Medals of the Regiments:
The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)

 
 
West Yorkshire Regiment Cap Badge.
awaiting insignia pics

 

  
Above: the cap badge design in use from 1898 to amalgamation, the white horse of Hanover over a scroll "WEST YORKSHIRE"
Kipling and King reference 608
 

© Images Copyright ©

 
 
 
 

The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)

1685 - 1958
 
 
 
Titles
pre 1881post 1881
14th (Buckinghamshire, Prince of Wales's Own)
 Regiment of Foot
The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
 
Earliest recognised formation: 1685 raised as Hales's Regiment, becoming the 14th Foot in 1751
 
Motto: Nec aspera terrent = Nor do difficulties deter
 
Regimental Journal:  ça Ira
 
WWI:Battle Honours; 57Victoria Crosses; 4Died; 12700
WWII:    Battle Honours; 23Victoria Crosses; 1 Died;  ????
 
Amalgamated:1958 with the East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own) to form The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire)
 
 

Campaigns & Medals

 

Capture of Java from the Dutch & The Peninsula War 1808 - 1814 Regiment expanded to three battalions during this period

Military General Service Medal 1793 - 1814

battalion →2nd1st
clasps →
Corunna
Java
Total MedalsMax clasps
15428079
 

One officer and three men received both clasps; Ensign Edward L'Estrange, Pte. John Conway, Cpl. William Davidson, Pte. Robert Freer.

Battle Honours: Corunna; Java.

 
 
 

Battle of Waterloo 1815 3rd Battalion

Waterloo Medal 1815

Number:637

Battle Honour: Waterloo

 
reduced to a single battalion 1816
 

Nepal War 1814-16

Army of India Medal 1799 - 1826

clasp:

Nepaul

number:14
 
 
 
 

First Anglo-Burmese War 1824-1826 & Siege of Bhurtpoor 1825-26

Army of India Medal 1799 - 1826

clasp:

Ava

Bhurtpoor

numbers:265246
 

Battle Honour: Bhurtpore (regiment also received the honour "India" for service 1807-31)

 
 
 

Crimean War  1854 - 1856

Crimea Medal 1854 -56

 
Clasp: →..none...

Sebastopol

Total Medals
Number:4875561043
 

Men who served in the Crimea also eligible for:

Turkish Crimea Medal 1855

Battle Honour: Sevastopol

 
Two battalions now operational 1858-1948
 

3rd Maori War, New Zealand 1863-1866   2nd Battalion

New Zealand Medal 1845-1866

 
possible reverses18631863-18651863-18661866
total number names on roll816
 

 

Battle Honour: New Zealand

 
 
 

Afghan War 1878  2nd Battalion

Afghanistan Medal 1878  -1880

clasp:...none...*
number:882**
 

* apart from the two clasp medal that was awarded to Lieutenant Frederick Walter Kitchener (Charasia and Kabul)

** about 14 of these are marked forfeited.

 

Battle Honour: Afghanistan 1879-80

 
 
 

Ashanti War 1895-96   2nd Battalion

Ashanti Star 1895-96

number:420
 
 
 
 
 
 

Anglo-Boer War 1899 - 1902 2nd Battalion. (Nov 1899- end of war) (Also companies provided from the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Volunteer Battalions, and 4th Militia Battalion)

Queen's South Africa Medal 1899-1902, with or without the King's South Africa Medal 1901 - 1902

frequently encountered clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902; also:

 
clasp;

Relief of Ladysmith

Tugela Heights

Laing's Nek

 
numbers;??? 
 
 
OfficersNCOs and Men
KIA & DOWWoundedMissing / POWKIA & DOWDeath from disease WoundedMissing / POW
 
5152745225128
 

Battle Honours: Relief of Ladysmith; South Africa 1899 - 1902

VCs: 2,  Mansel-Jones & Traynor

 
 
 

Garrison & Guard Duty, ( Boer prisoners of war) Gibraltar and Malta etc., 1899 - 1902 3rd Battalion

Queen's Mediterranean Medal 1899 -1902

numbers:?
 
 
 
 

Mohmand Expedition, North West Frontier 1908 1st Battalion

India General Service Medal 1908

clasp:

North West Frontier 1908

numbers:787
 
 
 
 

The Great War 1914 - 1918  (31 battalions; 21 served overseas:- )

Generally awarded the British War Medal & Victory Medal, most men overseas prior to 1/1/1916 also a 1914 or 1914-15 Star.

Battalion →1 2*1/51/61/71/8**2/52/62/72/8** 9***10
Leeds RiflesLeeds Rifles
date of first overseas service.
 (first theatre red x )
10/9
1914
5/11
1914
15/4
1915
15/4
1915
15/4
1915
15/4
1915
6/1
1917
6/1
1917
6/1
1917
6/1
1917
6/8
1915
14/7
1915
France & Flandersxxxxxxxxxxxx
Gallipoli          x 
Egypt & Palestine          x 
Macedonia            
Italy            
Star
possible ?
1914 or 1914-15 xx          
or 1914-15 only  xxxx    xx
             
died
Extracted from : "Soldiers / Officers Died in the Great War" (consider approximate - in addition 165 officers are recorded with 'battalions not shown' or with battalions not shown here )
1231125487868771391338829826421010631084
 
 
 

* The Second Battalion were in Malta when war broke out and returned first to the UK
** 1/8th absorbed 2/8th 1/2/1918 becoming the "8th"
*** Arrived Mudros 10/7/15 before proceeding to Suvla Bay on the date shown. This battalion absorbed 400 Yorkshire Hussars in November 1917.

RegularTerritorial ForceNew ArmiesGarrison.
 

 

 
 

 

The Great War 1914 - 1918 

continued.........

Battalion →111215*17*161821221
Leeds
Pals
1st & 2nd
Bradford Pals
Wool Textile PioneersLabourGarrison
date of first overseas service.
 (first theatre red x )
26/8
1915
5/9
1915
?/12
1915
1/2
1916
?/12
1915
?/12
1915
?/6
1916
?/5
1916
"Autumn" 1915
France & Flandersxxxxxxxx 
Egypt & Palestine  x xx   
Italyx        
Malta        x
Star
possible ?
1914  or 1914-15          
or 1914-15 onlyxxx xx   
          
died
Extracted from : "Soldiers / Officers Died in the Great War" (consider approximate - in addition 165 officers are recorded with 'battalion not shown' or with battalions not shown here)
4747366262794714062231316
and as 15th/17th
345
 

* 15th & 17th Amalgamated 5/12/1917 to form 15th/17th Battalion.

Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19
155 officers and men of the West Yorkshire Regiment alsoqualified for this medal.

 

Battle Honours: Armentières 1914; Neuve Chapelle; Somme 1916, 1918; Ypres 1917, 1918; Cambrai 1917, 1918; Villers Bretonneux; Lys; Tardenois; Piave; Suvla.  Aisne 1914, 1918; Aubers; Hooge 1915; Loos; Albert 1916, 1918; Bazentin; Pozières; Flers-Courcelette; Morval; Thiepval; Le Transloy; Ancre Heights; Ancre 1916; Arras 1917, 1918; Scarpe 1917, 1918; Bullecourt; Hill 70; Messines 1917, 1918; Pilckem; Langemarck 1917; Menin Road; Polygon Wood; Poelcapelle; Passchendaele; St Quentin; Rosières; Hazebrouck; Bailleul; Kemmel; Marne 1918; Amiens; Bapaume 1918; Drocourt-Quéant; Hindenburg Line; Havrincourt; Epéhy; Canal du Nord; Selle; Valenciennes; Sambre; France and Flanders 1914-18; Vittorio Veneto; Italy 1917-18; Landing at Suvla; Scimitar Hill; Gallipoli 1915;

VCs: 4; Butler, Meekosha, Mountain, Sanders.

 
 
 

Operations in  Waziristan & Mahsud 1919 - 1921 2nd Battalion

India General Service Medal 1908

clasp:

Waziristan 1919-21

Mahsud 1919-20

number:??
 
 
 
 

Operations against Sheik Mahmoud, Kurdistan 1923  2nd Battalion

General Service Medal 1918 -62

clasp:

Kurdistan

number:?
 
 
 
 

Jewish / Arab Unrest, Palestine 1936 - 39  2nd Battalion

General Service Medal 1918 -62

clasp:

Palestine

number:?
 
 
 
 

WW2 1939 - 1945  

Battalion →1st2nd1/5th2/5th9th11th
campaign ↓      
France and
Belgium 1940.
(Dunkirk )
   xx 
North Africa & Middle East x    
Sicily / Italy      
Burmaxx    
N.W. Europe      
 

Notes.

 In India at the start, Arrived Rangoon 29/1/42. Under command of 17th Indian Division 5/2/42 - 1/8/44 then 48th Indian Infantry Brigade, (same Division) for remainder.Sent from Palestine to Sudan then onto Egypt. 9th Indian Infantry Brigade. 147th Infantry Brigade, 3/9/39-7/9/42 (served Iceland 17/5/40 - 18/4/42)  220th Independent Infantry Brigade 7/9/42-25/7/44 137th Infantry Brigade 3/9/39 - 13/6/40 and 19/6/40 - 19/7/42 Converted to RACG.H.Q. Troops  BEF 1940Served in the Falkland Islands 12/8/42 - 29/1/44
 
 the original 5th, Redesignated 1/5th on the formation of the duplicate battalion 2/5th in 1939, reverted back to being the "5th" on 28/1/43
 

WW2 Stars common to the Battalion. (excluding 39-45 star )
 Key: A = Africa, P = Pacific, B =  Burma, I = Italy,  F&G = France and Germany

  BA, B    
       
 

Most also entitled to the 1939-45 War Medal and many the Defence Medal

 

Battle Honours:  Keren; Defence of Alamein Line; Pegu 1942; Yenangyaung 1942; Maungdaw; Defence of Sinzweya; Imphal; Bishenpur; Defence of Meiktila; Sittang 1945.  North-West Europe 1940; Jebel Dafeis; Ad Teclesan; Abyssinia 1940-1; Cauldron; North Africa 1940-2; North Arakan; Kanglatongbi; Capture of Meiktila; Defence of Meiktila; Rangoon Road; Pyawbwe; Burma 1942-5.

VCs: 1;  Turner

 
 
 

Re-establishment of order post WW2, South East Asia 1945 -46 2nd Battalion  Java

General Service Medal 1918 - 62

clasp:
S.E. Asia 1945 -46
number:?
 
 
Regulars reduced to a single battalion 1948 (the 1st)
 

The Malaya Emergency: Operations against Communist insurgents. 1948-60 1st Battalion (1953-55)

General Service Medal 1918 - 62

clasp:

Malaya

number:?
 
 
 
 

Operation Musketeer: The Suez Crisis 1956 1st Battalion

General Service Medal 1918 - 62

clasp:

Near East

number:?
 
 
 

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Selected Links

The Regimental Museum. (Located in ) 

 
 
 

Selected Bibliography;

 
AuthorTitlePublisher
Cannon's Historical Records SeriesHistorical Record of The Fourteenth, or, The Buckinghamshire Regiment of Foot; containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent Services to 1845. 106 pp. London: Parker, Furnivall, & Parker, 1845
Capt. H. O'Donnell. (Ed)Historical Records of the 14th Regiment, now The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), from its Formation, in 1685 to 1892.   415 pp.Devonport: A. H. Swiss. [1893]
Everard Wyrall. The West Yorkshire Regiment in the War, 1914-1918. A History of the 14th, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regt.) and of its Special Reserve, Territorial and Service Battns. in the Great War of 1914-1918.  2 vols. [1924-27]. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd.,
Lieut.-Col, E. W. C. Sandes. From Pyramid to Pagoda; the Story of the West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own) in the War 1939-45 and afterwards. 306 pp.London: printed by F. J. Parsons Ltd., 1952
Major C. L. ArmstrongHistory of the Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment. 11th (Service) Battalion.  100 pp. Sunderland: Jas. D. Todd & Sons, 1919.
 The Record of the 4th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) during the Boer War 1899-1902, 67 pp. York: J. Sampson,  1903.
 A Peep over the Barleycorn; in the Firing Line with the P.W.O. 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment through the Relief of Ladysmith. . 214 pp.Dublin, 1911
A. J. BarkerThe West Yorkshire Regiment.  London: Leo Cooper, 1974. 80 pp. 
C. HinchcliffeIn Iraq and Kurdistan with the 2nd Battalion The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own). 55 ppAldershot: Gale and Polden, 1926.
 1st Battalion Prince of Wales's Own. Mian-Mir and Dalhousie, Punjab 1906. Lahore: F. Bremner, 1906, 51 pp., illustrations. 83/4 x 101/2in. 
 1st Battalion Prince of Wales's Own. Rawalpindi 1910. . 51 pp., Lahore: F. Bremner, 1906
H. A. V. SpencerA Short History of the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (XIV and XV Foot) 1685-1966. 36 pp.privately published by the Regiment
Laurie MilnerLeeds Pals. 280 ppLeo Cooper Pen & Sword. 1991
A. B. RitchieThe Record of the 4th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales Own) during the Boer War 1899-1902.York: John Sampson, 1903.
 A Short Historical Sketch of the 15th Battalion P.W.O. West Yorkshire Regiment, illustrated from Photographs, 180 pp.  Leeds: R. Jackson,  1917.
R. N. HudsonThe Bradford Pals. The story of the 16th and 18th Bns. The West Yorkshire Regiment.  

 

Additional Bibliography for this Page.

 
Author/CompilerTitlePublisher
Officers of the Regiment.Unpublished rolls in the care of the National Archives; WO 100/ etc.-
   
   
 Additional bibliography same as Northumberland Fusiliers page  
 

 

 

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