8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment

   8th (Service) Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment was raised at Pontefract in September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Third Army and joined the 70th Brigade in 23rd Division. They undertook training at Frensham, Aldershot, Hythe and Bordon Before proceeding to France. They landed at Boulogne on the 27th of August 1915 and in October 1915 they transferred with the 70th Brigade to the 8th Division. On the 17 July 1916 they returned to the 23rd Division and saw action on The Sommein The Battle of Albert including the capture of Contalmaison, The Battles of Bazentin Ridge, Pozieres, Flers-Courcelette, Morval and The Battle of Le Transloy including the capture of Le Sars. In 1917 they fought in The Battle of Messines, The Battles of the Menin Road, Polygon Wood and the The First and Second Battles of Passchendaele. In November 1917 the Division moved to Italy concentrating between Mantua and Marcaria before taking over the front line at the Montello on the 4th of December. In 1918 they were in action during the fighting on the Asiago Plateau and the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, including the passage of the Piave and the Monticano. At the Italian Armistice at 3pm on the 4th of November, the 23rd were midway between the Rivers Livenza and Meduna, east of Sacile. They moved to billets west of Treviso and demobilisation took place in January and February 1919.

Sep 1914 8th Battalion Yorks and Lancs raised  York and Lancaster Regiment 8th Battalion was raised at Pontefract in September 1914 as part of Kitcheners Third Army and joined 70th Brigade, 23rd Division. They moved to Frensham for training.

Nov 1914 8th Yorks & Lancs to Aldershot  The 8th Yorks and Lancs leave Frensham and move to Aldershot in November 1914.

Feb 1915 8th Yorks & Lancs to Hythe  The 8th Yorks and Lancs leave Aldershot for Hythe in February 1915

May 1915 Move  8th Yorks and Lancs depart from Hythe in May for Bordon Camp. Bordon had expensive ranges and was used for final weaponry preparation for active service using live ammunition using rifles, machine and Lewis Guns, Mortars, bombs and explosives.

27th Aug 1915 8th Yorks & Lancs proceed to France

16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme

18th Oct 1915 8th Yorks & Lancs join 8th Division  8th Yorks and Lancs transfer with 70th Brigade to 8th Division.

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

10th Feb 1916 Instruction

14th Feb 1916 Instruction

4th Apr 1916 70th Infrantry Brigade prepare for battle  On the 4th April 1916, in preparation for the coming battle, the 8th Division moved up to the Le Boisselle-Thiepval sector, the 8th Battalion York & Lancaster occupying trenches to the left of the sector in front of Authuile Wood, periodically withdrawing to reserve at Albert. The ground occupied by the 8th Division was the most difficult of the whole front, no-man’s land being exceptionally wide and the attack of the 70th Brigade would have to be made beneath the southern spur of the Thiepval salient which was commanded in enfilade by the Germans.

30th Jun 1916 Move up

1st July 1916 8th Yorks and Lancs at the Battle of The Somme  Plans had long been in place for the great offensive along the line of the River Somme to draw the Germans away from Verdun to the East and so relieve the beleaguered French forces there. Despite what many people have been told about the Somme battle, it was never intended to be a war-winning campaign. It had clearly defined strategic aims, and in many respects was successful, it’s failures are extremely complex and outside the scope of this article. That it has become a by-word for failure and incompetence is, in my opinion, unfair. The huge and terrible loss of life has blinded us to any other interpretation but it is pertinent to remember that a German Staff Officer described the Somme as ‘the muddy grave of the German Field Army’.
After the artillery barrage lifted, the battalions began their assault near the village of Ovillers at 7.30am, 1st July 1916. Immediately after leaving their trenches the battalion came under heavy machine gun fire and most of the men were killed or wounded. The remainder carried on and took the enemy front line trenches and about 70 men eventually reached as far as the third line of German trenches, but only one man returned from there! What was left of the battalion remained fighting in the first line of trenches until overwhelmed. Such was the ferocity of the fighting that the Germans were forced to move extra troops in to face the 70th Brigade and this enabled other British units to make significant advances.
The 8th York and Lancaster Regiment took 680 men and 23 Officers over the parapet, all the Officers were either killed or wounded and of the battalion only 68 returned. The battalion had effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit and was withdrawn that evening. The 8th K.O.Y.L.I.’s losses were only marginally less.

14th September 1916 15th Division attack

31st of December 1916 8th Yorks Relieved

24th of January 1917 Yorks and Lancs Relieved

7th Jun 1917 8th Yorks and Lancs in action  8th Yorks and Lancs are in action at the Battle of Messines from 7th to 14th June 1917

17th Jul 1916 8th Yorks & Lancs rejoin 23rd Division  8th Yorks and Lancs return to 23rd Division with 70th Brigade from 8th Division.

Nov 1917 23rd Division to Italy  8th Yorks and Lancs with 23rd Division move to Italy.

2nd Jan 1918 Fatigues and Football

5th Apr 1918 Change of Billets

12th May 1918 Training & Sports

26th May 1918 Baths

19th Sep 1918 Reliefs

29th Oct 1918 Advance

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment?

There are:5258 items tagged 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster 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 with
8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Adams MM. Frederick. L/Cpl. (d.30th Sep 1917)
Allen Thomas Freeth. Pte. (d.6th Jan 1917)
Andrews Horace Gibson. Capt. (d.7th June 1917)
Baines MM. Henry. Pte
Barham Charles Frederick. Pte. (d.9th Apr 1917)
Barstow M.M. Leonard. Cpl.
Biggin Robert Rowland. Pte (d.1st July 1916)
Biggs James. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Brock George Edward. Pte (d.12th Oct 1917)
Bromage Herbert Thomas. L/Cpl.
Brown John. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Brunyee Horace Henry. Pte. (d.5th Oct 1915)
Bucktrout MM & bar. Robert. Sgt.
Bullock Edwin. Sgt. (d.9th April 1917)
Burgin Harvey. Pte. (d.27th Apr 1916)
Cutts John. Pte. (d.30th Sep 1917)
Dodsworth Albert. Cpl. (d.17th September 1917)
Douthwaite Robert Christopher Morris. Lt. (d.19th June 1919)
Earnshaw John William. Sgt. (d.1st July 1916)
Ewers Charles Richard. Pte. (d.14th Apr 1917)
Farbe Nathan. Pte.
Gordon Richard Smith. A/Cpl. (d.21st Oct 1917)
Haggar Wilfred. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Haggas Graverra. L/Cpl. (d.7th Jun 1917)
Haggas Traverra. L/Cpl. (d.7th June 1917)
Harris Arthur. Pte.
Haynes William George. Pte.
Hobson James Farewell. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Hodgkinson William Henry. LaL/Cpl. (d.1st July 1916)
Holt John. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Humphries Samuel. Cpl. (d.8th Jun 1917)
Ingham Ernest. Sgt. (d.1st Jul 1916)
Lucas Ernest Henry Austin. 2nd Lt (d.7th Jun 1917)
Maiden Walter. (d.1st July 1916)
Millward Ernest. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Mitchell Leonard. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1917)
Nicholson Charles B.. Pte. (d.27th Oct 1917)
Nixon Humphrey. Pte. (d.10th Apr 1917)
Park Horace. Pte (d.17th Sep 1917)
Parrott William Henry. Pte.
Powers Leslie Lodmore. Pte (d.22nd Apr 1917)
Pryce-Jones Reginald. 2nd Lt. (d.19th Oct 1917)
Reeves MM. Edward. Pte. (d.9th Oct 1917)
Rhodes Horace William. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Roberts Samuel. Pte. (d.29th Jul 1916)
Savage Matthew. Pte. (d.7th June 1917)
Smith Samuel. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Totty William. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
Wainer Arthur. Pte. (d.2nd October 1917)
Walton Herbert. Pte. (d.18th August 1916)
Ward William Henry. L/Cpl. (d.1st July 1916)
Watmough Fred. Pte. (d.7th Oct 1915)
Wells Charles William. Pte.
White Aubrey Cecil. 2Lt. (d.1st July 1916)
Wigley DCM MID William Ernest. CSM
Woolley Walter. Pte (d.15th September 1916)
Wroe DCM Frank. CSM.

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 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster 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.

Pte. Horace Henry Brunyee 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.5th Oct 1915)

Horace Brunyee was a private in World War I and he was killed in action on 5th of October 1915. He served in the 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment.
Lisa Griffith

Add to this record.

Pte. Samuel Roberts 8th Btn. York & Lancaster Regiment (d.29th Jul 1916)

Samuel Roberts was a great great uncle of mine that died in the battle of Somme on the 29th of July 1916 at the age of 31.
His parents was Hannah & William Roberts, they lived in Sheffield on Bailey street and he is buried in France.
June Morton

Add to this record.

Pte. John Cutts 1/8th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (d.30th Sep 1917)

My great grandfather John Cutts died in WW1. Earlier this year I visited his wargrave at Hoogecrater Cemetery, Belgium I would love to find out his journey that led him to this place. RIP great grandad x
Paul Cutts

Add to this record.

Pte Henry Baines MM. 8th Btn York and Lancaster Regiment

Henry Baines served with the 8th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment in WW1.
Gary Whittingham

Add to this record.

2Lt. Aubrey Cecil White 8th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Aubrey White served with the 8th York and Lancaster Regiment.
Owen McDonough

Add to this record.

Cpl. Samuel Humphries 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.8th Jun 1917)

Sam Humphries was engaged to be married to my grandmother, Phyllis Chambers.

Add to this record.

Pte. Harvey Burgin 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.27th Apr 1916)

Harvey Burgin was my Grandma's brother who was married to Doris May Burgin now deceased. My Grandma's married name was Sidebottom and nearly all the family lived in Wentworth or Thorpe Hesley. Many of the older generation worked at Wentworth, Woodhouse.
Harvey is buried in Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery.
Barbara Saunders

Add to this record.

Pte. John Brown 8th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

John Brown of 13th Platoon, D Coy, 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was a Stokes Mortar gunner. He was reported missing on 1st July 1916 and has no known grave, though his Discs were returned to his family.
John had joined up underage, he was born on 11th of August 1898. A letter and his birth certificate were sent to Rugeley Camp and was birth certificate returned to family on 23rd February 1916. However, he was still sent to France in May 1916 and was deployed to the front line. We have a letter stamped by War Office in York on 15th of July 1916.
His niece is my mother-in-law, Margaret whose mother was John's sister Daisy Brown.
John Morrell

Add to this record.

Pte. Horace William "William" Rhodes 8th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Horace Rhodes was known as William, he served with 8th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment and enlisted in Pontefract on on 23rd September 1915. He was born in 1888 in Knottingley, his parents were Barnabas and Mary Ann Rhodes. William was killed in action on 1st July 1916 and has no known grave, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. A Handwritten note on the medal card says: 'Missing 1st of July 1916' and 'Served in France'.
Danny Lane

Add to this record.

Capt. Horace Gibson Andrews 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.7th June 1917)

Horace Andrews was born 1890 was the son of Gibson & Emma Andrews, Park Street, Woburn, Bedfordshire. He served with the 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment and was killed in action on 7th of June 1917 during the Battle of Messines and is buried in Bedford House Cemetery, Belgium. He is remembered on the War Memorial Woburn, Bedfordshire A pupil of Bedford Modern School 1905-06, he is commemorated on the Schools War Memorial, which was unveiled in 1923 and in the Roll of Honour, published in The Eagle, December 1923, The Old Boys of this School who, as in duty bound, laid down their lives in a great cause. His younger brother Private Raymond Gibson Andrews served with the 1st/14th |London Regiment and was killed in action on 1st July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Information courtesy of www.roll-of-honour.com
Caroline Hunt

Add to this record.

Pte. Samuel Smith 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Samuel Smith was a coal miner from Worsbrough Common when he joined the York and Lancaster Regiment Reserves at the start of the war. He was reported killed or missing in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He wasn't married and lived with his parents Mary and Samuel Smith snr.
Caroline Coffey

Add to this record.

Pte. Nathan Farbe 8th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment

My grandfather Nathan Farbe left Russia and came to England some short time before the First World War. He lived in London. In 1916 he joined the British Army. He served in France from the later stages of the Battle of the Somme and continued on the western front through the 3rd Battle of Ypres. He saw out the war on the Italian front. He was demobbed in Malta. In 1919 he was awarded Britain citizenship. His naturalisation papers contain a curious point. He had come to Britain from Lodz which before the war was Russian but after Versailles became Poland. His papers have his nationality as Russian crossed out and replaced with Polish. I am very proud of my grandfather who came as a refugee and fought for Britain.
Malcolm Goldwater

Add to this record.

Pte. William George Haynes 8th Btn., B Coy. York & Lancaster Regiment

William Haynes served with the 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. He was admitted to hospital on the 25th of May 1918 suffering from Inflammation of connective tissue, legs. I am looking for any information, photos and/or stories about my grandad. He died in 1944 when his children were young, so very little is known about him.
Carle Haynes

Add to this record.

Sgt. John William Earnshaw 8th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Today I became the custodian of my great grandad's medals (Pip, Squeak and Wilfred). They were awarded posthumously after the war. My Grandfather was only 3 months old when his father was killed so he never knew him. In 1939, my grandfather attempted to sign up to avenge the death of his father, but being a coalminer and reserved occupation, his application was denied. The only closure he got was when I took him to the "Adanac" cemetery in France, ironically, the date by pure chance was July 1st.
Holly Ruston

Add to this record.

Sgt. Robert Bucktrout MM & bar. 1st Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment

Robert Bucktrout was my great grandfather. He was a reservist at the beginning of the war, also working as a fireman for the Yorkshire Main Colliery. He served 17.5 years in the army, having been called up straightaway. He was discharged from the army on 12th March 1919.
He landed in Belgium on 7th of August 1914. Robert served throughout the war and was gassed twice at Hill 60 and Albert. His medical records show that he was hospitalised on Christmas Day 1914 for a gunshot wound. He was also hospitalised on 27th April 1915 for a gunshot wound to his right hand and a bayonet wound to his ankle.
He was awarded the MM in 1917 (I think, when he was lance-corporal) and the bar later that year (Gazette date - 21st August 17, p8642). His brother, George, was also the recipient of an MM.
Robert died in 1925 from the effects of gas poisoning (his brother George, having been invalided out of the army and awarded the Silver War medal predeceased him by four years).
Debbie Lawrie

Add to this record.

Walter "Pte." Maiden 8th Btn. Yorks and Lancs Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Pte Walter Maiden took part in the Battle of the Somme and was killed in action on 1st July 1916, aged 23. His body was found in 1932 and his wrist watch and dog tag sent to his mother in 1932.
Walter was the son of George Edwin and Susannah Maiden of 2 Berwick's Yard, Holly Bush Street, Rotherham.
Tommy

Add to this record.

Pte. Ernest Millward 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Ernest Millward was killed in action on 1st July 1916. He served with the 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. Ernest is buried at Blighty Valley Cemetery, Authville Wood, France.

Add to this record.

Pte. Thomas Freeth Allen 6th Btn. Prince of Wales Own (West Yorks) Regiment (d.6th Jan 1917)

Thomas Allen served with the 8th Btn York and Lancaster Regiment, transferring later to 6th Btn Prince of Wales' Own (West Yorks) Regiment. He died of wounds on 6th January 1917. He is buried at Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery.

Add to this record.

Pte. Herbert Walton 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.18th August 1916)

Herbert Walton is remembered at the Ploegsteert Memorial.

Add to this record.

Pte. William Henry Parrott 8th Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment

Bill Parrott possibly signed up in November 1916. He served in France with the 8th Battalion from February 1917. Also served with the 9th and 1/4 Battalions. Possibly wounded whilst during battle. Later transferred to Labour Corps and Royal Fusiliers. He was demobilised in May 1919. Prior to (and after) the war he was a miner. Bill died in 1980.
Mark Keeling

Add to this record.

Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.

Beneath Hill 60 [DVD]

BENEATH HILL 60 tells the extraordinary true story of Oliver Woodward, the legendary Australian metal scientist. In 1916, Woodward faced the most difficult decision, ultimately having to separate from his new young love for the deadly carnage of the Western Front. On treacherous territory, behind the German enemy lines, Woodward and his secret platoon of Australian tunnelers face a suicidal battle to defend a leaking, tunnel system. A tunnel packed with enough high explosives to change the course of the War.

More information on:

$\image of book cover$

Beneath Hill 60 [DVD]

Hill 60: Ypres (Battleground Europe)

Nigel Cave

The shell-ravaged landscape of Hill 60, some three miles south east of Ypres, conceals a labyrinth of tu nnels and underground workings. This book offers a guide to the memorials, cemeteries and museums at the site '

More information on:

$\image of book cover$

Hill 60: Ypres (Battleground Europe)

Beneath Hill 60 [Paperback]

Will Davies

'Ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one - fire! Down goes the firing switch. At first, nothing. Then from deep down there comes a low rumble, and it as if the world is spliting apart...' On 7th June 1917, nineteen massive mines exploded beneath Messines Ridge near Ypres. The largest man-made explosion in history up until that point shattered the landscape and smashed open the German lines. Ten thousand German soldiers died. Two of the mines - at Hill 60 and the Caterpillar - were fired by men of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company, comprising miners and engineers rather than parade-ground soldiers. Drawing on the diaries of one of the key combatants, "Benealth Hill 60" tells the little-known, devastatingly brutal true story of this subterranean war waged beneath the Western Front - a stygian battle-ground where men drowned in viscous chalk, suffocated in the blue gray clay, choked on poisonous air or died in the darkness, caught up up in vicious hand-to-han

More information on:

$\image of book cover$

Beneath Hill 60 [Paperback]

Links

Suggest a link

The Wartime Memories Project - 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment during the Great War -

8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment

Want to know more about 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment?

Those known to have served with8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regimentduring the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment during the Great War -

Those known to have served with
8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
during the Great War 1914-1918.