2nd (Leeds) Yorkshire (West Riding) Engineer Volunteers
2nd West Riding Engineer Volunteers Northern Telegraph Companies, RE IV (West Riding) Field Brigade, RFA | |
---|---|
Active | 25 March 1861–7 February 1920 |
Country | 49th (West Riding) Division |
Garrison/HQ | Leeds |
Engagements | Second Boer War World War I:
|
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | VD |
The 2nd (Leeds) Yorkshire (West Riding) Engineer Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army raised in 1861. When the Territorial Force was formed in 1908 the corps was converted into signals and artillery units, in which roles they served through World War I. Postwar they were absorbed into other West Yorkshire units.
2nd (Leeds) Yorkshire (West Riding) EVC
The enthusiasm for the
The unit sent a detachment of one officer and 25 other ranks to assist the regular REs during the Second Boer War in 1900, and a second section the following year.[8][11]
Territorial Force
When the
- Northern Telegraph Companies, RE[7][5][8][19]
- HQ at Claypit Lane, Leeds
- Northern Wireless Telegraph Company, Leeds
- Northern Air-Line Telegraph Company, Leeds
- Northern Cable Telegraph Company, Leeds
- IV West Riding (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (RFA)[5][19][20][16][21][22]
- Brigade HQ at Nelson Street, Otley[23]
- 10th West Riding (Howitzer) Battery, Otley – from H Company, 2nd WR RE (V)
- 11th West Riding (Howitzer) Battery, formed at Burley; by 1911 at East Parade, Ilkley[24] – from part of C Company, 3rd VB, DWR
- 4th West Riding Brigade Ammunition Column, Peel Place, Burley[25] – from F Company, 2nd WR RE (V), and part of C Company, 3rd VB, DWR
The Northern Telegraph Companies (Signal Companies from 1910) were a lieutenant-colonel's command. They were defined as 'Army Troops' under Northern Command HQ, but were administratively under the West Riding Division. The Leeds Postal Telegraph Messengers' Cadet Company was attached to the unit.[5][7][26]
The IV (or 4th) West Riding Brigade formed part of the West Riding Divisional Artillery. Each of its batteries was equipped with four 5-inch howitzers.[20][27][28]
World War I
On the outbreak of World War I the three Northern Signal Companies were formed into the RE Signals Depot at Biggleswade. Although the companies did not see active service as complete units, they raised a number of new signal units that served on the Western Front and in the Middle East,[7][8] beginning with a Northern Motor Wireless Section and a Northern Motor Airline Section, which embarked for the Western Front on 26 October and 6 November 1914 respectively.[29]
Towards the end of July 1914, the units of the West Riding Division went to their annual camps, but on 3 and 4 August orders arrived, recalling them to their respective HQs. The order to mobilise was issued on 4 August. Units then proceeded to their war stations as part of Central Force in Home Defence and began battle training.[20][30]
In the first days of the 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. In this way duplicate units and formation were created, mirroring being sent overseas. Later the 2nd Line themselves were prepared for overseas service.[31][32]
1/IV West Riding (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA
The division was informed on 31 March 1915 that it had been selected for overseas service with the
Aubers Ridge
After introduction to
Hooge
The West Riding Division (which was redesignated the 49th (West Riding) Division on 12 May) resumed normal trench duties. On 22 May the brigade moved to
Gas attack
49th (WR) Division remained in the Ypres Salient through the autumn of 1915. 1/IV WR Brigade was based around Brielen with brigade HQ at
Reorganisation
49th (WR) Division was relieved in the line on the night of 30/31 December and sent for rest, though sections of 1/10th and 1/11th WR Btys remained in position until the incoming batteries had complete their registration on 3 January 1916. The batteries were
On 7 March the brigade was withdrawn and moved to Contay, where it joined the corps reserve and remained in billets at Canaples, training and reorganising. TF brigades were in the process of being numbered, and on 1 May 1/IV West Riding Brigade became CCXLVIII (or 248th) Brigade, RFA (it continued to refer to itself as 248th (WR) Brigade[34]), and by 21 May it had been completely reorganised, ceasing to be a howitzer brigade. Its three batteries were transferred to the other three brigades in 49th DA, giving them one howitzer battery each:[21][22][20][27][34]
- 1/10th West Riding Bty to CCXLVI (1/II West Riding) Bde as D (H) Bty
- 1/11th West Riding Bty to CCXLV (1/I West Riding) Bde as D (H) Bty
- 15th West Riding Bty to CCXLVII (1/III West Riding) Bde as D (H) Bty
Simultaneously, the brigade was reformed with one
- A Bty – former 1/3rd West Riding Bty from CCXLV Bty
- B Bty – former 1/5th West Riding Bty from CCXLVI Bde
- C Bty – D Bty from CCXLVII Bde, recently numbered as 14th West Riding Bty
The brigade ammunition columns were abolished in 19 May and absorbed into the Divisional Ammunition Column.[20][27][34]
Somme
Lieutenant-Col Stephenson remained in command of the reorganised brigade, which continued training at Canaples (with B/CCXLVII Bty attached) until the middle of June. The other brigades of 49th DA had already gone into the line under the command of other divisions. On 16 June the brigade moved to Mirvaux, west of Albert, then up to Hédauville on 26 June. The preliminary bombardment for the Somme Offensive had already begun, but CCXLVIII Bde was not involved. Instead, on 1 July (the First day on the Somme) it moved up to an assembly point where it waited under the command of 36th (Ulster) Division for orders to advance behind the infantry. The Ulster Division did reach its objectives – one of the few successes on the day – but the divisions on either flank had failed despite the assistance of part of 49th (WR) Division from reserve, and the 36th could not hold its positions. The order for CCXLVIII Bde to advance never came, and at the end of the day it marched back to Hédauville. Next day A, C and B/CCXLVII Batteries handed over their guns to 32nd and 36th Divisions to replace theirs damaged in action. [34][44][45]
On 6 July the brigade's only remaining battery equipped with guns, B, took over from one of 36th (Ulster) Division's batteries and went into action the same night. On 9 July the gunners of the other two plus B/CCXLVII relieved batteries of 32nd and 36th Division, taking over guns in position. On 12 July 49th DA resumed control of the sector for the forthcoming with CCXLVIII Bde's batteries grouped under CCXLVI Bde HQ. 49th (WR) Division was fighting to improve the British positions in the
49th (WR) Division was relieved on the night of 18/19 August, but 49th DA remained in action under the command of
The Ancre sector remained relatively quiet while a big offensive (the
CCXLVIII Brigade HQ and its own batteries re-assembled at Hédauville on 3 September and marched next day to Soulty, near Doullens, for rest and reorganisation. Divisional artilleries were now being reorganised into two larger brigades: on 18 October 1916 CCXLVIII Bde was broken up to bring the 18-pdr batteries of the other two up to six guns each:[21][22][20][27][34]
- A Bty + R Section C Bty to CCXLV Bde
- B Bty + L Section C Bty to CCXLVI Bde
The rest of Brigade HQ joined the Divisional Ammunition Column.
2/IV West Riding (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA
The 2nd West Riding Division (62nd (2nd West Riding) Division from August 1915) began assembling in the area of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire from March 1915, but training for the 2nd Line artillery of the West Riding was carried out under exceptional difficulty. After the 1st Line had left for France in April the 2nd Line was issued with a few obsolete French De Bange 90 mm guns, with 20 rounds for each gun. The ammunition had been in storage for many years, and no-one could interpret the markings on the gunsights or the fuzes. At the same time the division with its obsolete equipment was under orders to entrain at short notice to assist in repelling any raid on the East Coast, with trains in readiness day and night.[53][54][55][56] The divisional commander later commented that if his artillery had been 'called upon to take part in the defence of the coast, the casualties it caused would have been at the breech-end of the guns'.[57]
In the summer of 1915 the division camped in The Dukeries area of Nottinghamshire for field training, then in the autumn concentrated at Retford before moving to Newcastle upon Tyne to work on coast defences during the winter. At the beginning of 1916 the divisional artillery received modern guns – 4.5-inch howitzers for 2/IV West Riding Bde – and the division moved to Salisbury Plain for battle training. However, the supply of recruits from the West Riding was running short, and 62nd (2nd WR) Division was stripped of trained men to provide reinforcement drafts to 49th (WR) Division on the Western Front; this delayed the completion and training of the division. On 3 May 1916, before this was completed, 2/IV West Riding Bde was broken up to provide a howitzer battery to each of the other brigades of the divisional artillery. The division finally went to the Western Front in January 1917, and fought there until the Armistice.[21][53][55][58]
Postwar
When the TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920, neither of the former 2nd West Riding RE units from Leeds was reformed. The RE Signals Service became the Royal Corps of Signals (RCS), and the 49th (West Riding) Divisional Signal Company moved to Leeds, where it merged with the Northern Signal Companies to form 49th Divisional Signals, RCS (a battalion-sized unit).[7][8] The two howitzer batteries remained with the field brigades they had joined during the war:[5][21][22][59]
- 10th West Riding Bty with the former II West Riding Brigade, by now the 70th (West Riding) Bde, becoming 280th (10th West Riding) Bty
- 11th West Riding Bty with the former I West Riding Brigade, now 69th (West Riding) Bde, becoming 276th (11th West Riding) Bty.
Honorary Colonels
The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit:[5]
- Capt Frederic Charles Trench Gascoigne, formerly of the 66th Foot, appointed 26 November 1862
- Col William C. Dawson, VD, former CO, 2nd WR RE (V), appointed 1 December 1906
- Lt-Col Walter S. Dawson, TD, formerly in 2nd WR RE (V), appointed (to IV West Riding Bde), 1 May 1914
Other notable officers
- Lord Mayor of Sheffield and pro-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, sitting as the university's representative on the West Riding Territorial Association. He became Member of Parliament for Sheffield Park at the 1918 'Khaki election', holding the seat until 1923. He was created a baronet in 1936.[60]
- Maj Francis Anson Arnold-Forster, who commanded 1/4th West Riding Brigade Ammunition Column before the war and on the Western Front,[5][34] was a minor war poet. His unpublished The Howitzer Brigade (1915) is in the Liddle Collection of the University of Leeds[61]
Notes
- ^ Beckett.
- ^ Spiers, pp. 163–8.
- ^ Westlake, Royal Engineers, p. 2.
- ^ Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Army List, various dates.
- ^ Beckett, Appendix IX.
- ^ a b c d e Lord & Watson, pp 160–1.
- ^ a b c d e Nalder, p. 599.
- ^ a b Westlake, Royal Engineers, p. 14.
- ^ Westlake, Royal Engineers, p. 3.
- ^ Watson, pp. 42–3.
- ^ Beckett, pp. 247–53.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 3–28.
- ^ Spiers, Chapter 10.
- ^ Beckett, Appendix VII.
- ^ a b Frederick, pp. 95, 681.
- ^ Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 262–4.
- ^ London Gazette, 20 March 1908.
- ^ a b Magnus, p. 28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 85–91.
- ^ a b c d e Litchfield, p. 259.
- ^ a b c d 4th West Riding Bde at Regiments.org.
- ^ Otley at Drill Hall Project.
- ^ Ilkley at Drill Hall Project.
- ^ Burley in Wharfedale at Drill Hall Project.
- ^ Nalder, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d e f g 49th Divisional Artillery at Long, Long Trail.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 49th (WR) Division at Long, Long Trail.
- ^ 'Embarkation Dates', The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 162/7.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 29–34.
- ^ Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 34–40.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 45–8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 248 (WR) Bde War Diary, May 1915–October 1916, TNA file WO 95/2782/2.
- ^ Edmonds, 1915, Vol II, pp. 6–11, 17–31, 39.
- ^ Farndale, pp. 103–7.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 50–1.
- ^ Edmonds, 1915, Vol II, pp. 93, 106–8.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 51–4.
- ^ Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 158–62.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 57–68.
- ^ Magnus, p. 67.
- ^ Magnus, p. 85.
- ^ Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 411–6.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 93–6.
- ^ Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 74, 101, 116, 15, 208–10, 217–21.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 96–7, 100–1.
- ^ 241 (SM) Bde War Diary April 1915–October 1917, TNA file WO 95/2749/4.
- ^ Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 222–6, 278–80.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 101–4.
- ^ Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 285, 346–7, 399–407.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 107–8.
- ^ a b Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 41–7.
- ^ Becke, Pt 2b, Appendix 3.
- ^ a b 62nd (2nd WR) Division at Long, Long Trail.
- ^ Magnus, pp. 70–3.
- ^ Magnus, p. 73.
- ^ Magnus, pp 73–7.
- ^ Frederick, pp. 490, 519.
- ^ Burke's: 'Stephenson of Hassop Hall'.
- ^ University of Leeds Library catalogue entry.
References
- Maj A.F. Becke, History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8.
- Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8.
- Ian F.W. Beckett, Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908, Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, ISBN 0 85936 271 X.
- Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953.
- Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1915, Vol II, London: Macmillan, 1928/Imperial War Museum & Battery Press, 1995, ISBN 0-89839-219-5/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84574-719-0.
- Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1916, Vol I, London: Macmillan,1932/Woking: Shearer, 1986, ISBN 0-946998-02-7/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1-78331-615-1.
- Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Western Front 1914–18, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986, ISBN 1-870114-00-0.
- J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3.
- J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
- Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
- Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents, Solihull: Helion, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-92-2.
- Laurie Magnus, The West Riding Territorials in the Great War, London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1920//Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-77-7.
- Capt Wilfred Miles, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916, Vol II, 2nd July 1916 to the End of the Battles of the Somme, London: Macmillan, 1938/Imperial War Museum & Battery Press, 1992, ISBN 0-89839-169-5/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-721-3.
- Maj-Gen R.F.H. Nalder, The Royal Corps of Signals: A History of its Antecedents and Developments (Circa 1800–1955), London: Royal Signals Institution, 1958.
- Edward M. Spiers, The Army and Society 1815–1914, London: Longmans, 1980, ISBN 0-582-48565-7.
- Col Sir Charles M. Watson, History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Vol III, Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers, reprint 1954.
- R.A. Westlake, Royal Engineers (Volunteers) 1859–1908, Wembley: R.A. Westlake, 1983, ISBN 0-9508530-0-3.
- Ray Westlake, Tracing the Rifle Volunteers, Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84884-211-3.