Alex Isaac.
On St George's Day 23 April 2008, Paul and Phil Lee, the owners of the Cropton Brewery & New Inn, released a new beer called Yorkshire Warrior. The beer, which is only available in eight North Yorkshire pubs, was produced to celebrate the proud achievements of the regiment and to commemorate the sacrifices the soldiers and families of the regiment have endured.[19][20] The information on the bottle label states that the full proceeds of the beer sales go directly to the regimental benevolent fund to help support those regimental members who require help following their discharge from the service.
On Monday 3 August 2009 Rotherham became the first town to bestow the 'Freedom of the Borough' on the Yorkshire Regiment. This gives the regiment the right to march through the town with 'flags flying, bands playing and bayonets fixed'. At a ceremony outside the Town Hall the Regiment paraded two Guards of soldiers, who had recently returned from Iraq and the Colours of the 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington's), led by the Kings Division Band, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Vallings, the Battalion Commanding officer. The Mayor of Rotherham, Councillor Shaukat Ali, on behalf of the Borough, presented the Freedom Scroll to Colonel Simon Newton, who accepted the honour for the Regiment. The regiment is the first military unit to become 'Honorary Freemen of the Borough.'
Freedoms carried through to the Yorkshire Regiment from the antecedent regiments include the following:-
Cities: Bradford, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, York and Wakefield.
Towns and districts: Barnsley, Beverley (East Riding of Yorkshire), Bridlington (East Riding of Yorkshire), Halifax (Calderdale), Harrogate, Huddersfield (Kirklees), Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Richmond, Rotherham, Scarborough, Skipton (Craven District) and Stockton on Tees.[21]
The regiment also holds the distinction of having the freedom of Erquinghem-Lys, France. This was passed on from the freedom awarded to the 3rd Battalion (Duke of Wellington's) in November 2005[22]
Including those inherited from preceding units
Infantry regiments are permitted to display 43 battle honours from the two world wars on the Queen's Colour and 46 honours from other conflicts on the Regimental Colour. Upon amalgamation, the Yorkshire Regiment had to choose from the total list of honours of its three antecedents which honours would be displayed on its new colours. The chosen honours were:
In addition to the displayed honours, the regimental colour will also display four emblems from the antecedents regiments:
The Battalion's Roman Numeral will be placed in the top left corner.[23]
| Preceded by Royal Anglian Regiment |
Infantry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by Mercian Regiment |
| Lineage | |||
| The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) | The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire | The 14th Foot West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own) | |
| The 15th Foot East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own) | |||
| The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)(19th First North Yorkshire Regiment of Foot)) | |||
| The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) | The 33rd Foot First West Riding Regiment | ||
| The 76th Regiment of Foot | |||
| Lineage of 4th Battalion | ||||
| 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment | The East and West Riding Regiment (Except Minden Company)[nb 1] |
Kings Own Yorkshire Yeomanry Light Infantry | 8th Battalion, The Light Infantry | |
| 3rd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Yorkshire Volunteers | Yorkshire Volunteers | Humber Regt, Royal Artillery | ||
| West Riding Regt, Royal Artillery | ||||
| Sheffield Artillery Volunteers | ||||
| The 3rd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (Yorkshire Volunteers) | The Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment | |||
| The Leeds Rifles, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire | ||||
| The West Riding Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment | ||||
| The Tyne-Tees Regiment (A & B Companies)[nb 2] |
4th/5th Battalion, The Green Howards (Yorkshire Volunteers) | 3rd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire | ||
| 4th/5th Battalion, The Green Howards | ||||
| 7th Battalion, The Light Infantry | ||||
| 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers | ||||
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