Download THE `DUKES` - The Duke of Wellington`s Regiment

THE ’DUKES’
1702-2006
A concise history and digest
of
The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding)
with memoirs from the 20th Century
Compiled by: Terry Butterworth, Scott Flaving and Richard Harvey
Brigadier His Grace The Duke of Wellington KG LVO OBE MC DL
Colonel-in-Chief
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
The only Colonel-in-Chief not of royal blood,
appointed by Her Majesty The Queen,
18th June 1974
3
FOREWORD
by
Major General Sir Evelyn Web-Carter
KCVO OBE
Colonel, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding), 1999-2006
On the 6th of June, 2006, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding), like many other famous
Regiments around the same time, ceased to exist as a separate infantry Regiment. It was amalgamated with
the other two great Yorkshire Regiments, The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire and The Green
Howards. All three Regiments can be traced back over three hundred years and have their own history and
traditions, of which everyone who have ever served with them, were rightly proud. The battalions of the
three former Regiments are now the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of The Yorkshire Regiment.
This book, A Concise History and Digest of The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment 1702-2006, is the first
Regimental history book published since amalgamation. It combines updated extracts from previous
publications, new, more recent entries and many previously unseen pictures. I commend the editor and his
assistants for their industry and research. This book will be a valuable addition to the Regimental library.
I hope you enjoy the book and ask that you give it the widest possible circulation to all those who hold the
Duke of Wellington’s Regiment dear. This publication, alongside active local associations and regular
reunions will help keep the ‘Golden Thread’ alive.
4
CONTENTS
The Colonel-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Section 4
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Photo Gallery 1 - Deployments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Section 5
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Freedoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Synopsis, 1702-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Regimental Colours today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Miscellany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Section 1
The Regimental Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Section 6
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley,
Photo Gallery 2 - General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
lst Duke of Wellington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Colonel of the Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Section 7
The Colonels of the Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Victoria Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
The Commanding Officers, 1948-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Regimental Distinctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Section 8
The Chronicle of Regimental Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Soldiers’ Service Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Battle Honours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Section 9
Section 2
Recollections of Commanding Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Campaigns
The War of Spanish Succession, 1854-1856 . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Section 10
The War of Austrian Succession, 1742-1748 . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Sport in the Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The Seven Years War, 1756-1763 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The American War of Independence, 1755-1783 . . . . . . . 27
Section 11
Wars in India, 1787-1810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Photo Gallery 3 - Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
The Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Forty Years of Peace, 1815-1854 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Section 12
The Crimean War, 1854-1856 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Training and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Africa, India and the Far East, 1856-1899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Affiliations and Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
The Indian Mutiny, 1857-1858 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Tercentenary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Abyssinia, 1867-1868 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Amalgamations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Cardwell Reforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Rhodesia, 1896 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Regimental Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
The Boer War, 1899-1902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Museums and Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
The Great War, 1914-1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The Inter-War Period, 1918-1939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
The Second World War, 1939-1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Korean War, 1952-1953: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Section 3
The Modern Period
The Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Cyprus, 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Cyprus, 1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Ulster, 1971-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Bosnia, 1994-1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Iraq, 2003 and 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank Mr Jan Telensky, an enthusiastic Friend of the Regiment, without whose support and generosity this book would
not have been published.
The sources for the book are existing Regimental publications, the Museum and Archives of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment,
Dr Tracy Craggs PhD, who kindly supplied the soldiers’ interview material, and personal photographs and knowledge of the
compilers, some of which has previously been published on the ‘Dukes’ website, the Iron Duke and other articles relating to the
‘Dukes’. All previous researchers and contributors, too many to mention, are also acknowledged.
However, my foremost thanks are reserved for Mr Scott Flaving and Mr Richard Harvey, both retired ‘Dukes’, without whose
source material, perseverance, knowledge and technical skills this book could not have been completed.
I would also like to thank Bedrich Pandula (Buk), for his design skills and patience in dealing with the myriad of additions and
amendments as new material has come to light and old facts proved to be incorrect, and Brigadier Dick Mundell for his invaluable
assistance and support.
Terry Butterworth,
Halifax,
August 2009.
Editor: Terry Butterworth was born in Bradford on the 8th of September 1949.
He enlisted into the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment on the 21st of January 1968, was appointed Regimental Sergeant
Major of the 1st Battalion in June 1987 in Palace Barracks and commissioned in July 1989 at Ternhill.
During his career he deployed on five roulement and two residential tours in Ulster. After commissioning, he spent
two years as the Infantry Presentation Officer on the Northern Ireland Training and Advisory Team. He retired in 1994,
when OC HQ Company, to assist his father who had terminal cancer.
Terry re-enlisted in 2000 on a FTRS commission to become Deputy Commander Regional Recruiting SE&HC and,
later, became Area Recruiting Officer, Kent. He retired for the second time in June 2009 to become the Project Manager
for Holidays 4 Heroes, distributing free holidays to service men and women injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, on behalf
of Mr Telensky.
6
PROLOGUE
In the process of establishing a high “esprit de corps” it is very easy for regiments to come to believe that they are,
in some way, special. Whatever the individual merit of such a claim, all regiments have one thing in common they are members of that truly unique British contribution to military organisation: the regimental system. Only
those who have experienced it fully understand its strengths. General Sir Charles Huxtable put it succinctly at his
final reunion dinner speech before vacating the colonelcy in 1990:
“We are not a smart, social regiment. We do not seek to be ever
in the headlines. We do not pretend to have some special
expertise. Indeed, perhaps what makes us special is that we do
not seek to be any of those things. We are ordinary, straight
forward folk who stick together. We have in the ‘Dukes’ some
of the best soldiers in the world. I would back the ‘Dukes’
soldier - the good, honest, straight forward, hard-working
Yorkshireman - against any soldiers in the world. From these
first class soldiers we have consistently obtained outstanding
senior NCOs and Warrant Officers and hence have always had
a powerful Sergeants’ Mess. Finally, we have officers who are
not afraid to get their boots muddy and who understand the
soldiers that they lead. If you put all these assets together in an
organisation that works hard and plays hard; which gets on
with its job and, if you ensure there is a proper understanding
and communication between the various groups and add those
loyal and supportive families, you end up with a first class,
professional regiment. A regiment which will do any job it is
given anywhere in the world and will stick at it until it is
successful. You get a feeling of mutual support and respect;
you get a group of people with strong bonds of friendship, of
history, of enjoyment, of endeavour and achievement. In short,
you get the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.”
7
SYNOPSIS 1702-2006
In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he did in
and around the city of Gloucester. As was the custom in those days the Regiment was named Huntingdon’s
Regiment after its Colonel. As Colonel succeeded Colonel the name changed, but in 1751 regiments were given
numbers, and the Regiment was from that time known as the 33rd Foot. In 1782 the Regiment’s title was changed
to the 33rd (or First Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment, thus formalising an association with the West Riding which,
even then had been long established.
The First Duke of Wellington died in 1852 and in the following year Queen Victoria, in recognition of the
Regiment’s long ties to him, ordered that the Regiment’s title was changed to the 33rd (or The Duke of
Wellington’s) Regiment. In 1881 the 33rd was linked with the 76th Foot, which had been raised in 1787, and had
shared the same Depot at Halifax since its establishment in 1877. They became, respectively, the 1st and 2nd
Battalions of The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding). In 1948 the 1st and 2nd Battalions were
amalgamated into a single battalion, the 1st Battalion.
The 1st Battalion has served with distinction in many of the world’s modern trouble spots. In Korea, the ‘Dukes’
desperate defence of the Hook position halted the last major Chinese attempt to break the UN Line before the truce
in July 1953 brought the war to an end. In Cyprus the Battalion was successful in Operation Golden Rain,
destroying a major EOKA terrorist group operating in the Troodos Mountains in 1956. In 1964 the Battalion joined
the NATO deterrence in Germany on the front line in the Cold War and from 1971 was regularly engaged in ‘the
Troubles’ in Ulster until 1997. In 1994, a peacekeeping tour in Bosnia was the setting for the first ever award of the
Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, to Cpl Wayne Mills. A hasty deployment to Iraq in 2003 resulted in the award of the
Theatre Honour Iraq 2003.
ENDEX, Ex Medicine Man, Canada, 2004
Interspersed with these active service deployments have been many memorable postings, tours and exercises,
including the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Kenya, Belize, Canada and the Falklands. The Regiment was amalgamated
with the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Green Howards, in June 2006, to become the 3rd
Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s).
8
Regimental Titles
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley,
1st Duke of Wellington
Colonel of the Regiment
Colonels of the Regiment
Commanding Officers (1948-2006)
Regimental Distinctions
The Chronicle of Regimental Colours
Battle Honours
THE REGIMENTAL TITLES
33rd Regiment of Foot
The Regiment was raised by Royal Warrant on 12th Feb 1702 and was known by the names of
its Colonels until 1751:
1702 The Earl of Huntingdon’s Regiment; Henry Leigh’s Regiment;
Robert Duncanson’s Regiment; George Wade’s Regiment (disbanded 1714).*
1715 George Wade’s Regiment; Henry Hawley’s Regiment;
Robert Dalzell’s Regiment; John Johnson’s Regiment.
1751 33rd Regiment
1782 33rd (or First Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment.
1853 33rd (or The Duke of Wellington’s) Regiment.
* Disbandment: see Miscellany section.
76th Regiment of Foot
After one or two ‘false starts’ the Regiment was finally raised for the wars in India on 12
October 1787:
1745 Lord Harcourt’s Regiment (disbanded 1746).*
1756 76th Regiment (disbanded 1763).*
1777 76th Regiment (Macdonald’s Highlanders) (disbanded 1784).*
1787 76th Regiment. (Between 1806 and 1810 76th Regiment (Hindoostan)).
* Disbandment: see Miscellany section
10
THE REGIMENTAL TITLES
Amalgamation - 1881
The 33rd and 76th Regiments of Foot were linked to become the 1st and 2nd Battalions:
1881 (May) The Halifax Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s).
1881 (July) The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment).
1921 (January) The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding).
Amalgamation - 1948
The 1st and 2nd Battalions were amalgamated on 17th June 1948 to become:
1st Battalion the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding).
Amalgamation - 2006
The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire, The Green Howards and The Duke of
Wellington’s Regiment were amalgamated on 6th Jun 2006; the ‘Dukes’ became:
3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s).
11
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington:
Arthur Wesley, later Wellesley and 1st Duke of Wellington, was born in 1769.
In 1787 he was commissioned into the 73rd Regiment and in the next six years
served in four other regiments including, briefly, the 76th Foot. Such switches
from one regiment to another were common in those days when promotion
was by purchase. In 1793 Arthur Wellesley purchased his Majority in the 33rd
and six months later the Lieutenant Colonelcy. He was then 24 years old.
In 1794 Wellesley took his regiment to Holland and there saw his first active
service. Three years later he and the 33rd went to India. He remained in
command until 1802. He then wrote:
1st Duke of Wellington (1839)
by George Hayter
"I have commanded them now for nearly ten years, during nine of which I have
scarcely been away from them and I have always found them to be the quietest and
best behaved body of men in the army."
In 1806 Wellesley succeeded the Marquis Cornwallis as Colonel of the 33rd
and held that appointment until 1813. Arthur Wellesley gained his initial
military experience in Flanders; but he made his name as a military
commander in India, when he commanded one of the British forces in the war
against the Mahrattas. He won a series of decisive victories, particularly at
Assaye in 1803.
Daguerreotype portrait of
Arthur Wellesley from 1844
In 1809 Wellesley was sent to Portugal to conduct the campaign against
Napoleon’s armies in the Peninsula. In five years, without returning to the
UK, he swept the French first out of Portugal and then out of Spain before
advancing into Southern France in 1814. In that year Napoleon abdicated and
was exiled to Elba. However his stay there was brief and by March 1815 he
was again Emperor of France. On 18th June 1815 the famous battle of
Waterloo was fought, which led to the final defeat of Napoleon and
confirmation of the Duke of Wellington as one of Britain’s greatest military
commanders.
Subsequently, Wellington took an active part in politics and for a short time
(1828- 1830) was Prime Minister. He died in September 1852, aged 83. The
following year the 33rd was granted the title: The 33rd (or The Duke of
Wellington’s) Regiment, thus becoming the only regiment in the British Army
to be named after a commoner.
The Duke’s descendants have always maintained close links with the
Regiment. In 1935 the Earl of Mornington, the only son of the 5th Duke was
commissioned into the Regiment. In 1941 he succeeded to the title, as the 6th
Duke, but was killed in action with the Commandos at Salerno in 1942.
Earl of Mornington, 6th Duke
of Wellington, cousin of the
8th Duke
In 1974 Brigadier His Grace the Duke of Wellington (the 8th Duke) was
appointed Colonel in Chief of the Regiment.
12
THE COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT
In times past a new regiment was formed by the monarch
appointing a distinguished officer to raise and thereafter to be
Colonel of “one of our Regiments of Foot”. It was in such a
manner that Colonel George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, raised
a regiment in 1702 which was, as was then the custom, named
after him, viz: Huntingdon’s Regiment. As Colonel succeeded
Colonel, so also was the name of the regiment altered. The
Colonel was paid various allowances from which he clothed,
equipped and fed his Regiment. In the circumstances it is not
surprising that Colonels considered that they ‘owned’ their
regiments, even to the extent of placing their own insignia on the
Colours and accoutrements.
In 1751 King George II decided the time had come to put greater
emphasis on loyalty to the Crown, with the result that from that
year regiments were allocated numbers and Colonels were
forbidden to place their arms or other devices on the Colours and
accoutrement. It was thus that the Regiment raised by the Earl of
Huntingdon in 1702 became the 33rd Foot. The 76th Regiment
was raised in 1787 by General Sir Thomas Musgrave Bt. Despite
the changes made in 1751 Colonels continued to exert great
influences on their Regiments. They were usually of high rank
and often Members of Parliament as well.
Field Marshal George Wade,
by Johan van Diest, 1731
A good Colonel often spent his own money on his Regiment. Even
so, because of the financial arrangements, most made a ‘profit’
from being Colonel. It was only in 1855 that Colonels ceased to be
responsible for clothing their Regiments and not until 1881 that the
appointment became an honorary title. The appointment of
Colonel has always been valued and esteemed and though it may
now be honorary, the Colonel still has wide ranging
responsibilities for their Regiment’s welfare in the broadest sense,
including recruiting and esprit de corps.
Many distinguished officers have held the appointment of Colonel
of the Regiment and of its forbears, the 33rd and 76th Regiments.
Four of the Colonels of the 33rd became Field Marshals, namely:
FM George Wade (1705-1717); FM John Griffin-Griffin, Lord
Howard de Walden, (1760-1766); FM Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
Wellington, (1806-1813) and FM Sir Charles Yorke (1855-1863).
The final Colonel of the Regiment (1999-2006) was Major General
Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter KCVO OBE, late the Grenadier Guards.
His father, Brigadier B W Webb-Carter DSO OBE commanded the
1st Battalion with great distinction during and after the Second
World War.
By tradition, the Colonel, however exalted his actual rank, always
wears the badges of rank of a Colonel when with his Regiment.
13
Colonels’ insignia
THE COLONELS OF THE REGIMENT
Colonels of the Regiment, 1702-2006.
1702-1703
Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon.
1703-1705
Colonel Henry Leigh.
1705-1705
Colonel Robert Duncanson (12th February to 9th June 1705).
1705-1717
Field Marshal George Wade.
1717-1730
Lieutenant General Henry Hawley.
1730-1739
Lieutenant General Robert Dalzell.
1739-1753
Lieutenant General John Johnson.
1753-1760
Major General Lord Charles Hey.
1760-1766
Field Marshal John Griffen-Griffen, 4th Lord Howard de Walden.
1766-1805
General George Cornwallis, 1st Marquis Cornwallis KG.
1806-1812
Field Marshal Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington KG GCB GCH.
1813-1830
General Sir John Cope Sherbrooke GCB.
1830-1831
General Lord Charles Henry Somerset.
1831-1845
General Sir Charles Wale KCB.
1845-1847
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sheey Keating KCB.
1847-1855
General Henry D’Oyley.
1855-1863
Field Marshal Sir Charles Yorke GCB.
1863-1895
General William Nelson Hutchinson.
1881-1886
General Frederick Darlby George CB.
(Colonel of 76th, then joint Colonel, with Hutchinson, from 1881-1886, when made Colonel of
another regiment).
1895-1897
General George Erskine.
1897-1909
General Sir Hugh Rowlands VC KCB.
1909-1934
Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Eversley Belfield KCB KCMG KBE DSO.
1934-1938
Brigadier General Percy Alexander Turner CMG.
1938-1947
Colonel Charles James Pickering CMG DSO.
1947-1957
General Sir Alexander Frank Philip Christison, Bart, GBE CB DSO MC.
1957-1965
Major General Kenneth Godfrey Exham CB DSO.
1965-1975
General Sir Robert Napier Hubert Campbell Bray GBE KCB DSO.
1975-1982
Major General Donald Edward Isles CB OBE.
1982-1990
General Sir Charles Richard Huxtable KCB CBE.
1990-1999
Brigadier William Richard Mundell OBE.
1999-2006
Major General Sir Evelyn John Webb-Carter KCVO OBE.
14
The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding)
Warminster, Sunday 7th May, 2006
Colonels of The Regiment
Brigadier
WR Mundell
OBE
1990-1999
Major General
DE Isles
CB OBE DL
1975-1982
Colonel-in-Chief
Brigadier, His Grace
The Duke of Wellington
KG LVO OBE MC DL
1974-2006
15
Major General
Sir Evelyn Web-Carter
KCVO OBE
1999-2006
General
Sir Charles Huxtable
KCB CBE
1982-1990
THE COMMANDING OFFICERS
Commanding Officers, 1948-2006.
1948-1950
Lt Col C R T Cumberlege.
1950-1951
Lt Col J H Dalrymple OBE.
1951-1954
Lt Col F R St P Bunbury DSO.
1954-1957
Lt Col R de La H Moran OBE.
1957-1960
Lt Col P P de La H Moran.
1960-1962
Lt Col A D Firth OBE MC.
1962-1965
Lt Col A B M Kavanagh OBE MC.
1965-1967
Lt Col D E Isles CB OBE.
1967-1970
Lt Col D W Shuttleworth OBE.
1970-1972
Lt Col C R Huxtable OBE.
1972-1975
Lt Col P A Mitchell OBE.
1975-1977
Lt Col J B K Greenway MBE.
1977-1979
Lt Col M R N Bray CBE.
1979-1982
Lt Col W R Mundell OBE.
1982-1984
Lt Col C R Cumberlege.
1984-1987
Lt Col E J W Walker OBE.
1987-1989
Lt Col A D Roberts MBE.
1989-1992
Lt Col A D Meek.
1992-1994
Lt Col D M Santa-Olalla DSO MC.
1994-1996
Lt Col N St J Hall.
1996-1999
Lt Col S C Newton MBE.
1999-2002
Lt Col N G Borwell OBE.
2002-2004
Lt Col D S Bruce OBE.
2004-2006
Lt Col P M Lewis OBE.
16
17
Colonel of the Regiment
Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter
1999-2006
AD Roberts Sir Charles Huxtable CR Cumberlege SC Newton AD Meek EJW Walker
1987-89
1970-72
1982-84
1997-99
1989-92
1984-87
Colonel-in-Chief, His Grace The Duke of Wellington, 1974-2006
DS Bruce JBK Greenway WR Mundell NStJ Hall MRN Bray DE Isles
1994-97
2002-04
1975-77
1979-82
1977-79
1965-67
Commanding Officers of the 1st Battalion, the Colonel and Colonel-in-Chief
Warminster, Sunday 7th May, 2006
The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding)
PM Lewis
2004-06
THE REGIMENTAL DISTINCTIONS
Honorary Colours. The award of the Honorary
Colours was notified by the Governor General of
India by Order in Council dated 1st October 1803.
The following is the relevant extract from the Order.
Red Facings. Common to both the 33rd and 76th
Regiments were the relatively uncommon red facings
on the uniforms worn prior to the Boer War, which
continues today with the red backing to the cap
badge, the red lanyards worn by Officers, Warrant
Officers and Sergeants. The background colour of the
Regimental Colour is normally the same colour as the
Regiment’s facings, however, for those Regiments
with either red or white facings it is a red St. George’s
Cross on a white field.
“In testimony of the peculiar honour acquired by the army
under the personal command of His Excellency General
Lake, the Governor-General in Council is pleased to order
that Honorary Colours, with a device properly suited to
commemorate the reduction of the fortress of Ally Ghur on
the 4th, and the victory obtained at Delhi on the 11th
September, be presented to the Corps of Cavalry and
Infantry (European and Native) respectively employed on
those occasions; and that a public monument be erected at
Fort William to the memory of the brave officers and men
(European and Native), who have fallen in the public
service during the present campaign.
The Cap Badge. The design was taken from the Crest
of the Duke of Wellington, who commanded the 33rd
for nearly ten years and was Colonel of the Regiment
from 1806-1813. The crest is described as, “Out of a
ducal coronet on, a demi-lion rampant gules, holding
a swallow-tailed pennon of the last, the fly to the
sinister the head charged with the ensign of St
George.” The motto on the cap badge is “Virtutis
Fortuna Comes”, which means “Fortune Favours the
Brave”. Beneath the crest is a scroll bearing the words
“West Riding”. These devices were granted on 5th
August, 1853, and Sealed on 9th Jan 1897 - The crest
and motto in white metal, the rest in gilt metal. A
later seal, dated 7th Apr 1970, authorised an anodised
version of the same device.
The Honorary Colours granted by these orders to His
Majesty’s 27th Regiment of Dragoons, and to the 76th of
Foot, are to be used by those Corps while they shall
continue in India, or until His Majesty’s most gracious
pleasure be signified through His Excellency the
Commander-in-Chief.”
For some time, the Honorary Colours were the only
stand used by the 2nd Battalion, prior to the
presentation of replacement Colours in 1829 and a
new stand of Honorary Colours on 3rd July 1830.
The Regiment was the only Regiment in the British
Army to carry four Colours on parade. This tradition
has been carried forward by the 3rd Battalion The
Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s).
The Cap Badge
Naming of the Regiment. On 18th June 1853, on the
anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo following the
Great Duke’s death on 14th September 1852, the
following communiqué was received from Horse
Guards by the Colonel of the Regiment, General
D’Oyley, who had been instrumental in the granting
of this distinction:
The Collar Badge
The Elephant. The badge of an elephant,
circumscribed with the word Hindoostan, was
granted to the 76th in recognition of the distinguished
part the Regiment played in the campaigns in India in
l803-4, during which Lord Lake referred to it as “this
handful of heroes”. Later a Howdah was added. The
Elephant became the Regimental collar badge on the
linking of the 33rd and 76th in 1881 and was also the
design used for the regimental buttons.
Her majesty has been graciously pleased to command that
the 33rd Regiment of Foot shall, henceforth, bear the name
of “The 33rd (or The Duke of Wellington’s) Regiment”,
which honourable distinction will be inscribed on the
Colours of the Regiment.
By Command G Brown
Adjutant General
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THE REGIMENTAL DISTINCTIONS
The Guardroom Gong. The ‘Gong’, which stands outside the Battalion
guardroom today was apparently adopted by the 33rd Regiment
sometime around 1875-1879, as a copy of an earlier brass gong captured
in 1803 by the 76th Regiment on campaign in India. An early
Regimental history notes: “During this campaign [Scindia War, 1803] the
regiment captured a splendid Ghariyal, or Indian gong, of great value,
which is still carried about by the corps and is usually set up in front of
the guard-room for the non-commissioned officer of the guard to strike
the hour on.” (Anonymous author of the ‘History of the 76th Regiment’)
Nicknames. The Regiment has acquired many nicknames throughout
its history - The ‘Dukes’, ‘Johnson’s Jolly Dogs’, the ‘Havercake Lads’,
‘The Immortals’, ‘The Pigs’, the ‘Old Seven and Sixpennies’, the ‘Dirty
Dukes’.
Music. The Regimental Quick March, The Wellesley, was reputedly
discovered in the papers of the 1st Duke after his death (See back cover).
This was officially approved in 1883, with an additional bugle fanfare
(the Seed arrangement) being approved in 1988. The Regimental Slow
Marches were Destiny (from the 33rd) and Logie of Buchan (76th).
Other airs were adopted by the Regiment, Ilkla Moor, I’m Ninety Five,
The British Grenadiers, Grenadiers March, Mallendorf, Scotland the
Brave and, most recently, Ode to Joy introduced in Minden by Lt Col
Mundell when Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion.
The Guardroom Gong
Mascot. An Indian Elephant. ‘Albert’, a carved wooden elephant, still
resides in the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess of The 3rd Battalion
The Yorkshire Regiment and continues to attend rugby matches as the
longest-serving supporter of the rugby squad.
Sport. The 33rd/76th Foot were the winners of the first Army Rugby
Competition in 1907 and since then the Regiment won the Army Rugby
Cup fourteen times and was runner up eight times, a record unmatched
anywhere else in the Army. The Regiment was successful in many other
sports too, in particular football and boxing.
Regimental Days. St George’s Day (23rd April) and Waterloo Day (18th
June).
The Fahnenband. On the 24th November, 2005, in the German town of
Osnabruck, Major General Clauss, General Officer Commanding 7
(German) Panzer Division, on behalf of the German Federal Minister of
Defence, awarded a ‘Bundeswehr Fahnenband’ to the Regiment. The
Fahnenband is a prestigious military distinction and regarded in the
same way as Regimental Colours. It was attached to the Regulation
Queen’s Colour. The Fahnenband is only awarded to Allied units and
formations, of battalion or equivalent size, or greater, which leave the
Federal Republic of Germany after five years or more service, in
recognition of their services in Germany. The Fahhnenband is in the
German national colours of Red, Black and Gold. The front is inscribed
from bottom to top with the words “Einsatz Fur Frieden und Freiheit”.
Whilst the reverse has: “Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2005”.
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‘Albert’ - the Sergeants’ Mess mascot
German Bundeswehr Fahnenband, 2005
THE CHRONICLE OF REGIMENTAL COLOURS
The British Army dates from the restoration of the Monarchy in 1661. At that time the carrying of Colours was
already an established practice, continued from the Civil War, and every company had its own Colour. As there
were from ten to twelve companies in a regiment, ten to twelve Colours were required. The Colours were all
different but throughout a Regiment had a similar central theme, which was usually some private badge of the
Colonel or part of his coat of arms. Colours continued thus until about 1700 when, owing to changes in infantry
tactics, the number was reduced to two or three. At about the same time a small Union Flag was included in the
first, or Colonel’s, Colour.
The Regulation and Honorary Colours
In 1751 new regulations described the Colours to be carried in the future. The first, or King’s Colour, was to be a
Union Flag with the Regiment’s number in the centre and the second, or Regimental Colour, was to be the colour of
the Regiment’s facings, except for those regiments with red or white facings (such as the 33rd and 76th), whose
Colour was to be a red St. George’s Cross on a white field.
While the Colours carried today are basically the same as in 1751 there have been some important changes since
that time, the principal ones being:
The substitution of the Regiment’s title, for the earlier Regimental number, in the centre of the Colours.
A considerable reduction in their size, which arose due to more accurate rifle fire making the Colours a more
conspicuous target. At the battle of the Alma in 1854, for instance, five officers and ten sergeants of the 33rd were
killed or wounded while with the Colours. The last time the 33rd carried the Colours in action was during the
Battle of Magdala, in April 1868.
The emblazoning of Battle Honours and other distinctions on the Colours was introduced from about 1800. Few
Battle Honours were awarded before 1800.
The first Battle Honour awarded to the 33rd, in 1813, was for the battle of Seringapatam, fought in 1799. Honours
for earlier battles were not awarded until long after the event. Thus that for Dettingen, fought in 1743, was not
awarded until 1882.
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THE CHRONICLE OF REGIMENTAL COLOURS
All Battle Honours, other than those awarded for the Great War and
the Second World War, are emblazoned on the regulation Regimental
Colour. Ten Battle Honours selected from those awarded for the Great
War and a further ten selected from those awarded for the Second
World War are emblazoned on the regulation Queen’s Colour.
The 76th Regiment had an honorary stand of Colours presented for its
conspicuous service at the capture of Delhi and in the reduction of the
fortress of Ally Ghur in 1803. No other British Regiment carries four
colours. These Colours are also unique because they are the original
size Colours which were carried into battle. They only bear the Battle
Honours awarded to the 76th prior to the amalgamation of 1881.
In the past, Colours were the guiding and rallying point of the
Regiment and their loss was considered a great disgrace. Today their
use is ceremonial, symbolising the honour and sacrifice of a Regiment
and all its members through the practice of showing Battle Honours.
Colours are also used to symbolise and reinforce the, almost mystical,
connection between a Regiment and the monarch by reflecting in their
design tangible evidence of the loyalty and duty owed by both to the
other. It is these symbolic values which established the status of
Colours as the most important possession held by a Regiment.
Regulation Queen’s Colour
Regulation Regimental Colour
Honorary Queen’s Colour
76th Foot Honorary Colour, presented in 1830, on display in the
Regimental Chapel in York Minster
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Honorary Regimental Colour
BATTLE HONOURS
(Names in capitals are Battle Honours emblazoned on the Regimental Colours)
Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle,
Passchendaele, CAMBRAI 1917 and 1918, St Quentin,
Ancre 1918, LYS, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul,
Kemmel, Bethune, Scherpenberg, Tardenois, Amiens,
Bapaume 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line,
Havrincourt, Épehy, Canal du Nord, Selle,
Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18,
PIAVE, Vittorio Veneto, Italy 1917-18, Suvla,
LANDING AT SUVLA, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915,
Egypt 1916
Third Anglo-Afghan War:
AFGHANISTAN 1919
Battle Honours borne on the Regimental Colours
World War II:
Dunkirk 1940, ST. VALERY-EN-CAUX, Tilly sur
Seulles, Odon, FONTENAY LE PESNIL, NORTHWEST EUROPE 1940 and 1944-45, Banana Ridge,
Medjez Plain, Gueriat el Atach Ridge, Tunis, DJEBEL
BOU AOUKAZ 1943, North Africa 1943, ANZIO,
Campoleone, Rome, MONTE CECO, Italy 1943-45,
Sittang 1942, Paungde, Kohima, CHINDITS 1944,
BURMA 1942-44
War of the Austrian Succession:
DETTINGEN
India:
Hindoostan, MYSORE, SERINGAPATAM, ALLY
GHUR, DELHI 1803, LESWAREE, DEIG
Spain:
CORUNNA
Korea:
THE HOOK 1953, KOREA 1952-53
France:
NIVE, PENINSULAR, WATERLOO
Iraq:
Iraq 2003 (Theatre Honour)
Crimean War:
ALMA, INKERMAN, SEVASTOPOL
Abyssinia:
ABYSSINIA
South Africa:
RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY, PAARDEBERG, SOUTH
AFRICA 1900-02
World War I:
Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, MARNE 1914
and 1918, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, YPRES 1914,
1915 and 1917, Nonne Bosschen, HILL 60,
Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Aubers, SOMME 1916 and
1918, Albert 1916 and 1918, Bazentin, Delville Wood,
Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le
Transloy, Ancre Heights, ARRAS 1917 and 1918,
Scarpe 1917 and 1918, Arleux, Bullecourt, Messines
1917 and 1918, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road,
Battle Honours emblazoned on Drum
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The War of the Spanish Succession, 1702-1713:
“It is somewhat singular that the first regiment which singularly distinguished itself in the first Peninsula War was the 33rd,
which covered itself with honour at the storm of Valenza (1705)"
‘History of the British Army’ by Hon J. W. Fortescue.
army ten times larger. In the meantime, the Duke of
Marlborough was winning his resounding victories at
Blenheim, Ramilles, Oudenarde and Malplaquet,
which so overshadowed events in Spain and Portugal
that little is now remembered of them, though the
army there had to suffer far worse conditions than
applied in Holland, due to poor quarters, lack of
transport and a general shortage of essential supplies.
Not for the last time in the history of the British Army
were casualties in action trivial in comparison to those
caused by privation and disease.
Between 1689 and 1815 the British were often at war
with the French - and created the British Empire in the
process.
The second of these wars, starting in 1702, was about
who should succeed to the vacant throne of Spain.
The British Army had to be rapidly expanded and this
resulted in the raising of the 33rd Regiment, among
others. Britain’s principal allies at the time were
Holland and Portugal, and the 33rd was to see service
in both these countries. In a matter of months of
being raised the Regiment joined Marlborough‘s army
in Holland, but after two campaigns it was
despatched, with five more of Marlborough’s best
regiments, to open up a new front in Portugal. For the
next six years the Regiment was continually in action.
There were victories; particularly at Valenza (Valencia
de Alcántara) (1705) and Saragossa (1710) and also
defeats. In 1707 the 33rd was part of an allied force
cut to pieces at Almanza (Almansa). Quickly reraised, it again fought with distinction, until it was
forced to surrender at Brihuega (1710), as part of the
army‘s rearguard, overwhelmed by a Franco/Spanish
To add insult to injury the Regiments serving with
Marlborough were granted the Battle Honours
associated with his victories, while the 33rd and the
other Regiments which had served in Spain and
Portugal received nothing: it was not the custom to
award Battle Honours for unsuccessful campaigns!
The 33rd, the only regiment to serve throughout the
campaign, might have expected, by modern
standards, to be awarded the Honour ‘Spain and
Portugal 1704-10’, at the very least.
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Peace was signed in 1748 but events outside Europe,
particularly in India and North America, were
hardly affected. The peace was little more than a
truce while the struggle for colonial advantage
continued overseas.
The War of the Austrian Succession, 1742-1748:
At Rocoux (in Flanders) the 33rd Regiment
petitioned to attack the enemy and "did it with so
good a countenance that they got a great reputation." ‘The London Gazette Extraordinary’ 1746
In 1753 the 33rd was posted home and quartered at
Reading. In that same year Lt Col John Johnson
died and was succeeded by Colonel Lord Charles
Hey. Shortly after the changeover the 33rd was
posted to Edinburgh.
At that time soldiers were employed to build a
system of military roads. On reaching Edinburgh
five companies were dispatched to Cock Bridge in
the Grampians, three miles north of Corgarff Castle.
From there they set about building a 15 mile stretch
of road north to Tomintoul. That road is now known
as the A939, Lecht Road. At the bottom of the hill
they also built a well next to Conglass Water, like the
road, that well still remains as a marker of the
soldiers’ labours.
British Infantry at Dettingen, 1743
From 1714 to 1742 there was a pause in the hostilities
between Britain and France, due to the latter being
too handicapped by internal corruption to present
much of a problem. However, in the latter year war
broke out again with France, this time about who
should succeed to the vacant throne of Austria. The
33rd Regiment was part of the army that was sent to
Germany to join its Dutch and Austrian allies.
There, near Frankfurt in 1743, the Battle of Dettingen
took place, in which the 33rd particularly
distinguished itself. This resulted in a defeat for the
French and the award of the Battle Honour
‘Dettingen’ to the Regiment, their first.
Dettingen was followed, in 1745, by the Battle of
Fontenoy, where the British infantry, under heavy
fire, marched up to within pistol shot of the enemy
and received their volley before firing a shot. The
British volley devastated the enemy. As an example
of the prowess of the British infantry, Fontenoy
stands almost without parallel. Unfortunately the
rest of the allied army failed in its tasks so that the
British had to withdraw while in sight of success.
After Fontenoy the 33rd returned to England for a
brief period to help deal with the rebellion led by
‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’. In 1746 the Regiment was
back in Flanders taking part in battles at Rocoux and
Lauffeld (1747). At this time the 33rd was
nicknamed ‘Johnson’s Jolly Dogs’ after the name of
its Colonel.
The Well of Lecht, 2008
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The Seven Years War, 1756-1763:
“America has been conquered in Germany, where Prince Ferdinand’s victories have shattered the whole military power of that
great military monarchy, France." - William Pitt, Prime Minister, in 1761.
The shadowy borderland between nominal peace and open war was crossed in 1756 when the French took Minorca
from the British, for the loss of which Admiral Byng was tried by Court Martial and sentenced to death. The plan
of the British Government, led by William Pitt, was to use British sea-power to wrest from the French their
possessions in North America, India, Africa, the West Indies and elsewhere, while sustaining a war in Europe so as
to prevent the French from sending reinforcements overseas.
In January 1757 a second battalion of the 33rd was raised, the 2nd/33rd. Major Peter Daulhat was placed in
command. The following year the Battalion was renumbered as the 72nd Regiment of Foot. Lt Col Charles Lennox,
3rd Duke of Richmond. Commanding Officer of the 1st/33rd, took over this new Regiment and his younger brother,
Lord George Lennox, took command of the 33rd. In May the 33rd was posted to the Isle of White.
Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 1758,
by Sir Joshua Reynolds
The 33rd, after taking part in two operations, against St Malo and St Cast, on the northern French coast in 1758, was
assigned to Germany, arriving in 1760 as part of the ‘Glorious Reinforcement’ to join the allied army of British,
Hanoverian and Prussian troops, which had, under the command of Prince Ferdinand, already won a great victory
at Minden in the previous year. For the next three years the army was constantly campaigning, but few of these
battles are now remembered. There was nothing that caught the interest of the public in the way that the capture of
Quebec or the victory at Plassey in India had done. As in Spain and Portugal the Regiment had to campaign under
atrocious conditions and in the end had nothing to show for it. In fact it was nearly 200 years before a proper
history of the war in Germany came to be written. That war ended in 1763, by which time an empire had been
won. To that empire had been added Canada, which thus joined Britain’s other North American colonies on the
east coast of America. This is where the 33rd was to see action next.
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The American War of Independence, 1775-1783:
“The 33rd Regiment was unquestionably the best
trained Regiment in the British Army at this time
(1765-1795).”- ‘Fit for service: The training of
the British Army 1715-1795’ by J A Houlding.
Ever since the end of the Seven Years War an
undignified wrangle had been going on
between the British Government and the
American colonists about how much the
latter should pay towards the cost of that war.
War came in 1775, and the 33rd, under its
young Colonel, Earl Cornwallis, was part of
the reinforcements sent to America early in
1776. The Regiment was, at that time, said to
be the best trained Regiment in the British
Army and as a result was known as “The
Pattern”. On arrival in America the Regiment
was brigaded with the Guards and
subsequently took part in numerous battles
both in the north, around New York and
Philadelphia, and later in the south, in
Georgia and the Carolinas. It was in North
Carolina, at Guildford Court House, that it
fought one of its toughest battles. There, in
178l, a British force took on an American
army twice as strong and defeated it. The
famous historian, Forteseue, recorded,
“Never, perhaps, has the British soldier been
seen to greater advantage than in this
obstinate and bloody battle”. Despite
winning, Cornwallis was obliged to
withdraw to Yorktown where he was forced
to surrender his army, which included the
33rd. The British troops marched out with
the bands playing “The world turned upside
down.”
This was yet another campaign which, because it was unsuccessful, resulted in no Battle Honours for the
Regiments which had taken part.
In 1782 it was decided that all regiments would be formally linked with a county. The 33rd thus became:- 33rd (or
First Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment, a title Cornwallis had particularly requested as, in his words, “... the 33rd
Regiment of Infantry has always recruited in the West Riding and has a very good interest, and the general good
will of the people, in that part of the country.” In 1786 the Regiment returned to England. It was from about this
time the Regiment acquired the nickname of “The Havercake Lads”, the havercake being an oat pancake, a
traditional staple food in the north of England.
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Wars in India, 1787-1810:
"Bring me my boots and the 76th Regiment of Foot
and I am ready to go anywhere."
Attributed to General Lord Lake,
C-in-C India 1800-1808.
In 1787 four Regiments were raised for service in
India, one of them was the 76th, later to become the
2nd Battalion the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.
Like the 33rd, it was given the relatively uncommon
red facings to its uniform. The first Colonel of the
Regiment was General Sir Thomas Musgrave Bt.
The 33rd at the storming of Seringapatam in 1799
The Regiment arrived in India in 1788 and from 1790
-1792 took part in the campaigns in Southern India
which were to lead to the granting of the Battle Honour ‘Mysore’. The Regiment then moved north and in 1803
was in Cawnpore when war broke out against the Mahratta chiefs in Hindoostan. The army was commanded by
General Lord Lake and the only British infantry battalion in his force was the 76th.
General Lake fought a brilliant campaign and obtained a series of outstanding victories, notably at Ally Guhr, Delhi,
Leswaree and Deig, at each of which the 76th played a prominent part. The members of the Regiment became so
battle scarred that they became known as the ‘Immortals’. One of the Mahratta chiefs is quoted as saying of Lake’s
army, “They came here in the morning, looked over the wall, walked over it, killed the entire garrison and retired for
breakfast.” However, it was not as easy as all that. The campaigning conditions were extremely tough. For
instance, before the battle of Leswaree the infantry marched 25 miles in eight hours in great heat. Then, after only a
one-hour break, they went into action. For the numbers engaged, that battle was one of the bloodiest in the history
of British warfare in India. Lake had 824 casualties, a quarter of them in the 76th. The Mahrattas had 7,000.
For the part the Regiment played in the capture of the fortress of Ally Ghur and the capture of Delhi it was
awarded an honorary stand of Colours. At the end of the campaign, at the behest of the East India Company, the
Regiment was authorised to wear the word ‘Hindoostan’ on its Colours and appointments. At the same time the
Commander-in-Chief, Lord Lake, obtained permission for the Regiment to use the badge of an e1ephant.
In 1797 the 33rd was sent to India where it took part in the Fourth Mysore War, which resulted in the defeat of
Tipoo Sahib, the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, and the award of the Battle Honour Seringapatam. In 1810 two companies of
the Regiment and units of Madras Infantry were detached to join a small force under Colonel Henry Sheehy
Keating, as part of a Royal Navy Squadron under the command of Commodore Josias Rowley, which successfully
captured the French held Isle de Bourbon, (although named Isle de Bourbon by the British it was called Isle de
Bonaparte by the French, and is currently known as ‘La Réunion’), east of Madagascar, approx 120 miles southwest
of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
Keating was ordered to storm the port of Saint Paul which was sheltering a French frigate named Caroline and two
captured East Indiamen, but was defended by five powerful gun batteries. Keating and Rowley agreed that a
frontal assault would fail, and instead devised a plan in which Keating, with 368 of his own men, and 236 sailors
and Royal Marines, under Nesbit Willoughby, would land at Point de Galet, seven miles from Saint Paul. The force
would then advance and storm the batteries from the rear. The plan was a total success, Keating’s men capturing
each battery in turn early in the morning of 21st September and used the cannon within to fire on the shipping in
the harbour. A brief attempt at defence by local forces was brushed aside, and Keating and his men re-embarked in
the evening, the force remaining offshore until 28th September.
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Keating also masterminded the invasion and capture of the Isle de France, during which he was stabbed in the
thigh during a skirmish. For his service in the campaign, Keating was awarded 400 guineas worth of silver plate
and given the governorship of the renamed Isle de Bourbon. In 1815, at the end of the war, Keating arranged for
the island’s return to representatives of the restored French King, Louis XVIII, at the Congress of Vienna.
The Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815:
"Upon the whole I consider this Regiment (the 33rd) to be in
the most advanced state of any in the army."
Sir Henry Clinton, Inspector General of Infantry of
Wellington’s army in Flanders,16th January 1815.
Corruna
In the wake of the French Revolution, war broke out
between England and France on 1st February 1793. The
British strategy was to use the Navy to cut off all French
colonial possessions and to restrict activity in Europe to
subsidising her allies. But this did not work for long and
in 1794 the 33rd was part of a contingent sent to the
Netherlands. Because of the unsatisfactory state of the
army, due to peacetime neglect, the appalling conditions
and serious deficiencies of equipment; the force was soon
in disastrous retreat. By 1795 the remnants were back in
England. For Arthur Wellesley, who had assumed
command of the 33rd two years earlier, it was a lesson in
‘how not to do it’. While the Regiment was in the
Netherlands two of its companies were detached as part
of a picked force to capture three French held islands in
the West Indies. That campaign, likewise, ended in
failure, as a result of appalling losses due to disease.
The 76th returned from India in 1806. The following year it was ordered to the Peninsula where it disembarked at
Corunna as part of a force of 11,000 men. They advanced into Spain where they joined up with the army of Sir John
Moore. However, before long, the force had to retreat under threat to its lines of communication from a French
army under Napoleon. The retreat took place under dreadful weather conditions, over very bad country.
Eventually Corunna was reached where a battle was fought in which Sir John Moore was killed. The 76th was
awarded the battle honour Corunna for its part in the campaign. Six months later, in June 1809, the 76th took part
in the Walcheren Campaign. This expeditionary force, which was one of the largest ever sent from the shores of
Britain up to that time, was also one of the worst managed. By December the 76th was back in England, much
reduced in numbers. 23,000 men of the force had died of disease and only 217 had been killed in action against the
French. In 1813 the 76th returned to the Peninsula and took part in the closing stages of the war in Spain. In the
process it acquired the battle honours Peninsula and Nive. The war ended in April, but there was no rest for the
76th, which was forthwith ordered to Canada, arriving there in August 1814. The war against the United States
had been in progress for two years and the cessation of the French war gave an opportunity to prosecute operations
with greater vigour. The plan was to invade New York. The first objective was Plattsburg, where the Americans
were nearly defeated. However, because of the loss of the command of Lake Champlain, which flanked the army’s
route, the only option was to retire. Peace was signed at the end of the year and thus ended the 76th’s long period
of active service. It was almost one hundred years before it again fought as a unit.
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The 33rd Regiment returned from India in 1812. A year later it formed part of a force first sent to northern
Germany and then, in 1814, to the Netherlands. It was decided to attack the near impregnable fortress of Bergenop-Zoom as a preliminary to the capture of Antwerp. The attack failed. Later the same year peace was signed with
France. The peace was short lived. Napoleon escaped from Elba and quickly gathered a new army about him.
The Duke of Wellington had been placed in command of the allied forces in Belgium and there his old Regiment,
the 33rd, joined him as part of the 5th Brigade. In June 1815 Napoleon began his advance on Belgium where the
allied forces were distributed along the frontier. On 16th June the French attacked them at Quatre Bras. The 33rd
was heavily involved and played its part in ensuring the safe withdrawal of the British force to Waterloo. There, on
18th June, was fought the battle which is forever to be associated with the name of Wellington. The battle lasted all
day and, despite repeated attacks, the British squares held firm against the massed attacks of the French cavalry.
Napoleon, frustrated, is reported to have said ‘These dogs of English never know when they are beaten’. Finally
Wellington, aided by the Prussians under Blucher, drove the French from the field and the long periods of wars
against them came to an end.
Forty Years of Peace, 1815-1854:
Due to the lack of medical knowledge at that time and the climatic conditions of the countries in which the army
had to serve, peacetime service was often no less hazardous than war. Periods in the UK were usually relatively
short in duration. Even when regiments were stationed in the UK, they rarely remained in one place for long.
Thus the 33rd returned to the UK in 1816 and in the next four years was kept on the march between Hull;
Sunderland; Nottingham and Portsmouth, from where half the Regiment went to Guernsey, Stirling; Glasgow;
Ulster and, finally, Dublin. In 1821 it was sent to the West Indies where, like all other regiments, it suffered the
ravages of yellow fever. From that and other causes, eleven officers and 560 NCOs and men died in the ten years
the Regiment was stationed there. Back in the United Kingdom in 1832, it only had time for a brief spell in Ireland
before being again sent overseas, this time to Gibraltar where it remained from 1836 until 1841. Next it went to the
West Indies again, though this time for only three years. In that period six officers and 156 NCOs and men died
from yellow fever and other causes. From 1844 the 33rd was in Nova Scotia, returning to the UK in 1848. When
the Crimean war broke out in 1854 the Regiment was in Ireland.
In 1815 the 76th was in Canada and remained there for the next twelve years before being sent to Ireland. In 1834 it
was its turn for a tour in the West Indies where, like the 33rd, it suffered very many deaths from yellow fever. In
1839 alone, there were 120 deaths from
the disease. In the next thirteen years the
76th was constantly on the move, being
stationed successively in Nova Scotia,
Ireland, England, Scotland, Corfu, Malta
and, finally, in 1854, back in Nova Scotia.
It only spent nine out of forty years in
the UK.
One other aspect of both home and
overseas service in this period was that
more often than not Regiments were
dispersed into Company or smaller
detachments. For instance; in 1848 when
the 33rd gathered at St. John, Nova
Scotia, for embarkation prior to return to
the UK, it was the first time the Regiment
1845-1877 UK, 76th of Foot, Workshop, Sgt Maj William Collins
had been concentrated in one place in
(Front Centre)
seven years of overseas service.
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The Crimea War, 1854-1856:
"Of the 33rd Regiment or, as it is its delight and honour to be called, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, it can be fairly said
that no Regiment has more largely shared in the losses, sufferings and the hard work of the expedition from the first to the
last." - ‘The Times’ 26th June, 1856.
Inside the Turkish defenses at Sevastopol, 1855
On 18th June 1853, the 38th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, it was announced that in future the 33rd would
bear the name 33rd (or The Duke of Wellington’s) Regiment. The following year war broke out between Russia
and Turkey. The Russians quickly won a naval victory in the Black Sea, opening the route to the Mediterranean.
This threat was sufficient to bring the British and French into the war as Turkey’s allies. The plan was to capture
the port of Sevastapol in the Crimea, denying its use to the Russians.
The Allies landed about thirty miles north of Sevastapol and, on 20th September 1854, drew up in front of the
Russians posted in the hills overlooking the river Alma. With a minimal regard to tactics, a frontal assault was
made against the heavily defended Russian positions. However, such was the courage and confidence of the
troops that they drove the Russians off the heights and forced them to retreat to Sevastapol. The cost was heavy.
The 33rd, in the centre of the leading brigade, had 268 casualties, more than any other Regiment that took part in
the battle, and more than at Waterloo, even though the engagement only lasted half as long. After the battle of
Balaclava, in which the 33rd took no part, the Russians made an attack on the British position at Inkerman. Aided
by dense fog they were into the British lines almost before either side realised it. The fog made any form of control
impossible and as a result the Battle of Inkerman became known as ‘the soldiers’ battle’. During the subsequent
winter the troops suffered very severely through lack of warm clothing, no shelter beyond light tents, scanty food
and hopelessly inadequate medical services. As a result, often more men were sick than were fit for duty. In
September 1855, the Allies captured Sevastapol, although six months were to elapse before peace was eventually
signed. Little was gained by the war; but it did have far reaching effects on the army as action was taken to remedy
many of the severe shortcomings in training and administration which had been highlighted during the campaign.
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Africa, Abyssinia and the Far East, 1856-1899:
Between the conclusion of the Crimea War in
1856 and the end of the century the British
Army was constantly engaged in various parts
of the world, including India, Afghanistan,
China, Abyssinia, West Africa, Egypt, Sudan,
Burma and South Africa. More often than not
these small wars started with a surprise attack
by natives in overwhelming numbers, which
usually led to the defeat or withdrawal of the
British forces. In due course a field or
expeditionary force would be assembled,
followed soon afterwards by a crushing defeat
of the enemy, the critical battle being of short
and sharp duration.
The Indian Mutiny, 1857-1858:
In May 1857 mutiny broke out in the Indian
Army, just as the 33rd arrived in Mauritius from
England. However, after only the briefest of
stays it was sent to India. There the Regiment
was constantly on the move on the east coast, to
the north and south of Bombay, operating in
small and sometimes isolated detachments,
notably at the taking of Dwarka. After the
mutiny had been quelled a campaign medal
was issued, but the 33rd, despite the arduous
nature of its duties, did not qualify since, in
those days, at least half of the Regiment had to
be engaged together to be eligible. For the same
reason the Regiment did not qualify for a Battle
Honour, though the other Regiments of Sir
Hugh Rose’s Central India Field Force, whose
flanks the Regiment had protected, were
awarded the honour of ‘Central India’.
Map of India showing Mahratta region
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Abyssinia: 1867-1868:
In March, 1866, a British envoy had been
dispatched to secure the release of a group of
artisans and missionaries, who had first been
seized when a letter King Theodore (Tewodros II)
had sent to Queen Victoria requesting munitions
and military experts from the British had gone
unanswered. They were released, however King
Theodore changed his mind, recaptured and
imprisoned them again, along with the envoy.
An Expeditionary force was sent from India.
12,000 British and Indian troops, including the
33rd, marched over 380 miles from the Red Sea
coast at Annesley Bay to King Theodore’s capital,
Magdala. The task was achieved with great
difficulty, as the road had to be built en-route for
the artillery, wagons and elephants carrying a
Naval rocket battery and supplies.
On April 13th 1868, following a prior battle on the
Plain of Arogye below Magdala, where the 33rd
captured several artillery pieces, the hilltop
fortress was stormed. The 33rd led the attack,
gained entry to the fortress and captured it. After
the battle Victoria Cross medals were awarded to
Pte Bergin and Drummer Magner, both of the
33rd, who led the way into the fortress. The
Regiment was granted the Battle Honour
‘Abyssinia’ and the soldiers were awarded the
‘Abyssinian campaign medal’. Magdala was the
last occasion the 33rd carried Colours into action.
It has been described as one of the most
remarkable expeditions in the l9th century.
Chetta Ravine on route to Magdala
Soldiers of the 33rd at the Koki Bir Gate
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The Cardwell Reforms, 1881:
From 1868 onwards, following Mr Cardwell’s appointment as
Secretary of State for War, a number of far reaching changes
were made to the organisation and administration of the army.
For infantry regiments the most important was the decision,
made in 1881, to link all regular regiments together in pairs.
This brought about the joining of The Duke of Wellington’s
Regiment (33rd) with the 76th. They became, respectively, the
1st and 2nd Battalions. In addition the two Battalions of the 6th
West Yorkshire Militia became the 3rd and 4th Battalions. At
the same time the three West Riding Volunteer battalions
became linked with the Regiment.
Rhodesia, 1896
(The Mashonaland Field Force):
In June 1896 the natives of Mashonaland rebelled and,
operating over a large area, killed more than 120 white settlers.
A small field force was quickly assembled comprising little over
500 men, of which 150 came from the 2nd Battalion, then
stationed in Natal. In one battle the force inflicted over 200
casualties for the loss of three killed and four wounded - a
typical example of the retribution inflicted in these small wars.
By November 1896 the campaign was all over. However, the
next war in southern Africa was to be of a very different nature.
1896, S Africa, Matabeleland, 2 DWR 1 x Cpl, 11 x Ptes in patrol
jackets, all with South Africa medals
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The Boer War, 1899-1902:
"The longest, the costliest and bloodiest and most humiliating war for Britain between 1815 and 1914."
‘The Boer War’ by Thomas Packenham.
1st Battalion Crossing the Modder River
Following the discovery of gold in the Boer state of Transvaal there was a great influx of foreigners, mostly British.
This so threatened the Boer supremacy that they determined to deny the new immigrants the vote and other rights.
This was the underlying cause of the war, which broke out in October 1899. The British, supremely confident, and
convinced that one of them was worth at least five Boers when it came to fighting, launched a series of attacks as if
the Boers were nothing more than another body of rebellious natives. They were very quickly disillusioned when
they suffered three serious defeats within one week, Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso, resulting in both
Mafeking and Ladysmith coming under siege.
These defeats led to a large number of reinforcements being sent to South Africa, of which the 1st Battalion formed
part. It arrived in Cape Town early in 1900, from where it was soon sent forward as part of the force whose task
was first to relieve Kimberley and then to capture the Boer capitals at Bloemfontein and Pretoria. The first task
having been quickly achieved, the Boer commando, which had been contesting the relief of Kimberley, withdrew
towards Bloemfontein. However they were forced to give battle at Paardeberg on 18th February where, after being
besieged for ten days, 4,000 Boers, under Commander Viljoen, were obliged to surrender. This was the first major
defeat for the Boers and a turning point in the war although the war dragged on for a further two years before
peace was signed. It had thrown a great strain on the army and revealed many defects in the Victorian military
system. Fortunately by the time war again broke out, in 1914, the defects had been remedied.
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CAMPAIGNS
A Patrol of ‘Dukes’ Mounted Infantry
In addition to the 1st Battalion, a Company from the 2nd Battalion, stationed in Burma, fought in the war as part of
the Burma Mounted Infantry. The 3rd (Militia) Battalion also served in South Africa, as well as three Volunteer
Service Companies sent out, in turn, to strengthen the 1st Battalion by the Volunteer Battalions. The Battle Honour
granted to the Regiment for the Boer War was South Africa 1900-1902.
The Great War, 1914-1918:
"In every respect the Expeditionary Force of 1914 was incomparably the best trained, best organised and best equipped British
Army that ever went to war." - ‘Military Operations in France and Belgium 1914’ by Brigadier Sir James Edmonds.
Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914 and immediately mobilised the British Expeditionary
Force. The 2nd Battalion, in 5th Division of 2nd Corps, was fully operational in France by 18th August. The plan
of the French and British was to advance into Germany, but the Germans, who
were sweeping through neutral Belgium, quickly frustrated this. On 24th August
six German divisions came up against the two divisions of 2nd Corps at Mons.
Despite their overwhelming superiority the German attack crumbled in the face
of the superb musketry of the units of the 3rd and 5th Divisions. Mons was
followed by a withdrawal towards Paris, but the tide was turned at the Battle of
the Marne and the Germans withdrew. Now began a ‘race to the sea’ as each
army tried to outflank the other. At Ypres, during October and November, a
desperate battle was fought as the Germans tried to break through to Calais.
They were stopped but the British battalions were, by then, down to a quarter of
their strength. The old regular army died at Ypres, but it had set a superb
example for the new armies, which were being raised in the UK at that time.
The expansion of the army was achieved by doubling the Territorial Army (the
4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Battalions of the TF, formed in 1908 from the Volunteer
battalions, each raising a second battalion) and by the raising of ‘Service’
battalions, which, in the Regiment’s case were numbered the 8th, 9th and 10th.
LCpl B Holdsworth,
All these battalions fought on the Western Front during the long hard slog of
10th Battalion DWR
trench warfare and in the process helped the Regiment to gain the Battle
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CAMPAIGNS
Honours of Somme, Arras, Cambrai and Lys. The only battalions to serve elsewhere were the 8th, which took part
in the Gallipoli campaign and gained the Honour Landing at Sulva, and the 10th, which fought in Italy, where it
gained the Battle Honour Piave.
In addition to these battalions the 12th and 13th were raised as Labour battalions, the 11th remained in the UK and
acted as reserve to the 8th, 9th and 10th and the 14th was briefly formed in 1918, although it did not see service.
The 54th Young Soldiers Battalion was also badged to the Regiment. In total 23 battalions were raised during the
war, of which 14 battalions were in action. These 14 battalions saw active service in various theatres of operations
and were awarded a total of 197 Battle Honours, many of which, of course, were granted to more than one unit
fighting side by side on the same battlefields. Over 8,300 members of the Regiment were killed during the conflict,
many of whose names are recorded on the Memorials to the Missing, such as the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme
battlefield.
Raising of a Battalion for the First World War
At the outbreak of war the 1st Battalion had been stationed in India and remained there for the duration. At one
stage, in 1914, it was one of only eight British battalions left to garrison the country. Later this weak garrison was
considerably augmented. This was just as well as, in the aftermath of the war; there was much civil unrest during
which the lst Battalion played its part in an internal security role. In 1919 the Battalion took part in the 3rd Afghan
War, during which it was awarded the further Battle Honours Spin Baldak and Afghanistan 1919.
Machine Gun Section 1/4th Battalion DWR, 1916
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The Inter War Period, 1918-1939:
Drums leading 2nd Battalion DWR to Kazipur, India, 1929
During the period between 1920 and 1935 the 1st Battalion was stationed in the UK, except for a brief period in
Gibraltar and Turkey in 1922/23. In 1935 the Battalion was moved to Malta, returning to England in 1938 where it
joined the 1st Infantry Division.
2nd Battalion DWR Patrol North West Frontier Province, 1935
The 2nd Battalion was overseas for almost the whole of the period between the wars, sailing for Egypt in 1922,
before proceeding to Singapore and then India, where it arrived in 1928. During 1934/35 the battalion took part in
the Looe Agra and Mohmand operations on the North West Frontier.
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The Second World War, 1939-1945:
On the outbreak of war, the 1st Battalion was sent to France, where little happened until May 1940, when the
Germans attacked through Holland and Belgium. In the ensuing retreat to Dunkirk the 1st Battalion formed part of
the rearguard covering the embarkation of the BEF. In November 1942 the Battalion landed in North Africa and
took part in several battles in Tunisia, notably at Banana Ridge and Djebel Bou Aoukaz in 1943. The following year
it participated in the landings at Anzio and subsequently saw some of the most desperate fighting of the war,
particularly at Monte Ceco in October 1944, where Private Richard Burton was awarded the VC.
Following the Japanese attack on the Americans at Pearl Harbour, in December 1941, the overstretched forces of the
Allies were soon swept aside by the Japanese Army. In February 1942 the 2nd Battalion was hastily mobilised as
part of a force sent to reinforce Burma. Within a week of landing at Rangoon the Battalion found itself
withdrawing to the bridge across the river Sittang, which was blown up before the Battalion could withdraw across
it. From there the campaign developed into a long retreat back to India. After a period for reorganisation the 2nd
Battalion was assigned to the Chindits, in which it formed two columns - the 33rd and the 76th. Acting
independently, both columns were involved in the relief of Imphal in March - July of 1944.
58th Anti Tank Regiment (1/4th DWR), with M10 Achilles Tank Destroyers, Italy, 1944
Before the outbreak of the war both the 4th and 5th TA Battalions were converted to other arms - the 1/4th and
2/4th to Royal Artillery, becoming 58th and 68th Anti Tank Regiments (RA) , respectively, and the 5th to Royal
Engineers (Searchlights) and, later, as 600 Regiment (RA) fighting in the infantry role at the liberation of Dunkirk in
1945.
Both the 1/6th and the 2/6th Battalions saw service in Europe, the former in Normandy in June 1944, after duty in
Iceland, having originally been tasked to assist the Norwegians in April 1940, and the latter in the campaign of
1940, becoming part of 2nd Armoured Delivery Regiment in 1944.
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The 1/7th Battalion landed in France on 11th
June 1944 and fought with distinction in
Normandy, where it gained the Battle
Honour Fontenay-le-Pesnil on 25th June
1944. The battalion took part in the
liberation of Holland and was there when
the war ended.
Men of the 1/6th Battalion and Polish Navy Officers ready to sail
from the Clyde to Norway in 1940
The 2/7th was sent to France in March 1940
as a non combatant unit on pioneer duties.
In May it was caught up in the German
advance following the German invasion of
France, Belgium and the Low Countries on
10th May. By 7th June it had withdrawn to
Dieppe, joining 51st Highland Division, and
fought a gallant action at St Valery-en-Caux
before being evacuated to the UK. The
battalion was then converted to armour,
becoming 115th Regiment RAC, but did not
see any further action during the war.
The 8th Battalion was reformed in July 1940
and in the following year was converted to
145th Regiment RAC and as such served in
North Africa and Italy, fighting alongside the
1st Battalion on occasion in Tunisia.
Italy, Gothic Line 8th DWR (145 Regt RAC), Churchill Tanks
Harboured up, 1944
40
The 9th and 10th Battalions were also
reformed in 1940. The 9th was converted to
RAC (146th Regiment), It was sent to India
and saw service in Burma and, after the end
of the war, in Sumatra. The 50th Holding
battalion became the 10th Battalion in 1940,
training reinforcements for the overseas
battalions, except for two years from 194244 when it had an operational role in the UK.
CAMPAIGNS
Liberation of Roosendaal 1944, 15 platoon, C. Company, 1/7th DWR. John Hey to right of centre in middleground
The Regiment was awarded 23 Battle Honours for its service during the Second World War, of which 10 are
permitted to be carried on the Queen’s Colour, including North West Europe 1940, 44-45 and Burma 1942, 44.
Regulation Queen’s Colour showing First and Second World War Battle Honours
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The Korean War, 1952-1953:
On 25th June 1950, communist North Korea invaded a poorly defended South Korea. Narrowly averting defeat at
Pusan, General MacArthur’s UN forces successfully landed behind the communist forces at Inchon and, by 9th
October 1950, they had invaded North Korea. Failing to envelope the main enemy force he pushed them back to
the Chinese frontier, drawing communist China into the war. The UN forces withdrew to the 38th Parallel and by
June 1951 the war had settled down to First World War style trench warfare and raiding.
Halifax, Handing in Colours prior to Korea, 14th October, 1952
The 1st Battalion was warned off for duty in Korea in early 1952 and, after rigorous training in Minden and
Pontefract, arrived in Pusan on 30th October, 1952, moving to the Yong Dong feature for ‘acclimatization’. By
December the Battalion was considered ready for front line duty and relieved the DLI at Naechon, where patrols
were soon in action against the communist forces.
After a brief period of ‘rest’ between December to April 1953, the ‘Dukes were back at the front, supporting the
Black Watch on the Hook and relieving them in the front line on 13th May, as it became clear that the Chinese were
preparing a further major attack. Quickly familiarising themselves with the ground and the Defensive Plan, the
Battalion got to work wiring and mining as the Chinese artillery fire became heavier and casualties mounted.
On 28th May major artillery bombardments were precursors to a major attack by Chinese infantry which quickly
developed into a struggle among the trenches and bunkers on the Hook position. Subsequent attacks were
scattered by artillery and machine-gun fire and a final attack was broken up by the Assault Pioneer platoon
supported by tank fire.
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Map from the Regimental War Diaries, archived as WO/308/53, National Archive, London.
A counter attack relieved the besieged garrison and the position was declared clear at 0300 hours. Losses were 3
Officers and 17 Other Ranks killed, two Officers and 84 ORs wounded, plus 20 ORs missing. Chinese losses were
estimated as 250 killed and 800 wounded. For this action the Regiment was awarded the Battle Honour ‘The Hook
1953’. Later the 1st Battalion’s Headquarter Company was renamed ‘Hook Company’.
Mortar Platoon Position, 1st Battalion, Korea, 1953
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The ‘Dukes’ embarked for Gibraltar on 13th November 1953, where they arrived on 10th December. In May 1954,
during a visit to Gibraltar by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Commanding Officer (Lieutenant
Colonel FR St P Bunbury) and a further 10 officers and other ranks received decorations for their actions in Korea.
Gibraltar, Lt Col
Bunbury receiving
DSO for Korea from
Queen Elizabeth,
1954
General Franco of Spain objected to the Queen
visiting Gibraltar and promptly closed the
Spanish/Gibraltar border, thus confining the
‘Dukes’ to Gibraltar until September 1955 when
they left to return to the UK. The border did not
reopen until 1985, when the ‘Dukes’ were,
coincidentally, again stationed in Gibraltar.
Gibraltar, Yorkshire Volunteers on Four Corners Guard, 1985
44
THE
MODERN
PERIOD
THE MODERN PERIOD
Cpl Neil Cairns wrote an article for the Archives on his
experiences of Cyprus in 1956:
The Cold War:
The Cold War had its origins in the Second World
War, or perhaps even as far back as the Allied
Intervention in Russia during the civil war when the
White Russians were defeated by the Bolsheviks at
the end of the First World War. Although there was
no direct conflict between the Soviet Union and the
USA, there were many ‘proxy’ wars and
confrontations, which included the Korean War, the
War in Vietnam, many daring spying escapades and
much posturing involving nuclear weapons.
We were on a search and destroy mission against
EOKA terrorists in the area of the Markheras
Monastery. Information had been received that
Afxentiou, one of the more notorious of the EOKA
leaders, had for long periods lived in a hide near the
monastery. The arrest of a man who knew the
location of the hide led to a decision to try to snatch
Afxentiou. At dawn on the 3rd of March, the hide
was discovered and, on being summoned to give up,
four men crawled out slowly, offering no resistance.
From them it was learned that Afxentiou was still in
the hide. His response to a call to come out was a
burst of machine gun fire, which killed Corporal P
Brown. It was clear that Afxentiou intended to sell
his life dearly. Corporal Brown, a National
Serviceman, with only two weeks to go before
demob, had been hit three times in the stomach, one
round in the solar plexus, the other two cutting the
runners each side of his belt buckle. His back had
been blown away. Later we found that the weapon
used was a Thompson sub machine gun with the .45
lead type bullet. The Battalion was devastated.
In 1945 the 1st Battalion had moved from Italy to
Palestine and was involved in the troubles in that
region until returning to England in late 1947. In
1951 the ‘Dukes’ moved to Minden, joining the
British Army of Occupation on the Rhine, defending
western Germany from the expected Soviet
invasion. The major conflict involving British Forces
during the Cold War was Korea (see page 42). This
was then followed by two tours of duty on the
Strategic Reserve, first in Chiseldon, during which
there was a move to Malta to support forces
involved in the Suez Crisis, August 1956, and then in
Colchester, 1960. The Battalion next faced the
Soviets in 1964, based in Quebec Barracks,
Osnabruck, with spells in Cyprus, Norway and
Denmark, before returning to England prior to
leaving for Hong Kong.
The Hide Afxentiou was in was dug into a shale
banking. We plastered it with everything we had
got, but to no avail, he was just so well dug in and
all our hardware was just bouncing off the scree.
Corporal Bailey MM, nicknamed Mickey Mouse,
was talking to someone, saying that if that had been
us in Korea the Gooks would soon have had us out.
An officer overheard the conversation and said,
“What would that be, Cpl Bailey?” On being told
the officer dashed off and was soon back with two
cans of AVGAS (aviation petrol). Climbing above
the hide he poured both cans down the hillside.
Getting clear of the area and leaving time for the fuel
to soak in, he fired a Very pistol at the hide.
Whoosh! Up it went. Typical, for his trouble he got a
mention in Dispatches, poor old Bailey got nothing.
In 1976 The Battalion became part of 11th Armoured
Brigade, again in Minden, preparing to hold the
Russians on the Inner German Border, this time
interspersed with tours of duty in Northern Ireland.
The final tour of deterrence was carried out in
Osnabruck between 2000 and 2005, when the threat
of an imminent advance by massed armour across
the north German Plain had receded, following the
collapse of Communism in 1991.
Cyprus - EOKA Campaign, 1956-1957:
After the bloody encounters in the Korean War, the
‘Dukes’ were occupied by a series of garrison duties,
being first deployed to Gibraltar, then to Cyprus in
1956, where they participated in anti-terrorist
operations against EOKA.
46
THE MODERN PERIOD
one officer and 24 men; two ad hoc reserve platoons
formed from the administrative men of HQ Company,
and reserve sections created at every HQ from any
men who could be made available. In support of the
Zone was a 30 strong detachment of the United
Nations’ Civil Police. At first these were New
Zealanders who were then replaced by Australians.
‘A’ Squadron 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, in
armoured cars, was also located in the Zone but
though available to me in an emergency it was the
designated Force Reserve for the southern part of the
island. Outside reinforcements, again at times of crisis,
came from the Canadian Recce Squadron, the Danish,
Finnish and Swedish battalions.
Cyprus, 1967:
Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Donald Isles
commanded 1 DWR between 1964 and 1967. During this
time, April 1967, the Battalion was sent to Cyprus as part of
the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP). This
is Maj Gen Isles' first hand account of that six month tour.
The above is the background to our time in Cyprus
from May to November 1967. I had been on a recce in
April and had found one disturbing fact. It was that
Kophinou District was under command of the Swedish
District Commander. As Kophinou was a distinct
trouble spot I did not relish my soldiers being away
from my control and I was determined to change it. It
took about a month but, by June, Kophinou was under
my command and I had the Battalion in a tidy state.
Charles Huxtable (later General Sir Charles Huxtable
CBE) commanded at Kophinou, Peter Hoppe at
Limassol, at first Rodney Harms, my 2IC, at Paphos
and then Jim Newton, while Robin Stevens was up in
the north at Polis. For our six-month tour I can safely
say that, once a week, I saw every man in the battalion.
Life for the soldiers manning an OP could be most
tedious yet, once there happened to be trouble between
Greek and Turk, there was very often much to be done.
My sector commanders did a most tremendous job in
sorting out many petty, but potentially serious,
problems between the two communities. Somehow
both communities quickly understood the Yorkshire
common sense and phlegm and the situation de-fused.
If not handled properly, relatively minor issues could
have affected the whole peace keeping operation in
Cyprus.
Major General Donald Edward Isles CB OBE
We were responsible for the Limassol Zone, an area of
some 1,500 square miles on the west and south of the
Troodos Mountains. It extended from Pomos Point in
the north to Larnaca in the east and included much of
the most rugged country in Cyprus. Apart from the
main roads (certainly no motorways in those days),
which are mostly near the coast, movement between
the villages was by means of narrow, stony tracks
which twist and turn to match the contours of the
mountain sides. Average speeds seldom exceeded
20mph and distances were large - from one extremity
of the Zone to the other is some 140 miles.
My Battalion HQ, or HQ Limassol Zone, was in
Polemedhia Camp in Limassol with the majority of HQ
Company. This camp also housed the Limassol
District HQ and two rifle platoons. There were also
three rifle Company Headquarters each functioning as
a District HQ with a fourth rifle company
headquarters, within Paphos District, at Polis. The
latter, with only one platoon, kept a close watch on the
usually quiet northern flank of the Zone, but was
under command of Paphos District. The Battalion,
with 824 men, was organised into the Recce Platoon;
twelve rifle platoons, each with a minimum strength of
There were four large-scale ‘shoot-ups’ involving the
firing of nearly two thousand rounds of small arms
and larger calibre rounds on each occasion. Shooting
incidents of a few rounds were commonplace, as were
minor clashes between Turkish Cypriot fighters and
Cypriot Police or the Greek National Guard, entailing
the hurling of stones and the shouting of threats and
insults.
47
THE MODERN PERIOD
Bomb incidents and vendetta killings were endemic
to Cyprus and there is no doubt that the political
situation was blamed for some occurrences, which
had more of a personal than a political motive
behind them.
made our way to Ayios Theodhorous and spent the
whole night in Martin Bray’s platoon position right
in the middle of the crossfire. About dawn we
managed to arrange a ceasefire but, as I have said
above, nine platoons and the armoured squadron
were needed to keep the warring parties apart. It
was not a pleasant experience but, as in Limassol, no
one was hurt and this despite the use of heavy
machine guns from the surrounding positions in the
hills.
However, I knew that Kophinou would eventually
cause grave problems for the United Nations unless
we could get rid of the Turkish defences which were
well dug-in around Kophinou and Ayios
Theodhorous. Along with Charles I drew up a plan
for a ‘peaceful’ Battalion attack on the Turkish
positions. The idea was to saturate the area with
Blue Berets and advance up to and through the
Turkish defences, relying, we believed, in that the
Turks in the face of such numbers would not open
fire. Needless to say the plan was not approved but,
if it had been, it would certainly have prevented the
disaster that overtook the 1st Green Jackets on the
16th of November, barely a week or so after they had
taken over from us. On this occasion, the Greek
National Guard, in considerable numbers and with
artillery and heavy weapons, assaulted Kophinou
killing 22 Turks and wounding nine. General Grivas
himself was involved in this outrage. It was clear
that the Greeks had waited until the experienced
Dukes had left and the new Green Jackets had taken
over before putting in their attack. Perhaps one
good outcome of this outrage was that General
Grivas went back to Greece and was never seen
again in Cyprus. He had caused so much trouble in
his time and, as a UN soldier, I resented having to
salute him when, on occasions, he drove through
our Zone in his black Mercedes staff car flying his
Greek commander’s flag.
United Nations
Cap Badge
During such incidents it was essential to establish a
UN presence as quickly as possible before it had a
chance to escalate. For one of the more serious
incidents at Kophinou and Ayios Theodhorous, all of
nine platoons and all the armoured cars of the
squadron were required for interposition between
Greeks and Turks. At Kophinou I had Charles
Huxtable, with five platoons and two troops of
armoured cars permanently under his command,
based in the former police compound. Mehmet, a
regular Turkish officer from the mainland, was the
Turkish Fighters’ leader. He was young and most
aggressive, not only to the Greek Cypriots, but also
to the United Nations. The Black Watch, before us,
had had an incursion into the compound when some
forty fighters rammed the wire with a truck and,
once in, proceeded to batter the Jocks with pick
handles and also caused considerable damage to UN
property.
The crux of the problem at Kophinou was that a
road off the main Nicosia-Limassol road ran to the
village of Ayios Theodhorous. Additionally there
was a Cypriot Police post at Skarinou adjacent to
Kophinou. Ayios Theodhorous was a mixed
Greek/Turkish village and thus the Cypriot Police
felt compelled, and indeed had the legal right, to
visit it by a jeep patrol at least daily. The Turks had
never liked this and on the 20th of July, to express
their disapproval, they opened fire on some Greeks
in the village. The Greeks retaliated and the firing
went on throughout the night. Charles and I had
In the first week in November Frank Kitson (later
General Sir Frank Kitson) and his Green Jackets took
over from us and we found ourselves back in
Osnabruck with our families. We left two soldiers in
hospital in Cyprus but they soon re-joined us. It had
been a valuable tour and I enjoyed working with
Mike Harbottle, the UNFICYP Chief of Staff and his
staff officers.
48
THE MODERN PERIOD
Ulster, 1972-2007:
Bosnia, 1994-1995:
At one time, the Regimental Training Depot was at
Fermoy in the south of Ireland. However, in 1922 the
Island was partitioned, the six counties of Ulster
remaining loyal to the Crown and continuing as part
of the United Kingdom, just as the 1st Battalion left
The Curragh for Gibraltar.
1st Battalion prepares to leave for Bosnia, 1994
In March, 1994, the ‘Dukes’ deployed to Bosnia, with
an area of responsibility covering Bugojno, Vitez,
Travnik and the besieged enclave of Goražde.
Cpl Porter & Section Dismounting, 1970s
The latter was under siege for much of the war. It was
declared a UN Safe Zone in that year. The ‘Dukes’
were one of the first units to enter the town. The
Regiment pushed the Bosnian-Serb Army from their
positions around the town to a distance of over one
mile. Their objective in doing this was to create a safe
zone for the town.
In 1957 the Battalion was in Belfast for a quiet posting,
but the situation had altered by the time the Battalion
returned 14 years later. The ‘Dukes’ deployed to
Northern Ireland a number of times during the ‘The
Troubles’. Their first deployment was in 1971, during
one of the bloodiest times in the Province in which 43
British soldiers and many civilians and terrorists lost
their lives. There were further tours to the Province
first to Shacklton Barracks, in Ballykelly in early 1973
for 18 months, followed by shorter ‘Emergency’ tours
in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1986.
While at Goražde, Private Shaun Taylor of C
Company was killed during an engagement with
Bosnian-Serb forces while manning an observation
post. The engagement lasted fifteen minutes, with
over 2,000 rounds of ammunition being expended by
the ‘Dukes’. Seven of the Bosnian-Serb soldiers were
killed in the fire-fight.
In 1987 the ‘Dukes’ deployed again to Northern
Ireland for a further two year tour, based in Palace
Barracks, just outside the city of Belfast. Following
this tour the ‘Dukes’ returned to Tern Hill Barracks in
Market Drayton, Shropshire. Part of the advance
party had moved in when the barracks was attacked
by the IRA, in the form of a bomb in one of the
accommodation blocks. Although the building was
occupied no injuries were sustained.
Goražde remained a safe zone, being held by British
troops from 1994-95. It was the only safe zone to
survive the war and avoided the tragedies that
occurred in other UN safe zones such as Srebrenica
and Žepa.
The last tour was as the Province Reserve Battalion,
based in Weeton Camp, Blackpool, providing
Companies for roulement tours of duty.
The ‘Dukes’ lost one officer and five soldiers to hostile
action during these deployments.
49
THE MODERN PERIOD
Cpl Wayne Mills
Corporal Wayne Mills of the 1st Battalion became
the first recipient of the Conspicuous Gallantry
Cross, second only to the Victoria Cross, on 29th
April 1994.
A patrol led by Corporal Mills came under heavy
small-arms fire from a group of Bosnian-Serbs.
The patrol returned fire, killing two of the
attackers. The patrol then withdrew, but the
attackers persisted in firing on the patrol. The
patrol soon reached an open clearing, where it
was obvious they would be highly vulnerable to
fire from the attackers.
Corporal Mills then performed an astonishing
feat of bravery. He turned back and engaged the
group in a fire-fight, delaying the attackers long
enough to allow the rest of his patrol to cross the
clearing. While doing this brave act, Corporal
Mills shot the leader of the group, the rest
scattering into the woods. Due to that action he
returned to his patrol safely, who were giving
covering fire.
Lieutenant Colonel David Santa-Olalla received
the Distinguished Service Order for his
inspirational leadership and courage during the
‘Dukes’ deployment to Bosnia. He personally
arranged for the mutual withdrawal of Serbian
and Muslim forces from the besieged town of
Goražde, just as the Geneva talks were being held
on the town. He was a truly competent leader
during the Bosnia deployment, being first on the
scene whenever an incident occurred.
Bosnia, Gorazde,
LCpl Johnson & Burma Coy Foot Patrol, 1994
50
THE MODERN PERIOD
Iraq, 2003 and 2004:
In 2003, the ‘Dukes’ were part of
Operation Telic 1, the invasion of
Iraq, as part of 1st (United
Kingdom) Armoured Division.
Initially tasked to construct and
operate a Prisoner of War
holding camp and, later, internal
security in the south of the
country. Within a week they
were re-deployed, in the Light
Role, as the Divisional Support
Group. They then relieved the
Black Watch (2 RTR Battlegroup)
to secure the town of Az Zubayr.
For this deployment the Theatre
Honour ‘Iraq 2003’ was
awarded.
‘Dukes’ in Iraq, 2003
The ‘Dukes’ returned to the southeast of Iraq, as part of 4th
Armoured Brigade, in October
2004, to join the British-led MultiNational Division (South-East), as
a fully equipped Armoured
Infantry Battalion with Warrior
Armoured Personnel Carriers on
Operation Telic 5, patrolling the
Basrah area.
Iraq, Gulf War, Dukes, Burma Coy Warrior, 2004
On patrol in Iraq, 2004
51
Farewell photo in Iraq, 2005
THE MODERN PERIOD
52
PHOTO
GALLERY 1
- DEPLOYMENTS
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Hong Kong, Manning a road block, 1969
Caribbean, Exercise Sun Pirate, Norman Island, 1972
Cyprus, UN Medal Parade Rehearsal, 1975
Ireland, Bessbrook Mill, Somme company, 1976
Ireland, Belfast, Stop & Search Patrol, 1980
54
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Northern Ireland, Milan Platoon Patrol, 1986
Northern Ireland, Belfast Patrol Briefing, 1980
Northern Ireland,
Street Patrol
Supporting Royal
Ulster
Constabulary,
1980
Northern Ireland, Belfast Patrolling
Multi-storey Housing Complex, 1980
Belfast Street Graffiti, 1980
55
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Belize, Alma Coy marching through Belize City, 1985
Belize, Battle Group North, GMPG emplacement, 1985
Belize, Corunna Coy, Jungle Patrol, 1985
Belize, Alma Coy Jungle Patrol with sacks
of confiscated Marijuana,1985
Belize,
Dettingen
Coy
Patrol
waiting
for a
Helicopter,
1985
56
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Belize, Exercise Nayan Sword,
Commanding Officers O Group, 1985
Battalion Shooting Team, Bisley, 1984
Kenya, EX Strident Call, Mpala Farm, GPMGs Field
Firing, 1986
UK, Ternhill, Western District SAA meeting, 1989
Falklands, South Georgia, Ariel View of Grytviken &
King Edward Point, 1990
Falklands, South Georgia,
Capt Richard Best & Recce Platoon, 1990
57
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Norway, Pte Atkinson,
Pte Jackling & Pte Aurmea, 1992
Kenya, Katherdini, Burma Coy, 4 Platoon, 1994
Norway Ex Hardfall,
Pte Coomes leads 9 Pl, 1993
Canada, 81mm Mortar, Sgt Maj Thompson, Sgt
Sneider & Sgt Antcliffe, 1989
Iraq, Burma Coy Warrior Section, 2004
58
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Shatt Al Arab Hotel, DWR Flag, 2004
Kenya, Mpala Farm, Permanent Range Team, 1994
New
Zealand, Lt
McCormick
with his
Kiwi-Fijian
platoon, 1998
Germany,
Sennelager,
PNCO's Cadre,
2002
59
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - DEPLOYMENTS
Germany, Sennelager, Capt Sutcliffe, 2000
Germany, Sennelager, 2000
Germany, Sennelager, 2000
60
Freedoms
The Regimental Colours Today
Miscellany
FREEDOMS
The Freedom of a City, Borough or Royal Borough is conferred
on a unit to signify a long standing relationship with, or
eminent service to, that district through a special Council
resolution. The privilege of a Freedom allows the unit to
march through the borough with “drums beating, Colours
flying and bayonets fixed.” The Regiment has been awarded
the following Freedoms:
1945
Halifax - Awarded on the 18th June.
1952
Huddersfield - Awarded on 2nd July.
1959
Spenborough - Awarded 24th February.
1967
Mossley - Awarded to the West Riding Battalion on 8th
July.
1991
Skipton - The Honorary Citizenship of the town was
awarded on 4th May.
1995
Barnsley - Transferred to the ‘Dukes’ on 8th May, via
the York and Lancaster Regiment and 3rd Battalion
DWR.
1996
Bradford - Transferred on 26th April, through 70th Fd
Regt RA, the Yorkshire Volunteers and 3rd Battalion
DWR.
2002
Sheffield - Awarded on 13th April.
2002
Craven District - Awarded on 20th July.
2005
Erquinghem-Lys - On 12th November, the Regiment
was awarded the singular distinction of the ‘Keys to the
Town’ of Erquinghem-Lys in France.
Freedom Scroll, Halifax, 1945
Drums Platoon lead the Regiment
to Erquinghem Lys Town Hall to
receive the Key to The town, 2005
62
THE REGIMENTAL COLOURS TODAY
The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment was
unique in having the privilege of carrying
four colours on parade. The first stand of
colours was a standard set of Regulation
Colours, which all Regiments are presented
with, and the second, an Honorary stand of
Colours, presented to the 76th Regiment of
Foot by the Honourable East India
Company for distinguished service in India.
The Honorary Colours are of the 1768
pattern, 6 foot 6 inches flying by 6 foot on
the pike. Following amalgamation, on the
6th June 2006, the 3rd Battalion The
Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s)
retained the Honorary Colours.
The Colours
The ‘Dukes’ were presented with their last
stand of new colours by HM Queen
Elizabeth II, represented by The Colonel of
The Regiment, Major General Sir Evelyn
Webb-Carter KCVO OBE, due to the ill
health of the Queen’s official representative,
the Regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief, the Duke
of Wellington.
On Saturday the 31st March, 2007, the stand
of Regimental Regulation colours taken out
of service in 2002, in Osnabrück, Germany,
at the Regiment’s Tercentenary parade was
laid up in the Halifax Parish church. The
Colour party, with 2 escorts of 40 troops,
marched from the Town Hall to the Parish
Church, preceded by the Regimental Drums
and the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band.
There was a short ceremony in the church
grounds where the Troops were inspected
by the Mayor of Halifax, Councillor Colin
Stout, and the Lord Lieutenant of West
Yorkshire, Dr Ingrid Roscoe.
The Colours, Halifax Parish Church
63
MISCELLANY
The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment was the only
British Regiment to have a Colonel-in-Chief who was
not of Royal blood.
Havercake Ale. The Regiment had a beer, called
Havercake Ale, named in their honour by the Timothy
Taylor Brewery in Keighley, to mark the Regiment’s
Tercentenary. Timothy Taylor, the founder of the
brewery, had served in an antecedent unit of the
Regiment in 1859. Since then other members of the
family, and employees, had also enlisted as ‘Dukes’.
One employee, a Drayman called Arthur Poulter, was
awarded a Victoria Cross at Erquinghem Lys for his
action in saving the lives of many of his comrades
during the Battle of the Lys, France, in 1918.
The Battalion normally has five Companies, each
named to commemorate a significant campaign or
battle in which the ‘Dukes’ took part and were
awarded a Battle Honour:
A Company - Alma - commemorating the Battle of
Alma, Crimean War, 1853-1856
B Company - Burma - commemorating the Burma
Campaign, Second World War, 1941-1945
C Company - Corunna - commemorating the Battle of
Corunna, Peninsular War of 1809-1813
Support Company - Somme - commemorating the
Battle of the Somme, First World War, 1914-1918
Headquarter Company - Hook - commemorating the
Battle of the Hook, Korean War, 1952-1953
When required an additional rifle company may be
formed:
Havercake Ale
D Company - Dettingen - commemorating the Battle
of Dettingen, War of the Austrian Succession, 1743.
Disbandments. Both the 33rd and 76th Regiments
have previously been disbanded and reformed in the
past. The 33rd Regiment was disbanded on 25th May,
1714, but was officially registered as the 33rd
Regiment of Foot in January 1715 and re-raised under
that title on 25th March, 1715.
It was last formed in Minden, Germany, in 1978.
And an additional administration company:
W Company - Waterloo - commemorating the Battle
of Waterloo, Waterloo campaign, 1815.
The 76th was disbanded on three occasions prior to
being raised for duty in India in 1787; first as Lord
Harcourt’s Regiment, raised 17th November, 1745,
disbanded June 1746; re-raised, following the loss of
Minorca to the French, in November, 1756, as the 61st
Regiment but renumbered 76th, by General Order in
1758, being disbanded in 1763. A second Battalion
raised by this Regiment in October, 1758, for duty in
Africa was formed into the 86th Regiment but was
disbanded in 1763. The 76th Highland Regiment of
Foot was raised between December, 1777, and March,
1778, for service in America. On return from America
it was disbanded at Stirling in March, 1784. The 76th
was then re-raised in October, 1787, to become the 2nd
Battalion the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1881.
It was last formed for Operation Oculus, Kosovo, in
2001.
Timothy Taylor's
Havercake Ale Beermat
64
PHOTO
GALLERY 2
- GENERAL
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Gibraltar, 1954
Buckingham Palace, 1971
Aldershot, Dining in of
Lt Col J B K Greenway,
1975
Gibraltar, 1984
Platoon Commanders Competition - Gibraltar, 1984
66
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Freedom Parade in Yorkshire, 1986
Gibraltar Caves, Band Inspection, 1984
WOs’ and Sgts’ Mess - Belize, 1985
67
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Halifax, Bankfield Museum, 1989
Buckingham Palace, Ceremonial Duties, 1988
Skipton - exercising Honorary Citizenship, 1995
Italy - Memorial Plaque for Anzio Harbour, 2004
Erquinghem-Lys,
France, 2005
68
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Halifax, Korean Veterans’ Parade, 1998
Halifax, Korean Veterans’ Parade, 1998
Halifax, Korean Veterans’ Parade, 1998
Halifax, Korean Veterans’ Parade, 1998
Halifax, Freedom Parade, 1998
69
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Freedom Parade - Yorkshire
Freedom Parade - Yorkshire
Ian Walters and Craig Charlesworth
on board HMS Iron Duke, 1977
Osnabruck, Germany, 2000
Regimental Weekend, Warminster, 2006
Inspecting the new Honorary Colours, 2002
70
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Halifax, Save The ‘Dukes’ Protest, 2006
Save the Dukes Protest, Halifax Piece Hall, 2006
71
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - GENERAL
Halifax, Save The ‘Dukes’ Protest, 2006
72
THE
VICTORIA
CROSS
THE VICTORIA CROSS
A Royal Warrant of Queen Victoria on 29th of June
1856 instituted the Victoria Cross. It is awarded to
“those officers or men who served us in the presence
of the enemy and that shall have performed some
single act of valour or devotion to the country.”
Their Citations read as follows:
Abyssinia Campaign, 1867-68:
3691 Drummer Michael MAGNER, 33rd Regiment
and 949 Private James BERGIN, 33rd Regiment. For
their conspicuous gallantry, in the assault of Magdala,
on the 13th April 1869.
The Victoria Cross, instigated 29th January, 1856
Drummer
Michael Magner
The idea originated with the Prince Consort, who is
said to have designed the medal. The cross carries
with it an annuity, then of £10 and now of £1300. In
1902 King Edward VII sanctioned the cross to be
given to the representative of soldiers who would
have been entitled to it had they survived. The
decoration consists of a bronze ‘Maltese Cross’, which,
until 1942, was made from the metal of Russian guns
captured at Sevastopol, in the Crimean War. It is
worn with a red ribbon by Army recipients and with a
blue ribbon for recipients in the Navy. A total of nine
serving members of the Regiment were awarded the
Victoria Cross.
Private
James Bergin
Lieutenant General Lord Napier reports that while the
head of the column of attack was checked by the
obstacles at the gate, a small stream of Officers and
men of the 33rd Regiment and an officer of engineers,
breaking away from the approach to Magdala, and
climbing up a cliff, reached the defences and forced
their way over the wall and through the strong and
thorny fence, thus turning the defenders of the
gateway. The first two men to enter Magdala were
Drummer Magner and Private Bergin of the 33rd
Regiment.
(London Gazette, 28th July 1868)
Private James Bergin
Drummer Michael Magner
Sergeant James Firth
Second Lieutenant Henry Kelly
Private Arnold Loosemore
Private Arthur Poulter
Second Lieutenant James Palmer Huffam
Private Henry Tandey
Private Richard Henry Burton
74
THE VICTORIA CROSS
He twice rallied his company under the heaviest fire
and finally led the only three available men into the
enemy trench and there remained bombing until two
of them had become casualties and enemy
reinforcements had arrived. He then carried his
Company Sergeant Major, who had been wounded,
back to our trenches, a distance of 70 yards, and
subsequently three other soldiers. He set a fine
example of gallantry and endurance.
(London Gazette, 25th November 1916)
The Boer War, 1900-1902:
2522 Sergeant James FIRTH, 1st Battalion The Duke
of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment
During the action at Plewton’s Farm, near Arundel,
Cape Colony, on the 24th February 1900.
15805 Private Arnold LOOSEMORE, 8th Battalion
The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment.
For most conspicuous bravery and initiative during
the attack on a strongly held enemy position south of
Langemarck, Flanders on 11th August 1917.
2522 Sergeant
James Firth
Lance Corporal Blackman having been wounded and
lying exposed to a hot fire at a range of 400 - 500
yards, Sergeant Firth picked him up and carried him
to cover. Later in the day, when the enemy had
advanced to within a short distance of the firing line,
Second Lieutenant Wilson being dangerously
wounded and in a most exposed position, Sergeant
Firth carried him over the ridge, which was being
held by the troops, to shelter and was himself shot
through the nose and eye whilst doing so.
(London Gazette, 11th June 1901)
15805 Private Arnold
Loosemore
His platoon having been checked by heavy machinegun fire, he crawled through partially-cut wire,
dragging his Lewis gun with him, and single handed
dealt with a strong part of the enemy killing about
twenty of them and thus covering the consolidation of
the position taken up by his platoon, immediately
afterwards his Lewis gun was blown up by a bomb
and three of the enemy rushed for him, but he shot
them all with his revolver. Later, he shot several
enemy snipers, exposing himself to heavy fire each
time. On returning to the original post he also
brought back a wounded comrade under heavy fire at
the risk of his life. He displayed throughout an utter
disregard of danger.
(London Gazette, 14th September 1917)
The First World War, 1914-1918:
2nd Lieutenant Henry KELLY, 10th Battalion The
Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment. For
most conspicuous bravery in attack at Le Sars on 4th
October 1916.
2nd Lieutenant Henry Kelly
75
THE VICTORIA CROSS
24066 Private Arthur POULTER, 1/4th Battalion The
Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment (TF).
For most conspicuous bravery when acting as a
stretcher-bearer, at Erquinghem-Lys, on the 10th April
1918.
When, during the advance on Marcoing, his platoon
was held `by` machine-gun fire, he at once crawled
forward, located the machine-gun, and with his Lewis
gun team knocked it out. On arrival at the crossing he
restored the plank bridge under a hail of bullets, thus
enabling the first crossing to be made at this vital spot.
Later in the evening, during an attack, he, with eight
comrades, was surrounded by an overwhelming
number of Germans and, though the position was
apparently helpless, he led a bayonet charge through
them, fighting so fiercely that 37 of the enemy were
driven into the hands of the remainder of his
company. Although twice wounded he refused to
leave until the fight was won.
(London Gazette, 14th December 1918)
24066 Private
Arthur Poulter
Henry Tandey donated his medals to the Duke of
Wellington's Regimental Museum in Halifax, West
Yorkshire. On special occasions and parades he would sign
them out to wear. During the last period that he had signed
them out, he died. Unaware that the medals should have
been returned to the museum, the medals were auctioned in
1981 at Sotheby's in London by his wife. Where a private
collector subsequently bought them. They were presented
to the Regimental Museum of The Green Howards (the
regiment in which he had earlier served), by Sir Ernest
Harrison OBE, at a ceremony in the Tower of London on
the 11th of November, 1997.
On ten occasions Private Poulter carried badly
wounded men on his back to a safe locality, through a
particularly heavy artillery and machine-gun barrage.
Again, after a withdrawal over the river had been
ordered. Private Poulter returned in full view of the
enemy, who were advancing, and carried back
another man who had been left behind wounded. He
bandaged-up over forty men under fire, and his
conduct throughout the whole day was a magnificent
example to all ranks. This very gallant soldier was
seriously wounded when attempting another rescue
in the face of the enemy.
(London Gazette, 28th June 1918)
34506 Private Henry TANDEY DCM MM, 5th
Battalion The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding)
Regiment (TF). For most conspicuous bravery and
initiative during the capture of the village and the
crossings at Marcoing and the subsequent counterattack on 28th September 1918.
Private Henry Tandey
76
THE VICTORIA CROSS
2nd Lieutenant James Palmer HUFFAM, 5th
Battalion The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding)
Regiment (TF). For conspicuous bravery and
devotion to duty on 31st August, 1918.
The Second World War, 1939-1945:
5891907 Private Richard BURTON, 1st Battalion The
Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding)
2nd Lieutenant James
Palmer Huffam
Private Richard Burton
With three men he rushed an enemy machine-gun
post and put it out of action. His post was then
heavily attacked and he withdrew fighting, carrying a
wounded comrade. Again on the night of the 31st
August 1918, at St Servin’s Farm, accompanied by two
men only, he rushed an enemy machine-gun post,
capturing eight prisoners and enabling the advance to
continue. Throughout the whole of the fighting from
29th August to 1st September 1918 he showed the
utmost gallantry
(London Gazette, 26th December 1918)
In Italy on 8th October 1944, two companies of the
Duke of Wellington’s Regiment moved forward to
take a strongly held feature 760 metres high. The
capture of this feature was vital at this stage of the
operation, as it dominated all the ground on the main
axis of advance. The assaulting troops made good
progress to within twenty yards of the crest, when
they came under withering fire from Spandaus on the
crest. Private Burton rushed forward and engaging
the first Spandau’s position with his Tommy-gun,
killed the crew of three. When the assault was again
held up by murderous fire from more machine guns,
Private Burton, again showing complete disregard for
his own safety, dashed forward toward the first
machine-gun, using his Tommy-gun until his
ammunition was exhausted. He then picked up a
Bren gun and, firing from the hip, succeeded in killing
or wounding the crews of the two machine-guns.
Thanks to his outstanding courage the Company was
then able to consolidate on the forward slope of the
feature. Private Burton’s magnificent gallantry and
total disregard of his own safety during many hours
of fierce fighting in mud and continuous rain were an
inspiration to all his comrades.
(London Gazette, 4th January 1945)
77
THE VICTORIA CROSS
At Ningthoukong, in Burma, soon after midnight of
6th of June, 1944, an attack was made by a strong force
of Japanese. Three out of four light machine-guns in
Sergeant Turner’s platoon were destroyed and the
platoon forced to give ground. Sergeant Turner, with
coolness and fine leadership, at once reorganised his
party and withdrew 40 yards. When it was clear that
the enemy were attempting to outflank the position,
Sergeant Turner at once, boldly and fearlessly, went
forward from his position alone, armed with all the
hand grenades he could carry, and went into attack
against the enemy single-handed. He used his
weapons with devastating effect and when his supply
was exhausted he went back for more and returned to
the offensive again. During all this time the enemy
were keeping up intense small arms and grenade fire.
4624899 Corporal (Acting Sergeant)
Hanson Victor TURNER
Corporal
Hanson Victor Turner
Although originally a ‘Duke’, Acting-Sergeant Turner, had
transferred to The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of
Wales's Own) and was serving with them when he was
awarded his VC. When his medal came up for sale it was
purchased by the Halifax Town Council, as he was a
resident of Halifax. The medal is, therefore, displayed
alongside the Duke of Wellington's collection at Bankfield
Museum, Halifax, for convenience.
Sergeant Turner in all made five journeys to obtain
further supplies of grenades and it was on this sixth
occasion still single-handed, while throwing a
grenade among a party of the enemy, that he was
killed. He displayed outstanding valour and had not
the slightest thought for his own safety. He died on
the battlefield in a spirit of supreme self-sacrifice.
(London Gazette, 17th August 1944)
78
SOLDIERS’
SERVICE
MEMORIES
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
sea, away from the crowded and fully stocked ship, for
safety. The ship drifted into the side of the harbour wall
and damaged the propeller. The following day all the stores,
equipment and men were transferred to the HMT Empire
Pride, and at exactly 1930hrs they set off again along the
Algerian coast to Bone, now known as 'Annaba', arriving
there at 1700hrs the next day, again during an air raid.
(from the Archives)
Pte Clifford Garlick - WW2, North Africa & Italy,
1942-1945.
Whilst they were at Bone, preparing to attack the
German forces, the monsoons started.
The Battalion was camped 4 to 5 miles along the coast in
tents. The weather had turned wet and there was heavy
rain for several days. The ground turned into a thick
quagmire of mud, resembling the battlefields of WW1. This
resulted in some roads being washed away and a few
landslides onto the roads, making walking and driving
difficult. Elsewhere, even tracked vehicles and aircraft were
getting bogged down; trying to dig them out was almost
impossible. The Battalion was instructed to move, by road,
on the 13th, to Gafour, in Tunisia. Audio archives from the
Imperial War Museum record an artillery officer in the
convoy saying they travelled on an irregular road with
steep inclines and through a forest of Cork Trees. They
arrived in Garfour at 03:00hrs, just a few miles to the
southwest of Bou Arada. On the 15th The Dukes moved
into the line and started sending out patrols. A number of
actions occurred over the next few days as the battalion
moved forward.
Pte Clifford Garlick
Clifford Garlick was born on 25th May 1923 in
Holmfirth. His father worked as a road mender for
the council. Clifford left school at 14 and his sister
found him a job, at first yarn spinning, then scouring,
in the local mill. It was a hard 48 hour week; and
there was always someone waiting for your job at the
mill gates. Money was tight in the Garlick family,
Clifford’s father had been gassed in the First World
War, whilst serving with the Royal Engineers.
Clifford was 19 when he was called up into the Duke
of Wellington’s Regiment. He completed his training
at Brancepeth in County Durham. Prior to his call up
he had never been out of the relatively small village of
Holmfirth. From Scotland, he recalls he was sent to
Bristol and from there posted to North Africa. The
troopship took an evasive route through the Irish Sea
to dodge German submarines, taking 10 days to reach
Algiers. Clifford suffered with seasickness
throughout and on arrival the Germans attacked them
and blew a propeller off the ship.
They made their way forward, unaware Germans
were watching them from camouflaged observation
posts. It took about 5 days pushing through to reach
the last hill only to find the enemy were at the top,
lobbing hand grenades down on them, when
suddenly there were six German tanks behind them,
cutting them off from the rest of the Regiment. They
were told to fix bayonets, and they ran down to the
bottom of the hill, where the Germans’ tanks had
them covered, and called on them to surrender. The
German tank commander spoke perfect English, but
nobody moved and so the German gunners opened
up on them with machine guns. Several soldiers were
hit, including the lad next to Clifford. He stayed with
his badly wounded comrade, who was bleeding from
leg wounds, helping to put him in a German
motorbike’s sidecar.
The Regimental War Diary indicates that the Battalion left
Crieff, Scotland, by two trains, at 2115hrs and 2215hrs on
the 25th of February 1943, to Avonmouth, by 1500hrs the
next day they were fully embarked on HMT Moreton Bay
in Avonmouth Dock, with a Battalion strength of 40
Officers, 9 Warrant Officers and 885 Other Ranks. They
left Avonmouth on the 27th going up the coast to the Clyde
and joined up with another convoy. They arrived at
Algiers port around 1700hrs on the 9th of March At 1900
hrs. Whilst mooring there was an air raid and the tugboat
Captain cast off his lines and headed out towards the open
80
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
Regimental War Diaries record that at around 2230hrs on
the night of the 20th of April the Right flank of the
Battalion lines, at Banana Ridge, was infiltrated by
German troops. C Coy sent men to reinforce A Coy, and
during this night 2 officers, Lts Naylor & Wraight, and
about 30 men were reported missing. At 0500hrs German
tanks and Infantry came round the south of Gren Hill and
attacked the Battalion.
(from the Archives)
they also built a box to go over the top. The Italian
guards couldn’t understand the box with holes in the
top!
Approximately 500 Allied prisoners were sent to
Tunis and put on a POW ship as the Germans were
evacuating. The RAF was under orders to stop the
Germans fleeing Tunis and they bombed the ship,
after it had got a couple of miles out to sea. The
Italian sailors decided to run the ship on to a
sandbank, where they abandoned the ship, got into
the lifeboats and left the prisoners behind. A German
gun crew on the ship insisted one lifeboat should be
left for their use and, after one of the gun’s crew was
killed, they also abandoned the ship. The POWs
quickly dipped the ship’s guns, in surrender, and
draped white sheets over the decks to try and stop the
attack, but the RAF continued bombing the ship. Two
of the strongest swimmers decided to set off for the
shore to try and stop the onslaught. Then one bomb
went through one side of the ship and lodged into the
other side, the heat setting fire to the bedding there.
The surviving prisoners were rescued when the
harbourmaster came out with boats from Tunis to take
them off.
Clifford had not had any food or drink for several
days and accepted his capture. He clambered up on a
tank and one German soldier gave him a drink of cold
coffee from his bottle, then the 50 to 60 prisoners were
lined up and marched about 100 km to a farm where,
exhausted, they slept for several hours. The next day
they lined up to get a cold drink from a water tap and
were given broad beans to eat in their mess tins, along
with German black bread.
Clifford had also been injured. He had a shrapnel
wound at the back of his neck and another in his arm,
which had cut through his battledress. At Tunis a
stretcher-bearer bandaged his wounds and he
managed to get something to drink, everyone had
dysentery; Clifford drank some wine as he couldn’t
find any water. He was sent to the hospital tent and
there he found his mate who’d been shot in the leg
during the previous battle. His German captors had
given him first class medical treatment and this had
saved him from losing his leg.
The prisoners were then marched to a POW camp,
which was under the command of the Italians, where
they spent the next two to three weeks. The Italians
treated the British captives reasonably well. The
sanitary arrangements were somewhat primitive; they
had to dig holes for latrines, with planks across, and
Italy, B Coy 1 DWR,
1944
81
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
embarked aboard the liberty ship Robert R. Livingston and
shipped to the Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) in
Maryland, USA (from the archives).
Clifford was patched up and went on to take part in
the landing at Pantelleria. He watched the island
being bombed, by both the Navy and the RAF. He
went ashore on a landing craft and ran up the beach
with a PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti-Tank) gun, which
he considered no use at all, in those circumstances. As
a result of the intensive bombing the landing was
unopposed and Clifford was only there for two to
three days. They found a water-well, in a church, and
saw the Italian women and children re-emerging from
where they had taken shelter.
They had to quickly organise attacks to try and push
the Germans back. The trenches were full of water
and they were soaked wet through for weeks on end.
There was no rest at all, as they spent two hours on
duty and two hours off, sleeping wherever they could
find a place to lay down. On one occasion they
advanced up a railway embankment where they
heard Germans talking on the other side, then
suddenly German tanks came round both sides of the
embankment behind Clifford and his mates, so he and
his comrades started to pull back, sheltering in craters.
They eventually managed to get back safely, but they
had no weapons or ammunition, they rejoined the
other Dukes further back. They were told to go back
to the front by a Sergeant; but Clifford refused as they
had no weapons, that probably saved his life, as only
half a dozen men survived the attack.
Men of 1 DWR taking a rest in bombed out ruins
on Pantelleria, 1943
The Regiment was brought back to Tunisia, to reequip, before taking part in the landing at Anzio,
where Clifford was one of the first to get off his
landing craft. It was a straight-forward landing, but
he soon found the Germans to be the better fighters
and the allied soldiers were outclassed. ‘Anzio Annie’
fired every night, they didn’t get many supplies and
sometimes survived for days on end just on army
biscuits, which they usually crumbled to make a
porridge.
‘Anzio Annie’ - Italy, 1944
Clifford lost a good friend at the railway
embankment, Attwell, where Clifford dug him a
grave. Another of his mates was hit by a sniper, he
screamed all day, although he was close they were
pinned down by a sniper so they couldn’t rescue him.
At Anzio Clifford was in a trench with Eric Mallinson
when three reinforcements arrived with a Corporal,
none of them knowing what to do. Clifford advised
them to quickly dig a trench. Later, whilst they were
asleep shells started coming over and one hit a box of
ammunition, the resulting explosion burying them in
their trench. Stretcher-bearers pulled them out and it
took Clifford a long time to recover from the shellshock.
"Anzio Annie” was actually two railway guns, making up
the German K-5 RR battery that shelled the Anzio
Beachhead. “Robert” and “Leopold” were the names the
Germans gave the two guns. When the Allies broke out of
the Anzio Beachhead, the German moved the guns to
Civitavecchia, just north of Rome. There “Robert” and
“Leopold” were spiked with explosives and immobilised to
prevent them from falling into Allied hands. On the 7th of
June, 1944, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th
Division 'captured' the guns. Leopold was the least
damaged of the two and it was moved to Naples, then
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
After Anzio, Clifford was sent to work in the
cookhouse. The ‘Dukes’ were advancing into Rome
and he recalled being in an attack on his 21st birthday,
rigged out with fluorescent flares. He could see other
soldiers being injured when the flares were hit by
gunfire, one lad had just gone 19 and he died talking
about his girlfriend and his mother.
Eric recalls hearing the sound of sirens on the first
night of the war. His brothers were both called up Tom served with the Northumberland Fusiliers and
his older brother, Jack, with the Royal Army Service
Corps in North Africa, Italy and France.
Eric was called up in January 1942, and started his
training at Norwich, then at Cromer, where he
remembers running on the front at 6.30 in the
morning. He became a Bren gunner and continued
his training (and battled midges) at Loch Fyne, having
joined the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. Further
training at Forfar involved nine-mile marches with
full packs - then dancing at night, and suffering
continuous rain at Inverary. “Training was tough,
made you fit for ‘owt!”
Later Clifford put in for transfer to the Army Catering
Corps. He had made breakfasts for 100 men before
being sent back to England, where he spent 6 weeks in
Aldershot doing nothing but sweeping up. He didn’t
like it, so he put in for another transfer back to
cooking at Yeovil. Clifford was sorry to leave the
‘Dukes’, even for a safe job.
Clifford was finally demobbed just before Christmas
in 1947, and returned to work in the mill “though you
had to beg for your job back” he recalled. Clifford
worked in the same mill until his retirement. Clifford
met Phyllis whom he married in 1948 and they
completed their family with 4 children, 4
grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Early in 1943, Eric left for North Africa. On arrival at
Algiers he recalls the ship’s guns firing at a Spitfire,
but the shooting stopped when they realised it was an
allied aircraft. His first action was very frightening,
the Germans had already taken one platoon prisoner
and some had been killed at that time. Eric’s unit was
told to fix their bayonets. They walked straight into
heavy machine-gun fire, and Cpl Warren was shot
through the stomach. Eric was hit by a ricochet bullet
and winded, though many of his comrades were
killed during that night.
Cpl Eric Mallinson, WW2 - North Africa, Italy,
Palestine, Syria, Egypt, 1942-1945:
During that period Eric went on a night patrol
wearing shorts and the night was very cold, after two
and a half hours they were all frozen. On the way
back they walked into a minefield and many were
wounded. A ball bearing pierced Eric’s shoulder and
he spent a week in hospital.
Regimental War Diaries show that on the 28th of March,
1943, a night patrol, lead by 2Lt Buckland, reported back in
the early hours, with casualties.
(from the archives)
Cpl Eric Mallinson
Eric Mallinson was born at Holmbridge, near
Holmfirth, on 21st January, 1922. His father, Wilfred,
was a stone mason by trade and had served in the
First World War. His mother, Ada, sisters, Doris and
Gladys, and brothers, Tom and Jack, completed the
family. Eric attended Brockholes Church School from
the age of 11 to 14 and then became an apprentice
stonemason until he was 19.
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
Image shown with permission of the National Archives. Ref: WO175/497
Before leaving North Africa, Eric and
another soldier were chosen to go on the
Victory March at Tunis. They were given
new kit which was rather uncomfortable
and chafed. The campaign was over and
they were taken to Cap Bon. On one
occasion he missed the transport back,
following a day’s leave in Tunis, so some
Redcaps found him somewhere to sleep,
though it was rife with mosquitoes. The
next morning the Redcaps took him back
in a wagon, luckily he was not put on a
charge. In fact he returned to the
Battalion to find his Commanding
Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Webb-Carter,
washing his hair! Eric was sent back to C
Company as a cook.
From North Africa he took part in the invasion of the island of Pantelleria. The troops faced no resistance from the
Italians, taking the Island without loss of life. He remained there for a few weeks. Later he found himself on the
Anzio beachhead and, working as a cook, assumed he would be out of the line of fire. However, Eric soon reverted
to his role as a Bren gunner.
The Anzio landing was
straightforward. The men were
given a tot of rum, they thought
they would meet opposition but,
initially, they didn’t. Even when
they landed there was no enemy
action. They found a cattle shed to
sleep in and spent about a
fortnight there before moving on.
Later, though, the horrendous
conditions on the beachhead soon
started to impact on the men and
casualties mounted. There was a
good deal of shellfire preventing
any movement in daylight. Lance
Corporal Thomas was killed on the
Anzio beachhead and Eric lost two
Cpl Eric Mallison, Sgt Wheeler, Topper Brown, Clifford Garlick
more mates whilst in the trenches
there. The Germans seemed to be
encircling them and one injured lad was carried in with the help of a German POW. It was very cold at Anzio.
Meals were sent up to the troops and they had K rations and little heaters for tea. At a railway line the Germans
came over one night and attacked them and quite a few ‘Dukes’ were wounded, - Eric often wonders why he came
through it when so many others didn’t. His comrade, Clifford Garlick, had to bury his mate after this attack.
84
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
The trenches filled with water, often up to the men’s
knees. Eric was on guard one night when he heard
shells coming in close. One hit the next trench and
killed the lad in it and then Eric and Clifford’s trench
collapsed on them. Eric could hear shells and the big
railway gun ‘Anzio Annie’ firing. He saw “Shellshocked people looking vacant.” They started
withdrawing; they had just reached a First Aid Station
and got into a tent, when a German aircraft strafed it
and quite a few men were wounded.
Cpl Peter Walker, WW2 - taken Prisoner of War,
1940:
The war started for me when John Marsland, who
worked at the same mill as me, and I decided to join
the Territorial Army, rather than wait until the balloon
went up and probably lose all chances of making up
our own minds as to where and in what we served.
So, one May evening in 1939, John and I turned up at
an empty shop in Cow Green, Halifax and then,
having coughed for the MO, who then listened to our
hearts, we were signed on as members of the 2/7th
Battalion the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.
Training started in the R.E.S gym in Great Albion
Street. There, every Tuesday and Thursday night we
spent two hours from 7 until 9 o’clock doing very
elementary military training - foot drill - rifle drill learning parts of the rifle and aiming and squeezing
the trigger of the same - stripping and reassembling
the Bren Gun.
Eric stayed with the Battalion until near Bologna,
where he missed the action as he returned to work in
the cookhouse. His next destination was Haifa, in
Palestine, where he worked in a proper battalion
cookhouse. From there he went into Syria, to
Damascus, and Beirut, then by train to Ismailia in
Egypt. Eric and Clifford were asked to join the Army
Catering Corps (ACC), and Eric was made a full
Corporal after a few months. By the final stages of the
war they were feeding approximately 800 men.
Peter was given a basic day’s pay each time he had
accrued eight hours. He was soon promoted to
Corporal. In August he first experienced firing live
ammunition during a training weekend, at a firing
range, he was also given some webbing equipment to
take home.
When he came home he found it really difficult to
settle, his comrades had gone and he had to finish the
last months of his apprenticeship. He married Doreen
in 1947 and when their daughters were born life was
sometimes a real struggle. Eric was always busy,
building walls and houses and he stayed in the
building trade until retirement - “always having to
graft to make ends meet.” Uncomfortable in crowds,
Eric also suffered from nightmares and couldn’t sleep
at times; the unrecognised legacy of combat.
Cpl Peter Walker
This was our first bit of uniform and was out of date
First World War stuff. On Friday September 1st, John
rang me up at work, just after dinner. He told me to
report to the R.E.S. gym straight away, with my
webbing equipment and washing tackle. It was a
very scary yet exciting bus ride into town - the
afternoon was hot and the bus windows were open as
were the doors of the houses on the road side. From
85
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
these doors came the sound of wirelesses turned up
loud and the sound of announcers calling out the
orders to the reservists, Army, Navy and Air Force,
telling them which Depots they had to report to. It
filled me with excitement; tinged with apprehension
and, I suppose, fear.
By May 17th things were not going very well for the
Allies and our three, less than half-trained, half-armed
divisions had been changed from Lines of
Communication troops to front line divisions.
Eight o’clock on the evening of 18th of May saw the
Battalion marching down to the station, headed by the
band and drums who were going with us, just as in
the days of Marlborough or Wellington. For food we
had one day’s rations.
On arrival at the gym we were issued with our very
own rifles and bayonets and told to wait until the
Company was complete, when we would be getting
our orders. Fortunately we were issued with a mug of
hot, sweet tea and a bully beef sandwich, as it was
dusk before orders finally came - not that it made any
difference to the rank and file - confusion seemed to
reign supreme.
The Battalion travelled to Rouen and met up with the
rest of 137th Brigade and another Battalion, the 2/4th
KOYLI from 13th Brigade. They were bound for
Bethune via Amiens but the railway bridge over the
Somme had been destroyed by the enemy so they
were diverted through Dieppe to Abbeville. On
approaching their destination they came under attack
from German bombers.
Peter’s platoon was taken by bus to Walsden and the
end of the Summit Tunnel. The Company was to
defend the tunnel from saboteurs - both German and
IRA. They returned to Halifax a month later, now
kitted out with battle dress.
In the near distance, from our train, the bombing and
fires in Abbeville could plainly be seen and it became
obvious that the Germans had occupied the town.
The only way we could now go was backwards
towards Dieppe. The KOYLI made their way back on
foot, mainly owing to lack of transport. The trains
carrying the two ‘Dukes’ battalions had come to a halt
on an embankment and could not be unloaded
without being moved back to more level land. To
make matters worse, night had fallen and it had
become dark. After travelling back about five very
long, jerky miles we came upon another bombed
section of the line and were forced to halt.
On our return to Halifax we were billeted in Maude’s
Temperance Hotel. There our training consisted of
marching round Halifax, doing foot drill and bayonet
drill, both with and without gas masks.
In December, the Company was detailed to guard
Standege Tunnel, on the Huddersfield - Manchester
railway line.
Soon after Christmas, I was recommended for OCTU
and transferred to ‘W’ Coy in Huddersfield where all
the potential officers were concentrated. By now we
were fully equipped with up-to-date uniforms and
webbing equipment, if not with weapons.
Having unloaded two utility trucks, one was taken to
make contact with other units and the other was taken
by a party led by Lieutenant Smith of the 2/7th DWR
for a reconnaissance. This truck came under fire from
the Germans near Abbeville and Lt Smith was killed
by a machine gun bullet and the rest of the party fled.
The remaining men of the two battalions took
defensive positions on either side of the train.
In March 1940, the Battalion prepared for pioneering
duties in France. After a church parade at
Huddersfield Parish Church on 28th April, they left
by train for Southampton and boarded an Isle of Man
passenger ferry. The next morning they arrived in
Cherbourg and after some delay, a train consisting of
cattle trucks and a carriage for the officers, took them
to Blain, a small market town about 20 miles from
Nantes in the Loire Valley. W Coy was to act as
loaders for the RASC, moving petrol, oil and
lubricants from trains arriving from Nantes to
awaiting RASC trucks.
The defensive position took the form of a line of
soldiers lying on the ground armed with a rifle and 50
rounds of small arms ammunition per man, with a
Bren gun, with only one magazine, per platoon. We
were lying flat on the ground, because we had neither
pick, shovel nor entrenching tool. During the day
there was much enemy air activity, although luckily
86
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
not near our position, and through some good chance
we seemed to have been missed by the spotter planes.
Scouting parties had been out all that day searching
for the last line of retreat and had found that the
railway lines to the rear had been blocked for about
five miles, by bombed trains and tracks. It was
decided to march back to find a better defensive
position and see what turned up.
During our stay in the POW cage we had a
grandstand view of the first bombing raids on the
port. Previously it had been spared bombing as a
hospital port but the movement of troop trains
through the port and our subsequent arrival had been
noticed by the enemy and on the first bombing raid
five ships, including a hospital ship, were sunk.
‘W’ Coy moved to the race course and dug weapons
pits but were soon withdrawn after a bomber attack
and were billeted in a house. They established a road
block on a minor coastal road. Scout parties brought
food and looted equipment.
As we started the march back in the direction of Eu, in
the vicinity of Fressenville, we came across several
trains that had been bombed. Some were civilian
trains and had obviously been evacuated in a hurry,
except for those unfortunates who had been killed.
The sight of two carriages wedged up in the air, with a
woman hanging upside down from the buffers, is
something that will remain with me forever.
Unfortunately, being without tools of any sort we
were unable to bury the dead until later.
I am still left with the memories; of the seemingly
endless columns of refugees, with their cars and carts
piled high with household possessions, and those
without transport trudging along with their pathetic
little bundles in their hands and on their backs; the
fine weather, the way in which one’s spirits sank in
the loneliness of the 3am to 4am morning guard duty
and tins of petit pois, the only things we were able to
buy from the one remaining shop that was open.
We were, however, able to free some horses from what
was evidently a train transporting either French or
Belgian cavalry. A dog which we freed from the train
quickly became attached to the Battalion and they say
it remained with us to the end. The last train we
passed was a hospital train containing French
wounded. The CO promised to get help through to
the hospital and the Battalion took up a defensive
position in a wood near the railway line.
On 7th June, Peter’s platoon was moved to the west
bank of the River Bethune. Three days later, the
bridge over the Bethune in Dieppe was destroyed and
they prepared for hostile attack.
Our hearts seemed to drop with a feeling of ‘this is it’.
The Battalion had very little food and water and sent
a scouting party to find supplies. They found water at
Chepy-les-Valenes railway station. They returned
with a request to provide protection and to help repair
a train that had broken down, enabling the hospital
train to continue. The 2/6th Battalion left for Rouen
on foot, leaving the 2/7th assisting at the station.
They soon received orders to make their way to
Dieppe and form a defensive line along the river
Bethune, inland. They also received news that the
hospital at St Valery-sur-Somme had been evacuated.
A truck was sent to collect any remaining food to
sustain the men before they were loaded into cattle
trucks bound for Dieppe. The journey took several
days and on arrival they were accommodated in an
empty POW cage. They stayed for a few days during
which one of the Battalion signallers read a message
from a Naval vessel to the Dieppe Harbour-Master, the evacuation of Dunkirk was being completed.
At about midnight, the Battalion marched to Petit
Appeville where transport was waiting to take them
to Veules-les-Roses, a small port. They took up
defensive positions and awaited Naval evacuation
back to England. As dusk fell, a number of tanks
approached. There would be about 40 or 50 tanks
attacking across our frontage, firing into the wood
with their canon and machine-guns. Fortunately the
ground sloped fairly sharply down from the attacking
tanks to the road behind our wood so they tended to
shoot high. As a result, in our area of the combat,
there were comparatively few casualties from
machine-gun fire or direct hits from the tank canon.
The greatest number of wounds were due to shrapnel
from the canon shells as they burst among the trees
and minor wounds when the bursting shell blew
chips off the trees with enough force to penetrate the
skin.
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
As the attack continued, from out of range of our
weapons, a few of us took shelter in a slit trench that
somebody had been able to dig. Soon darkness hid us
all and having had no orders to retire we stayed
where we were. Under the influence of three or four
days without sleep, we nodded off and woke up at
intervals through the short night.
wandering about the casino grounds looking for
anything useful, edible, or upon which we could write
home.
Peter did manage to write and sent three letters to his
family, which took two months to arrive home. This
was the first news they received and they informed
the War Office of his situation. When he had
recovered he was marched with three other British
and sixteen French soldiers to dismantle some Nissen
huts and marquees which had been part of British
No.1 Base Depot. This was known as ‘Organisation
Todt’.
When we all came to at sunrise we could hear the
sound of Germans searching the wood and the rattle
and roar of armoured vehicles and motorbikes on the
outskirts of the wood. After a short discussion our
little group came to the conclusion that any heroics
would be useless so we came out of the wood and
surrendered to the Germans. Amongst those taken
prisoner with me were:- Capt T Warton, ‘Y’ Coy, PSM
Douggie Harpin, ‘W’ Coy, and CQMS John Marsland.
The staff of No.1 Base Depot must have left in
somewhat of a hurry! When we came to clean the
kitchen and dining area we found ourselves dealing
with breakfast plates with the half-eaten bacon and
egg breakfast still on them. In the dining tent were
Soyer stoves half full with maggot-ridden, halfcooked stew, several weeks old. We cleaned up all the
plates, Soyer stoves and utensils for the Germans, also
the toilet buckets out of the latrines. Our most
unpleasant job was burying a month, to six week, old
corpse of a horse. For the latter we were given British
gas masks and a bottle of brandy, we provided
ourselves with anti-gas gloves which were lying about
in profusion.
‘Otto’, our guard, had an evil, unshaven, piratical look
about him, he came from East Prussia where he said
he had a reputation for horse smuggling. He was
actually quite reasonable and gave us no trouble.
The prisoners were permitted to take any clothes left
in the depot where they also found plenty of
paperback books. They continued to clear the camp
until mid December when they were moved to St
Laurent-Blangy, a small village on the outskirts of
Arras, and continued labouring.
Peter had shrapnel wounds on his shoulder, although
his webbing straps had given him some protection.
He was taken to a field dressing station in a casino at
Forges-les-Eaux and treated by a German medical
orderly who gave him an anti-tetanus injection. He
spent the next two weeks recovering there.
The time was spent in waiting for the next meal - one
bowl of thin soup and one thin slice of French bread
twice a day - and as soon as it became possible,
At Christmas we each received a Xmas box consisting
of a small, rather hard, piece of spice cake and a few
cigarettes from O.T. along with the Germans. We did
not however feel very much in the festive spirit. We
just thought of all those at home and missed them.
For all of us it was our first Christmas away from
home. We were all very homesick and without any
real news of what was happening at home.
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
After Christmas, Peter remained with Operation Todt
with another British and four French prisoners. The
rest were sent to a camp in Germany.
further down the escape line and he was smuggled
into the back of a truck bound for Lens.
Mme Evans and her friends continued to help British
soldiers escape until May 1941 when they were
betrayed to the Gestapo, kept in solitary confinement
for nine months, and then deported to slave labour
camps in Germany, although all three survived the
war.
Jock and I did general odd jobs around the chateau
and anything that tickled Otto’s fancy. Amongst the
fads that took his fancy was fishing, as he said they
did it even in the midst of the East Prussian winter…
it was as we were passing our time with these fishing
expeditions that we first met two French ladies and a
seventeen year old girl.
In Lens, Peter was hidden with two British soldiers
and they were given identity cards. They soon left
with six young Frenchmen hoping to join the Free
French in England, or to get into the unoccupied zone.
They made for Paris in an old carriage next to the
engine of a coal train. Some German soldiers
boarded, unaware of the prisoners in the old carriage
and this helped, as the staff at the control station
chose not to search a train carrying troops.
Mme Evans, Mme Devienne and Elizabeth, the French
ladies, visited Peter and Jock, first bringing them
cigarettes and biscuits, then asking them if they would
like to escape as they could provide help and shelter.
The men decided to make an attempt and planned
how to get out of the building.
We decided to take a couple of sandbags up to our
room after work on the day of the escape to provide a
hessian wrapping for our boots. We hoped this would
quieten our footsteps… we hoped to creep silently
from our room, down the top flight of stairs, through
the window already opened, creep along the balcony
to the end opposite the stairs and climb down the
drain pipe.
The train chugged its way slowly through the day and
night and it arrived at its destination, a goods depot
just outside Paris, early in the morning. We left the
train and were led by a back route out of the depot
and taken to a railwaymens’ café for a coffee and rum.
After that we took the Metro into Paris and at the
same time lost sight of the French members of the
party. On our arrival in the centre of Paris we were
dumped in a café for an uncomfortably long time,
trying to pass the time without talking but still trying
to look alive - my two companions had not a word of
French between them and my French was the sort that
the French understood but which caused them to
burst out laughing. It was a very unnerving few
hours as my friends deemed that, as Englishmen, they
had the right to talk their native language, whatever
the situation, and could not understand that not all
French may be sympathetic towards them.
On the evening of the day of the escape everything
went very well, we managed to get the sandbags and
sneak the window open, without being noticed, on the
way up to our room. The minutes seemed to pass like
hours as we waited for the time to escape and in the
end the waiting proved too much for Jock, he cried off
at the last moment, wished me good luck and told me
to go it alone. As half past eight approached I went.
Peter managed to climb out of the window and down
the drain pipe. He waited in the bushes for his friends
to arrive. He was taken to Mme Evans’ haberdashery
shop and given a meal of fried eggs and chips.
However, after a few hours, and a lot of coffee had
passed, our guide returned. He then took us on a
sightseeing tour of Paris, by foot. My first view of the
‘Eternal Flame’ at the Arc de Triomphe was alongside
two German soldiers on local leave - a most peculiar
feeling. Towards evening we were taken for a meal of
unrationed soup with some bread and then to a seedy
hotel, where we were to spend the night.
“I was wet through and trembling from tension - after
all it was not something that one did every day.”
He spent two weeks hiding in the shop and the
villagers treated him very well. He began to dress as
a civilian and was given a French name - ‘Henri
Beaujean’. Soon arrangements were made to pass him
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
The next afternoon they took the train for Bordeaux.
They got off at Lillebourne, the last station before
Bordeaux, and took a stopping train to Coutras then
hid in undergrowth until morning. A German
motorcycle patrol passed and the escape party made
for the Vichy France outpost where they were
welcomed with coffee and bread. They began
walking to Mussidan but were delighted to be given a
lift in a Red Cross ambulance to Perigeux. They then
took a long train journey to Nimes.
very filling in the portion we received, was at least
very tasty. One Friday meal however was not so
appetising. It consisted of three or four small raw
salted sardines. Not fancying the idea of raw fish we
took them back to the barrack room and tried to boil
them. Much to our dismay the boiling water
dissolved the flesh off the fish and all we were left
with were the fish skeletons floating in the boiling
water.
The American Consulate was responsible for ensuring
the welfare of British internees and gave them a small
monthly allowance, enough to buy a modest meal in
the village. Peter remembers having little energy but
he enjoyed exploring the village. In April 1941 the
German Control Commission forced the French to
confine internees to their camps except for organised
escorted trips, this caused disappointment, but the
arrival of Red Cross crates containing food, cigarettes
and tobacco for the whole camp was appreciated.
At Nimes, Henri informed us that that was as far as he
took us and the Gendarmes there would take us to a
camp from which the British servicemen were being
repatriated. After having collected our identity cards
from us, for re-use he said, he removed our photos
from them and presented them to us. His last words
to us were to tell us where to find the Gendarmerie, he
could not afford to be identified with us for the sake
of the parties following.
Being at the time rather naïve and being, as it were,
stranded in an unknown French town we had no
other option but to believe him and do as he said. The
Gendarmes were very pleasant and treated us well
and fell in with Henri’s story of a repatriation camp.
They provided us with a supper of coffee, a chunk of
bread and a piece of gruyere type cheese and a bed to
sleep in, albeit in a locked cell. Early next morning we
set off for Nimes railway station and took a local train
and on the morning of 14th of February 1941, I
arrived at the Detachment ‘W’, St Hippolyte-du-Fort,
Gard. I found myself amidst two hundred or so
survivors from Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne and St
Valery, survivors from almost everywhere in North
and North-East France where the B.E.F. had operated.
In March, 1942, the camp was moved to a border fort
in the French Alps called ‘Fort de la Revere’.
Three things happened soon after our arrival at the
fort which helped to raise our spirits somewhat.
Firstly we were allowed to purchase radio sets from a
shop in Nice and every room clubbed up to buy a set.
These could receive short wave stations and we were
able to listen to the news from London… (next); the
arrival from the Red Cross of British army clothing,
enough to outfit every member of the camp with a
complete uniform and two sets of shirts and
underclothes… The other issue from the Red Cross
was that of individual food parcels. Some were
Canadian, the preferred type, and the others British
but still very welcome. The Canadian parcels
contained a pound each of spam and butter and a
large tin of Klim - milk powder - also jam, large
cracker type biscuits, prunes and a large block of
eating chocolate and coffee, together with a packet of
sugar. The British parcels contained various tins;
meat, or meat and vegetables, condensed milk, sugar,
sometimes beefsteak puddings, margarine, tea, a
small packet of biscuits and raisins. No doubt the
passage of time has caused me to forget some of the
contents; but I am eternally grateful for the efforts of
the Red Cross and those at home who supported it.
For the first six weeks or so after we arrived at St
Hippolyte we were allowed to leave the camp during
the day so long as we were back for the evening rollcall. Our rations consisted of half an ounce of cheese
with a small slice of bread and half a cup of coffee
substitute in the morning and then nothing until the
evening meal when we received the rest of the daily
bread, making up a total of about 125 grams a day.
The rest of the evening meal consisted of a meagre
helping of vegetables consisting of, for example,
spinach one day or overgrown bitter chicory another
day. Friday was red letter day most times, as we were
served up with a white fish paste which whilst not
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
After two RAF officers escaped from the fort, all
remaining RAF officers were removed. This failed to
prevent further attempts and 58 internees escaped
and, in September 1942, the camp moved again. They
were taken by train from Nice to the Camp de
Chambaran, Isere, formerly a French Air Force
training camp in the foothills of the Alps near
Grenoble. It was more comfortable than the fort, but
after the Allied invasion of North Africa they could
not stay. The camp was in the Italian zone of France
and the internees were told they would be escorted
through France to Spain.
Peter had a disagreement with the NCO in charge of
the hut and was given seven days in prison. He was
the only prisoner and got on well with the guards
who shared extra rations of olive oil and onions with
him. He enjoyed being part of the working party,
keeping the camp tidy, and when he was released the
Sergeant in charge offered him a place with the party.
He received an extra loaf of bread for his work and
soon noticed his fitness improving.
In the spring we played a very vigorous form of touch
rugby. The soccer players in the camp thought that
we were mad and, as we played all through the
summer, so did the Italian guards. We enjoyed it
though. The hut 23 ‘Wasps’ playing in army vests,
dyed yellow with a stripe of black round the middle,
became the Champions of Settore 1.
One night however a fleet of ambulances turned up
outside the camp and we were on the move again,
eight to an ambulance, with what hand luggage we
could pack in the time allowed. We set off to Modane,
a French railway station just on the Franco-Italian
border. Here we got on the train that was to take us to
sunny Italy… We went through Turin, Alessandria, to
Modena and arrived at the little town of Carpi in the
Po Valley. From there we marched to our next home
for nine months. This was the Italian POW camp Campo Concentranento di Prigioneri di Guerra No.73
- and we were in Settore Una, ie. Compound 1, Hut
23. This was the first time most of the ex-internees
had been Prisoners of War and the introduction was
not a kind one.
After the invasion of Sicily and the Allied assault on
Italy, the prisoners expected a backlash from the
Italians, though none came. After the Capitulation of
Italy on 8th September 1943, the camp inmates
received orders to stay and await liberation by Allied
forces, but the day after the Italian guards had fled,
the camp was surrounded by German armoured cars.
We were ordered to pack up what we could carry and
were then marched to the nearest railway siding
where awaiting engines stood… We were ordered into
these - about 50 men to a truck with a loaf of bread
and a bit of cheese per man. As soon as the train was
loaded it set off on its journey to Germany.
The camp was large - capable of holding about 6,000
prisoners - and quite new. Constructed for prisoners
taken at Tobruk and El Adem in the summer of 1942,
it held British, Australian and South African troops.
Peter was taken to Stalag IV F at Hartmannsdorf near
Chemnitz. It was a huge camp with several thousand
prisoners of different nationalities. The camp seemed
unprepared for new arrivals and they were penned in
a compound until the next day.
The food from the Italians was marginally better than
what we had received in France and consisted of an
artificial coffee drink with a small baguette type loaf
of maize bread first thing in the morning, followed by
about a pint of rather watery minestrone soup at
midday and again in the evening the same soup. Red
Cross parcels were only one between two men per
week. As a result of the shortage of solid food the
camp was busy at night with people tripping to the
latrines.
The next morning the Germans began processing us
in groups of a hundred. We had our heads shaved…
the next stage was delousing and bathing, where we
stripped and our clothes went through a stoving
machine to kill any lice, whilst we were painted with
delousing ointment in all our private places and
passed forward into the shower. Here we had a
soapless shower and dried ourselves as best we could
on the bits of cloth which the Germans provided. We
were then reunited with our clothes and possessions,
got dressed and the processing continued.
In Hut 23 the main way of passing time was in
conversation, reading when one was lucky enough to
get hold of a book, and a pastime that was new to us
ex-internees, cracking lice between two thumb nails.
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
Having noted our army number the Germans then
gave us our German Prisoner of War number. I now
became No. 247892. It seems such a little thing but
after the first few days as a POW had passed I think
that this was one of the most depressing things to
have happened. I no longer felt to be a British soldier
but rather a German POW.
Most of the German workers were Nazi supporters,
though not all were party members, and appeared to
despise Poles and Slavs.
The way in which (Polish) slave workers and Russian
POWs were marched about their business in the midst
of winter, inadequately clothed in rags and wearing
wooden clogs with their feet just wrapped up in old
cloth, without any show of concern on the part of the
civilians made it very hard for us to feel any
sympathy at all for their (Germans) sufferings under
the air raids. When, after the invasion of France, they
began boasting about how the V1 and V2s had
destroyed London any sympathy, that we had left,
went. Although perhaps we shouldn’t have done we
derived a great deal of satisfaction from their
confusion with the air raid warnings towards the end
of the war.
After having been given our numbers we were next
finger-printed and photographed with our numbers
in front of us. When the processing was complete we
were admitted to the British prisoners’ compound and
allotted a hut. After being at Stalag IV F for about a
week, a hundred or so of us were sent to a working
camp situated in a small market town nearby called
Mittweida, 20 km or so towards Dresden. This work
camp went under the name of Arbeitskommando
M88.
Most days were spent helping the
machine operators or stacking the
newly delivered planks of wood.
The two people we worked with
most were Walter, a thirty or so
year old, lapsed communist and
Wolfgang, a seventeen year old
member of the Hitler Youth and
Panzerfaust operator in the local
Volks-sturm. As a communist,
Walter had served a sentence, prewar, in a concentration camp and
was well aware of what happened
there. Wolfgang lost his
enthusiasm for his Panzerfaust
after the bombing of Dresden and
the advance of the Allies towards
Saxony.
Soon after their arrival, Red Cross
parcels began to arrive weekly and
morale in the camp improved. The
inmates talked about their wartime
experiences and their plans for the
future and in the Spring of 1944,
some brass musical instruments arrived and a small
band was established. The evening concerts became
very popular.
Members of Room 2 - St Hippolyte Du Fort Feb 1942
J. Cox, F. Evans, W. Davidson, R. Squires, A. Menzies, B. Chambers, P. Walker,
A. Gunstone.
T. Miller, A. Anderson, E. MacDonald, L. Lines, D. Weaver.
Hector the Dog
The work camp provided labour for a nearby
electronics factory. Peter was first employed digging
trenches for water pipes. He and John, a fellow POW,
then started work at a joiners’ shop in Mittweida.
They helped the machine operators, stacked timber
and took finished furniture and coffins to customers.
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
These concerts soon caught the attention of the
German civilians taking their evening strolls and their
numbers soon attracted the attention of the German
authorities. The guards were ordered to make us put
blankets up on the barbed wire, the sight of British
POWs enjoying themselves was not good for the
German morale, or so they thought. D-Day gave a big
boost to our morale which had already started rising
with the turn of the tide and the increasing severity of
the bombing of German cities, even the Polish slaves
looked happier in their misery.
with very happy British soldiers. Reaching Gera by
early evening after a very pleasant drive in warm,
spring weather we were billeted in private houses for
the night. What a luxury it was to sleep in a proper
bed after all these years - even if it was a rather
peculiar German bed.
The next morning we climbed up into big, three-ton,
American trucks driven by the Transport Corps, who
drove long hours on what was known as the ‘Red Ball
highway’, a route reaching back to the stores depots in
France. On this highway they had complete right of
way but were now becoming extremely tired. We
were bowling along quite nicely towards Erfurt when,
all of a sudden, the truck started to lean to the right
and after a few moments the lean became more and
more pronounced until eventually the truck came to a
halt, remarkably gently, on its side with everybody
inside all of a jumble. The driver had dropped asleep
at the wheel but fortunately the roadside ditch was
wide but not very deep and our descent was very
gradual. The driver was woken by the accident and
we soon managed to get the truck back on the road
and resumed our journey.
As the early months of 1945 passed, the daylight sky
on many days was filled with the lace like tracery of
the condensation trails of American planes on their
daylight raids. This was a beautiful sight, both
visually and from the point of view of morale, tinged
with a great sadness when one of these spearheads
burst into silver fire and started twisting downwards
to earth like a falling leaf. Sometimes little toy-like
parachutes could be seen floating down in the
distance but other times there was just a flash and
then nothing.
With the increased air-raids the prisoners were made
to dig trenches. On one occasion a bomb was
dropped about half a mile from the camp, after a raid
on Dresden, but no-one was harmed. By the end of
February the bombing of transport facilities affected
the delivery of mail and parcels. On 21stApril, the
Americans arrived.
They arrived at Erfurt in the late afternoon of 26th of
April and a nominal roll was taken. The next morning
they were flown to Brussels and then to England.
We were delivered by truck to a very large house near
High Wycombe. Here we were processed with great
efficiency and kindness. First we were dusted under
our clothes with DDT, then given a very good meal.
Then we were given a bath and a complete set of
uniforms with underclothes and a kitbag and all our
details were taken. A telegram was sent for us to our
folks at home. That evening the repatriation centre
put on a dance for the ex-prisoners.
There were scenes of wild rejoicing as an American
tank and two jeeps came driving up the valley to the
camp gates, and the odd tear as their crews were
greeted, - five years had been a long time. Our two
guards had now disappeared into the countryside
with our blessing, as they had not been so bad on the
whole.
The next morning they were given leave papers for
two months and an advance of pay. Then Peter made
his way back to Halifax.
The Americans provided K rations and gave orders
for them to remain and keep order between the
foreign and slave workers.
On 25th of April the Americans told us to
commandeer what transport we could and then make
our way to Gera, where we could be picked up by
army trucks and taken to Erfurt to be flown from
there as soon as an aircraft was available. The next
morning the convoy set off, several vehicles crammed
93
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
washed his ears. They took us on the rifle range on
Hawksworth Moor and when it was my turn to shoot,
the Sgt said I had missed the target and killed a little
old lady shopping on Ilkley High Street. Also I
played rugby with Leeds under 18’s and I used to get
telegrams to go play. The Sgt did not like this and
never gave me the telegram in my hand but threw it
on the floor so I had to pick it up.
Pte Bob Dawson, National Service & Korea,
1952-1953:
After basic training all the recruits who would be 19
yrs old by October went to the battalion in Germany.
The rest of us went to Fulford Road Barracks in York,
for training for the Far East. Whilst at York Geordie
Duncan and I went out for a drink, on reporting back
to the Guardroom the Orderly Officer was standing
there in full dress. Geordie Duncan said to him “What
band are you in mate?” The Guardroom door opened,
and as quick as a flash Geordie was dragged inside.
He got 3 days ‘jankers’ for that episode. I went on a
scheme against the Brigade of Guards on Fylingdale
Moors and later went back on those moors to do live
firing, one of the lad’s Sten gun went off by accident
and shot Lt Cherrington through the leg.
Pte Bob Dawson
I started my National Service on the 6th of March 1952
in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. I was told to
report to the depot at Halifax on the day above by
4pm. On arriving at Halifax railway station I saw a
big notice saying ‘All recruits wait here’. I stood by
the notice and after a short while an NCO appeared,
took me outside, put me in a 3 tonner and set off for
the barracks. On the way we stopped at a pub and
had a pint. On arriving at the barracks we got kitted
out. My first meal was pork pie, mashed potatoes and
peas. The next morning our Platoon Sgt came in and
he turned out to be a bully. One lad who shall remain
nameless was made to stand at the side of the square
and every 15 minutes shout “I have dirty flesh
Sergeant.” Just because the Sergeant said he had not
While at York I was charged with a frivolous
complaint and made to scrub the Company Office
floor for 5 nights. Just as I had finished on the first
night the Sgt Major came in and said, “Have you
finished?” I said “yes”. He walked on the floor and
said, “If you have finished what are those feet marks
doing on the floor? Scrub it again.” On the fifth night
just as I was going to scrub the floor the Sgt Major
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
appeared and said, “Leave it and get off.” The
Archbishop of York came and conducted a service in
the barracks church. It took us all our time to keep
awake. Field Marshal Sir William Slim came and we
showed him how good we were on the assault course
and the range. I don’t think he would have been
impressed with us after being in command of the
Fourteenth Army in Burma during the war.
On taking me back to the barracks and putting me to
bed under the muzzier net I said I was like a ‘lion in a
cage’ and jumped out of bed and ran out of the
barrack room with no clothes on. The rest of them
chased me, put me back to bed and laid on me until I
went to sleep or passed out. I knew nothing till the
next morning. It was my first, and last, streak. It was
an offence to go out after tea with your arms and legs
uncovered, because of malaria. We also took one
Paladrine tablet every day. At the Battle School we
were allowed to go to Kowloon or Hong Kong on
Saturday or Sunday. It cost 1/6d in the passion
wagon.
I finished training at York and went on two weeks
embarkation leave. I went back to York and then by
troop train to London, on the underground to another
station where we were kept well away from the
public, and then to Southampton. Arriving at the
dock side, I got a cup of tea and a bun off the WVS
then boarded the Empire Orwell for Hong Kong,
stopping at Port Said, Aden, Colombo, Singapore then
Hong Kong. It was a right eye-opener, this journey,
for the lads from Yorkshire. We were attached to ‘D’
Company of the Wiltshire Regiment. I was sent to Sekon Battle School for 2 weeks with ‘D’ Company. We
used to patrol the border with Communist China.
While stationed with ‘D’ Company at Bees Stables
Johnny Waite and I were sent back to Se-kon Battle
School on a 2 week 3” mortar course, I came top of the
course and never fired another mortar again.
1st of December 1952, we went down to Hong Kong
and boarded the Empire Hallidale bound for Kure in
Japan. On the 2nd of December it was my 19th
birthday. After 5 days we arrived in Kure Japan. We
stayed there four days, getting winter kit for Korea
and zeroing our rifles in. We sailed overnight on the
‘E Sang’ for Pusan in Korea, where we got on a train
to Tockchon, then a wagon to the Battalion. I was 19
years and 10 days old. On arriving at the Battalion
HQ a Sgt, or a CSM, said “What have you lot come for
we don’t want you and you are not on ration
strength”. They found us a tent to sleep in and gave
us some tinned food, there were ten of us. Next
morning we lined up and were told which rifle coy
we were going to. I was sent to C Company, where I
spent the rest of my service. When I got to C Coy HQ
I met the Company Commander, Major Kavanagh,
who told me I was to be the Company Runner, the
position I held from the 12th of December to February.
The first night I was told to dig myself a ‘hoochie’, I
was digging this in the dark, by myself, at 20° below
zero, when the Coy Commander’s batman came and
gave me a plate full of dinner. His name was Eddie
Cantrell, he was the only person I saw all night.
While at the Battle School, we were walking over the
hill, to swim in the sea, and we thought we had
witnessed a murder. We saw two Chinese men
snapping flesh off the bones of a dead body. On
reporting this to the officer he said it was a Chinese
custom. They put the dead bones in a large
earthenware jar and take it to a family vault where
they let firecrackers off every anniversary. In Hong
Kong I got 7 days ‘jankers’ for losing my pay book,
which had been stolen. At the end of my 7 days
‘jankers’, me and my mates got drunk in the NAAFI.
Things were very quiet on that position on Christmas
Day. The Chinese told us they would leave us in
peace for the day. A British light aircraft flew over
and dropped newspapers and cigs. In between
Christmas Day and New Years Day we went farther
up the front line and changed positions with A
Company. During one night I was to take a message
to 8 Platoon over the other side of the valley, I was
told to take John Burke with me, as the Chinese
infiltrated the valley at night. We got there and back
without any incident. On reporting to Major
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
Kavanagh he said, “Everything alright?” I said, “Yes”,
Johnny Burke said “No, Bob’s mad he has just walked
straight through a minefield”, I was told I was lucky
because they were anti-tank mines and I was not
heavy enough to set them off, also the ground was
frozen. When the Company came to A Coy’s position
they gave Alfie, who was a teetotaller, the company
rum ration to carry. Somebody egged him on to drink
some and Alfie was the worse for wear and shouting
for the CSM. The ground, at this time, was frozen
solid with permafrost and we were not allowed to
wash our faces until after 10am when the sun made it
a bit warmer.
we were in the rest area we drank a few beers, did
some live firing exercises and watched Bill Silius
demonstrate the bazooka by firing at a small hill, he
missed it and the rocket exploded amongst friendly
people, so the platoon took off over the hills out of
sight.
I was then sent on a two week cadre to be a Lance
Corporal, luckily I passed and then was put in rifle
platoon No 7. When the spring thaw set in we were
taken to the mobile showers, that was the first time I
had taken my clothes off for three months, except for
changing my socks. Going in the shower we took all
our clothes off and just kept our boots on. Coming
out at the other end we got sprayed with DDT and
given clean clothes to put on. Shortly after, we
returned to the front line on Hill 146. It was a bit
lively on this hill, which we took over from the
Americans, we got dive bombed but the bombs
missed everybody. One morning going for breakfast
we got mortared and Bill Silius got hit in the back of
the head. His mate Hank picked him up and shouted,
“They have got my mate”, Hank was also hit in the
back. We rushed through the mortar fire to help
them, Bill Silius was disabled for the rest of his life,
Hank’s wounds were only flesh wounds and he
returned to us after a spell in hospital.
At night I used to ride shotgun on the Company jeep
taking the sick and wounded back to the Regimental
Aid Post. The driver of the jeep was Whitham, he was
26 years old and I thought he was an old man. We
had quite a few escapades, one night running into two
tanks and getting lost on more than one occasion.
During the day I used to walk on the path between
the hills, across the valley taking messages for the Coy
Commander, in full view of the Chinese who never
bothered me. If anybody else or groups crossed this
path in daylight they were mortared. The Coy
Commander said I was the decoy and the Chinese
recognised me because of my ginger hair. I had to
stop crossing the path and cross lower down where I
could not be seen and the others had to do the same.
On this position HQ was on top of the hill and a
sniper had a few goes at me and always missed. One
of the lads got shot through the head by the sniper, his
name was Pickles.
After a while we were pulled off that hill, had about a
week’s rest then went to the Hook. On the night we
went to relieve the Black Watch the wagon I was in
toppled into a river, there were about ten of us in the
wagon and two got injured, one with a broken arm
and one had a broken leg. The river was only about
two foot deep and the eight of us went into the front
line without any weapons and wet through, till the
Black Watch gave us some dry clothes. The next
morning we were taken to the river to get our
weapons, and sleeping bags and take them back to the
front line. We cleaned our weapons and waited till
our sleeping bags had dried before we could sleep in
them. While they were drying we got mortared and
our sleeping bags looked like airtex.
One morning at first light CSM Harry Randall took
me and a man called Hogg out in front of the
Company position to inspect the wiring, when we got
round the front a machine gun opened up on us and I
threw myself down in the snow, as the firing kept on,
after a while I got brave and looked up to see what the
other two were doing and they were running through
the snow back round the hill out of sight, me, being
just 19 years old, soon caught them up, never mind
the machine gun. One day round the back, at the
bottom of the hill, I was burning rubbish and
throwing bullets in the fire when Brigadier Kendrew
appeared and told me off for causing smoke saying
we would be mortared. Nothing much happened in
that position after that, and the whole Commonwealth
Division went into rest at the end of January. While
Our position on the Hook was at the top of the spur
called ‘Long Finger’. At the bottom of ‘Long Finger’
the Chinese dug tunnels and caves to hide their troops
in, ready to assault us. We were in this position from
12th May ‘53 to 29th or 30th May ’53. Every day or
night we got shelled and mortared. Every night we
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
went down ‘Long Finger’ on standing patrols, recce patrols, and on most nights we were mortared or ended up in
a fire fight with the Chinese. On one of these patrols we thought the Chinese had got behind us and we were going
to open fire when we found out it was our own men doing wiring. Another time on patrol ‘Brown 32’ opened fire
with his Sten gun on our recce patrol, but luckily missed. Whilst on OP one day I saw two Chinese on the hill
opposite. I looked for the Bren gun to shoot them but it was stripped down getting cleaned. I borrowed a rifle and
put the sights to 1200 yds and fired two shots. They both missed but it made the Chinese run 1200 yds! With the
limits of the .303 rifle it was a waste of time shooting at that distance.
Besides all these goings on, the shelling and mortaring was intensifying, trying to weaken us before the big battle.
In one hoochie a mortar bomb, or shell, went straight inside, leaving one dead, one with his foot blown off, one
with both eardrums burst and one with his thigh sliced open. We had two more with buttocks and arm wounds so
our platoon was six short before the battle, the Centurion tank that was with was hit but that stayed in action. We
had been told all this was leading up to the Chinese attacking us. On the night of the battle it was very dark and
drizzling, just as we were getting ready to go on Stand-To a massive barrage fell on us, Cpl Johnny Sargeant
shouted “Come on, the b--s are coming”. With that he led the way through the shelling to the firing pits, I was the
last to go and got caught in the open by the next barrage. I could not see my way through this so, to my great
shame, I laid down to die. When the shelling missed me, I got up and dashed through the bombardment and
dashed into the firing pit, then I picked up a rifle and started firing down ‘Long Finger’ towards where the Chinese
were grouping to attack us. After a short time the Bren gun arrived. Zero Brown and I shared firing the Bren down
‘Long Finger’ to where the Chinese were grouping for the rest of the battle. Shells and mortar bombs were hitting
the firing pits and trenches all night long. I could not see down ‘Long Finger’, the cordite fumes were like a fog as
they hung in the damp air.
The hill we defended was like a lunar landscape, every 5ft trench destroyed and half of the firing pits. As we went
to what was left of our hoochies at the back of the hill and started to clean our weapons Major Kavanagh came
round and said “You are only boys, I hope you never have to go through that again”, there were tears in his eyes. I
have been told 30,000 shells and mortar bombs fell on the Dukes position that night. The Chinese got into ‘D’ Coy
at the side of us but none got into our trenches, we put down plenty of small arms fire to keep them away. Later
that morning we were taken off the hill and went into a rest area where they gave us a good meal and we had a
long sleep. The rest of the time in rest area was spent swimming in a river, getting our lost kit made up and getting
reserves for the men we had lost.
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
After a week we went back into the line in the
Naechon Valley where we stayed till the war finished.
While out on patrol one night in the Naechon Valley a
Canadian patrol got caught by the Chinese and we
could hear them crying for their mothers. We could
hear them coming towards us so we prepared to take
them on, but before they got to us the artillery opened
up on them and not another sound came from them.
We presumed they were all killed. After that things
went quiet, just a bit of shelling and mortaring.
ship was the crew’s quarters, which was out of
bounds to us, some of the crew dressed as women and
danced together, they attracted a bigger crowd than
the films.
On the troopship I was on duty as the ‘Canteen
Corporal’. At 2200hrs I had to clear the canteen, but
when I went the sailors told me to ‘Clear off, or I
would end up as fish meat in the Indian Ocean’.
Luckily just then the Orderly Officer came with Cpl
McKenzie and we cleared the canteen. Nobody
argued with McKenzie - who had fought with World
Champion Freddie Mills.
We were told the ceasefire would be on the 27th of
July 1953 at 2200 hrs. At 2200 hrs the last post was
played and the war finished. We were given 48hrs to
clear our ammo out and leave the front line. In this
48hrs the Chinese came out of their trenches and
walked about, there looked to be hundreds of them,
we were not allowed out of our trenches to meet
them.
When we got to Gib our Regimental Band played the
ship in, and we marched behind the band to the
Moorish Castle, which was a bit of a shambles. We
were told if we had £22 10s credit we could apply for
Christmas leave, I applied. Our new Company
Commander said “When do you get demobbed?” I
said, “March 1954”, he said, “You go home soon
enough”. I told him “I haven’t seen home since
August 1952.” The reply was “You are going home
soon enough, dismissed”, I was spitting blood. Gib
was all guards, and more guards, and a bit of sport
and getting drunk on Main Street in the Universal and
Trocadero Bars. Every so often the British Med fleet
came in for leave, then the American 6th Fleet, but
never together. When they were in port the town was
a bit more lively. We did a Guard of Honour on the
dockside for the Spanish paying their respects to the
Governor of Gib. On Christmas Eve I was Guard
Corporal on Four Corner’s Guard at the Spanish
Border, so of the two Christmases I was in the Army
one, Christmas 1952, was spent on the front line and
at Christmas 1953, I was on guard at Four Corners in
Gib.
We were taken back behind the Imjin River, still inside
the DMZ, and we made a large tented camp. We then
started digging positions on Gloucester Hill
overlooking the Imjin River, in case the war started
again. We settled into normal army life, with a fair bit
of sport, till it was time for the Battalion to go down to
Pusan and wait for the ship to Gibraltar. We were in
Pusan about a week, where we went running on the
beach and got drunk, and went to the UN Graveyard
for a memorial service for the dead we were leaving
behind. We left Britannia Camp and boarded HMS
Asturius bound for Gibraltar.
The ship called at Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo
and Aden. I think in each port we got drunk. On
board ship there was an epidemic of dysentery. With
dysentery, people are sick and have diarrhoea at the
same time, so the combined toilet and washroom was
a right mess. There were not enough toilets, so the
lads were having to use the tiled floor. We stood with
squeegees where you entered the toilets, when the
ship dipped forward all the sick and mess came out of
the toilets towards the sinks, we used to rush forward
with our squeegees and push it all into the gulley at
the edge of the washroom, then when the ship dipped
backwards it all disappeared.
When it came time for me to go home the CSM spent
half a day trying to get me to sign on, saying I was a
born soldier, I would not sign on. On my last guard
duty at Moorish Castle one of the prisoners said, “Do
you go home on Sunday?” I said “Yes”. He replied “I
am going to run away so you will have to stay for a
Court Martial. I am not taking orders from NCOs just
coming out of England.” He and I had been in Korea
together. I locked him in his cell, threw a bucket in to
use as a toilet and would not let him out at all. The
RPs let him out the next day. On the Sunday all the
lads in the barrack room got up early to see me off to
There were 2000 servicemen on this ship, with whole
companies sleeping on the same deck. They used to
show films up on the open deck. At the rear of the
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
the airport and wish me all the best. We flew BEA to
Blackbushe Airport in the South of England, it was the
first time I had been in an aeroplane. We had to refuel
in France, it took about six hours to fly to England in
those days. We landed at Blackbushe late Sunday
afternoon, got the train to London, and went to King’s
Cross Station.
Ernie Sharp answered the phone and told us there
was no transport that early and we would have to get
the first bus, which we did, I was in Korea with Ernie
Sharp. When we got to the depot we went to the
Guard Room and Ernie got us all a cup of tea. When
the barracks came alive we went to the cookhouse for
breakfast, the lads were nattering me to go to the
Company Office for passes so we could go home.
Going into the company office the LCpl clerk was sat
with his feet on the desk and he was reading a book. I
asked him for passes to go home. He told me to f--off as he had had a rough weekend, I grabbed him by
the throat dragged him over the desk and told him I
had had a rough two years. He then took us to the
Officer in Charge, who was Lt Huxtable, he had been
with me in Korea, in C Company. He immediately
gave us 7 day passes and sent us home. I went back
after 7 days, got de-mobbed and left the Depot
without a thank-you or a goodbye. Lt Huxtable
stayed in the army and ended up a General in charge
of all Land Forces in Britain. So ended my army
service. When I got home I felt a complete stranger
and it took a long time to settle down.
The train for Huddersfield had just left and the next
one was about 2300hrs. There were about a dozen of
us so we took our kit to the left luggage where the
porter took it, and would not charge us for looking
after it, it was the same on the tube train, they just
waved us through the barriers without us having to
get tickets. While waiting for the train we went
looking for something to eat. A chap saw us and took
us to a cheap cafe, then we went to the pub. The
landlady played us all at darts for half-crown each,
and beat us all. We got the train to Huddersfield, then
to Halifax and slept all the way.
On arriving very early morning at Halifax Station, I
phoned the Depot for transport for us to take us there.
Final preparations for Korea, Depot, Halifax, 1952
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
“The advance party for Korea was to go to Pontefract,
in Yorkshire, England, to form up and be made ready.
I was put on this advance party and assumed my
service role of Sniper and Intelligence, this was the
role I was to oversee when the Battalion arrived in
Korea.”
Sgt Tom Nowell MM, Korea, 1952-1953:
“We arrived in Pontefract, and after a couple of days
getting sorted out, we were given a few days leave
and told to report back.”
“We were then transported down to Southampton
and put aboard the Troopship HMT Empire Orwell,
quite a large ship, as they went in those days. On this
ship were other units who were on a similar errand,
‘all going to the Far East’.”
Sgt Tom Nowell
Tom Nowell was born in Goldthorpe, South
Yorkshire, on 23rd November 1922. He comes from a
family of 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls, his father was
a Mines Inspector. Tom attended school in the Dearne
Valley. As there were few jobs available he followed
his fathers footsteps and became a miner.
“This was the back end of July 1952 and British troops
were already out in Korea, being drawn from the Far
East Stations of Hong Kong and Singapore. These
were the nearest troops we had out there at that time.
We were to get out there in time to relieve them and
allow them a well earned respite from the rigours and
privations of the Korean climate and hostilities… the
Korean winters could be quite fearsome, we were
told.”
At the outbreak of the Second World War, mining was
designated as a reserved occupation, so he could not
enlist into the regulars. He volunteered to serve in the
Home Guard, obtaining the rank of Sgt and
eventually the rank of Lieutenant. In 1948, when the
‘reserved occupation’ regulations were lifted, Tom
enlisted into the Regulars and was recruited into the
York and Lancasters, his parent Regiment. Wartime
Home Guard ranks were not retainable for Regular
service, this required Tom to start again as a private.
During training it was discovered he could shoot well,
and he remained at the Depot as a weapons training
instructor, again rising to the rank of sergeant. When
the Korean War started the ‘Dukes’ had been reduced
to a strength of 600 men, as time expired personnel
were discharged from the army. Tom was rebadged as
a ‘Duke’ and served with the ‘Dukes’ throughout the
Korean War as a Sniper Sgt and Intelligence gatherer,
from his excursions beyond the front lines. What
follows is an excerpt drawn from Tom’s memoirs, a
copy of which is held in the Regimental Archives:
“During the sea voyage we did some training and
listened to some lectures on the peninsula of Korea
and the pitfalls that we may have to overcome,
including the health side of it. Travelling in the
Mediterranean was pleasant enough. At the island of
Malta we pulled into Valletta Harbour, this was only a
brief stay and we did not get the chance to go ashore.
The Orwell then set course for Port Said in Egypt, at
the Northerly end of the Suez Canal. When we
arrived there, we had to await clearance to go down
the Canal.”
“It is an eerie sensation going down the Suez Canal
on as large a ship as the Orwell was. One wondered
how they managed to get enough sea water into the
canal to keep these big ships afloat and moving. We
were required to go down slowly so as not to make
too much ‘wash’. We were heading for Aden at the
lower end of the Red Sea, just before the waters give
way to the Indian Ocean.”
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
“The temperatures in this part of the world were high
and uncomfortable. After a brief stop in Aden we set
sail out into the Indian Ocean, heading for Colombo
in Ceylon. The weather was hot and sticky, even
though we were out at sea.”
“It was to prove to be a long, tiring journey and most
uncomfortable journey, travelling through the night
without stopping. The next day, near lunchtime, we
arrived at the detraining point known as Tockchon.
We alighted and were bussed up to a reserve area just
behind, what was then, the front line. We had
arrived! The next thing to do was to get organised
and into some sort of order. We were to travel up to
the front line proper the next day, to join the Regiment
that was to be our base until our own Regiment came
into the country as the main party.”
“After Colombo, the Orwell set sail for Singapore,
going by way of the Straits of Malacca and down the
coastline of Malaya. The passage through was a bit
rough, the troopship being thrown about a bit in the
process. However the weather cleared somewhat,
and we settled down to something like normal before
we got to Singapore at the end of the Peninsula. At
Singapore there was the briefest of stays, no shore
leave, and the Orwell set off for the journey across the
China Sea, towards Hong Kong. The seas were pretty
rough.”
“The noticeable thing about Korea was one of hills,
not really big mountains, but high enough hills
nevertheless, as fast as you got by, or over, the one in
front then there was another one to go up or down.
The lower parts of the hillsides were terraced and
made into paddy fields, making the most of what
ground there was, for the cultivation of crops. The
remains of the terraced bunds, or banks, were still
visible, even though the war had ravaged them as a
result of the shelling and constant bombardment and
diggings.”
“At Hong Kong we were astounded by all the activity
that was going on in the harbour and on the
waterfront. Our troopship had quite a lot of stores
and linen to change so we were offered shore leave.
Eventually we put back out to sea, heading for the
port of Pusan in the southern part of the Korean
Peninsula. This was the largest port available to the
United Nations Forces at this time.”
“We joined the Battalion in the line . . .this was to be a
time of learning - the position of supplies, positions of
your own and enemy displacements etc, where and to
what extent did our patrols operate? What type of
patrols were needed, and at what strength? Having to
go out at night with your opposite number on patrols
and observing what the other patrols were doing or
achieving.”
“As the Orwell threaded its way north, through the
group of islands that were dotted about the Southern
coast of Korea, and headed into Pusan proper there
was an unmistakable stench of fertiliser. It permeated
all over the place, the smell was to be found all over
the Korean Peninsula. The big ship nosed its way into
Pusan Harbour, and proceeded to tie up. We had
arrived in Korea!”
“The Regiment that we, the ‘Dukes’, were with, was
the Welch Regiment. They were a fine crowd and
easy to get on with. We settled in well to their routine,
it was important that we learnt the business fast so
that when our Regiment came into the conflict, there
would not be any break in the continuity of action.”
“There were formalities to be observed, such as the
greetings from the local dignitaries of Pusan, a group
of little Korean children garlanded our ship’s CO,
Major Charles Grieves, with flowers much to the
cheers from troops aboard the ship. There was an
American forces band on the quayside, who played for
us in greeting… it was most enjoyable but left a mixed
feeling in the mind as to just what we were in for.”
“Patrolling at night certainly sharpened your reflexes
and senses. The sound of your own breathing
sounded like a hoarse rasping, although it wasn’t
really, you were aware of your pulse throbbing to the
point that you were sure people around could hear it
loud and clear. A period of mental training and
preparation was required to be a success at night-time
patrolling and reporting - you could say that self
discipline was a must.”
“Once the off-loading of men and supplies had been
completed, we were given some haversack rations
and put aboard a train that was to take us northwards
to the area of the front.”
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
“The portion of the front that we were allocated
responsibility for at that time was considered a quiet
sector, but, as things turned out, it could change quite
easily into a hotbed of activity. A sudden flurry, or
burst of action, caused the front to erupt into a hot
and fearsome shooting war with both sides going at it
‘hammer and tongs’. It was all a question of who held
the highest hill around, and how he dominated the
surrounding area. If the enemy thought that the hill
you were on was a threat to them and of benefit to
you, plans were put into operation to take that hill
from you and deprive you of the use of it, thereby
putting you and yours in danger. Vigilance and
watchfulness was the order of the day.”
and string vests which proved to be very effective.
Inner and outer gloves also made for good protection,
but in the moments of leaving your hands free for
chores, such as loading your weapon, you stood the
risk of your hands becoming stuck to your rifle.”
“When ensconced in your hoochie, heat was produced
by a petrol or diesel ‘chuffer’. This was made from an
empty ammo box with a little sand, or soil, in the
bottom with a series of holes around the base. A
petrol pipe tube from outside the hoochie was the
power source and some sort of nipping to the pipe or
a valve would control this flow of fuel. A length of
stove piping took the soot and fumes out of doors,
and you were in business. That is, until the pipe got
clogged up with soot or was hit by a stray piece of
shrapnel, then it was a case of sooty faces and a dash
to the entrance to get some air and to effect a repair to
the central heating. In the first months of the
Regiment’s stay in Korea, it was estimated that we
had more casualties from the effects of these stoves
back-firing than from enemy action.”
“Soon, the time came for the Welch Regiment to go
out of the line and into reserve, to make the changeover with the new Regiment, the ‘Dukes’. They
would then be free to ease out of the conflict and
prepare for posting home.”
“Most of the winter months were spent in a sector
called Nai Chon, and the ‘Dukes’ did a lot of good
work here. Patrol activity increased and there was
always something to be fighting about. The enemy
was intent on pushing as far as they could get so they
would be in a strong position for any armistice or
settlement talks.”
“From early November to late March, in Korea, winter
sets in and the freezing cold winds from the North
East, mainly Siberian, were sufficient to keep the
temperatures down into the freeze zone and the
ground became frozen to a depth of some feet.
Excavating the ground in order to make a safe
‘hoochie’ could only be achieved by blasting the
ground with explosives - picks and shovels were not
up to the task on their own.”
“New types of wet winter clothing were getting
through to the British Forces and although it
emanated from stock that was devised and kept for
the Norwegian Expeditionary Force, two world wars
ago, it proved to be good and warm. There was an
inner and outer parka with a hood and toggle
arrangement that pulled the garments together to
keep out the cold winds. Heavy woollen socks and
nylon inserts for the cold, wet weather boots were also
issued. To top up the protection we had ‘Long Johns’
Korea, Sgt Tom Nowell and Sgt Bill Norman
“We had an idea about the patterns of activity on the
features known as Winston, Churchill, Antony, Eden,
Wellington and Boot. These were the code names that
we used to describe the various features opposite us.
A few weeks before Christmas 1952, we saw what we
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
thought at first to be some repairs being carried out on
the feature Eden. There were two men working
together and by the look of their clothing they were
either living or working in a dusty place. It soon
became obvious that these two were working in the
side of the hill, and the movement that we saw was
when they were coming out of the entrance of their
tunnel and emptying a make-shift barrow of earth and
spoil down the hillside facing away from us. My
position gave me a good view of where they were and
what they were up to. We observed them for the rest
of the day, and then at nightfall we made our way
back and made our report to the Intelligence Officer.
We were given orders to concentrate on this particular
feature and keep tabs on what progress these two
workers were making.”
“The observation of these two was now well
advanced and the report led the CO to realise that a
more detailed look was required. It was decided that
a young officer, Ian Orr, and myself would go out on
our own to have a look around and try to find out a
little more about the tunnel and its environs. This
particular patrol was to become a most gruelling stint
and entailed going over and staying out there the
whole of that next day, making our way back at the
end of the next night. The temperatures at this time of
year had been recorded as the coldest of the winter so
far.”
“I went down to the Company dug-out and joined up
with Ian Orr. After a conference with the CO and a
final briefing, we were escorted down to the wire and
minefield gap. There we were bid ‘a good patrol’, and
‘the best of luck’, and we were off.”
“One morning we saw a person appear who was
cleaner in appearance and wearing a fairly clean
uniform. He was talking to these two Chinese
workers, now known to us as Little Dusty and Big
Dusty, and it looked as if he was giving them a right
old ear-bashing. He was their Commissar and he was
giving them their weekly pep talk and urging them on
to better output.”
“Threading our way down the remainder of the
hillside and negotiating the minefield and extents of
the wire, we made it to the first bund, the objective we
had set ourselves. The night was fairly dark, the
moon had not broken through the clouds and we
wanted as much darkness as we could get. What a
noise we seemed to be making. The ice underfoot
crackling and the sound of foliage swishing through
as we tried to step carefully. As we went along
picking out our landmarks and our ‘leaps and
bounds’ we kept talking down to a minimum and
made do with the odd sign, or grabbing one another’s
arm for attention. We both felt naked out there but,
having got past the point of no return, we concluded
that it was now safer to go forward than to retrace and
go back.”
“Suddenly a series of clicks and bangs went off and
the sky was illuminated by a string of flares and tracer
that lit up the sky, there was obviously some
disturbance further down the valley and for a short
time there was quite a racket going on. We were
travelling light, a couple of hand grenades, a Sten gun
and no radio cover. We were to make notes, or
mentally take stock of the layout and fortifications
that were there.”
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
“We came to the foot of our objective and decided to
go around and further into the enemy territory to
come up on the hill from the rear. Climbing up the
slopes we made our way along the ridge of the
outcropping feature and came across some large logs
that were being used for the construction of the
tunnel, so we knew we were on the right track for the
tunnel itself. Getting near to where we thought the
tunnel entrance should be, we split up and were to
make separate hides, or observation points, that were
to be our position for the rest of the next day. Ian Orr
stayed at that point and I decided to go further
forwards, where I thought the tunnel entrance should
be. Out with the jack-knife then, I cut some small firs
that were growing in the area and fashioned them into
a sort of cover.”
“Although the gunners and our mortars had been
given the order not to fire on this particular feature
during our mission, there were a couple of occasions
when they did open up and one bombardment came
uncomfortably close, a sliver of one of the shells cut a
furrow up to where I was laying. It stopped just short
of doing me an actual injury.”
“The enemy night shift returned to take up their
positions again. As far as I could make out there were
seven or eight in the new patrol. They came over and
settled in a group on my side of the tunnel entrance.
My limbs had been stuck all day in one position
without being able to stretch and relax, but after what
seemed like an eternity I managed to get far enough
away to ease my stiff limbs and work my way back to
where I last saw Ian Orr. I explained to him what was
going on and that the enemy were situated in front of
us. We decided to go further, deeper into enemy
country, and circle around the enemy patrols. My
outer garments by this time were frozen up and it
took quite a while to get the circulation back to my
feet. When I got some feeling into my limbs we set
off. I have never been as cold in all my life, the
thought of being able to do something to ease the pain
of the cold now was a blessed relief to me.”
“Having made everything as ready as I could, it was a
case of settling myself in and making myself as
comfortable as I could. I had a self-heating can of
soup in my supplies and activated the striker. God,
what a noise! The crack that it made sounded like a
gunshot going off and as it warmed up, there was the
inevitable sizzle sounding like a kettle about to blow
its whistle. I couldn’t stop the thing and it seemed to
be getting louder. I tried to smother it against my
chest to quieten it, only to be showered with hot,
steamy beef stew!”
“We set off on our return journey and proceeded to go
around and to the rear of this position. With a lot of
care where we trod, and how fast we moved, this
route helped us to pass the enemy patrols and make it
down off the hill and out into no-mans land. There
was still the valley to traverse and we had no idea of
the patrol plans of both sides involved, so it was a
case of playing it by ear. What had appeared a
straightforward return proved complicated on the
inward run. We stumbled, rather than stepped, and
our reference points seemed indistinct and confusing.
We approached with as much caution as we could
muster when we were challenged by a patrol of ours.
Not knowing the changed password there was some
moments of confusion as to who we were until
someone piped up that we must be the two who were
expected in sometime in the morning, and they were
to keep an eye out for and render assistance if needed.
We were escorted through the minefield and wire to
the approaches of the Company HQ, where there was
a welcome meal being prepared. Whilst we were
“When daylight finally came, I found myself in my
little hide just on the lip of the entrance to the tunnel.
I had a grandstand view of what they were up to all
right, but I was too close for comfort. With this and
the bitter cold I was in a most precarious position.”
“Little Dusty came away from the mouth of the
tunnel and made to come in my direction, ostensibly
for another tree log or something. It turned out that
he wanted a pee, so I had the indignity of having my
homemade hide pee-d on by a Chinese labourer.
Apart from that, he splashed me in the process but the
wonder of it all is that he didn’t see me in the hide.”
“All the time we continued to note as much as we
could of the enemy tunnel and the size of the logs etc,
it appeared that they had almost finished
construction.”
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SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
having this meal we were able to give the Company
Commander as much of the information as we could
that affected his part of the front.”
so I called a halt. A thorough inspection of the tunnel
and its workings was made, to ascertain how many
troops or guns could be housed there. There were
signs that the Chinese were grouping for a fight.”
“I was given transport back to my hoochie at Battalion
Headquarters, which I shared with the Intelligence
Sergeant, Tony Goddard. He helped me out of my
still frozen clothes and gave me a good rub down with
a warm blanket and then I was put to bed.”
“Seeing that we were in their territory and could get
off the hill, away from the relative safety of no-man’s
land, it was decided to re-group and head for our
lines again. The tunnel party to go out first and the
fighting party to cover the rear. Up to this point we
had fired no shots but now there was every likelihood
of a shooting match and there was considerable
tension. The darkness of the night led to some
confusion. Flares were being sent up and if the enemy
did not know where we were before, they did then.
All hell broke loose and for a while it looked like we
were going to have some casualties. Making our way
through no-mans land was quite a noisy affair with
constant stoppages for listening and observing. The
light was beginning to break and we were aware we
had overstayed our time there. We were thankful to
reach the safety of our own wire and minefield
approaches to the Company area, from where we had
originally set out. There the QM had laid on some hot
drinks.”
“The debriefing was intense and because of the
proximity of the Chinese workers and the freezing
cold, I had only made notes of the important points of
the stay-over. I had committed all else to memory, so
early de-briefing was essential. All in all it was
considered a successful patrol and a decision was
made to send a fact finding patrol of some strength to
find out the inner size and strength of that tunnel.
Now, who were the two most likely people to lead
this patrol? Obviously the two who had been over
there and had already ‘sussed’ it out, namely Ian Orr
and myself.”
“The planning went ahead and the time came when
the CO decided that conditions were favourable for
this to go on. Everything that could be done to ensure
success was done. It was to be a night patrol and all
back-ups were alerted.”
“It was then decided that a party would be led to
destroy the tunnel.”
“Good progress was made at the outset, but things got
a bit hairy when approaching the foot of the enemy
hill position. There was activity afoot, and the
diversions that we had organised did not seem to be
having any effect. The possibility of further work
having been done to the warning system of the new
tunnel could not be overlooked. We had decided to
make an approach from the front and make a sudden
storm of the tunnel entrance, hoping to catch the
enemy napping and to take some prisoners.”
“I was then given a set-back. I was informed that I
wasn’t ‘to be going on this one’ and that I was ‘to help
with the administration instead’. I couldn’t
understand it. I thought they would need my
experience of the hill, but they had decided that I had
done more than my share of dealing with this
troublesome feature and that I was to rest this one
out.”
“I had mixed feelings; because I had fully expected to
be going, firstly I had feelings of being let down and
angry; then the other feeling of relief of being spared
the ordeal of what it entailed. Everyone round about
thought I was mad to be even wanting to get involved
in this raid, and some wag had scrawled on my
hoochie front porch - ‘Nutter Nowell Lives Here’.”
“In the event, the Chinese had been disturbed by the
diversionary tactics that had been set up and were
fleeing the tunnel when we got there. I was in charge
of the fighting side of the party and we followed the
enemy further into their territory, leaving the tunnel
party to get into the tunnel and make their
observations. We pursued the enemy to the top of an
outcropping spur, and I considered that to continue
any further would separate the two parties needlessly
105
SOLDIERS’ SERVICE MEMORIES
During a daylight raid the demolition of the tunnel
proved a success. Tom was subsequently awarded the
Military Medal for his role in the gathering of vital
information during his 36 hour hide-out. The April
edition of the Iron Duke, 1954, Page 69, Records a MM
being awarded to Tom Nowell and Cpl MA McKenzie
plus a further MID (Mention-in-Dispatches) for
Distinguished Conduct in Korea to Tom Nowell.
Sgt Tom Nowell MM,
2003
1 DWR Assault Pioneer
PlatoonAwaiting
Deployment to Korea
1952
‘Dukes’ in Korea 1953
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RECOLLECTIONS
OF COMMANDING
OFFICERS
RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
was relatively quiet, although Larne had the potential
for trouble from Loyalist factions and the Recce
platoon monitored it and the Glens of Antrim, which
were thought to be an occasional terrorist training
area.
Lieutenant Colonel PA Mitchell,
1972-1975
We had a Company detached under the command of
one of the Londonderry City units and based in
Bridge Camp, which was responsible for the
troublesome Brandywell area. One Company was
resting and responsible for the security of our camp,
Shackleton Barracks. The fourth company was either
on leave, guarding HMP Magilligan or available as a
reserve for the frequent unexpected event. All these
tasks were carried out in support of the RUC
Divisions ‘O’ and ‘P’, in conjunction with 1 and 5
UDR based in Ballymena and Coleraine respectively.
Lieutenant Colonel
PA Mitchell
In early 1970 the Battalion was still in Hong Kong and
was visited by Colonel Peter Hamer, Colonel GS
Director of Military Operations at MOD. As 2IC, I
was present at his meeting with the CO (Lt Col
Charles Huxtable) at the end of which we asked about
the situation in Ulster and to our surprise were told
that the planners were working on a major military
commitment in the Province, lasting at least 20 years.
Nevertheless, I don’t think we appreciated just how
large a part the Province was to play in the Battalion’s
life over the next two decades.
We operated a four week turnaround for the
companies in the various tasks, and although it could
be argued that there was some loss of continuity, in
my view this was overtaken by the morale advantages
arising from a fair division of the most dangerous
location (The City) between the companies and in any
event everyone quickly got to know the various areas.
We all swiftly learned that Intelligence was the key to
success. We established very close links with the RUC
Special Branch, covering our areas, who appeared to
have some excellent sources. There was an
Intelligence Corps NCO based with the Company for
a time. The Bn Intelligence Officer and his team built
up a very large database, covering both the City and
County areas. Despite all of this, together with
intelligence, which from time to time came to us from
“above”, we were caught out on occasions.
Nevertheless, there was a large number of successful
operations leading to the discovery of roadside
bombs, arms caches and many arrests of wanted men.
Inevitably, and sadly, we had casualties, with two
killed and some fifteen injured arising from the 363
attacks (shootings and explosive) upon us.
In March 1973, having recently taken over as CO, the
Bn moved from Catterick to Ballykelly, replacing 2
RGJ. Ballykelly had until recently been a RAF Coastal
Command base and thus covered an enormous area.
The base housed a number of minor units in addition
to the Bn. A great bonus on an 18 month accompanied
tour was the large number of station married quarters,
so that all the families could be housed locally, which
was of great importance, since the workload promised
to be intense and the rifle Companies were likely to
spend a good deal of time away from the Barracks.
We found ourselves responsible for most of Co
Londonderry with a company based in the RUC
station in Magherafelt, which spent it’s time
combating the IRA South Derry “Brigade”, operating
mainly around Bellaghy, Maghera, Kilrea and
Toomebridge. There was a further platoon based in
the RUC station in Dungiven, a strongly republican
area. We also kept an eye on North Antrim, which
It was a very busy time, made more so since the
Government was trying to make political progress
and the tour was studded with elections for
Parliament, Stormont and local Councils, in each of
which voting locations had to be guarded and a
heightened alert maintained. These all passed off
without major incident, as did the Ulster Workers
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RECOLLECTION OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
strike, for which substantial preparations were made,
although in the event it passed over quickly.
our expected move to join 11 Armd Bde in Minden,
West Germany, in 1976. In the event, training was
interrupted by the need to provide troops for
ceremonial street-lining for the State Visit of President
Nyerere of Tanzania and our sudden departure for
Northern Ireland, four days before we were due to
join the Spearhead Roster. Mechanised conversion
training was resumed after our relatively uneventful
two months in Northern Ireland, then interrupted by
the need to provide a large party of Officers and
NCOs to help prepare a BAOR-based Gunner
Regiment for a tour in Northern Ireland. We found
our feet satisfactorily in Minden, although we
discovered on arrival that the tactical doctrine of 1
Armd Div, which we had studied carefully in
Aldershot, had changed and we had to bone up
sharply on the new one! We won the Army Rugby
Cup (and the inaugural Army Sevens) in 1975, but,
sadly, failed to hang onto it in 1976.
The Battalion moved after eight months to join 16
Airportable Brigade in Aldershot and faced a new set
of challenges.
Lieutenant Colonel JBK Greenway,
1975-1977
Lieutenant Colonel
JBK Greenway
(picture taken when
Brigadier)
Afternote: in this period CO 1 DWR reported to seven
different people in succession: two Comds 16 Para
Bde; one Comd 39 Inf Bde; GOC Cyprus; Comd
Dekhelia Garrison and two Comds 11 Armd Bde.
This period in the life of the 1st Battalion was
characterised by unexpected change. In Mons
Barracks, Aldershot, in early 1975 the expectation was
a short period in 16 Para Brigade, before a six-month
tour with the UN Force in Cyprus. In the event, only
Alma and Corunna Companies joined UNFICYP,
under the command of 1 Royal Tank Regiment. The
rest of the Battalion prepared to train with 16 Para Bde
in Canada, but was ultimately sent to the Sovereign
Base Area in Cyprus, working from, first, Episkopi
and then Dhekelia, as part of the tail-end of Britain’s
response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
During ‘Operation Mayflower’, following the Vienna
Agreement, Alma and Corunna Companies helped
the UN to monitor the historic and sad move to
northern Cyprus of Turkish Cypriot families from
their homes in the south. The Sovereign Base Area
was peaceful; indeed our families, waiting patiently in
Aldershot, were heard to say: “If he writes to me
about one more beach barbecue, I’ll barbecue him
when he gets back”.
Lieutenant Colonel MRN Bray,
1977-1979
Lieutenant Colonel
MRN Bray
The 6th May 1977, my first day in command,
coincided with the arrival of the BAOR Northern
Ireland Training Team who came to prepare us for the
Battalion’s sixth tour since the campaign had begun
some seven years earlier. A couple of months later we
deployed to Londonderry. The level of violence in the
Province had dropped to the point where the
challenge for the Army was how to wear down the
A return to Aldershot in late 1975 promised further
training with 16 Para Bde, plus a spell on Spearhead
standby and conversion to the mechanised role, before
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RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
IRA, which was still a significant threat, particularly
to the RUC, who were still a long way from being able
to operate without us, without creating a counterproductive effect on the community. The Battalion
was responsible for the City of Londonderry west of
the River Foyle. RHQ was in the Strand Road Police
station, Alma (Major Peter Andrews) in the old City
responsible for the Bogside, Burma (Major Johnny
Walker) in the Creggan, Corunna (Major Chris
Fitzgerald) in the Brandywell and all Companies
shared the onerous task of protecting the City. Our
weekly bill for static guards was 12,000 man-hours
and we were able to make only modest reductions in
this, despite strenuous efforts, during our tour.
best four, headed by Pte Barraclough, of the Drums,
into a special spotting patrol. This proved so effective
that the Bishop of Derry subsequently remarked that
the young men in the Creggan could not understand
how the ‘Dukes’ always greeted them by name
whenever they entered the Old City.
We just missed the large parade in BAOR for the
Queen’s Silver Jubilee, but she came to Ulster while
we were there and this created a bit of a stir. The
Republicans of ‘Derry’ saw it as an opportunity to
stage a riot and the head of Special Branch warned us
that the IRA was hoping to create another Bloody
Sunday type event. So, with all the self-control shown
at Waterloo, we stayed in our squares and let our
enemies entertain themselves. Perhaps the prologue
and the epilogue were the most amusing memories.
The first saw a helicopter lift the CO’s secret op order
for the visit to a height of 200 feet above Brigade HQ
and left his escort pursuing the airborne pages around
the Waterside; successfully thank goodness. And the
latter saw Councillors from the City Council tricked
into watching a video of the riots and being asked to
give their views on how the Army, which was there to
support the civil power, was supposed to deal with
such events, much to their consternation.
Since members of the public could not safely give
evidence in court, bringing terrorists to justice was
dependent on catching them red-handed or on
collecting forensic evidence. The latter was a technical
matter largely outside our responsibility. The former
required good intelligence and in this we could play
our part; we established strong intelligence sections at
both Battalion and Company level. For some years I
had pondered the role of the RSM, whose modern role
did not seem to match in status his historic role as the
principal tactical trainer of the Battalion, when tactics
had been learnt on the drill square. So I put Mick
Carter, a typical modern, intelligent RSM, in the
intelligence section, to give him an important
operational role, together with Keith Best as the IO
and our EME, John Sanderson. Following this logic,
our very bright CSMs ran the Company intelligence
sections.
Shortly after we arrived, the Regiment at Fort George,
running the northern part of the area west of the Foyle
was withdrawn, and the ‘Dukes’ became responsible
for the whole of the area west of the Foyle, with an
RTR squadron and a Company of Coldstream Guards
under our command. This had not occurred since the
Troubles began and had to be regarded as progress.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to record that the Chief
Superintendent for whom we worked could only
deploy 12 men at any one time, compared with our
400. Nor had he ever been into the Creggan or the
Bogside until we took him. Police primacy, a suitable
aspiration, was, in reality, distinctly short of muscle.
Others in the command team were Charles
Cumberlege, 2IC, Richard Ward, Adjutant, Peter
Mellor, Community Relations, David Harrap, Ops
Officer, Laurie Linskey, QM, Tim Sinclair as PRO. Bob
Tighe, the Tech QM, the robust Education Officer,
Ewan Simmonds, and John Dixon, the RMO, who saw
not one soldier sick or injured in our first eight weeks
(greatly to the credit of our men) were active
patrollers from a forward admin base beside the
Guildhall.
One of the more interesting operations involved a tip
off about a weapons hide, followed by the installation
by specialists of a bug in a rifle, which we were able to
track when it was moved. This early example of the
use of new technology led to a search of a large
number of houses, to conceal our precise knowledge,
and to us collecting the weapon, plus one we had not
expected to find in a nearby club, and the arrest of the
We had made an interesting discovery during
recognition training before deployment. Some people,
very few, have an incredible ability to memorize
names and faces. We held a competition and put the
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RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
householder. Food for thought: the householder was
a well-educated family man with a good job, and not
known to the security forces. The rifle was under a
child’s cot. Why was such a man involved? The
legacy of Irish history was still potent.
We had an extremely cold two weeks at Soltau in
February, getting back up to speed in the mechanized
role. Memorable was the Adjutant going to the
seedier part of Hamburg in the CO’s car to arrange
some entertainment to warm the cockles at Soltau,
and taking over 24 hours to reappear! And the CO
got into trouble with the BAOR rugger management
for refusing to release 12 members of the Battalion,
mostly Officers, to play in one of their fixtures. We
got our priorities right and beat 1 RRW in a very
exciting Army Cup final, 13-12, in March. We also
went to Berlin and beat 2 PARA in a very close interunit boxing championship final, in the Olympic
stadium; an evening never to be forgotten, as we were
considered the underdogs and won on the last bout.
Life had its lighter moments, for example, 2Lt Peter
Harvey, detailed to patrol in the Bogside very early in
the morning of his 21st birthday, found himself
drinking champagne with the CO in front of the
infamous Free Derry graffiti wall. And the following
grace from our incomparable Padre, Peter Bayley,
indicates that there were some social moments:
“O Lord, accept our grateful prayer,
For gifts provided through Thy care.
May those who scheme to bomb and fight,
Not disrupt our Dinner Night.
And grant us, Lord, in this location,
Patience with the Irish Nation!”
The summer of 1978 was dominated by training on
the Army’s mechanized training area on the Canadian
Prairie at Suffield. Sadly our rifle Companies were
divided between different battle groups but everyone
got there. Our own battle group was based on
Corunna company, a company of the Royal Canadian
Regiment, tank squadrons from the Blues and Royals
and the QDG and many other detachments, 14 cap
badges in total. Determined to fill all the aircraft seats
we were allotted, we even had Gurkhas and
university students; and to most people’s surprise a
large white ensign flying on the aerial of an APC
denoted the presence of a RN Officer. This was the
best available mechanized training, much of it live
firing, and we all profited. Four days leave to explore
made a popular finish.
We had our successes, perhaps most fundamentally,
holding the ring with great patience, humour and
endurance, during part of the long process of getting
the legacy of history out of the Republican
bloodstream. Our men were marvellous and all came
home intact except, sadly, for Private Michael John,
who was severely injured by a bullet to the head at
close range at a City check point.
In Minden, under the enthusiastic care of the Families’
Officer, Vernon Davies, and our stalwart wives, life
had flourished, and on the Battalion’s return, we
really enjoyed our Christmas, which included reestablishing ourselves as the leading ski-ing battalion
in the Army. We also suffered one of those infuriating
Defence reorganisations, designed to look good on
paper but which made us less effective if we had to go
to war. Somme Company HQ, the Recce platoon, and
the Assault Pioneer platoon were disbanded to form
Dettingen as a fourth rifle Company, with many of
Hook Company double-hatted in it and the Drums
moving from Battalion HQ defence to be a doublehatted rifle platoon in Dettingen. WO1 Dave Hughes,
an outstanding man, took over as RSM in the
Battalion and also became our master coach to focus
on all aspects of small arms training.
In the autumn we took part in some higher formation
exercises, which included the interesting and
motivating experience of deploying in our real war
positions north of the Hartz Mountains, very close to
the Inner German border, with its watch towers and
minefields. By the end of the year, we had the
doubtful privilege of being selected as the busiest unit
in the Corps and therefore the subject of the Pay
Review, which involved a lot more work!
The impact of Northern Ireland tours, major exercises
and sundry other commitments imposed from above,
meant that in a four year tour in BAOR it was rare
that a battalion had a period of decent length when it
could chose what it wanted to do. However, the first
eight months of 1979 gave us this opportunity; the
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RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
only time in our four years. I had always had a bee in
my bonnet about giving platoon commanders the
opportunity to really focus on platoon training and
the development of leadership, skill and initiative at
that level, so this is what we chose to do for the first
half of the year.
It was an outstanding sporting year. We were again
the best ski-ing battalion, retained the boxing
championship and won the BAOR cricket. The Duke
and Duchess spent two happy days with us, with the
last word on their visit, belonging to a small child in
our school who had obviously heard of the Iron Lady
as well as the Iron Duke, the Election being the week
before. As the Duchess and Anne Bray were leaving a
classroom, a small voice was heard to say, “which one
is Mrs Thatcher?”
We had a very tough two sided and competitive inter
platoon patrol exercise conducted in snow and very
cold weather in a large forest and then an excellent
two week skill at arms camp at Sennelager. This was
followed by two weeks at Vogelsang where the climax
was a 36 hour inter-platoon competition which
General Richard Vickers, our Divisional commander,
allowed us to organise as his annual inspection of the
Battalion. Each platoon had to deal with 13
demanding stands, without respite. Lt Simon Dixon’s
Platoon came out the winners, with Lt Jonathan
Wood’s being the overall winner of the four-month
competition. An extract from the GOC’s formal report
read:
The final major event of my time in command was a
two-week period of mechanized training at Soltau,
culminating with an exercise that allowed us to
demonstrate two widely different methods of attack.
One was a set piece attack, with all the varied fire
support elements carefully coordinated and the
procedure conducted according to the School
teaching. This is a slow affair and probably suitable
for a well-prepared enemy. However, if we are
advancing, there is a good chance that the enemy is
withdrawing and in this case it may be that a good
old style cavalry charge, with the maximum of
momentum and minimum of delay, may reap major
dividends.
“On top of the thoroughly sound practical performance in
foul conditions on a very demanding, unseen and varied
competition, the outstanding impression of the visit was the
dogged determination, the quietly humorous enthusiasm,
the unwavering persistence, and the outstanding physical
toughness of every competitor. This was robustness in its
true sense. I fought with them with complete confidence on
the Hook and I would be proud to do so again.”
Charge we did, and it was a grand sight and a grand
finale. After a debrief on the objective to see that all
ranks had appreciated the point of the exercise, the
order was “carry on sergeant” and all Officers were
led to a secret RV in the forest with the Mess staff,
white table clothes and silver laid, and the ACC ready
to give us a magnificent lunch…. life should always
be fun and memorably so, a lesson I had learnt early
from that great ‘Dukes’ officer, Tony Firth.
Each platoon then went off on two weeks adventure
training chosen by the platoon commander.
This was the centenary year of rugby in the ‘Dukes’.
We won the Army Cup again, under Tim Sinclair’s
able captaincy, beating the RRW by 12-7, and followed
this with a great week-end’s celebration of the
Centenary. The highlight was a game against a team
raised by General Bill Scotter, the C-in-C and
President of the ARU. His team included three All
Blacks, Ken Kennedy of Ireland and the British Lions,
top players from Germany and Holland, and BAOR
team members (there were not many who were not
‘Dukes’!) and some ‘Dukes’ who were not serving in
the Battalion. Many visitors came from England,
including a strong party of our famous League
players from National Service days and Major (QM)
Cyril Kenchington, Mayor of Kirklees, who came in
the Corporation’s Rolls Royce, “to show the locals of
Minden how a real Mayor operates.”
Minden, Annual Review, Clifton Bks, 1978
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RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
Pte Pryce from Somme Company was gunned down
on Whiterock Road. We returned to Minden, with
heads high; it had been a tough tour.
Lieutenant Colonel WR Mundell
1979-1982
After block leave we settled down to prepare for Ex
Spearpoint, a massive Corps Exercise that tested our
‘war’ role. With our friends, the Life Guards, we
formed two battle groups in 4th Division. We
prepared at Soltau on Ex Muji Kas; where my lasting
memory was of Major Thorn, OC Corunna Coy, in
charge of a reserve demolition in his NBC suit and
respirator, who was radioed to ‘blow the bridge’: as he
could not get at his pencil to sign the engineer’s
authority - it ‘was a race between him drowning in his
sweat or the young RE officer being strangled’!! The
actual exercise across the German countryside was
both exhilarating and testing - we ended up changing
sides, having painted orange crosses on our armoured
vehicles, and AFV 432s scything through the 1st
Division. A great finale to our BAOR tour.
Lieutenant Colonel
WR Mundell
I was privileged to take over command of the 1st
Battalion on the 10th of August 1979, in Minden, West
Germany. The Battalion was just starting to prepare
for an operational tour in West Belfast; my first
recollection was interviews with two Company
Commanders and the RSM. One alerted me to a
medical problem, which might prevent him going, the
second deafness and the RSM announced his
intention of not applying for a commission - what a
start! I can report that both Commanders shone in
Belfast, each in their different ways and that the RSM
was commissioned.
Back to Minden to hand over and hold a final Beating
of Retreat in front of the Chain of Command and our
German hosts. In the floodlight our great Band &
Drums ended slow marching down the square
between the tall Barrack Blocks to Beethoven’s Ode to
Joy. The Burgermeister’s wife, sat next to me,
overcome with emotion, could not stop kissing me!!
To Somme Lines, Catterick, with a new RSM, Peter
Robinson, in November 1980. Our first chore was two
months of public duties at Chelsea Barracks in
London. Whilst not keen on the duty it did sort out
our uniform and drill. The RSM and Drum Major
Welsh, intoxicated with ceremony and drill, got the
best standards.
Two significant features - the ‘Ballymurphy Gun
Team’ and the construction of ‘Fort Whiterock’,
marked the tour from October to February 1980. The
gun team’s ‘modus operandi’ was to take over a
house and ambush security forces, firing through a
closed window, prior to a speedy retreat. The first
such incident happened on our handover from 1st
KOSB at Springfield Road. The Jocks’ 4 Tonner was
the target, with several wounded; one of whom owes
his life to LCpl Tate, a wounded ‘Dukes’ Medic, who
kept him alive. This was followed by a gun battle in
the Royal Victoria Hospital between ‘Dukes’ guards
and the IRA dressed as hospital staff! Sadly, later the
IRA team again ambushed an armoured RUC land
rover, which had stopped to allow a police Officer to
retrieve his hat from the station. The resulting
machine gun fire burst into the back of the vehicle,
killing our APTC - QMSI Bellamy, and a RUC officer.
Tragically, this was followed two months later when
Actually it was the best possible preparation for the
Presentation of Colours by our Colonel in Chief in
Catterick on 4th April 1981. On a very cold, clear day
in our home county in front of our families and
dignitaries we received the Colours in style. Two
senior past Colonels: Generals Sir Philip Christison
and Sir Robert Bray proudly watched the boys march
past. My wife recalls being given General ‘Christy’s
frock coat to keep her warm - not bad for one well
over 90!
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RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
We then won the Army Rugby Cup on 15th of April at
Aldershot: 1 DWR 20 - 7 RHA 0. Well done to Capt
Bill Atkinson and his team of 8 soldiers and 7 officers.
The expected next tour to Northern Ireland was
delayed by four months, which allowed us to get back
to some hard, basic military and adventurous training
across the Yorkshire Moors, though Corunna
Company returned to ceremonial duties to provide a
Royal Guard at the opening of the Humber Bridge in
July.
In early December, we relieved 1 D and D in South
Armagh to begin a very different Northern Ireland
tour. Helicopters, with no vehicle movement close to
the border; searches; long rural foot patrols; OP’s and
cross border liaison with the Gardai - the Eire police.
The Colonel in Chief visited and ‘could not leave the
Burma find of a culvert bomb (10 milk churns packed
with l,000lbs explosive) for many minutes!’ RN
helicopters, with a Wren and rum, marked a snowy
Christmas Day. OC Hook Company (an ex boxer and
rugger player) helped on the busy helipad at
Bessbrook until an arriving RAF Chinook turned him
into a snowman! On a more serious note, much
progress was achieved in finds, intelligence and cross
border co-operation between the two police forces.
Northern Ireland, Crossmaglen, 1981
We all returned safe and sound by Chinook helicopter
direct from South Armagh, refuelling at Weeton in
Lancashire, to our barracks in Catterick to the sound
of the Band and the welcome of our wives and
families on the 24th April 1982. Five days later I was
towed out of camp with so many memories and so
much emotion; and with gratitude to our Officers and
soldiers who had ‘always come up the hill’!
Catterick, the Battalion flies back from S Armagh by Chinook, 1980
114
RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
My priorities for the battalion were relatively
straightforward. First and foremost to maintain our
military skills which were always going to be difficult
given the space and facilities available? Incentive was
sharpened by the rumour that Margaret Thatcher’s
edict to the Defence Chiefs that what had happened in
the Falklands would not happen in Gibraltar. Each
Company was able to train, in turn, at the Portuguese
Training Centre in Estoril and on two occasions we
disrupted Gibraltar’s sleepy routine with a full-scale
Battalion exercise throughout the rock. All this, plus
any number of ideas to make the training interesting,
fun and worthwhile!
Lieutenant Colonel CR Cumberlege,
1982-1984
Drill was always going to play an important part in
our lives. Monday morning guard mountings outside
the Convent and the Ceremonies of the Keys were in
full swing (since curtailed for manning and security
reasons). Our Queen’s Birthday Parades in 1983 and
1984 (under the stewardship of RSM Sam Basu and
RSM Bob Heron, respectively) were marked by the
firing of a Feu de Joie which, so my father told me,
had not been fired since the 1920’s in India by the 2nd
Battalion. On that occasion during a rehearsal, the
noise of the firing caused the 2IC’s horse to rear,
depositing the said 2IC on the ground behind. For the
parade itself the CO gave the order “the parade will
fire the feu de Joie…. hold on Bonzo…fire!”
Lieutenant Colonel
CR Cumberlege
The return of the Battalion from Northern Ireland, my
assuming command from Dick Mundell and the build
up to, and execution of, the Falklands War, all
coincided in April 1982. The latter influenced our
planning and training in as much as I was at one time
asked when we would be ready to take part in the
war. We had Exercise Pond Jump West planned
which was the ideal preparation, should it have been
necessary to head south but, in the event, the war was
over by the time we returned to Catterick in July.
The remainder of the year was relatively uneventful:
Exercise Keystone in Germany, individual training,
preparation for our move to Gibraltar, KAPE tour and
of course the annual assault on the Army Rugby Cup.
We won the UK Cup in 1982, under Chris Gilbert,
before being beaten by BAOR Engineer Regiment in a
rather unsatisfactory Army final in Aldershot. Never
having been renowned for my Rugby prowess, it was
with certain trepidation that I found myself sitting
between two very senior and knowledgeable
exponents of the game. The conversation didn’t
exactly flow.
Gibraltar, Operation Steep Slope, 1984
Gibraltar was an attractive proposition in as much as
it was a family sunshine posting and provided the
Battalion with a well-earned rest. There were plenty
of opportunities to have fun, enhance our reputation
(the battalion was fondly remembered from its tour 30
years earlier); but fraught with potential PR
nightmares.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF COMMANDING OFFICERS
Many battalions before us had tended to keep themselves apart from the local populace. I felt this wrong and
counter productive. Each Company identified its own community project…a school, boys club, medical centre,
kindergarten or whatever and the return in goodwill was inestimable. However “Operation Steep Slope” became
the Battalion project, which entailed clearing mountains of rubbish and squatters’ homes from in front of the old
City Walls. The task took 15 months to complete.
Operation Steep Slope, clearing the city walls, 1984
Whilst it may seem to be an odd and filthy project to inflict on the Battalion, it was enormously appreciated by
Gibraltar as a whole and accepted with great patience if not enthusiasm by the Battalion. It resulted in the flood
lighting of the City Walls for the first time ever and, eventually, the award of the 1984 Wilkinson Sword of Peace for
fostering good relations with the local community. Sadly 21 years later the area is overgrown and the lights
smashed. Eventually the border, which had been closed since our arrival, was opened to pedestrians allowing
members of the battalion to enjoy the fruits of the Costa del Sol; in the meantime we entered into every activity we
could find on the rock: The Hindoostan Rowing Club was resurrected, with Simon Morgan the Captain of Boats;
amateur dramatics (“The 15 minute Hamlet”); sailing (Brigadier Tony Firth shipped out a Victory Class yacht
which he had found for us in Portsmouth), fishing, wind surfing, water skiing, pot holing, cricket, hockey, and so
on. Rugby was difficult, but I like to think that under Peter Robinson’s care, our skills didn’t suffer irreversibly. It
would be wrong not mention the band which was just outstanding, under Bandmaster Keith Taylor, from
beginning to end; plus the countless fundraising events in support of Gibraltarian charities.
Commanding 1 DWR in Gibraltar was very different to that experienced by my predecessors and those coming
after me. Marvellous administrators under Bob Tighe, some excellent Company commanders, and two first class
2ICs, in Alan Westcob and Peter Gardner, supported me. It was a wonderful privilege, ending with a very civilised
handover to Johnny Walker around the swimming pool at the Rock Hotel.
Gibralter, DM Wilkinson Leads The Band and
Drums, 1983
116
SPORT
IN THE REGIMENT
SPORT IN THE REGIMENT
Team spirit and fitness, two essential requisites of the
soldier, are rapidly developed under active service
conditions. However, looking back over the previous
300 years shows that whilst there have been many
wars and campaigns, there have always been long
periods of peace. It is during peacetime that sport
plays an essential part in building up and maintaining
the esprit de corps of a regiment and, moreover, in
keeping everyone fit to fight. In all branches of sport
the Dukes have always been a force to be reckoned
with, but in rugby football the Regiment established a
particularly fine record.
1st Battalion won the Calcutta Cup nine times, the
Madras Cup seven times and the Bombay Cup six
times. The 2nd Battalion won the first ever newly
instituted Army Challenge Cup in 1907. Since then
the Regiment has won the Army Cup 14 times and
have been runners up a total of eight times. In the
Regiment’s heyday it won the Army Cup four years in
a row, 1965-68.
Since the early days the Regiment produced an
impressive eleven international players, 7 English, 1
Irish and 3 Scottish. CF Grieve and FJ Reynolds
toured South Africa in 1938 with the British Lions. Yet
our most successful player was MJ CampbellLamerton, who toured with the Lions to South Africa
in 1962 and captained the Lions in Australia and New
Zealand in 1966. Furthermore, at one point the
England half back pairing was a ‘Dukes’ partnership,
with DW Shuttleworth and EMP Hardy providing
vital continuity to both the Battalion and England in
the early fifties. Brigadier DW Shuttleworth became
President of the Rugby Football Union in the 1985/86
season.
The ‘Dukes’ and Rugby
2nd Battalion Army Rugby Cup winners, 1907
By the second half of the 19th Century over 50% of the
rugby clubs in England were in the north of the
country; the game being very popular with the
working classes. This tradition was continued with
the break-away and formation of the Rugby League in
1895. With our recruiting tradition already in the
West Riding and the establishment of the Depot in
Halifax in 1877 it was not long before the Regiment’s
tradition of playing rugby began, with both Battalions
gaining early honours. This reputation and strength
was (and still is) constantly enhanced by the
recruitment of Officers with a flair for rugby.
Shuttleworth, supported by Hardy, goes for the try
Army Caps
The ‘Dukes’ produced over 50 players that were
capped for the Army against the Navy and the Air
Force since 1914. Most recently the Regiment had
four members of the Army Squad and Ed Smith and
Finlay Bibby were part of the Combined Services
Squad.
In those far off days of Rugby League, the thirteen-aside game was played by all the elementary schools of
Yorkshire, and thus the Depot recruited a steady
stream of recruits who played rugby. Because of its
rugby ability the 2nd Battalion became the initiator of
serious Regimental rugby. The Regiment went on to
cement its soldiering and rugby prowess in South
Africa and India. In India between 1904 and 1914, the
The Battalion’s Northern Ireland Tour of 1957-59 saw
the Battalion play Club Rugby across Northern
Ireland. As the tour drew to an end, the Ulster team
honoured the Regiment by playing the Battalion at
118
SPORT IN THE REGIMENT
Ravenhill. The Regimental team, Captained by Capt
Gilbert-Smith, produced an outstanding performance
resulting in the Battalion taking a well-deserved
victory with a score of 19 to Ulster’s 8.
Other Sports
Naturally, other traditional sports such as cricket,
soccer, athletics and boxing have also flourished and
the Regiment has produced some notable
personalities such as Second Lieutenant Peter Hoppe,
who became the first Officer ever to win the Army
Boxing Championship when it was opened to all
ranks. Truly he was a formidable boxer at lightheavyweight but he followed some equally great
exponents of the noble art - ‘Horsey’ Brown, of rugby
fame, ‘Boy’ Tucker and Private Mills, in the Army
Championships of 1929, Jack Dalrymple, ‘Bull’
Faithfull and Sam Robertson, in later years, all made
their mark as great fighters.
In 1960, whilst undertaking an emergency posting to
Kenya the Battalion was invited to play the Kenyan
Champions. This led to a problem in that they, due to
the nature of the posting, had no team strip to wear.
However one was quickly obtained from the ‘Kenya
Regiment’ and the Match took place in Nakuru. The
Battalion upheld the pride of the Regiment by
winning the match.
Whilst stationed at Osnabruck, West Germany, from
1965 to 1968, the Battalion had four consecutive
victories in the Army Cup.
At cricket the Regiment produced some excellent
players and results. Major C H B Pridham, Captain of
the 1924 2nd Battalion XI in Cairo, writes of a
delightful game entitled “The 76th score 76”, when 76
runs were needed to win the All Egypt Command
Cup. Three ‘Dukes’ have won Army Caps, many
have played for the Free Foresters, while Private Brian
Stead had the odd game for Yorkshire.
Rugby Union - Individual Honours
Charles (Bull) Faithfull, England (3 caps) 1924-1926.
Lt (Horsey) Brown, Army & Ireland (12 Caps) 19251928. Capt Mike Campbell-Lamerton, Army, London
Scottish, Scotland (23 Caps), British Lions in South
Africa 1962, Captain of British Lions in Australia &
New Zealand 1966. Lt Grieve, Army, Scotland &
British Lions in South Africa in 1938.
Soccer, too, has always been popular but apart from
some good performances in the Infantry Cup it is as
long ago as 1931/32 when the Regiment was beaten in
the final of the Army Cup and our sole recipient of an
Army Soccer cap is Private M Hawthorn, who played
against the Royal Navy in 1932.
Rugby League - Individual Honours
Brian Curry, England 1956. Norman Field, GB 1963.
Jack Scroby, Army 1959, GB 1966. Charlie Renilson,
Scotland, GB 1965 & 1967. Arthur Keegan, GB 19681969.
The 1st Battalion developed a successful boxing team
whilst stationed in Minden in the late 70s, reaching
the Finals in Berlin, in 1977 and 1978.
Army 7s Rugby
Since the inaguration of the Army 7s Tournament in
the early 80s, ‘Dukes’ teams have won the
championship more times than any other unit.
To celebrate the Regiment’s Tercentenary in 2002 the
‘Dukes’ took 30 players to New Zealand for a sixweek tour, playing various New Zealand Military and
Club sides.
W Swap, APTC, with the Battalion Boxing Team.
Minden, 1977
119
Various Sports Trophies Won, Minden, 1979
SPORT IN THE REGIMENT
120
PHOTO
GALLERY 3
- SPORT
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
Ian Reid - Hong Kong, 1968
Army Cup Team, 1966
Battalion Football
Team, Hong Kong, 1969
Tim Sinclair,
Captain Army
Cup winning
team
Graydon Williams
122
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
Pete Robinson and Dave Dickens
Minden, 1978
Battalion Rugby, Minden, 1978
Aldershot, 1975
Battalion Rugby Team, Minden, 1976-1977 Season
123
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
Battalion Rugby
Team, Minden
BAOR Trampoline Team Championships, Winners, 1977
Regimental Boxing Team, 1977
‘Dukes’ Rugby Centenary, Minden, 1979
124
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
Battalion
Team, Bulford,
1986-87 Season
Dinner for DW Shuttleworth, President England RFU,
Bulford Sergeant’s Mess, 1986
Bulford, 1986
Dinner, Bulford Sergeant’s Mess, MJ CampbellLamerton, DW Shuttleworth and EMP Hardy, 1986
Battalion Cricket Team, Bulford, 1986
125
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
Battalion Cross Country Team, 1985
Boxing Team, 1994
Battalion Rugby Team, Palace Barracks, 1988
Cross Country Team - Winners
Battalion Rugby 7s Team, Palace Barracks, 1988
Battalion Cross Country Team, N Ireland, 1988-89
126
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
Battalion
Rugby
Team,
1992-1993
Season
Sergeants’ Mess charity squash marathon, Bulford
Halifax, Yorkshire Tour, 1989
Canoing enthusiasts
127
PHOTO GALLERY 3 - SPORT
‘Dukes’ Nordic Skiers with Lt Colonel Mundell, 1977
Ptes Hannon & Johannson With the Army
Combined Services Boxing Squad
Regimental Biathlon Squad,
Sgt Brennan, Lt Triplow,
Pte Murgatroyd & Pte O'Donnel
128
TRAINING AND EXERCISES
AFFILIATIONS AND ALLIANCES
TERCENTARY
AMALGAMATIONS
TRAINING AND EXERCISES
When not engaged on operations a soldier’s life is one of training and exercises.
In days gone by, this would consist of musketry, route marches and drill, especially drill. Sergeant Major James
Colbeck has left us with a splendid account in his Journal of the drill instructions at the time of Waterloo, a copy of
which is held in the Archives.
Depot, Wellesley Park, Officers’ Mess and CO’s House, Halifax, 1959
At that time the Regimental Depot was at the Citadel in Hull, it later moved to Fermoy in southern Ireland and, in
August 1877, the newly completed Depot in Halifax was occupied by the Depot Companies of the 33rd and 76th
Regiments. Generations of ‘Dukes’ soldiers were trained here, apart from a short gap during World War Two when
training was moved to Brancepath Castle and the Depot was ‘loaned’ to some Royal Engineers and a WRAC
contingent. The ‘Dukes’ returned on 1st November, 1946, until 1959 when the training intakes were moved, first to
Richmond, then to Strensall.
6th Battalion (673 LAA Regt RA) Annual Camp, Norfolk, 1949
130
TRAINING AND EXERCISES
Strensall was eventually closed as a training
centre, even though the ranges had been
constructed with the help of the 1st Battalion
whilst stationed in Bradford in 1892, and
training moved to Oulston Camp, briefly, and
then to various Army Training Regiments
before being centralised at the Infantry Training
Centre at Catterick.
Once out of Depot, the trained soldiers exercise
with their battalions. In modern times this will
range from Skill at Arms, in a hut on camp, to a
full-blown Corps exercise in Germany, with
many variations in between. In addition, a
modern battalion trains its own drivers,
signallers, physical training instructors and
medical assistants.
Germany, Exercise Dusty Tyke, 1978
Notable Exercises have been Ex Sun Pirate in
the Caribbean, the Muji Kas series of exercises
devised by Dick Mundell, the series of large
scale exercises in Germany during the 70s and
80s, such as Dusty Tyke, Spearpoint, Full
House, Keystone, Northern Crusade, Wagon
Train and Snow Boot.
In addition the Headquarters elements are
tested on Command Post Exercises and,
particularly popular with the rank and file
Tactical Exercises Without Troops. In recent
times these have been upgraded with state of
the art electronic battlefield simulations,
Brigade and Battlegroup Trainers became
Command and Staff Trainers, leading to multi
million pound Combined Arms Tactical Trainer.
Field Training Exercise, Sennelager, 2002
Most of these last for a few days or weeks, but
longer exercises take place regularly in Canada,
with annual Medicine Man and Pond Jump
West exercises, as well as Belize.
Facilities such as Tin City in Sennelager for
Northern Ireland training has recently given
way to the Green Zone in Thetford for pre
deployment training for Afghanistan.
131
AFFILIATIONS AND ALLIANCE
Over the years many affiliations and alliances have been built up with various units and organisations. Some have
sadly lapsed over time, such as the 33rd Bn Australian Infantry, others have ceased with the passing of the units,
such as HMS Sheffield, which was decommissioned in November 2002, and others have been renewed from time to
time, as with the re-commissioning of a new HMS Iron Duke in 1993, after a gap of 47 years.
The pages of the Iron Duke record the following alliances and affiliations:
The Yorkton Regiment - terminated, 1953, when it became Royal Canadian Artillery.
The Voltigeurs de Quebec
10th Bn Baluch Regiment
33rd Bn Australian Infantry
HMS Wellington
HMS Iron Duke
HMS York
HMS Sheffield
LMS Railway Engine The Duke of Wellington
Wellington College CCF
Giggleswick School CCF
Leeds Grammar School CCF
Colonel’s Company, 33rd Re-enactment group, USA
Colonel’s Company, 33rd re-enactment group, USA
132
TERCENTENARY
pairs of Colours been presented together at the same
time. The ceremony, and festivities afterwards, were a
huge success bringing together serving and retired,
many of whom had travelled from far corners of the
world to be there, as well as all the Regiment’s
Freedom Mayors and Lord Mayors and civic
dignitaries from across the West Riding. A highlight
of the celebrations was a musical re-enactment of the
Regiment’s history on the square before a formal
dinner held in marquees on the sports field for all
ranks and their wives and friends and where all were
able to see and admire the new Colours.
2002 was the Tercentenary Year for the Regiment
when it celebrated three hundred years of service to
Crown and Country and, above all, the deep ties
between the Regiment and its home county, the West
Riding of Yorkshire from where, for generations, the
Regiment had drawn its soldiers. The first event of
the year was the granting of the Freedom of Sheffield
to the Regiment, the freedom scroll being received by
the Duke Of Wellington, the Colonel in Chief, at a
parade on 13th April. In May a team of soldiers, led
by a group in ‘Waterloo’ uniform, as well as many
others for various stages, completed the ‘Havercake
March’, a march the full length of the Regiment’s
recruiting area from Settle to Sheffield. The route took
the marchers through all the Regiment’s freedom
towns where they personally presented to their
Mayors and Lord Mayors invitations to join the
Regiment for the Presentation of New Colours in
Germany in June. The name of the march was drawn
from the old nickname for the Regiment of the
‘Havercake Lads’ - the havercake or oatcake being the
traditional staple fare of the people of the West
Riding.
To assist in the celebrations, Timothy Taylor’s
brewery, based in Keighley with a long family
association with the Regiment, had created a special
‘Havercake Ale’ which included oats as a key
ingredient in the brew. The success of the brew was
reflected in the warmth of the celebrations, which
continued into the early hours (see page 64).
The year’s events concluded with Freedom Parades in
all the Regiment’s Freedom Towns across the West
Riding and where the Regiment was able to show its
new Colours to its home communities. The warmth
of the reception by the Lord Mayors and Mayors was
a testament to the strength of those ties and the
esteem they, and the towns they represented, held for
the Regiment as an integral part of the heritage of the
West Riding.
The focal point for the year’s celebrations was the
Presentation of new Regulation and Honorary
Colours to the 1st Battalion in Osnabruck on 18th
June, Waterloo Day. This was a unique ceremony.
The Regiment is the only Regiment in the Army to
carry four Colours and never before had both new
133
TERCENTENARY
Mayors at Tercentenary Parade, 2002
Colours being marched on parade,
Tercentenary, 2002
Tercentenary Plate - Limited Edition, 2002
CO, Lt Col Bruce,
leading the march
past, Tercentenary,
2002
134
AMALGAMATIONS
1881 - 33rd & 76th Regiments of Foot
Project United Warrior
On 1st May 1881, as part of the Cardwell reforms,
General Order 41 (Army Organisation) laid down that
the Infantry of the Line and the Militia would be
organised in Territorial Regiments, each of four
battalions, the first two being Line battalions.
Although the 33rd and 76th Regiments had shared the
Depot at Halifax since 1877, this order inexorably
linked them together as the 1st and 2nd Battalions of
The Halifax Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s), a title
not liked by anyone, which was soon replaced by an
Appendix to Order 41 on 30 June 1881, amending the
title to The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding
Regiment) after an appeal by Colonel Allerdice to the
Duke of Cambridge. The rare red facings had also
disappeared, being replaced by white for all English
County Regiments.
Under Project ‘United Warrior’, headed by Lt Col M A
Lodge, various publicity and Launch Events were
carried out leading up to the Amalgamation Parades
in June 2006.
The Cap Badge Launch took place at Clifford’s Tower
in York on 6th December, 2005.
On 20th February, 2006, Prince Andrew, The Duke of
York was appointed to be the Colonel-in-Chief, and
Brigadier His Grace The Duke of Wellington was
appointed to be the Deputy Colonel in Chief, of the
new Yorkshire Regiment, to be effective on 6th June
2006.
The East & West Riding Regiment merger day, 1st
April 2006, replacing the Light Infantry Company
with the Green Howards Company from the Tyne
Tees Regiment.
1948 - 1st and 2nd Battalions The Duke of
Wellington’s Regiment
The re-badging parades took place on 6th June 2006 in
the various locations that the new battalions of the
Regiment were located:
In January 1948 it was decided that the 1st and 2nd
Battalions would be amalgamated as part of a widereaching re-organisation of the Infantry, which saw
the reduction of most Line Regiments to single
battalion size. The formal parade was held on 17 June
1948 when the Honorary Colours of the 76th
Regiment were handed over to the 1st Battalion.
1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of
Wales’s Own) - Somme Barracks, Catterick.
2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green
Howards) - Metal Factory, Banja Luka, Bosnia.
2006 - The Prince of Wales’s Own, Green Howards
and Duke of Wellington’s Regiments
3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of
Wellington’s) - Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster.
In December 2004, as part of the re-organisation of the
infantry, it was announced that the Duke of
Wellington’s Regiment would be amalgamated with
the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire and
the Green Howards, all Yorkshire-based Regiments in
the King’s Division, to form:
4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment - TA Centres.
The 4th Battalion also held a formation parade and the
Cadet Forces held a re-badging parade on 10th June
2006 at the Knavesmire in York.
The Yorkshire Regiment
(14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot)
135
AMALGAMATIONS
Final parade of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) at the re-badging ceremony, 6 June 2006
Rebadging Parade, 6 June 2006
136
THE REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION
Currently, as at October, 2009, the Regimental Association is a vibrant mixture of Clubs and Reunions, with
members meeting together at various social events and occasions:
The Reunion Dinner:
The Reunion Dinner generally takes place on the first
Saturday in October at the Hilton Hotel in Bradford,
the only venue in the Regiment’s traditional recruiting
area able to take the numbers, as well as being
convenient for public transport links and car parking.
Organised by the Halifax Office.
RHQ:
The Assistant Regimental Secretary oversees all the
various Regimental functions and events from the old
RHQ building in Halifax, which is now the Halifax
Area Office of the Yorkshire Regiment,
Branches:
Currently, the following Branches meet regularly:
Halifax/Bradford (meeting monthly in Halifax);
Huddersfield; Keighley; London (three meetings a
year); Sheffield; Skipton and York. The meetings are
organised by the respective Branch officials. Full
details can be obtained from the Iron Duke, the
Regimental website or the Halifax Office.
The Officers’ Dinner Club:
The Officers’ Dinner Club meets annually in either
London or Yorkshire. Organised by Major David
Harrap from RHQ YORKS at the York Office.
The Officers’ Luncheon Club:
The Officers’ Luncheon Club meets annually in
London. Organised by Brigadier Michael Bray.
The ‘Dukes’ London Group:
A careers and resettlement networking group, with
occasional meeting at various venues in London. The
Convener is Captain Peter Lee. Further details from
the Halifax Office.
The Molar Dinner Club:
The Molar (Late Entry) Officers’ Dinner Club meets
every November. Organised by Major Bob Heron.
The 33/76 Club:
Held at Strensall Camp, with limited accommodation,
an informal evening function organised by WO2
‘Reggie’ Perrin. More details on the ‘Dukes’ website.
The Halifax Reunion:
An informal evening round the watering holes of
Halifax. Generally held on the same night as the
Reunion Dinner. Organised by John Swain, more
details on the website.
The Website:
The Regimental Website is at www.dwr.org.uk. The
editor in chief is Colonel Charles Cumberlege.
Further details from the website!
DWR Branch Standards
The AGM:
The Annual General Meeting of the Association is
generally held immediately before the Annual
Reunion Dinner at the Hilton Hotel, Bradford.
Organised by the Halifax Office.
137
MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES
Museum
The Museum was established at the Depot in Halifax in 1921 to collect Regimental Artefacts and also educate new
recruits on the heritage of their Regiment. In 1960, after the Closure of the Depot, the Museum moved to the
Calderdale Borough Council Bankfield Museum, Akroyd Park, in Halifax.
Following two successful Lottery Bid Projects, in 2003 (Through Soldiers’ Eyes) and 2007 (Forgotten Voices), the
exhibitions and displays at Bankfield have been completely modernised. The refurbished series of displays
describe the history of the Regiment from 1702 to the present day. The display cases are related to selected
campaigns. Over 170 audio recordings, by individual ‘Dukes’ from 1939, telling their own stories, bring to life their
experiences and conditions they endured. Actors have been used to tell the stories of ‘Dukes’ prior to the Second
World War. Computer programmes have also been introduced to access images from the archives. The completed
refurbishment was opened by Christa Akroyd, with Look North TV coverage, on 11th November, 2008, attended by
the Lord Lieutenant, The Mayor of Calderdale and Major General Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter.
The Bankfield Museum, Haley Hill, Halifax is open Tuesday to Saturday, 1000 to 1700hrs and Sundays and Bank
Holiday Mondays, 1400 to 1700hrs.
Archives
Most of the archives are stored at the outstation of RHQ The Yorkshire Regiment at Wellesley Park, Halifax.
Regimental HQ,
Halifax, 2006
138
MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES
Regimental Museum, Bankfield, Halifax
R Heron, TJ Isles and W Robins examine the Phase 2 Refurbishment displays
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© The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment Museum and Archives, August 2009
Printed by: UniPress, Trutnov, Czech Republic
Regimental March
The Wellesley