Early wars , in the uniform of the 15th Regiment of Foot (1776) with a flintlock gun. Raised in 1685 in Nottingham by
Sir William Clifton, 3rd Baronet, the regiment was originally, like many British infantry regiments, known by the name of its current
Colonel. It took part in the
Battle of Killiecrankie in July 1689 and the
Battle of Cromdale in April 1690 during the
Jacobite rising of 1689 to 1692. 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, the attack of
Fort Knokke in June 1695 and the
Siege of Namur in summer 1695 before returning home in 1697. The regiment was sent to
Holland in 1701 for service in the
War of the Spanish Succession and fought at the siege of
Kaiserswerth in 1702, the siege of
Venlo later that year and the
Battle of Blenheim in August 1704. It went on to fight at the
Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, the
Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and the
Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709. It returned to England in 1714. It was sent to
Scotland and took part in the
Battle of Glen Shiel in June 1719 during
Jacobite rising. The regiment was deployed to
South America, where it took part in the
Battle of Cartagena de Indias in March 1741 during the
War of Jenkins' Ear. It also saw action at the
Battle of Culloden in April 1746 during the next
Jacobite rising. In 1751, when the numerical system of designation of Regiments of Foot was adopted, it became the
15th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was sent to North America again in spring 1776 for service in the
American Revolutionary War. It saw action at the
Battle of Long Island in August 1776, the
Battle of White Plains in October 1776 and the
Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776. It also took part in the
Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, the
Battle of Germantown in October and the
Battle of White Marsh in December 1777. In 1782 the regiment became the
15th (The Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot. for service in the
Napoleonic Wars and took part in the
invasion of Martinique in January 1809 and the
invasion of Guadeloupe in January 1810.
The Victorian era 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. Under the reforms the regiment became
The East Yorkshire Regiment on 1 July 1881. 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. 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. 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. The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, returning home in late 1902 when they were stationed at
Aldershot. 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. 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. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the
Territorial Force and the latter the
Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. The 2nd Battalion landed at
Le Havre as part of the
83rd Brigade in the
28th Division in January 1915 also for service on the Western Front before moving to
Salonika in October 1915 for service on the
Macedonian front. and the
3/4th Battalion remained at home and trained reinforcements.
New Armies 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. There were also a 1st Garrison Battalion that served in
India and a 2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion. It moved into Burma, crossing the
Chindwin River at
Kalewa and the
Irrawaddy River at Sameikkon in April 1945 and joined the
99th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the
17th Indian Division at
Meiktila after the siege by the Japanese had been broken. The 2nd Battalion served with the
8th Infantry Brigade (which included the 1st
Suffolks and 1st
South Lancs), attached to the
3rd Infantry Division throughout the whole war. At the time, the 3rd Division was commanded by
Major-General Bernard Montgomery, who would later command the Anglo-Canadian
21st Army Group. The battalion and division were sent to France in late 1939 as part of the
British Expeditionary Force and remained there until May 1940 when they fought in the
Battle of France and were
evacuated at Dunkirk. After Dunkirk, the battalion and division spent many years on home defence anticipating a
German invasion of England. After late 1942, when the threat of invasion had receded, they then started training for offensive operations and, in mid-1944,
invaded Normandy, France. The
5th Battalion was formed in June 1939 as a 2nd Line Territorial Army duplicate of the 4th Battalion. It served with the
69th Infantry Brigade in the
23rd (Northumbrian) Division and was evacuated from Dunkirk. It later served with 50th (Northumbrian) Division through the
Western Desert,
Tunisian and
Sicily campaigns before landing in the first wave on
Gold Beach on
D Day and then fighting through
Normandy and
North West Europe. 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. The 7th Battalion was formed in 1940 and assigned to 203 Infantry Brigade. 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. The 50th (Holding) Battalion was formed in May 1940. In October, it was redesignated as the 8th battalion and assigned to 217 Infantry Brigade. 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. on field exercise in Palestine
After the War The regiment was in
Mandatory Palestine during the
Zionist insurgency and then took part in the
Malayan Emergency in 1953–56 before returning to
Germany as part of the
British Army of the Rhine. In 1958, it was amalgamated with The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own), to form the
Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. ==Regimental Museum==