The regiment embarked for Flanders in spring 1694 for service in the Nine Years' War and took part in the capture of Huy in autumn 1694,[6] the attack of Fort Knokke in June 1695[6] and the Siege of Namur in summer 1695[7] before returning home in 1697.[8]
The regiment spent most of the 19th century on garrison duty, both at home and throughout the Empire. The 1st Battalion was shipped to New Brunswick in 1862 at the time of the Trent Affair, when Britain and the United States came close to war. The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Victoria Barracks, Beverley from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.[28] Under the reforms the regiment became The East Yorkshire Regiment on 1 July 1881.[29] The 1st battalion was stationed at Gibraltar in 1885, moved to the West Indies in 1886, then to South Africa in 1888 and to Egypt in 1893. From 1895 the battalion was stationed in British India, where they had various postings, including at Belgaum and Fort St. George in Madras Presidency until late 1902 when it was posted to Shwebo in Burma.[30]
The 2nd Battalion was stationed in British India from 1875 to February 1888, and fought in the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1879–80). After six months in Aden that year, the battalion was back in England until November 1894, when it was stationed in Ireland.[31] The Second Boer War started in South Africa in October 1899. After a series of defeats in the early months of the war, the British government sent large number of troops there as reinforcements in early 1900, including the 2nd Battalion East Yorkshire. 870 officers and men embarked on the SS Nile from Southampton in March 1900, and arrived in South Africa the following month.[32][33] The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, returning home in late 1902 when they were stationed at Aldershot.[34]
The 3rd (Militia) battalion, formed from the East York Militia in 1881, was a reserve battalion. It was embodied in May 1900, disembodied in December that year, and later re-embodied for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War.[35] About 560 officers and men returned to Southampton on the SS Greek in early October 1902, following the end of the war, when the battalion was disembodied at Beverley.[36]
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve;[37] the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions.[38][4]
The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli as the pioneer battalion for the 11th (Northern) Division in August 1915; the battalion was evacuated in January 1916 and then landed at Marseille in July 1916 for service on the Western Front.[39] The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of 50th Brigade in the 17th (Northern) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front.[39] The 8th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 62nd Brigade in the 21st Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front, later serving with 3rd Division. The 9th (Reserve) Battalion remained at home supplying drafts to the New Army battalions serving overseas.[39]
The 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th (Service) Battalions were raised in September 1914 from men volunteering in Kingston upon Hull. These units were additionally entitled 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th City of Hull battalions and were known as the Hull Pals, nicknamed the 'Hull Commercials', 'Hull Tradesmen', 'Hull Sportsmen' and 'T'others' respectively. They formed 92nd Brigade in 31st Division, landed in Egypt in December 1915 and then moved to France in March 1916 also for service on the Western Front. Their depot companies became the 14th (Reserve) and 15th (Reserve) Battalions.[39][45][46]
There were also a 1st Garrison Battalion that served in India and a 2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion.[39]
Between the wars
In 1935, the regiment was renamed The East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own), after its Colonel-in-Chief.[4]
In the Second World War, three hostilities-only battalions were raised. The 6th (Home Defence) Battalion, which was formed in November 1939, was redesignated as the 30th Battalion in December 1941 and disbanded in September 1943.[51][52]
The 7th Battalion was formed in 1940 and assigned to 203 Infantry Brigade.[53] The battalion was transferred to 73 Infantry Brigade in July 1941 and to 162 Infantry Brigade in September 1942. It was disbanded in October 1944, having never left the UK.[54]
The 50th (Holding) Battalion was formed in May 1940.[55] In October, it was redesignated as the 8th battalion and assigned to 217 Infantry Brigade.[56][57] In November 1941, the battalion was transferred to 224 Infantry Brigade, which was disbanded the following month. The battalion was then converted to 115 LAA Regiment, RA and assigned to the 46th Infantry Division, with which it served in North Africa, Italy and Palestine.[58][59]
The London and North Eastern Railway named one of its V2 locomotives, No. 4780 (later No 809 and then British Railways 60809) as The Snapper. The East Yorkshire Regiment. The Duke of York's Own[61]
Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Louisburg, Quebec 1759, Martinique 1762, Havannah, St. Lucia 1778, Martinique 1794 1809, Guadeloupe 1810, Afghanistan 1879–80, South Africa 1900–02.
The Great War (21 battalions): Aisne 1914 '18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Hooge 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Oppy, Messines 1917 '18, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Struma, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1915–18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1915–16.
The Second World War: Withdrawal to Escaut, Defence of Escaut, Defence of Arras, French Frontier 1940, Ypres-Comines Canal, Dunkirk 1940, Normandy Landing, Tilly sur Seulles, Odon, Caen, Bourguébus Ridge, Troarn, Mont Pincon, St. Pierre la Vielle, Gheel, Nederrijn, Aam, Venraij, Rhineland, Schaddenhof, Brinkum, Bremen, North-West Europe 1940 '44–45, Gazala, Mersa Matruh, Defence of Alamein Line, El Alamein, Mareth, Wadi Zigzaou, Akarit, North Africa 1942–43, Primosole Bridge, Sicily 1943, Sittang 1945, Burma 1945.
Victoria Cross recipients
The following members of the regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross:
^"Training Depots 1873–1881". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) The depot was the 5th Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 15th Regimental District depot thereafter
^These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th Battalion at Londesborough Barracks in Kingston upon Hull and the 5th (Cyclist) Battalion at Park Street in Kingston upon Hull (since demolished) (both Territorial Force).
^"Act'g. Governor's Address at Closing of Parliament". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. 9 September 1919. Yesterday morning at noon, His Honour the Officer Administering the Government, CoL H. B. DesVoeux, C.M.G. attended at the Council Chamber and received the Honourable Members of the Legislative Council, and the members of the Honourable House of Assembly. A guard of honour was furnished by the 2/4 Batn. E. York Regiment, consisting of 50 rank and file and a Subaltern under the command of Capt. Hannaford. The Council Chamber was filled with officers of the Navy and Army, together with a large number of civilians. Admiral Morgan Singer attended with his Staff. The Captain in Charge, Capt. Fanshawe, the Captain and Officers of H.M.S. Cambrian, and a number of naval officers on the station. Amongst the military we noticed, Colonel Lockhart, Col. Berger, Major Fairfield and a large number of the officers of the E. Yorks Regt.
^McGonigal, Major H. A. K. The East Yorkshire Regiment in the Bermudas 1819 to 1821, 1868 to 1870, 1916-1919. Compiled from A History of The 15th (East Yorkshire) Regiment (The Duke of York's Own) 1685 to 1914, by Robert J. Jones, The East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War, 1914-1918 By Everard Wyrall, and other sources.
^"ARRIVAL OF EAST YORK OFFICERS". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. 9 September 1919. p. 1. Much Speculation was caused when the Caraquet came alongside yesterday. Who were the officers? Had the new regiment arrived? Was a new military scheme in contemplation? But it transpired that the War Office in England had remembered the East Yorks were about to depart, and had sent out the following officers for the nice little trip. Lieuts. Maw, J. A. Hogg, Wilson, R. Roe, and E. H. Hardy.
^The ABC of British Railways Locomotives. 1961. Ian Allan Ltd.
Sources
Bilton, David (2015) Hull in the Great War 1914–1919, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, ISBN978-1-47382-314-3.
Bilton, David (2014) Hull Pals, 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Battalions East Yorkshire Regiment – A History of 92 Infantry Brigade, 31st Division, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, ISBN978-1-78346-185-1.
Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (2003). Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press. ISBN1-84342-474-6.
Everard Wyrall, The East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War 1914–1918, London: Harrison, 1928/Uckfield,Naval & Military, 2002, ISBN978-1-84342-211-2.