East Yorkshire Regiment - 1st and 2nd Battalions

There are over 35,000 East Yorkshire Regiment serviceand pension records (for this regiment - and its antecedents) in various War Office series held at the National Archives. Clicking on the link will take you to the results on Findmypast but you will need a subscription or Pay-Per-View credits to actually view the records. Some of these records can also be viewed on-line on Ancestry although Findmypast has by far the most comprehensive service record collection.

The East Yorkshire Regiment was formed from the 15th (the Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot. 

The newly formed regiment was established as the county regiment for East Riding and started numbering from 1 in 1881.

28 joined on 16th September 1881
187 joined on 22nd June 1882
400 joined on 17th January 1883
910 joined on 1st February 1884
1428 joined on 11th March 1885
1972 joined on 15th January 1886
2656 joined on 26th April 1887
2794 joined on 18th January 1888
2845 joined on 10th January 1889
3035 joined on 7th June 1890
3116 joined on 13th January 1891
3588 joined on 11th February 1892
4105 joined on 13th January 1893
4583 joined on 15th January 1894
4908 joined on 8th January 1895
5232 joined on 10th January 1896
5431 joined on 15th March 1897
5642 joined on 22nd January 1898
5978 joined on 6th January 1899
6344 joined on 17th April 1900

The East Yorkshire Regiment raised one volunteer service company during the South African War.  The 1st VSC was raised in early 1900, men being issued with numbers in the range 7000-7116. 7055, for example, was issued to a serving member of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment on the 20th March 1900.

The company sailed for South Africa aboard SS Pembroke Castle on the 21st April 1900.

6645 joined on 5th March 1901
6846 joined on 20th January 1902
7236 joined on 2nd January 1903
7674 joined on 27th February 1904
8082 joined on 13th January 1905
8268 joined on 1st January 1906
8488 joined on 4th March 1907
8989 joined on 25th August 1908
9088 joined on 2nd February 1909
9425 joined on 14th March 1910
9685 joined on 29th August 1911
9803 joined on 22nd January 1912
10032 joined on 7th April 1913
10152 joined on 9th January 1914

The First World War

When Britain went to war in August 1914, men joining the new service battalions were issued with numbers from the same series being used by the two regular battalions.

Recruitment rates 1881-1911

Between 1st July 1881 and 13th January 1891, The East Yorkshire Regiment recruited 3,116 men, a below average rate of 325 men a year and one which placed the regiment in the forty-fourth position out of sixty-nine infantry recruiting regiments.

Recruitment in the 1890s improved somewhat and by March 1901, the regiment was issuing number 6645 to its latest recruit; an improved recruitment rate for the decade of 347 men on average per annum.

Between January 1901 and August 1911, the regiment added a further 3000 men to its ranks, an average of 292 men per year and the regiment’s worst recruiting period between 1881 and 1911. 

Image courtesy Wikipedia.

Further Reading

The East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great war 1914-1918
The Roll of Honour lists the officers alphabetically by ranks without indicating the battalion or date of death; the other ranks are shown by battalions and by ranks within each battalion. Honours and Awards are listed in three groups: British awards, Mentioned in Despatches and Foreign awards.

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