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 Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.Beckett.Spiers, pp. 163–8.Westlake, Royal Engineers, p. 2.Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 1–2. One such unit was the 2nd Yorkshire (West Riding) Engineer Volunteer Corps (EVC) formed at Leeds on 25 March 1861. The subtitle '(Leeds)' was added in 1864. The unit grew rapidly to battalion size, with William Child appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in command on 20 August 1861, and between 1863 and 1866 the smaller 1st Yorkshire (West Riding) EVC in Sheffield was attached to the Leeds unit. The corps had a retired officer of the Regular Royal Engineers (RE) as its adjutant.Army List, various dates.Beckett, Appendix IX.Lord & Watson, pp 160–1.Nalder, p. 599.Westlake, Royal Engineers, p. 14. All the EVCs' titles were altered to 'Royal Engineers (Volunteers)' in 1896.Westlake, Royal Engineers, p. 3.
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.Watson, pp. 42–3.
Territorial Force When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Beckett, pp. 247–53.Magnus, pp. 3–28.Spiers, Chapter 10. the divisional engineers and signallers of the West Riding Division were supplied by the 1st (Sheffield) West Riding RE (V). The 2nd (Leeds) West Riding RE (V) was therefore surplus, and instead was converted (together with C Company of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (DWR) at Burley in Wharfedale, formerly the 23rd (Wharfedale) Yorkshire West Riding Rifle Volunteer CorpsBeckett, Appendix VII.Frederick, pp. 95, 681.Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 262–4.) into two new units:London Gazette, 20 March 1908.
Northern Telegraph Companies, REMagnus, p. 28. 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)Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 85–91.Litchfield, p. 259.4th West Riding Bde at Regiments.org. Brigade HQ at Nelson Street, OtleyOtley at Drill Hall Project. 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, IlkleyIlkley at Drill Hall Project. – from part of C Company, 3rd VB, DWR 4th West Riding Brigade Ammunition Column, Peel Place, BurleyBurley in Wharfedale at Drill Hall Project. – 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.Nalder, p. 52.
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.49th Divisional Artillery at Long, Long Trail.49th (WR) Division at Long, Long Trail.
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, 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.'Embarkation Dates', The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 162/7.
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.Magnus, pp. 29–34.
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.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.Magnus, pp. 34–40.
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 British Expeditionary Force (BEF) as a complete division, and it began entraining for the embarkation ports on 12 April. 1/IV West Riding Bde was at Doncaster, and left in three trains on 14/15 April, embarking on the hired transport SS Anglo-Canadian at Southampton. It landed at Le Havre early on 16 April with a strength of 19 officers and 392 other ranks.The command of the brigade had been vacant on the outbreak of war, and it was taken to France under the command of Lt-Col Henry Stephenson who had commanded 8th West Riding Bty in III West Riding Bde before the war. By 19 April the division had completed its concentration behind the River Lys in the Estaires area. 1/IV WR Bde took up positions at Richebourg-Saint-Vaast on 26–27 April and began registering its guns.Magnus, pp. 45–8.248 (WR) Bde War Diary, May 1915–October 1916, TNA file WO 95/2782/2.
Aubers Ridge
After introduction to trench warfare, the West Riding Division's first action was the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May. The division had taken over most of the frontage of IV Corps to allow the assault formations to concentrate before the attack. But 1/IV WR Bde, with its eight old 5-inch howitzers, was loaned to I Corps further south. Partly because of a shortage of artillery ammunition, the preliminary bombardment was to last only 40 minutes, of which the final 10 minutes was to be intense; the BEF thereby hoped to achieve a degree of surprise. The howitzers at Richebourg-Saint-Vaast were about behind the barbed wire-cutting field guns; their role was to break down the German parapets at a range of about . The bombardment began at 05.00 and became intense at 05.30, when the field guns joined the howitzers in attempting to destroy the parapets and the attacking infantry moved off into No man's land. But despite the bombardment, the Germans were looking over their parapets and brought down heavy machine gun fire on the infantry before they even reached their jumping-off points from the parapet. At 05.40, when the guns fell silent, the infantry rushed the parapet, running into devastating fire. They found that the bombardment had completely failed, with very few gaps made in wire or the breastworks; those who penetrated into the German position were quickly mopped up. The bombardment was renewed from 06.15 to 07.00, but the gunners were unable to locate the German's machine gun loopholes at the base of the breastwork, and a renewed attack also failed, with the infantry pinned down in No man's land. The field gunners kept up fire on the German parapets and communication trenches during the morning. By the time I Corps made a second failed assault in the afternoon howitzer ammunition was running very low. A last 10 minute bombardment of the parapet had no more effect, and further attacks were called off. The survivors of the attacking brigades crept back from No man's land after dark. The attack by IV Corps, to which the rest of West Riding Divisional Artillery had contributed, was no more successful. There was not enough ammunition to renew the offensive on succeeding days (1/IV WR Bde had fired about 1200 Lyddite shells in the day).Edmonds, 1915, Vol II, pp. 6–11, 17–31, 39.Farndale, pp. 103–7.Magnus, pp. 50–1.
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 Fleurbaix, and two days later the divisional artillery (49th DA) supported a short advance part-way across No man's land to occupy new trenches dug under cover of darkness and some ruined houses (one of them targeted by 1/11th WR Bty), which were then fortified. In June the division came under Indian Corps, which had a defensive role in the action at Givenchy on 15–16 June, and the guns remained silent. At the beginning of July, the division moved to Proven, with 1/IV WR Bde at Brielen, and came under VI Corps in the Ypres Salient. On the evening of 8 August, it carried out a feigned attack on Pilckem Ridge to divert attention from a real attack next day to regain lost ground at Hooge Chateau.Edmonds, 1915, Vol II, pp. 93, 106–8.Magnus, pp. 51–4.
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 Elverdinge, both of which were frequently shelled by the enemy. It occasionally fired a few retaliatory rounds of its own at the request of the frontline infantry and did a few registration shoots with aircraft observation. Enemy shelling became more intense in mid-December and, on 17 December, the brigade was ordered to fire a few shells at the enemy second line trenches: the BEF had received warning of an impending gas attack and VI Corps hoped to destroy the gas cylinders. However, the small ammunition allocation (an average of 3 rounds per gun per day) was too small to have much effect. At 05.00 on 19 December an unusual parachute flare went up from the German lines and shortly afterwards the hiss of a gas discharge was heard. The British front line was subjected to heavy artillery and rifle fire. 1/10th West Riding Bty was ordered to open fire and put down 119 shells on 'High Command Redoubt' and the trenches opposite 148th (3rd West Riding) Brigade. 1/11th West Riding Bty picked up the infantry messages and fired on its usual SOS targets of 'Ferme 14' and the 'T', before being ordered to concentrate on the enemy trenches. The enemy artillery now began bombarding all roads and artillery positions behind the British front line. However, the British anti-gas precautions had worked well, despite the enemy's use of phosgene gas for the first time, and the retaliatory artillery and rifle fire discouraged a full attack by the enemy infantry. Shelling by both sides continued for the rest of the day before dying down. 1/11th West Riding Bty had suffered five casualties, one from gas, four from shellfire, and one gun put out of action by a direct hit.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 158–62.Magnus, pp. 57–68.
Reorganisation