East and West Riding Regiment
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The East and West Riding Regiment was a regiment of the British Territorial Army from 1999 to 2006.
History
The regiment was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of the 3rd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (Yorkshire Volunteers), the 3rd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Yorkshire Volunteers) and the King's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry (Light Infantry) due to the reforms implemented in consequence of the Strategic Defence Review. The regimental headquarters was based at Pontefract and the regiment, part of 15 (North East) Brigade, comprised one small Headquarter Company and five Rifle Companies:
- Waterloo Company - formerly Headquarter Company
- Minden (Light Infantry) Company
- Quebec (Prince of Wales's Own) Company
- Imphal (Prince of Wales's Own) Company
- Ypres (Duke of Wellington's) Company
- Fontenay (Duke of Wellington's) Company
No new cap badge was created for this regiment, soldiers wore their former regimental cap badge or were badged according to the company they joined. Headquarter Company was a composite company with TA posts initially allocated proportionally by cap badge - 20% LI/40% PWO/40% DWR. Subsequently all new Headquarter Company recruits were badged Light Infantry or by trade. The regimental crest was a combination of the Light Infantry and the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire cap badges and crest from the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. During the summer of 2004 the regiment adopted a single Tactical Recognition Flash (TRF) of the White Rose of Yorkshire on a black background (this design was previously used by the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division between the WWI and early in WWII). The official Army abbreviation for the regiment was "E and WRR".
In November 2004 the regiment dispatched a composite company (Normandy Company) to Basra, Iraq as part of 4th Mechanized Brigade of the Multi-National Division (South East) for a 6-month tour-of-duty. During this tour the Company suffered one fatality, Private Mark Stephen Dobson,[1] who was found dead in his accommodation at Basrah Air Station on 28 March 2005. The regiment contributed soldiers to each of the Operation TELIC deployments during the life of the regiment.
As part of the Future Infantry Structure (FIS) restructuring of the army announced in 2004, the Light Infantry company was replaced by a company of Green Howards. The regiment became the 4th Battalion [4 YORKS] of the newly created Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) on 6 June 2006. HQ company & four infantry companies (Duke of Wellington's and Prince of Wales's Own) transferred to 4th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment. Minden (Light Infantry) Company (ex Kings Own Yorkshire Yeomanry) transferred to 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.