York and Lancaster Regiment
The
York and Lancaster Regiment was an
infantry regiment of the
British Army.
It was formed in
1881 through the amalgamation of two other regiments:
*
65th (2nd Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment*
84th (York and Lancaster) RegimentThe title of the regiment was derived not from the cities of
York and
Lancaster, or from the counties. Instead, the name came from the fact that it recruited from, amongst other places, landed properties owned by the
Duchy of York and the
Duchy of Lancaster. The regiment's recruiting area was in fact wholly within
South Yorkshire (an area known as
Hallamshire). Indeed, the regiment's
TA battalion dropped its number and was known simply as
The Hallamshire Battalion from
1924.
The new regiment saw service in both
Egypt and
Sudan immediately after its formation, and also during the
Second Boer War, when it took part in the
Relief of Ladysmith.
First World War
The regiment raised 22
battalions for service in the
First World War, of which 8 saw action on the first day of the
Battle of the Somme.
Second World War
During the
Second World War, the regiment sent six battalions to serve in the
Burma campaign in various roles:
*
2nd Battalion -
Chindits*5th Battalion - Anti-aircraft Artillery
*7th Battalion - infantry
*8th Battalion - infantry
*9th Battalion - infantry
*10th Battalion - armour
Other units of the regiment saw service in Europe - the
1st Battalion was involved in the
Norwegian Campaign, and was carried to and from Norway by
HMS Sheffield; this led to a bond of friendship between the regiment and the ship, and meant that when the
Sheffield was adopted by its namesake city, the Yorks and Lancs was awarded the freedom of
Sheffield soon after. This Battalion served in the
15th Infantry Brigade , part of the
5th Infantry DivisionThe 2nd Battalion (part of the
14th Infantry Brigade), before becoming
Chindits, was involved in the defense of
Heraklion, during the
Battle of Crete in
1941 . Most of their casualties in this battle were suffered in the withdrawal by the
Royal Navy which came under heavy air attack from the
German Luftwaffe. On returning to
Egypt they became part of the
British 70th Infantry Division used in the breakout from
Tobruk, where they suffered heavy casulties as one of the lead battalions. They were transferred, along with the rest of the 70th Infantry Division, to
India and
Burma where they took part in the 2nd Chindit Campaign and the
Arakan offensive toward the end of the war.
Following the Second World War, the regiment saw service around the world, including participation in the
Suez Crisis of
1956. With the reorganisation of the army in
1968, the Yorks and Lancs was one of two infantry regiments that chose to be disbanded rather than amalgamated with another regiment. However, although the 1st Battalion was disbanded in
1968, with the Regimental HQ closing in
1987, the traditions of the regiment were continued through the descendents of the Hallamshire Battalion, which was constituted as two companies in the
Yorkshire Volunteers. This was reduced to a single company in
1992 before the Hallamshire lineage was ended in
1999.
Battle honours
*combined battle honours of 65th Regiment and 84th Regiment
1, plus:
**Guadeloupe 1759
2, Martinique 1794
2, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882 '84, Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902
**The Great War [22 battalions]: Aisne 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Hooge 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Oppy, Messines 1917 '18, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Lys, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Marne 1918, Tardenois, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Piave, Vittorio Veneto, Italy 1917-18, Struma, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1915-18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1916
**The Second World War: Norway 1940, Odon, Fontenay Le Pesnil, Caen, La Vie Crossing, La Touques Crossing, Forêt de Bretonne, Le Havre, Antwerp-Turnhout Canal, Scheldt, Lower Maas, Arnhem 1945, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Tobruk 1941, Tobruk Sortie 1941, Mine de Sedjenane, Djebel Kournine, North Africa 1941 '43, Landing in Sicily, Simeto Bridgehead, Pursuit to Messina, Sicily 1943, Salerno, Vietri Pass, Capture of Naples, Cava di Terreni, Volturno Crossing, Monte Camino, Calabritto, Colle Cedro, Garigliano Crossing, Minturno, Monte Tuga, Anzio, Advance to Tiber, Gothic Line, Coriano, San Clemente, Gemmano Ridge, Carpineta, Lamone Crossing, Defence of Lamone Bridgehead, Rimini Line, San Marino, Italy 1943-45, Crete, Heraklion, Middle East 1941, North Arakan, Maungdaw, Rangoon Road, Toungoo, Arakan Beaches,
Chindits 1944, Burma 1943-45
1. the honour India of the 84th Regt was modified to India 1796-1819 in 1912 to differentiate it from the "India" Tiger badge of the 65th Regt
2. awarded 1909 for services of 65th Regiment
Affiliations
*
Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal -1968
*The Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) -1964
*7th Battalion (Hawke's Bay - City of Wellington's Own),
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment 1964-1968
*7th Battalion,
Royal Malay Regiment -1968
*
British 5th Infantry Division*
British 70th Infantry Division*
WWII Battlefield Site*
British Regiment
