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6th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards)
6th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) was a Territorial unit formed in 1938. They served with 69th Brigade, in 23rd (Northumbrian) Division and later as part of 50th Division. They saw action in the Battle of France, in North Africa, Sicily and North West Europe.
4th Sep 1939 On Guard
10th Sep 1939 HQ Established
19th Oct 1939 Civil Defence
4th Mar 1940 Course
9th Mar 1940 Orders
10th Mar 1940 Information Received
11th Mar 1940 Advance Party
10th Apr 1940 On the Move
12th Apr 1940 Lecture
13th Apr 1940 On the Move
14th Apr 1940 On the Move
21st Apr 1940 On the Move
22nd Apr 1940 On the Move
24th Apr 1940 On the Move
25th Apr 1940 On the Move
27th Apr 1940 On the Move
1st May 1940 On the Move
2nd May 1940 Aerodromes
10th May 1940 Air Raids
10th May 1940 Air Raid
12th May 1940 Defence
12th May 1940 Messages
13th May 1940 Orders 
16th May 1940 Defence
17th May 1940 Defences Prepared
17th May 1940 Orders
18th May 1940 On the Move
18th May 1940 Enemy Active
18th May 1940 Bridges
19th May 1940 In Defence
20th May 1940 Defensive Positions
20th May 1940 No Withdrawal
20th May 1940 Orders
20th of May 1940 On the Move
21st May 1940 Orders
21st May 1940 Orders
21st May 1940 Orders
21st May 1940 Intelligence
21st of May 1940 Retreat
22nd May 1940 On the Move
23rd May 1940 Orders
25th May 1940 Orders
28th May 1940 Withdrawal
29th May 1940 On the Beach
30th May 1940 Evacuation
2nd Jun 1940 Orders
3rd Jun 1940 Reception Camp
14th Jun 1940 Divisional HQ Moves
15th Jun 1940 On the Move
15th Jun 1940 Reorganisation
17th Jun 1940 Reorganisation
18th Jun 1940 Reorganisation
20th Jun 1940 Instructions
21st Jun 1940 Instructions
Jul 1940 Beach Defence
Nov 1940 On the Move
20th Jul 1941 On the Move
5th Aug 1941 On the Move
4th Nov 1941 On the Move
18th Jan 1942 On the Move
10th Feb 1942 On the Move
14th Jun 1942 On the Move
13th Dec 1942 Advance
6th Apr 1943
23rd Apr 1943 To Camp
6th May 1943 On the Move
28th of June 1943 Orders
28th of June 1943 Ferry Services
7th Jul 1943 On the Move
10th Jul 1943 Invasion of Sicily
7th Aug 1943 On the Move
17th Oct 1943 On the Move
5th Nov 1943 On the Move
Jan 1944 Training
Mar 1944 Orders
17th Apr 1944 Exercise
18th Apr 1944 Exercise Ends
4th May 1944 Exercise
11th May 1944 Conference
13th May 1944 Inspection
15th May 1944 Training
29th May 1944 Embarkation
 Troops from 6th or 7th Battalion The Green Howards, 69th Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division, embarking onto the LSI SS Empire Lance at Southampton, 29th of May 1944. IWM (B 5237)
29th May 1944 Embarkation
1st Jun 1944 On the Move
1st Jun 1944 Preparations
3rd Jun 1944 On the Move
5th Jun 1944 Orders
6th Jun 1944 In Action
6th Jun 1944 Almost to Plan
6th Jun 1944 In Action
6th Jun 1944 Landing
6th Jun 1944 Obstacles
6th Jun 1944 Assault
6th Jun 1944 Landing
6th Jun 1944 Advance
6th Jun 1944 The Rising Tide
6th Jun 1944 Landing
6th Jun 1944 Objective Taken
6th Jun 1944 Landing
6th Jun 1944 Pill Box
6th Jun 1944 Communications
6th Jun 1944 Behind Schedule
7th Jun 1944 Advance
7th Jun 1944 Advance
7th Jun 1944 Objectives
7th Jun 1944 Objectives Taken
7th Jun 1944 Advance
7th Jun 1944 Opposition
7th Jun 1944 Farm Captured
8th Jun 1944 In Action
8th Jun 1944 Consolidation
10th Jun 1944 Enemy Active
11th Jun 1944 Prisoners
11th Jun 1944 Attack Made
11th Jun 1944 Reliefs
11th June 1944 Enemy Strongpoint
11th Jun 1944 Counter Attack
12th Jun 1944 At Rest
12th Jun 1944 Reliefs
17th Jun 1944 Advance
17th Jun 1944 Attack Made
18th Jun 1944 Advance
19th Jun 1944 In Action
20th Jun 1944 Conference
20th Jun 1944 Under Fire
21st Jun 1944 Poor Conditions
25th Jun 1944 Praise
27th Jun 1944 In Action
26th Sep 1944 Attack Made
1st Oct 1944 Advance
2nd Oct 1944 Air Raids
4th Oct 1944 Orders
5th Oct 1944 Objectives Taken
7th Oct 1944 Orders Cancelled
8th Oct 1944 Moves
11th Oct 1944 Orders
15th Oct 1944 Very Wet
16th Oct 1944 Orders
14th Dec 1944 On the Move
If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.
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Those known to have served with 6th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Barton Frederick. Pte. (d.27th Jun 1944)
- Beever Andy. Pte.
- Charlton Douglas. Pte.
- Dixon MBE. George William. RSM.
- Dosdale Arthur Robert. Pte.
- Harris Alfred. Pte. (d.9th Aug 1944)
- Honeyman MC. Frederick Harvey . Mjr. (d.11th Jun 1944)
- Hoult Frank. Pte. (d.16th Mar 1943)
- Hughes MC J.. Major
- Lambeth William Ernest. Pte. (d.6th June 1944)
- Lowey Richard. Pte.
- Myers George Leslie. Pte. (d.28th June 1942)
- Peach Ben. Pte
- Rose Norman. L/Cpl. (d.15th November 1944)
- Watson John. Pte. (d.9th Sep 1944)
- Wilson James. Pte. (d.6th April 1943)
- Wright Arnold. Pte. (d.11th Jun 1944)
The 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 6th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) from other sources.
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Want to know more about 6th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards)? There are:1457 items tagged 6th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Pte. Andy Beever 6th Btn. Kings Own Scottish Borderers Andy Beever was posted to 6th King's Own Scottish Borderers on the 10th of December 1944. Previously, on 6th of June 1944, he had landed at Gold beach with the 6th Green Howards of the 50th Northumbrian Division. The landing craft he was in got held up on obstacles, resulting in the troops being discharged farther from shore than planned. Andy was immediately plunged into water above his depth. The weight of equipment he carried did not allow him to rise above the surface to take a breath. Were it not for a burly Scot behind him who held Andy up until he touched bottom again, he would not have survived the first few minutes of the landing.
Andy survived the war and raised a family in New Zealand with his Dutch bride.
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Pte. Frank Hoult 6th Btn. Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) (d.16th Mar 1943) Frank Hoult seerved with the 6th Btn. Green Howards.
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Pte. Alfred Harris 6th Btn. Green Howards (d.9th Aug 1944) Alfred Harris served with the 6th Green Howards. I have no other information or even a photo of this man.
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L/Cpl. Norman Rose 6th Btn. Green Howards (d.15th November 1944) Norman Rose was my great uncle. He was wounded I believe in the area around Bemmel between Nijmegen and Arnhem. He later died of his wounds and is buried in Jonkerbos Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery.
The family story is that Norman and his brother John were crossing a bridge when there was an incident and Norman was wounded but John was OK. None of his surviving brothers would tell me how Norman was wounded and what happened after he was wounded. As yet, my research has not revealed the answer.
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Pte. William Ernest Lambeth 6th Btn Green Howards (d.6th June 1944) William Lambeth served with 6th Battalion, Green Howards.
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RSM. George William Dixon MBE. 6 Btn. Green Howards      At the outbreak of WW2 George Dixon held the position of CQMS. The 6th Battalion Green Howards formed a part of the BEF which were driven back to Dunkirk. George recounted stories of being up to his neck in water waiting to be taken off while the Luftwaffe shot at them.
Reforming in UK, he continued to serve with 6 Btn through North Africa, including the battles at Wadi Akarit and El Alamein. He told two stories of his time in North Africa - being very impressed with the solar compass fastened to the 4 tonners - going out from the lines for a night time walk, being impressed with the clear starry sky then becoming lost, before finally recovering his way back to a different position of the lines where, providing the correct password, he was told that he just walked through a defensive minefield.
The invasion of Sicily followed - George told a story of the men being allowed to rest and dry off in the olive groves during a lull where fires were lit and someone came along and entertained the men with his singing. My father-in-law, William Smith RM Commando, much later told a similar story because he was the man who entertained with his singing and a GH who produced a guitar (the two men never met, George passing away in 1980 some years before I encountered Bill).
Pulled back to the UK in preparation for the Normandy landings, he told another story of the practice landings in Scotland - he was by now appointed RSM - during the first practice assault, with live fire from supporting naval guns, having come ashore, the CO asked him which direction they should go and produced a map and compass - neither the CO nor the RSM found that they could not read the map nor use the compass - a rapid course of map reading, etc, followed.
At the Normandy landings on Gold Beach, as RSM he was given the honour of carrying the Regimental Colours ashore in the first wave - there is film footage of this event recently shown on TV which the commentator confirmed as being Gold Beach - this had been a story in the family for many years.
He also had a story of the beach landings as follows. Waiting to come ashore in the landing craft with the men, many were sick with the pounding they received from the sea, others had to urinate, but as RSM despite having a need he provided the example by holding on himself. Ashore and charging up the beach he took the opportunity to shelter behind a large concrete block to relieve himself after dumping all the kit and ammunition he was carrying. As he was urinating there was an explosion back where his kit and ammo had been dumped - finishing he came to pick it up to find that it had all been blown up my a mortar shell.
During the push inland, he was blown up by another mortar shell and wounded in the shoulder with shrapnel - that wound was basically treated and he continued his duties (as a young man raised by George, my grandfather, he had a very soft hump on his right shoulder where the shrapnel was still embedded - this was finally removed during an operation at North Ormesby Hospital round about 1956/7 or thereabouts.
He continued with the battalion to the "Island" where it became bogged down by the enemy defending the route to the Nijmegen Bridge. He told a story of his time there when the battalion was desperately short of ammunition and orders were issued for everyone to make the noise of magazines being loaded, bayonets being fixed and other general noise, to convince the enemy that an attack may be coming.
From stories I picked up as a child, confirmed by my late mother many years later, he volunteered, as a good swimmer, with a couple of other similarly skilled soldiers, to swim down one of the canals pushing a raft past the enemy to reach allied lines, load the raft with ammunition, and then swim back with it to replenish the battalion.
After the "Island" the battalion were pulled back to Britain, and ultimately disbanded as the war came to a close.
He accepted being transferred and rebadged to 50 BOD, based in Cyprus and subsequently in Egypt until 1949 when he was required to return to the UK for family reasons, finishing his regular service.
He spent many years afterwards as RSM to the NRACF Green Howards and was based in Middlesbrough - I saw him in uniform at a Regimental Parade at an annual camp at Brancepeth round about 1957/8 and last saw him associated with the ACF in 1963 as a guest steward at Hornsea annual camp.
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Pte. Richard Lowey 6th Btn. Green Howards Richard Lowey served with 6th Battalion, Green Howards. He was wounded on the 13th of May 1943 in the Western Desert and taken as a POW. Sadly I cannot find out which camp or POW area he was held or how he was injured.
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Pte. Douglas Charlton 6th Btn. Green Howards Doug Charlton took part in the rear guard action near Dunkirk and was eventually evacuated from the beach and returned home. He fought with his battalion in the Middle East and was captured at Mersa Matruh in North Africa.
As a prisoner of war in Italy he escaped after the Italian Armistice in September 1943 and made his way up into the mountains of Northern Italy above Turin. He lived and worked with Italian partisans for eight months before being recaptured by the Germans.
Doug was sent to Stalag 339 at Trieste for 'questioning' before being transferred to Stalag VII-A at Mooseburg in Bavaria. He remained there until American forces liberated the camp in 1945.
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Pte. Arthur Robert Dosdale 6th Battalion Green Howards My father, Arthur Dosdale was wounded in Tunisia in 1943.
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Mjr. Frederick Harvey Honeyman MC. 6th Btn. Green Howards (d.11th Jun 1944) Major Frederick Honeyman was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry when the Green Howard's landed in Normandy on the 6th of June 1944.
He was commanding A Company of the 6th Battalion at La Riviere when he earned the Military Cross. He led an attack on an enemy position guarded by seven pillboxes and defended by soldiers by throwing grenades over a six-foot wall. Although he was hit in the arm and leg by splinters, his citation records how he ‘restored the impetus of the attack and took the position, killing or capturing all the enemy.
But five days later he was killed as he tried to rescue some of the wounded men from his company who were trapped in a wood. Under severe fire he went alone towards another British position to try and enlist help, but was shot.
A letter sent to Major Honeyman’s mother from his batman, Tom Harris, is in the Green Howard's Museum collection in Richmond. Harris wrote: “He was not only my company commander, but also my best friend and he treated me more like his brother. ...at the most unfortunate moment he sent me back out of the way and considered my safety before his”.
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