5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment

Last updated

2nd Volunteer Bn, East Yorkshire Regiment
5th (Cyclist) Bn, East Yorkshire Regiment
Badge, regimental (AM 790881-1).jpg
Cap badge of the East Yorkshire Regiment, granted to the battalion in 1885
Active1860–1920
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg Territorial Force
TypeInfantry
Cycle troops
RoleMobile coastal defence
SizeBattalion
Part of Northern Command
Garrison/HQ Beverley (2nd VB)
Hull (5th Bn)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Lt-Col Sir Robert Aske

The 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment was a mobile coast defence unit of Britain's Territorial Force. It was formed in 1908 from a nucleus provided by a Volunteer battalion first raised in 1859. It carried out its defence duties along the East Coast throughout World War I and after the war it was incorporated into a unit of the new Royal Corps of Signals.

Contents

Volunteer Force

The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. [1] [2] A public meeting to form an RVC in Kingston upon Hull (Hull) in the East Riding of Yorkshire was held in February 1859, but the proposal was defeated by an active minority on political grounds. However, another meeting held on 21 May resolved to raise the East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers, and 10 independent company-sized RVCs were quickly formed, their officers receiving their commissions the following year. In 1860 these were formed into two battalions: the 1st (Consolidated) Battalion, comprising all the RVCs in Hull, and the 2nd (Administrative) Battalion East York Rifle Volunteers incorporating those outside the town: [3] [4] [5] [6]

The first commanding officer (CO) of the 2nd (Admin) Battalion was Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) P. Saltmarshe, formerly of the 8th Hussars, with his headquarters (HQ) at Beverley. After the consolidated battalion became the 1st Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC the administrative battalion took the number 1 (though there were no others in the East Riding). It consolidated as the 2nd Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC in 1880 when the constituent RVCs became A to F Companies. The two corps became the 1st and 2nd Volunteer Battalions (VBs) of the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1883. [5] [6]

From the 1870s to the 1890s the two VBs organised their own annual training camps, usually at Bridlington. [5] Higher formations for the Volunteers were lacking, but from 1875 various mobilisation schemes for the Regulars and Militia began to be circulated, and by 1880 a number of Local Brigades had begun to appear in the Army List. B Company of the 2nd VB was included in Local Brigade No 25 at Bridlington, along with two batteries of volunteer artillery. [3] Following the Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 a comprehensive mobilisation scheme was introduced for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. [7] [8] The two East Yorkshire VBs did not at first form part of the East Yorkshire Brigade, whose designated place of assembly was Doncaster, but were attached to it by the end of the 1890s when its headquarters was at Scarborough, North Yorkshire. By 1902 they were brigaded with the VBs of the Green Howards as the Yorkshire Brigade at Richmond, North Yorkshire, and later formed the Humber Brigade based at Beverley, together with battalions from the West Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire across the Humber. [3]

The late Victorian era saw a craze for cycling and the Volunteer Force took a leading role in developing the new Safety bicycle for military use. In 1893 the East Yorkshire VBs raised a cyclist section that proved so popular that it was enlarged into a full company. [5] [9] [10]

South Africa

After Black Week in December 1899, the Volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the Second Boer War. The War Office decided that one company 116 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. The two VBs accordingly raised a service company under Major Mortimer of Driffield to serve with the 2nd Battalion. [5] [11] This earned the VBs the Battle Honour 'South Africa 1900–01'. [3]

Territorial Force

British Army cyclist in marching order, 1914-18. The British Army on the Home Front, 1914-1918 Q30445.jpg
British Army cyclist in marching order, 1914–18.

When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, [12] [13] [14] the 2nd VB including the cyclist company formed the nucleus of the 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, although the new unit's HQ and half the companies were based in Hull: [3] [15] [16] [17] [lower-alpha 1]

The cyclist battalions were not included in the TF's main divisional structure but were instead given the role of using their mobility to defend vulnerable sectors of the coastline and maintain communications between the static defence units. [26] The 5th Bn East Yorkshires fulfilled this role in Northern Command. [3]

World War I

Local politician and commanding officer of the 1/5th (Cyclist) Bn Sir Robert Aske. Robert Aske.jpg
Local politician and commanding officer of the 1/5th (Cyclist) Bn Sir Robert Aske.

On the declaration of war in August 1914 the battalion mobilised at Park Street under the command of Lt-Col Sir Robert Aske, a local lawyer and politician who was first commissioned into the 1st VB on 9 February 1898 and became Commanding Officer of the 5th Bn on 20 August 1910. It moved out to its designated war station at Louth, Lincolnshire to begin patrolling the coastline from Tetney to Skegness. [3] [15] [27] [28] [29] [30]

Shortly after the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. On 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix, and would be filled up with the recruits who were flooding in for both the TF and 'Kitchener's Army'. [31] [32]

At first, competition was keen to join the Cyclist Battalion, which was seen as rather glamorous, with distinctive knee breeches and black bugle buttons. [33] However, the battalion lost out to the other units being formed in Hull, particularly the 'Hull Pals', a full brigade of whom were raised for Kitchener's Army by Lord Nunburnholme. [34] In March 1915 the cycle unit was designated 1/5th Battalion, in expectation of a 2nd Line unit, but it appears that the 2/5th Battalion was never formed – in November 1914 the battalion still required 900 recruits. [16] [15] [35] Those men who had enlisted for home service only were formed into 2nd Provisional Cyclist Company on 4 July 1915. The latter served in the Humber Defences until it was disbanded on 13 April 1916 after the Military Service Act 1916 swept away the Home/Foreign service distinction. [15] [16]

The 1/5th (Cyclist) Battalion patrolled the Lincolnshire coast through the winter of 1914–15, day and night, in all weathers. In May 1915 it moved to Withernsea on the Yorkshire Coast, and subsequently to Roos, with its companies distributed between Spurn Head and Bridlington. In January 1916 it adopted the modern four-company organisation in place of eight companies, and was allotted to the northern section of the Humber Defences. [27] [36] [lower-alpha 2] Sir Robert Aske retired and was transferred to the TF Reserve on 24 December 1917; [37] he was later awarded the Territorial Decoration. [38]

The battalion never saw active service, though a number of officers and men served with other battalions of the East Yorkshires. [39] It was demobilised on 24 January 1919 at Hull. [15]

Disbandment

After the war the battalion was reformed on 7 February 1920, but shortly afterwards cyclist battalions were abolished and it was amalgamated into 50th (Northumbrian) Divisional Signals in the new Royal Corps of Signals. The merged unit moved its HQ to 4 West Parade in Hull, but later it went to Darlington. [3] [15] [16] [40] [41] [42] [lower-alpha 3]

Uniforms and insignia

The first meeting of the East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers in Hull in 1859 decided that the uniform would be green. However, the Vice Lord Lieutenant objected, asserting that the Battle of Inkerman had shown that the grey worn by Russian troops was less visible at shorter distances than Rifle green. Reluctantly the units agreed to a uniform of 'Volunteer' grey with black braid and red facings and trouser stripe. The headgear was a grey Shako with black leather peak and top. The belts and pouch were black leather. In 1880 a scarlet tunic was adopted with white facings, blue trousers with red stripe, and white belts. The headgear was the Home Service helmet for officers, a Glengarry cap for other ranks. In 1885 the VBs were granted the right to wear the cap badge of the East Yorkshire Regiment. In 1903 the Cyclist Company adopted a Khaki service dress with a Slouch hat. The rest of the battalion adopted khaki in 1906. [5]

Honorary Colonels

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit and its predecessor: [3] [16]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The 5th Bn was considered a new unit and did not receive the 'South Africa 1900–01' Battle Honour earned by the 2nd VB. [3]
  2. ↑ The battalion may have later moved to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and become part of the Tyne Garrison. [30]
  3. ↑ A new 5th Bn East Yorkshires was formed in 1939 as a wartime duplicate of the 4th Bn. [43]

Notes

  1. ↑ Beckett.
  2. ↑ Spiers, pp. 163–8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Army List, various dates.
  4. ↑ Beckett, Appendix VII.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Norfolk, pp. 35–40, 56.
  6. 1 2 Westlake, pp. 253–4.
  7. ↑ Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.
  8. ↑ Dunlop, pp. 60–1.
  9. ↑ Beckett, pp. 135, 200–1.
  10. ↑ Anon, London Cyclist Battalion.
  11. ↑ Beckett, p. 213.
  12. ↑ Beckett, pp. 247–53.
  13. ↑ Dunlop, Chapter 14.
  14. ↑ Spiers, Chapter 10.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frederick, p. 181.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "5th (Cyclist) Bn East Yorkshires at Regiments.org". Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 27 December 2005.
  17. ↑ 5th (Cyclist) Bn East Yorkshires at Wartime Memories Project.
  18. ↑ Hull at Drill Hall Project.
  19. ↑ Howden at Drill Hall Project.
  20. ↑ Beverley at Drill Hall Project.
  21. ↑ Hessle at Drill Hall Project.
  22. ↑ Market Weighton at Drill Hall Project.
  23. ↑ Pocklington at Drill Hall Project.
  24. ↑ Bridlington at Drill Hall Project.
  25. ↑ Driffield at Drill Hall Project.
  26. ↑ Anon, London Cyclist Battalion, p. 106.
  27. 1 2 James, p. 59.
  28. ↑ London Gazette, 19 August 1910.
  29. ↑ Wyrall, pp. 1, 20–1.
  30. ↑ East Yorkshires at Long, Long Trail.
  31. ↑ Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
  32. ↑ BIlton, Hull in the Great War, p. 73.
  33. ↑ Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 24–5.
  34. ↑ Bilton, Hull Pals.
  35. ↑ Bilton, Hull in the Great War, p. 91.
  36. ↑ Wyrall, p. 401.
  37. ↑ London Gazette, 25 January 1918.
  38. ↑ London Gazette, 22 May 1918.
  39. ↑ Bilton, Hull Pals, Appendices 9–13.
  40. ↑ Lord & Watson, pp. 161–2.
  41. ↑ Nalder, p. 161.
  42. ↑ Wyrall, p. 402.
  43. 4th Bn East Yorkshires at Regiments.org.

Related Research Articles

Charles Wilson, 2nd Baron Nunburnholme

Charles Henry Wellesley Wilson, 2nd Baron Nunburnholme, CB, DSO,, was a British peer, and one of the heirs to the Thomas Wilson Sons & Co., a Hull-based shipping company that built a near-monopoly over affordable travel packages from Scandinavia and the Baltic. He was an officer in the Volunteers and saw active service in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the later war he was distinguished for the number of new units that he recruited for the war effort, notably the 'Hull Pals'.

East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry British Army military unit

The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1902. Units of Yeomanry Cavalry were raised in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the 18th and early 19th centuries at times of national emergency: the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. These were stood down once each emergency was over. The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry, was established in 1902, and this saw action during the First World War both in the mounted role and as machine gunners.

The Paddington Rifles was a unit of the Territorial Army.

9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment

The 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was an infantry battalion of the British Army. Part of the Volunteer Force, later the Territorial Force, the battalion was part of the Middlesex Regiment and recruited from the north-western suburbs of London. It served as infantry in the Mesopotamian campaign during World War I and as an air defence regiment during and after World War II.

The 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers were a unit of the British Army raised from 1859 onwards as a group of originally separate Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). They later became the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and saw action in the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns during the First World War. Converted into a searchlight unit between the wars, they served in the defence of the United Kingdom and as an infantry regiment in liberated Norway during the Second World War. Postwar they continued in the air defence role until 1961 when they reverted to infantry as part of the Royal Anglian Regiment.

The Huddersfield Rifles was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force first raised in 1859. It later became a battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in the Territorial Army, serving as infantry on the Western Front in World War I and as an air defence unit during and after World War II.

The Rangers (British regiment) Volunteer unit of British Army

The Rangers was a volunteer unit of the British Army, originally formed in 1860. It provided a detachment for service in the Second Boer War, saw intensive action on the Western Front in the First World War, and served as motorised infantry during the Second World War during the campaigns in Greece and the Western Desert.

The High Peak Rifles, later 6th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, was a volunteer unit of Britain's Territorial Army. First raised in the High Peak area of Derbyshire in 1860, it fought as infantry on the Western Front during the First World War and as an air defence unit during the Second World War. Its descendants remained in the Army Reserve until 2014.

The 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based at Hull and along the Humber Estuary. Its successor units provided field artillery on the Western Front during World War I and air defence artillery during and after World War II. Latterly it formed part of the Humber Artillery based at Hull.

The Bradford Rifles was a Volunteer unit of the British Army formed in 1859. It went on to become a battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment in the Territorial Force and saw action on the Western Front during World War I. Between the wars it converted into an air defence unit, serving during World War II first as a searchlight regiment defending West Yorkshire and later as a garrison battalion in North West Europe. Postwar it continued in the Territorial Army in the air defence role until 1955.

Hull Pals

The Hull Pals were a brigade of four battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment raised as part of Kitchener's Army in 1914. They served in 31st Division at Serre on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, though they escaped the worst of the disaster. However, they suffered heavy casualties in the same area later in the year, and again at Oppy Wood in early 1917. They continued to serve on the Western Front for the rest of the war, including hard fighting against the German spring offensive and in the final Hundred Days Offensive.

5th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment

The 5th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, was a unit of Britain's Territorial Force formed in 1908 from Volunteer units originally raised in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1860. It served in some of the bitterest fighting on the Western Front during World War I, including the Somme, Ypres and the German spring offensive. Before World War II it was converted to air defence, in which role it served during The Blitz and in Burma, where it employed anti-aircraft guns for 'bunker-busting'. Postwar, it continued to serve in Anti-Aircraft Command until 1955.

The 6th Battalion, Royal Scots, was a unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Force. Beginning as a Volunteer unit formed from teetotallers in the city of Edinburgh in 1867, it later became affiliated to the Royal Scots. During World War I it served in the Senussi Campaign and on the Western Front. Postwar it was converted into a medium artillery battery.

5th Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)

The 5th Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) was a volunteer unit of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (TF).

5th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Reserve unit of the British Army

The 2nd Northumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps, also referred to as the Tynemouth Rifles, was an infantry unit of Britain's part-time force, the Territorial Army. The corps was raised during the expansion of the Volunteer movement in the 1850s and then served with the Territorial Force during the First World War. It converted to an anti-aircraft role just prior to Second World War, and continued to serve until it was amalgamated in 1950.

2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers

The 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers, was a Volunteer unit of the British Army recruited in Gloucestershire from 1859. After becoming a Volunteer and later Territorial Force battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, it fought on the Western Front and in Italy during World War I. Its 1st Line battalion fought a last-ditch defensive action at the Piave and one of its number won a Victoria Cross in the closing weeks of the war. The 2nd Line battalion was involved in an epic rearguard action at Holnon Wood during the German spring offensive. In the early part of World War II the battalion distinguished itself at the defence of Ledringhem before being evacuated from Dunkirk. It then served as a unit of the Reconnaissance Corps with 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division through the campaign in North West Europe. It returned to the Glosters in the postwar Territorial Army until amalgamated with other units in 1967.

Hull Rifles

The Hull Rifles, later the 4th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force first raised in Kingston upon Hull in 1859. During World War I it served on the Western front, seeing a great deal of action at Ypres, the Somme, Arras, and in the German spring offensive, when it was virtually destroyed. Its 2nd Line battalion garrisoned Bermuda for much of the war. During World War II the 4th Battalion was captured at the Battle of Gazala, but its wartime duplicate unit fought on through the Western Desert, Tunisia and Sicily, and then landed in Normandy on D Day. The battalion served in the postwar Territorial Army until 1960, and its successors in today's Army Reserve continue in Hull.

Exeter and South Devon Volunteers

The Exeter & South Devon Volunteers was the premier unit of Britain's Volunteer Force. Formed in 1852 it went on to become a battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. Both its active service battalions went to garrison India on the outbreak of the First World War, and then saw action in Mesopotamia and Palestine. In the Second World War, the battalion served in the garrison of Gibraltar. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until it was merged with other West Country units. Its successors today serve in a reserve battalion of The Rifles.

5th (Prince of Waless) Battalion, Devonshire Regiment Part-time unit of the British Army

The 5th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, was a part-time unit of the British Army recruited in the county of Devon. It was formed in the Territorial Force in 1908 by amalgamating two existing Volunteer Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment. The battalion served in India and fought in Palestine and on the Western Front during World War I. In World War II it provided two anti-tank artillery units, which served in Tunisia, Italy and North West Europe. They were both merged into other Devonshire units in 1950.

The 1st Sussex Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the county of Sussex in 1859. It later became the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. During World War I it served in home defence in Britain and Ireland, while its 2nd Line battalion served in India and Waziristan. It was not reformed after the war.

References

External sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.