The 51st Foot The
53rd Regiment of Foot was raised in
Leeds in 1755 and renumbered the
51st in January 1757. In 1782, in common with other regiments of the line, the 51st was given a "county" designation, becoming the
51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding) Regiment of Foot. The title of
Light Infantry was given in honour of its former commander General
Sir John Moore in 1809, and in 1821 the regiment was given royal status when ''King's Own
was added to its title, becoming the '51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding, The King's Own Light Infantry) Regiment'''.
The 105th Foot The
2nd Madras European Light Infantry was raised by the
East India Company in 1839. In 1861 East India Company forces were absorbed into the British Army, and the regiment became the
105th (Madras Light Infantry) Regiment.
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry In 1881, after the
Cardwell and
Childers Reforms, regimental numbers were abolished. The 51st King's Own Light Infantry became the 1st Battalion, '''King's Own Light Infantry (South Yorkshire Regiment)
and the 105th became its 2nd Battalion. The Childers Reforms also combined Militia and rifle volunteer units into the regiments formed in 1881. Accordingly, the 1st West Yorks Rifles Militia became the 3rd Militia Battalion, while the 3rd Administrative Battalion West Riding of Yorkshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 1st Volunteer Battalion. In 1897, the regimental title was changed to the King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry)'''. The 1st battalion was stationed at
Limerick from 1899 until they in September 1902 transferred to
Aldershot. The 2nd battalion (105th) was stationed at
Malta in 1884, moved to
British India in 1887, then to
Mauritius in February 1899. Following the outbreak of the
Second Boer War in October 1899, the battalion transferred to
South Africa, where it fought at the
Battle of Modder River in November 1899. The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which ended in June 1902 with the
Peace of Vereeniging. In October that year 790 officers and men of the battalion left Point Natal on the SS
Staffordshire bound for Malta, where they were then stationed. During 1912, one battalion of the Regiment was stationed in Hong Kong. On 15 March 1912, a ceremony was held for the departure from the Colony of the Governor,
Sir Frederick Lugard and it was reported that a guard of honour and a military band was provided by men of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The regiment was on parade opposite
Blake Pier. With the creation of the
Territorial Force in 1908, the 1st Volunteer Battalion was reorganised as the 4th Battalion at Bank Street in
Wakefield (since demolished) while the 3rd Battalion was transferred to the Special Reserve. The 2nd Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the
13th Brigade in the
5th Division in August 1914 also for service on the Western Front;
Territorial Force The 1/4th and
1/5th Battalions landed at
Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
3rd West Riding Brigade in the
West Riding Division in April 1915 for service on the Western Front. and Sergeant
Laurence Calvert of the same battalion was awarded the VC for actions at the
Battle of Havrincourt (2 September 1918). Corporal
Ernest Hayes, who was awarded three
Military Medals in 1918 for acts of bravery on the Western Front, served with the 2/4th Battalion.
New Armies The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
43rd Brigade in the
14th (Light) Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
61st Brigade in the
20th (Light) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 12th (Service) Battalion (Miners) (Pioneers) landed in Egypt as pioneer battalion for the
31st Division in December 1915 and then moved to France in March 1916 for service on the Western Front.
Second World War During the
Second World War, the battalions served in all three fronts (Europe, North Africa and Asia-Pacific). The 1st Battalion, a
Regular Army unit, was serving with the
15th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1st Battalion,
Green Howards and the
1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, and was sent to France in 1939, as part of
5th Infantry Division. In April 1940, with the brigade, the battalion was sent to Aandelsnes, Norway where they saw service as part of "Sickleforce" in the
Norwegian Campaign and earned its first battle honour "Kvam" before it was evacuated on 1 May / 2 May. A period of training followed, with the battalion spending time in Scotland, Lancashire and Northern Ireland. In January 1942, the battalion commenced training for tropical service and moved to Poona, India. It was then decided to train for desert warfare and so the battalion was moved to Iran and then the Canal Zone for further training. The battalion next saw action in July 1943 during the
Allied invasion of Sicily, and later the
Allied invasion of Italy, before fighting through the
Italian Campaign, in the
Battle of Anzio and
Operation Diadem before, in July 1944, being sent to
Palestine to rest and refit. The battalion remained there until early 1945, when it was transferred to Italy again, only to be transferred to Marseilles in March 1945 for service in
North-western Europe for the
invasion of Germany. There, the battalion ended its war, fighting its last action at Potrau on 1 May 1945, some five years after it was evacuated from Norway. Before the outbreak of war, the 53rd LAA Regiment formed a duplicate,
57th (KOYLI) LAA Regiment. This saw action in the
Anglo-Iraqi War and
Syria–Lebanon Campaign, then joined
4th Indian Division, with which it served in
Operation Crusader, at Alamein, in Tunisia and Italy. It ended the war as part of the intervention force (
Operation Manna) in the Greek rebellion. The 7th Battalion was formed on 3 July 1940 as an infantry battalion. However, in June 1941, it became the
149th Regiment in the
Royal Armoured Corps. The new formation continued to wear their King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry cap badge on the black beret of the RAC. The regiment was sent to India and became part of 50th Indian Tank Brigade. Following training, the regiment fought at Kohima and Imphal from April to August 1944. The 8th Battalion was a war service battalion raised in July 1940. It was transferred to the Royal Artillery and became the
94th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. In June 1942, the regiment became part of the
Guards Armoured Division and served with it for the rest of the war, fighting in North-western Europe from June 1944 until May 1945. The 9th Battalion (formerly the
Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons) was
motorized infantry assigned to the
18th Infantry Brigade and attached to the
1st Armoured Division. The battalion served in the Italian Campaign, fighting particularly severe battles such as that during the
Battle of Anzio in early 1944 until, due to a severe shortage of manpower in the Italian theatre, it was disbanded later in the year.
Post war Reduced to one regular battalion after the war, the regiment was deployed to
Malaya in 1948 to take part in
peacekeeping and
counter-insurgency operations during the
Malayan Emergency. The regiment was then sent to
Kenya in 1954 as part of the response to the
Mau Mau Uprising. It deployed to
Aden in 1955 and to
Cyprus in 1956 and returned to Malaya in 1962 during the early stages of the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Its last transfer was to Montgomery Barracks in
Berlin in 1967. The regiment was amalgamated with the
Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, the
King's Shropshire Light Infantry and the
Durham Light Infantry to form
The Light Infantry in 1968. ==Regimental museum==