York and Lancaster Regiment

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= The York and Lancaster Regiment


caption=
dates= 1881 - 1968
country= Great Britain
allegiance=
branch= Army
type= Line Infantry
role=
size=One battalion
command_structure=Yorkshire Brigade
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment= Field-Marshall Herbert Plumer
nickname= "The Tigers"
"Cat and Cabbage"
"Young and Lovelies"
patron=
motto= "Honi soit qui mal y pense"
colors=
identification_symbol=
march=Quick - "The York and Lancaster"
Quick - "The Jockey of York"
Slow - "Regimental Slow March of the York and Lancaster"
mascot=cat {unofficial}
battles=
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=The York and Lancaster Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army.

History

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 Territorial Army 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 eight saw action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. During the war it suffered 48,650 casualties out of 57,000 men serving, with 8,814 killed or died of wounds (72 out of every 100 men being either wounded or killed). The regiment won four Victoria Crosses and 59 Battle Honours, the largest number for any English regiment during the war.

During the Battle of the Somme the Yorks and Lancs' eight battalions that went over the top on the first day suffered huge casualties, the three Pals battalions; 12th, 13th and 14th Battalions, in particular suffering heavily. Eleven battalions of the regiment fought during the Somme campaign.

The regular 1st Battalion returned from service in India to be formed as part of the 28th Division which saw action in France from 1914 to 1915. It then was shipped to the Balkans as part of the British Salonika Army where it would remain until the end of the war.

The other regular 2nd Battalion arrived on the Western Front in late 1914 with the 6th Division and fought in most of the major battles of the war including the Battle of the Somme.

econd World War

During the Second World War, the regiment raised ten battalions and sent six battalions to serve in the Burma Campaign in various roles:
*2nd Battalion - Chindits
*5th Battalion - 67th (York & Lancaster) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt. Royal Artillery, TA
*7th Battalion - infantry (based on North West Frontier for most of the war).
*8th Battalion - infantry (25th Indian Infantry Division)
*9th Battalion - infantry (25th Indian Infantry Division)
*10th Battalion - 150th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps

Other units of the regiment saw service in Europe - both the 1st Battalion and The Hallamshire Battalion were involved in the Norwegian campaign.

The 1st Battalion 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 Division and after being shipped around most of the British Empire was finally sent to Italy where they fought through that campaign from 1943 to 1945.

The 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 casualties 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.

The Hallamshire Battalion, after a brief fight in Norway in 1940, was landed in Normandy soon after D-Day and fought its way through France, Belgium (where Cpl.J.W.Harper won the Victoria Cross), and into Holland where they were part of the bitter fighting that led to the eventual capture of Arnhem in 1945.

The 6th Battalion went to France in 1940 with the 46th Infantry Division, and experienced heavy fighting in the St. Omer — La Bassee area. In 1942 the Division was part of the First Army in Tunisia, and from 1943 until the end of the war they fought with the Eighth Army in Italy, from Salerno to Rimini.

The 8th and 9th Battalions were both in Indian 25th Infantry Division, taking a significant part in the Arakan battles of 1944.

The 10th Battalion was converted to tanks in India, becoming the 150th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps, in the 254th Indian Tank Brigade, with which it fought at Imphal, and on the ad­vance to Rangoon.

The former 5th Battalion (Territorial Army), which had converted to anti-aircraft artillery in 1936, was also prominent at Imphal, and later at Mandalay, as the 67th (Y & L) HAA Regiment, Royal Artillery.

Meanwhile the 7th Battalion was in India, but served mainly on the North-West Frontier, being moved to Burma in 1945, too late to contribute to the defeat of Japan.

Post World War II

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.

Honours and Affiliations

Battle honours

*combined battle honours of 65th Regiment and 84th Regiment¹, plus:
**Guadeloupe 1759², Martinique 1794², 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

ee also

*List of York and Lancaster Regiment battalions
* British 5th Infantry Division
* British 70th Infantry Division

Trivia

One of the characters in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys goes on from school and university to serve in the York and Lancaster Regiment. The film version is set in 1983, 15 years after the disbandment of the regiment's 1st Battalion.

External links

* [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/lists/bargxrefn.htm British Regiment]
* [http://www.ordersofbattle.darkscape.net/site/warpath/regts/york_lancs.htm The York and Lancaster Regiment during World War I]