The 2nd Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment was formed by the redesignation of the 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot in 1881.
History
The 2nd Battalions first action was with the Egyptian Expedition , under General Graham's brigade in 1882, where it fought at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir . From Egypt it was sent to Bermuda , Nova Scotia , South Africa and Limerick in Ireland by 1912.
World War I
During the First World War the 2nd Battalion served in France and Flanders with the 16th Brigade , 6th Division . At the outbreak of war the battalion was based in Ireland from there they were hurried to the front in Belgium, they arrived shortly after the Battle of the Marne . They relieved greatly reduced battalions of The Lincolnshire Regiment and the Royal Scots Fusiliers and received their first casualties (three killed and eleven wounded) that night from German artillery.
The 2nd Battalion fought through the fighting in 1915 and was involved in the first battle that used tanks toward the end of the Somme campaign in 1916. The battalion was involved in most of the battles of 1917 and 1918. Private John Caffrey was awarded the only Victoria Cross won by the battalion during World War I in November 1915.
In 1919 the battalion was sent to Iraq with the 17th Division's 51st Brigade .
Inter-War Years
After the Great War the 2nd Battalion spent from 1921 to 1939 on overseas duty in India and the Sudan .
World War II
At the out break of the Second World War the 2nd Battalion was based in Khartoum in the Sudan on garrison duties. In July 1940 they were moved to Egypt and then to Palestine where they became part of the 14th Infantry Brigade . The battalion was again part of the 6th Division . In May 1940 the Brigade moved to Cairo and then broken up. The 2nd Battalion went to Alexandria . On the 28th October Lieutenant-Colonel Sim, C.O. of the battalion, was told by Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham , commanding the British Eastern Mediterranean Fleet, that the battalion was now on loan to the Royal Navy and would be moving to Crete as soon as possible in the cruiser H.M.S. Ajax. On the 1st November, 1940, the battalion sailed for Crete, arriving at Suda Bay on the 2nd November. Their arrival was met by an attack by the Italian Air Force, Lance-Corporal Loosemore and Private Lister were both wounded. They were the battalions first casualties of the Second World War.
On 31st December 1940 Lieut.Col.Sim went to Egypt and Maj.A.Gilroy, from the Black Watch, took command of the battalion. The 14th Brigade was reformed around the 2nd Yorks and Lancs and 2nd Black Watch and under the command of Brig.B.H.Chappel DSO . Little happened on Crete until April 1941 when the Allied forces in Greece were evacuated.
With the surrender of Greece in 1941 Crete was thrust into the war. The 2nd Battalion, Yorks and Lancs along with the 2nd Bn, Black Watch and 2nd Bn,The Leicestershire Regiment were tasked with the defence of Heraklion airfield.
From the middle of May 1941 air attacks against Heraklion increased to four or five a day until 20th May when troop carriers dropped paratrooper at Maleme airfield on the west of the island. Warning reached Heraklion as their own share of German troop transports were spotted arriving at about 400 feet four abreast in long columns that stretched out of sight.
The three battalions of the 14th Brigade managed to destroy nearly all the German parachute troops that were landed at Heraklion on the 20th May apart from a small pocket, the brigade inflicted massive casualties on the enemy paratroopers.
"In a matter of seconds the air was full of parachutes slowly descending to the ground. The moment the Battalion had waited for had come. Intense small-arms fire caused very heavy casualties among the enemy. Of those who escaped death in the air, the majority were killed on the ground, before they had time to get clear of their harness, by small parties of men rushing from their slit trenches with bayonets and bombs. The tanks and carriers also came out of their hiding-places and massacred all those who landed in the open." [2nd Battalion history]
The three battalions of the 14th Brigade managed to destroy nearly all the German parachute troops that were landed at Heraklion on the 20th May apart from a small pocket, the brigade inflicted massive casualties on the enemy paratroopers.
"The enemy fared no better at the hands of the other units of the garrison. Of about 1,000 enemy troops who had come down inside the perimeter, over 900 of them had been buried by noon the next day. Small parties and odd individuals of course escaped, but these were mopped up during the next few days. Quite a large force, however, had fallen clear of the perimeter and parties of them were heard calling to each other after dark; they made no attempt to attack, being possibly too shaken by what had happened to their comrades. Thus the day ended in complete victory for the Heraklion garrison and the total failure of the Germans to achieve their object of capturing the aerodrome by direct airborne attack." [2nd Battalion history]
After this attempt the Germans did not try to land any more paratroopers at Heraklion instead they built up their forces outside the perimeter.
Before the Germans were able to complete the encirclement of Heraklion a copmpany from the 1st Battalion , Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders joined the defence from Tymbaki on the south coast.
The German forces from Maleme landed four more companies of troops in the vicinity of Heraklion which successfully linked up with the survivors of the first landings and launched counter attacks on the British positions. The fighting at this time was extremely fierce but the Yorks and Lancs held their positions. By the 28th May the position on the island as a whole had been lost and General Freyberg ordered the evacuation. When the men of the 14th Brigade heard of the evacuation they were astonished; "as to them the whole battle of the last ten days had seemed to have been eminently successful." [Hist.]
The Evacuation
The evacuation was badly attacked during the withdrawal to Alexandria with over one-fifth of the 4,000 troops evacuated being killed, wounded or captured on the voyage out. The destroyer HMS Imperial (D09) suffered mechanical failure and had to be sunk by the Hotspur and due to the delay, caused by transferring men over to the other ships, the convoy was still well within reach of the Luftwaffe and Italian Airforce . The Hereward was sunk (her survivors were rescued by the Italians). Both the Dido and the Orion suffered massive bomb damage with heavy casualties amongst the crew and troops packed onboard both ships. Some 600 troops were killed or captured before the convoy could reach safety.
After a brief period of recovery in Egypt the 2nd Battalion was sent with the 14th Brigade to fight the Vichy French forces in Syria . As they arrived at Damascus the French had surrendered. The battalion remained in Syria on occupational duty until mid-October 1941.
External links
 | This United Kingdom military article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |