|
|
|
2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment
2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) was in Malta in August 1914 when war broke out, they returned to England landing at Southampton on the 25th of September to join 23rd Brigade, 8th Division at Hursley Park near Winchester. After training they proceeded to France landing at Le Havre on the 5th of November 1914, a much needed reinforcement to the BEF.The 2nd Battalion remained on the Western Front throughout the conflict, seeing action at Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge and Bois Grenier during 1915, in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, in te eretreat to the the Hindenburg Line and the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, on the Somme, the Aisne, the Second Battle of Arras and the Final Advance in Artois in 1918.
4th Aug 1914 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment were in Malta when war was declared in
August 1914.
19th Sep 1914 Divisional HQ Opens
25th Sep 1914 2nd West Yorks return from Malta 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment land at Southampton on 25th of September 1914, having sailed from the garrison on Malta. They join 23rd Brigade, 8th Division, which is forming up at Hursley Park near Winchester.
25th Sep 1914 Concentration
2nd Oct 1914 Concentration
27th Oct 1914 Exercise
29th Oct 1914 Route March
30th Oct 1914 Concentration Complete
31st Oct 1914 Mud
4th Nov 1914 On the Move
5th Nov 1914 2nd West Yorks proceed to France 2nd West Yorks landed at Le Havre on the 5th of November 1914 as part of 23rd Brigade, 8th Division, forming up at Hursley Park near Winchester.
5th Nov 1914 On the Move
6th Nov 1914 Delays
7th Nov 1914 Delays
8th Nov 1914 On the Move 
9th Nov 1914 Into Billets
11th of November 1914 In the Line
13th of November 1914 Reliefs Completed
30th Dec 1914 Message
10th March 1915 The Orchard
10th Apr 1915 Orders
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
1st July 1916 2nd West Yorks in action The 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment were involved in the Great Push on the Somme on 1st July 1916 and advanced from just North of the Albert Road at La-Boisselle to attack the German positions to the West of Ovilliers La-Boisselle on this morning and suffered heavy casualties
31st Jul 1917 Attack Made
24th Nov 1917 Reliefs
7th Jan 1918 Reliefs
15th July 1918 On the March
20th July 1918 Provisional Instructions.
21st July 1918 Reliefs
2nd November 1918 Operational Orders by Captain D.R. Nelson MC.
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
|
| Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment? There are:5264 items tagged 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
|
|
Those known to have served with2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Allen William Oswald. Pte. (d.29th May 1918)
- Baker Major. Pte. (d.18th Dec 1914)
- Ballard Frank. Sgt. (d.4th Mar 1917)
- Booth Tom. L/Cpl. (d.8th November 1914)
- Brinkley Robert Franklin Plato. Pte. (d.24th July 1917)
- Browne John Clifford. Pte. (d.13th Aug 1916)
- Clark Alfred John. Sgt. (d.12 March 1917)
- Crawford Stephen. L/Cpl. (d.1st Aug 1917)
- Cunningham Jeremiah. Pte. (d.27th May 1918)
- Dorsey Patrick. Pte. (d.7th April 1916)
- Douthwaite George Edward John Gough. Pte. (d.16th Aug 1917)
- Dunn James. A/Sgt
- Farr Arthur James. (d.16th Aug 1917)
- Farrell John James. Sgt.
- Fearnley Arthur. Pte.
- Gallagher Joseph. (d.27th November 1917)
- Gray David. Pte. (d.24th March 1916)
- Gray James. Pte. (d.24th April 1918)
- Hague Arthur. Pte. (d.30 June 1916)
- Haworth Rostron. Pte. (d.31st Jul 1917)
- Hindley Charles. Pte. (d.5th Feb 1915)
- Hobson Charles. Pte (d.4th February 1915)
- Horsford Thomas Edward O'Bryen. Lt. (d.13th March 1915)
- Houston F. Pte (d.1st Aug 1917)
- Huison George Christopher . Cpl.
- Jackson Samuel. Pte. (d.27th Mar 1918)
- Kemp Frederick William. Pte.
- Lee Daniel Walter. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
- McBarron John. Pte. (d.6th April 1915)
- McRae Robert. Pte. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- Owens Walter. Cpl.
- Parry A.. Pte. (d.30th Aug 1917)
- Pinder Samuel. Pte. (d.7th Oct 1918)
- Robinson MM James Blythe. Sgt.
- Smith MM. John Taylor. 2nd Lt. (d.29th Mar 1918)
- St John William. Pte. (d.14th March 1917)
- Steven Thomas. Cpl. (d.11th Aug 1915)
- Taylor Herbert. Pte. (d.25th Sept 1915)
- Thompson Percy Laurence. Pte. (d.16th August 1917)
- Townsley Robert. Pte. (d.13th Jul 1916)
- Warren Fred Langford. 2nd Lt. (d.1st July 1916)
- Waters ernest. Pte. (d.9th Apr 1918)
- Watson Harold. L/Cpl. (d.24th Oct 1916)
- Watson Ralph Wycliffe. Pte. (d.18th Aug 1918)
- Went Clifford C.. Pte. (d.27th Mar 1918)
- Whelan MC. George. 2nd Lt. (d.16th Aug 1917)
- Whiteley John Appleby. Pte. (d.22nd Apr 1915)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment from other sources.
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
|
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our
Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.
|
Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's
Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.
|
|
Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Announcements
- 19th Nov 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
264989 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
|
World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
|
2nd Lt. John Taylor Smith MM. 2nd Btn West Yorkshire Regiment (d.29th Mar 1918) John Smith served with the 2nd and 18th Battalions, West Yorkshire Regiment He was wounded approx. 27th/28th of March around Rosieres.
He managed to get or was taken to the dressing station, but died of wounds on the 29th of March 1917.
He is buried in the CWG Cemetery at Rosieres.
|
Pte Charles Hobson 2nd Btn West Yorkshire Regiment (d.4th February 1915) Charles Hobson was my great uncle, he was my grandfather's twin brother. They joined the Army together in 1907 after talking to their older brother who was in the Army and had served in the Boer War.
Charles served with the 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment in WW1.
I had managed to retrieve service records of all three brothers but struggled for a long time and was so surprised to find out that my great uncle died within 3 months of landing in France. I have discovered that he is buried at Wimereuex, in France. I suspect that he received injuries at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle which was in December 1914 where there had been trouble with grenades and German snipers.
Nobody in my family spoke of him, only referencing my grandfather serving before 1914. I shall be travelling to the cemetery to pay my respects and I know I am the only one in my family to have done so.
Much of his military records are damaged and known as "burnt" records due to the Blitz in 1940 but I have been on various sites and although I have found no more on Charles I have since found my grandfather. He seems to have been a rogue! He has 3 full charge sheets with charges ranging from taking a mule, drunk in barracks, destroying barracks property and once when in Malta caused a disturbance in a shop. I wont say what else.
Unfortunately, for me he died when I was small. His older brother Henry who served in the Boer war was awarded the grand sum of £5.00 for serving in Africa. I wish I could have spoken to my ancestors. What stories they could tell. The Hobson family have kept their secrets well.
|
Pte. Rostron Haworth 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment (d.31st Jul 1917) Rostron Haworth attended Kirkham Grammar School in Lancashire.
He was tragically killed and was never found at Passchendaele (or 3rd Battle of Ypres) on 31st of July 1917. He was 24 when he died.
Rostron was a Private in the 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment. He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium. He was the son of Emmett and Mary Annie Haworth of Lytham, Lancs.
He is remembered on the Cenotaph in Lytham Square with other WW1 soldiers who died.
|
Pte. Arthur Fearnley 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment Arthur Fearnley was wounded while serving with the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment. He was treated at the East Leeds War Hospital (now the Thackray Museum) and then sent to Wharton Hall in Skelton to convalesce where he met his wife to be, Ada Alice Peat.
|
Pte. James Gray 2nd Btn West Yorkshire Regiment (d.24th April 1918) My great Uncle James Gray who died 24th of April 1918 and has no known grave.
His name is remembered at the Pozieres Memorial
|
Sgt. John James Farrell 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment John Farrell is my 2nd great uncle. He joined the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment around 1904 when they were stationed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 2nd West Yorkshire's were stationed in Malta when WW1 broke out. They were shipped back to England before embarking ships to France.
The West Yorkshire Regiment were involved in some of the bloodiest battles during WW1. Jack somehow came through the whole war and decided to re-join the Regiment after the war. He was awarded a GSM with the clasp Kurdistan in 1920's with his new rank of Sergeant. The family is unsure what happened to him after his army service.
|
Pte. Percy Laurence Thompson 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment (d.16th August 1917) Percy Thompson was my grandfather. He died during the Third battle of Ypres serving his country, leaving behind twin baby girls. As part of the 8th Division he advanced and they achieved their objective. Unfortunately, the right and left flanks stalled and the battalion took a pounding, suffering many casualties. My grandfather was one of them. Although I never knew him I am proud of him and am commemorating the centenary of his death.
|
Sgt. James Blythe Robinson MM 2nd Btn., A Coy. West Yorkshire Regiment James Robinson was with 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment when it was called back from Malta in September 1914. He embarked for France with the Regiment on 4th November 1914 - arriving in Le Havre on 5th November.
James served in action in France from 13th November 1914 until wounded by gunshot in the lower body in the Battle of Albert in July 1916. He was treated at the 3rd Casualty Clearing Unit on 2nd of July.
Above and beyond usual service medals James was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery in the field - notification appearing in the London Gazette in November 1916. James survived the war and lived in England until his death in 1968.
|
Cpl. George Christopher Huison 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment George Huison was captured on 27th march 1918 near Rosieres (Rosieres-en-Santerre) east of Amiens and south of the Amiens-St Quentin road. He was captured during the German spring offensive (Kaiserschlacht) and was sent to Gustrow. George was released in November 1918.
|
Pte. Clifford C. Went 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment (d.27th Mar 1918) Clifford Went is remembered on the Pozieres Memorial.
|
Pte. Daniel Walter Lee 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (d.1st July 1916) Daniel Lee was born on the 8th of September 1881 in Birmingham, Warwickshire. He married Amelia Rook (b.1882 in Broom, Bedfordshire) in 1907 in Biggleswade. They had three children,
John Frederick b.1907, Walter b.1910
and Margaret A. b.1913 in Barnsley. Daniel served with the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment and lost his life on the 1st of July 1916 aged 35 years. He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, the Monk Bretton War Memorial and the St Paul's Church, WW1 Memorial Tablet and WW1 Memorial Book
Amelia went on to marry to John Walsh in 1919 in Barnsley and lived until 1967.
|
Pte. Robert Franklin Plato Brinkley 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (d.24th July 1917) Robert Brinkley joined the 2nd Btn West Yorkshire Regiment aged just 15. He lied about his age as many did. He was killed on the 24th July 1917 age 18. The youngest son of Alice and the late Plato Brinkley.
|
Pte. Patrick Dorsey Second Battalion Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire (d.7th April 1916) Four generations will visit Patrick Dorsey's grave in June to commemorate his great sacrifice. It will be the centenary of this tragic loss of life. A wasted generation of men who fought courageously so that freedom would be ours.
|
Pte. George Edward John Gough Douthwaite 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment (d.16th Aug 1917) George Edward John Gough Douthwaite was my great uncle (my grandfather's brother). He joined the 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment in 1916 aged 18 years. He died on 16th August aged 19 years at the Battle of Langemarck, known as the Third Battle of Ypres, part of the Passchendaele battles.
We have just returned from Belgium, visiting the Tyne Cot cemetery and memorial. There are nearly 12,000 war graves from WW1 and nearly 35,000 with no known graves named on the memorial panels. I'm pleased to say we found his name on the memorial wall, bringing home a nostalgic reminder of the sad events of WW1.
|
L/Cpl. Stephen Crawford 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment (d.1st Aug 1917) Stephen Crawford was my great great grandfather. His name is on the Menin Gate and he has no burial. I would love to find out more about him and try to identify where he died.
|
Lt. Thomas Edward O'Bryen Horsford 2nd Btn West Yorkshire Regiment (d.13th March 1915) Lt Thomas O'Bryen Horsford was born in 1892. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School between 1902 and 1907. He entered Sandhurst in 1912 and was gazetted to the West Yorkshire Regiment in February 1914. He was wounded in December and spent some time home on sick leave. Returning to the front, he was severely wounded during the battle of Neuve Chapelle and died on March 13th.
|
Pte. Charles Hindley 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (d.5th Feb 1915) Today 5th Feb 2014 is the centenary 'anniversary' death of Charles Hindley my Great Great Uncle. It is strange to think of him as being a great great uncle when images of an elderly man would come to mind. Charles Hindley didn't get 'old' and he has no direct descendants to remember him for when he died he was 24 years old and single.
Charles Hindley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire to Tom Hindley and Rebecca Pinkney on the 27 Apr 1890. He was the 8th child from 12 and the second of 3 sons, all of whom served for King & Country. Tom Hindley, his father was a bricklayer who died in a tragic accident while working 'up North' in Sunderland in 1905. Life would not have been easy for his mother, Rebecca, who had also suffered the loss of 4 of her children.
Both Charles and his brother, Henry Thomas Hindley (my Great Grandfather), appear to have 'joined' up relatively early both opting for the West Yorkshire Battalion, Charles to the 2nd Btn. and Henry initially to the 1st Btn. Military records (service and pension) for both brothers are 'missing', most likely destroyed after a fire during WW2 bombings.
However, from photographs and regiment records along with medals I can assume that when war broke out Charles was serving in Malta. On the 14 September 1914 his regiment embarked for the UK landing at Southampton on the 25 September 1914 where they joined with the 23rd Bde. 8th Div at Hursley Park, Winchester. Charles and the 2nd West Yks were posted to France and arrived in Le Havre on the 5 Nov 1914.
Charles Hindley was shot through the head and died instantly in France on February 5th 1915 near Lille and is buried in Rue-Du-Bacquerot No.1 Military Cemetery, Laventie. This is a small cemetery at the back of a farm, well cared for by the C.W.G.C. I was fortunate enough to have visited a couple of years ago and wish that I could have been there today.
Charles death was recorded in the local newspaper and from it came some 'comforting' news. Corp. Henry Thomas Hindley wrote home to his family that Charles had died painlessly and that on the 23rd Dec 1914 the two brothers had met accidentally in the trenches. They hadn't seen each other for 5 years! I wonder if they took part in one of the Christmas truce football matches?
Henry Thomas Hindley survived the war as did his younger brother Harold Hindley.
To Charles Hindley, today I remember you and so long as there is breath in me I shall not forget.
|
Arthur James Farr 2nd Btn. Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment (d.16th Aug 1917) Arthur Farr died in the Third Battle for Ypres.
|
Pte. David Gray 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (d.24th March 1916) David Gray was my grandmother's first husband. No relation to me but as I was given his name I felt obliged to look him up. His wife remarried and had two more children one of whom was my mother. Isabella died 3rd of October 1959 a very bitter woman having never received a penny from the Earl Haig Fund and having to bring up three orphans.
|
Pte. ernest "Props" Waters 25th Btn. Northumberland Fusileers (d.9th Apr 1918) Sorry don't know much but would like to know more.
Editor's Note:- Private 35732 Ernest Waters, of the 25th Northumberland Fusiliers, was formerly Private 50314 of the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment.
At the time of his death, his Battalion were involved in the Battle of Lys (also known as the Lys Offensive or the 4th Battle of Ypres). Its losses were so great that, following the battle, the Division was reduced to cadre strength and moved from the front line. He has no known grave but is commemorated on Panet 2 of the Ploegsteert Memorial.
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
.jpg)
Site Home
Help & FAQs
