navigation bar
Regiments.org logo
Authors and Contributors this page: T.F. Mills
Page created 15 July 2000. Corrected and updated 10.07.2006
 
crest and tie
The  Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
crest and tie
by A. Melville-Brown
United Kingdom 
  Titles & Lineage
  History
  Battle Honours
  Colours, Standards & Guidons
  Uniforms & Badges
  Colonels-in-Chief
  Colonels

  Biography & Gallantry Awards
  Traditions
  Alliances
  Associations, Forums, Re-Enactors
  Museums, Monuments, Memorials
  Bibliography

How to find information about individuals who served in this corps
 
1881.07.01 The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
organised as the county regiment of Yorkshire West Riding, encompassing its Militia and Volunteer infantry [see below] and uniting two regular battalions:
 
1921.01.01 The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
2006.06.06 united with The Prince of Wales's Own Regt of Yorkshire , and The Green Howards, to form The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th, and 33rd/76th Foot)
crown The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Regimental site)
crown The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Army site)
crown The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Osnabrück Garrison site)
pip Regimental History (Regimental site)
pip Dukesarus: The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Unofficial), by Eric.
pip The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, by Glenvil Roberts.
pip The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, by Campbell Ricketts (Yorkshire Volunteers).
pip Brief History (Regimental site)
pip A Brief History of The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, by Eric.
pip The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, by Chris Baker (The British Army in the Great War).
pip The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, by Brad Chappell (The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918)
     
  RHQ and Depot:
    RHQ: Wellesley Park, Halifax, Yorkshire
    33rd Regimental District at Halifax [1881-1905]
   
    E Group at Catterick [1946-48]
    Yorkshire Brigade at York [1948-1968]
    King's Division at York [1968-2006]
     
  Regulars:
    1st Battalion [1881-2006]
    2nd Battalion [1881-1948]
     
Militia and Special Reserve:
  3rd Battalion (6th West York Regiment of Militia) [1881-1953]
   
Territorials and Volunteers:
  The Volunteer Army (Regimental site)
  1st Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
  2nd Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
  3rd Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
  4th Battalion [1908-1938]
  5th Battalion [1908-1936]
  5th/7th Battalion [1957-1961]
  6th Battalion [1908-1947]
  7th Battalion [1908-1957]
  The West Riding Battalion [1961-1971]
  Yorkshire Volunteers [1967-1992]
  3rd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regt (Yorkshire Vols) [1992-1999]
The East and West Riding Regiment [1999-2006]
Hostilities-Only Units (First and Second World War, including T.A. duplicates):
2/4th Battalion [1914-1919]
4th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1919]
2/5th Battalion [1914-1919]
5th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1916]
2/6th Battalion [1914-1918]
6th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1919]
2/6th Battalion [1939-1942]
2/7th Battalion [1914-1918]
7th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1916]
2/7th Battalion [1939-1942]
8th (Service) Battalion [1914-1918]
8th Battalion [1940-1941]
9th (Service) Battalion [1914-1918]
9th Battalion [1940-1941]
10th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
10th Battalion [1941-1946]
11th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
11th Battalion [1944-1947]
12th (Labour) Battalion [1916-1917]
12th Battalion [1944-1947]
13th (Service) Battalion [1918-1919]
14th (Service) Battalion [1918-1918]
50th (Holding) Battalion [1940-1941]
53rd (Service) Battalion [1917-1919]
[combined battle honours of 33rd Regiment and 76th Regiment, plus:]

Dettingen1, Mysore2, Ally Ghur3, Delhi 18033, Leswaree3, Deig3, Corunna4, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1900-02

Great War [21 battalions]:   Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914 '18, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Ypres 1914 '15 '17, Nonne Bosschen, Hill 60, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Aubers, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Bullecourt, Messines 1917 '18, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Ancre 1918, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Béthune, Scherpenberg, Tardenois, Amiens, Bapaume 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Épéhy, 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

Afghanistan 1919

Second World War:  Dunkirk 1940, St. Valery-en-Caux, Tilly sur Seulles, Odon, Fontenay Le Pesnil, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, 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

The Hook 1953, Korea 1952-53, Iraq 2003

1.  awarded 1882 for service of 33rd Regiment.
2.  awarded 1889 for service of 76th Regiment.
3.  awarded 1886 for service of 76th Regiment.
4.  awarded 1908 for service of 76th Regiment.

Note: In 1962 companies of 1st Battalion were redesignated for battle honours:
HQ Company - Hook Company
A Company - Alma Company
B Company - Burma Company
C Company - Corunna Company
D Company - Dettingen Company (formed after 1962 and subsequently disbanded)
Support Company - Somme Company (formed after 1962)
Waterloo Company - designation of composite companies, first used in 1997.

flag Note: 1st Battalion inherited in 1948 the Honorary Stand of Colours carried by 2nd Battalion (former 76th Foot). The regiment is the only one to carry four Colours on parade.
flag Regimental Colours (Regimental site)
   
Badges:

The Duke of Wellington's Crest, with the motto 'Virtutis fortuna comes' (inherited from 33rd Regiment); An elephant with howdah and mahout circumscribed 'Hindoostan', ensigned with the Crown (inherited from 76th Regiment).

Uniform:

1881-1905: scarlet; facings: white
1905-1953: scarlet; facings: scarlet
1953-2006: blue; facings: scarlet; piping: scarlet
headdress: No.1 Dress cap: blue band, scarlet welt; badge backing: red; side cap: blue, piped gold;
lanyard: scarlet (sgts and above); trouser stripe: 1" scarlet
tie:
thin silver stripes on chestnut ground

   
cap badge
   
cap badge
MoD
   
   
   
1974.01.23 Col. (Hon. Brig.) Arthur Valerian (Wellesley), 8th Duke of Wellington, KG, LVO, OBE, MC [also Hon. Col. 2nd Bn Wessex Regt]
  1863.04.01 [1st Bn:] Gen. William Nelson Hutchinson
1875.04.28 [2nd Bn:] Gen. Frederick Darley George, CB [also Cheshire Regt]
1895.06.30 Gen. George Erskine [also Argyll & Sutherland Hldrs]
1897.10.08 Gen. Sir Hugh Rowlands, VC, KCB
1909.08.02 Lt-Gen. Sir Herbert Eversley Belfield, KCB, KCMG, KBE, DSO
1934.01.24 Brig-Gen. Percy Alexander Turner, CMG
1938.10.31 Col. Charles James Pickering, CMG, DSO
1947.11.01 Gen. Sir Alexander Frank Philip Christison, Bt, GBE, CB, DSO, MC [also 10th Gurkha Rifles]
1957.11.01 Maj-Gen. Kenneth Godfrey Exham, KG, CB, DSO
1965.10.01 Gen. Sir Robert Napier Hubert Campbell Bray, GBE, KCB, DSO
1975.07.07 Maj-Gen. Donald Edward Isles, CB, OBE [also Hon. Col. 3rd Bn Yorks Vols]
1982.10.22 Gen. Sir Charles Richard Huxtable, KCB, CBE, ADCGen
1990.10.22 Brig. William Richard Mundell, OBE [also Hon. Col. 3rd Bn Yorks Vols]
1999.06.18 Maj-Gen. Sir Evelyn John Webb-Carter, KCVO, OBE
vc VCs and Awards (Army site)
vc Victoria Cross Recipients (Regimental site)
vc Victoria Crosses, by Mike Chapman (VC Reference).
vc VCs in the Duke of Wellington's Regimental Museum, by Iain Stewart.
Genealogy of the Dukes of Wellington
 
Motto: Virtutis fortuna comes
Nicknames: inherited nicknames of 33rd Regiment and 76th Regiment
Anniversaries: St. George (23 Apr.)
Freedoms: Halifax (18 June 1945), Huddersfield (2 July 1952), Spenborough 24 Feb.1959), Mossley (8 July 1967), Skipton (4 May 1991), Barnsley (8 May 1995), Bradford (26 Apr. 1996), Sheffield (13 Apr. 2002), Craven District (20 July 2002), Erquinghem-Lys, France (12 Nov. 2005)
Marches: quick: The Wellesley
  unofficial: I'm 95; Scotland the Brave; Ilkley Moor
Musicians: construction sign
Mascot: construction sign
Miscellaneous Tradition Links:
Canada flag The North Saskatchewan Regiment 1923-1924
Canada flag The Yorkton Regiment 1924-1936
Canada flag Les Voltigeurs de Québec 1953?-2006
Australia flag 33rd Battalion (The New England Regiment) 1929-1951
Pakistan flag 10th Battalion, The Baloch Regiment 1966?-2006
 
Bond of Friendship:
Royal Navy Ensign HMS Iron Duke
Royal Navy Ensign HMS Sheffield
swords Regimental Association (Regimental site)
swords Regimental Associations (Army site)
swords Burma Star Association
   
   
monument Regimental Archives (Regimental site)
monument The Duke of Wellington's Regimental Museum, Halifax (Army Museums Ogilby Trust)
monument The Duke of Wellington's Regimental Museum, Halifax, by Henrik Teller (Simonides listing)
monument The Duke of Wellington's Regimental Museum, Calderdale (Calderdale Council listing)
monument Regimental Chapels (Regimental site)
Regimental Journal:
The Havercake lad.
The Iron Duke (3 times a year)
1st Bn: Battalion notes.
Full Histories:
Brereton, J. M. (John Maurice); Savory, A. C. S. The history of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) 1702-1992. Wellesley Park, Halifax : Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding), 1993. ISBN: 0952155206
Lunt, James D. The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) : (the 33rd/76th Regiment of Foot). London : Leo Cooper Ltd., 1971.
Bruce, Clarence Dalrymple. History of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (1st & 2nd Battalions) 1881-1923. London : The Medici,1927.
Barclay, C. N. (Cyril Nelson). The history of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, 1919-1952. London : Published for the Regimental Council, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment by Clowes, 1953.
 
Short Histories
Le Poer-Trench, M. V. A short history of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding). Aldershot : Gale & Polden, Ltd., 1922.
2nd Battalion The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, Egypt 1922-26. Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1926.
Le Poer-Trench, M. V. A short history of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding). Aldershot : Gale & Polden, Ltd., 1940.
Le Poer-Trench, M. V. A short history of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding). Newcastle-upon-Tyne : J&P Bealls, 1944.
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding). London : M. Page, 1954.
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment. London : Malcolm Page, [ca. 1956]
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment. London : Malcolm Page, [ca. 1958]
Savory, A.C.S. Regimental Colours, 1st and 2nd Battalions The Duke of Wellington's Regiment. London.
 

Militia:

Moore, N. H. Records of the 3rd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment : formerly 6th West York Militia ... 1760-1910. London : Gale and Polden, 1910.
 

First World War:

Fisher, John J. History of the Duke of Wellington's West Riding regiment (the Iron Duke's own) during the first three years of the Great war from August 1914 to December 1917. [Halifax], 1917.
Bales, P. G. The history of the 1/4th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, 1914-1919. Halifax ; London : E. Mortimer, 1920.
 
Second World War:
book Whiting, Charles ; Taylor, Eric. The fighting tykes : an informal history of the Yorkshire regiments in the Second World War. London : Leo Cooper, 1993. ISBN: 0850523575