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| The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) |  | 1685 - 1958
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| | | | | | Titles | | pre 1881 | post 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; 57 | Victoria Crosses; 4 | Died; 12700 | | WWII: | Battle Honours; 23 | Victoria 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 → | 2nd | 1st | | clasps → | | | | Total Medals | Max clasps | | 154 | 2 | 80 | 79 | | | 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: | | | number: | 14 | | |
| | | | | | | First Anglo-Burmese War 1824-1826 & Siege of Bhurtpoor 1825-26 | Army of India Medal 1799 - 1826 | | clasp: | | | | numbers: | 265 | 246 | | | Battle Honour: Bhurtpore (regiment also received the honour "India" for service 1807-31) |
| | | | | | | Crimean War 1854 - 1856 | Crimea Medal 1854 -56 | | | | Clasp: → | ..none... | | Total Medals | | Number: → | 487 | 556 | 1043 | | | 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 reverses | 1863 | 1863-1865 | 1863-1866 | 1866 | | total number names on roll | 816 | | | | 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; | | | | | | numbers; | ? | ? | ? | | | | | | | Officers | NCOs and Men | | KIA & DOW | Wounded | Missing / POW | KIA & DOW | Death from disease | Wounded | Missing / POW | | | | 5 | 15 | 2 | 74 | 52 | 251 | 28 | | | 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: | ? | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 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* | 1/5 | 1/6 | 1/7 | 1/8** | 2/5 | 2/6 | 2/7 | 2/8** | 9*** | 10 | | Leeds Rifles | Leeds 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 & Flanders | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | | Gallipoli | | | | | | | | | | | x | | | Egypt & Palestine | | | | | | | | | | | x | | | Macedonia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Italy | | | | | | | | | | | | | Star
possible ? | 1914 or 1914-15 | x | x | | | | | | | | | | | | or 1914-15 only | | | x | x | x | x | | | | | x | x | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 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 ) | 1231 | 1254 | 878 | 687 | 713 | 913 | 388 | 298 | 264 | 210 | 1063 | 1084 | | | | | | | * 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. | | Regular | Territorial Force | New Armies | Garrison. |
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| | | | | | The Great War 1914 - 1918 | continued......... | | Battalion → | 11 | 12 | 15* | 17* | 16 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 1 | Leeds
Pals | 1st & 2nd
Bradford Pals | Wool Textile Pioneers | Labour | Garrison | 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 & Flanders | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | | | Egypt & Palestine | | | x | | x | x | | | | | Italy | x | | | | | | | | | | Malta | | | | | | | | | x | Star
possible ? | 1914 or 1914-15 | | | | | | | | | | | or 1914-15 only | x | x | x | | x | x | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 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) | 474 | 736 | 626 | 279 | 471 | 406 | 223 | 13 | 16 | | 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 against Sheik Mahmoud, Kurdistan 1923 2nd Battalion | General Service Medal 1918 -62 | | clasp: | | | number: | ? | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | WW2 1939 - 1945 | | Battalion → | 1st | 2nd | 1/5th | 2/5th | 9th | 11th | | campaign ↓ | | | | | | | France and
Belgium 1940.
(Dunkirk ) | | | | x | x | | | North Africa & Middle East | | x | | | | | | Sicily / Italy | | | | | | | | Burma | x | x | | | | | | 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 RAC | G.H.Q. Troops BEF 1940 | Served 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 | | | B | A, 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: | | | 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: | | | number: | ? | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | © This website and its contents are copyright. Images are digitally watermarked. © North East Medals, All Rights Reserved |
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Selected Links | The Regimental Museum. (Located in )  | | | | | | | Selected Bibliography; | | | | Author | Title | Publisher | | Cannon's Historical Records Series | Historical 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. Armstrong | History 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. Barker | The West Yorkshire Regiment. London: Leo Cooper, 1974. 80 pp. | | | C. Hinchcliffe | In Iraq and Kurdistan with the 2nd Battalion The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own). 55 pp | Aldershot: 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. Spencer | A 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 Milner | Leeds Pals. 280 pp | Leo Cooper Pen & Sword. 1991 | | A. B. Ritchie | The 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. Hudson | The Bradford Pals. The story of the 16th and 18th Bns. The West Yorkshire Regiment. | | | Additional Bibliography for this Page. | | | | Author/Compiler | Title | Publisher | | 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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