The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire

Origins

This regiment was formed in April 1958 by merging The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) and The East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York’s Own), which both dated back to 1685.

Its first overseas deployment was to Aden, just five months after the merger. It then served in Gibraltar, before becoming part of the British Army of the Rhine in 1961. It remained in Germany for four years, during which it was also stationed in West Berlin.

The regiment returned to Aden in 1965 and 1967 as the situation there worsened. One of its men was awarded the Military Cross during the second deployment. 

Deployments

In 1969, the regiment moved to Northern Ireland, the first of eight deployments there over the next 35 years. In 1970, it joined the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force on Cyprus for two years.

Between 1973 and 1993, it alternated between West Germany and Northern Ireland, although a detachment from the regiment also served on UN peacekeeping duties in Beirut in early 1984.

The regiment deployed on further peacekeeping duties in Bosnia in 1993 and 2004, and Sierra Leone in 2000. This was interrupted by further postings in Northern Ireland. Part of the regiment also fought in Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91.

Legacy

In 2006, the regiment was amalgamated with The Green Howards and The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment to form The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot).