The Bradford Rifles was a Volunteer unit of the British Army formed in 1859. It went on to become a battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment in the Territorial Force and saw action on the Western Front during World War I. Between the wars it converted into an air defence unit, serving during World War II first as a searchlight regiment defending West Yorkshire and later as a garrison battalion in North West Europe. Postwar it continued in the Territorial Army in the air defence role until 1955.
Origin During an invasion scare in 1859, large numbers of part-time Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) were formed throughout Great Britain, eager to supplement the Regular British Army in case of need.Beckett.Westlake.Magnus, pp. 15–6.Spiers, pp. 163–8. On 27 September 1859, two independent companies formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire, designated the 5th and 6th (Bradford) Yorkshire West Riding RVCs. The following February the two units merged with other unnumbered Bradford companies to form the 5th RVC, renumbered in April 1860 as the 3rd following other mergers. The new 3rd Yorkshire West Riding RVC comprised four companies, which rose to five in October when it absorbed the newly established 24th (Eccleshill) RVC.Becket, Appendix VII.Frederick, p. 178.Westlake, p. 259. The unit was large enough to function as an independent battalion, and the smaller 39th West Riding RVC (formed at Bingley in 1861, later at Saltaire), was attached to it until it was fully absorbed in the 1870s.Army Lists, various dates. In 1861 the unit built itself an armoury and drill hall at Manningham Lane, Bradford, which became known as Belle Vue Barracks.Bradford at Drill Hall Project.Look and Learn History Picture Library.
Henry Sagar Hirst (1829–99), a member of a prominent family from nearby Clayton, was commissioned into the unit as an ensign when it formed, but after only three years he became its lieutenant-colonel commandant, a position he held from 1862 until 1890. He was awarded a CB for services to the Volunteer Movement.Prominent Claytonians at Clayton History Group, with picture of Hirst in uniform.
Volunteer Battalion Under the scheme of 'localisation' introduced by the Cardwell Reforms, Volunteer units were affiliated with their local Regular regiments, and the 3rd West Riding RVC was assigned to Sub-District No 10, Brigade No 10 (West Riding of Yorkshire) based at the depot of the 14th Foot (later the West Yorkshire Regiment) at Bradford.Spiers, pp. 195–6.
On 1 July 1881 the 3rd West Riding RVC became a Volunteer Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment, and on 1 December 1887, now eight companies strong, it was formally redesignated the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment. The regimental uniform, which had been scarlet with Rifle green facings, was changed to scarlet faced white in 1887 (scarlet faced buff from 1904) to match the parent regiment.
While the regimental districts were referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the mobilisation system. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. The volunteer battalions of the West Yorkshire Regiment and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) were assigned to the West Yorkshire Brigade, which would assemble at Leeds in case of emergency.Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.Dunlop, pp. 60–1.
The 2nd Volunteer Battalion formed a cyclist company in 1900, and the same year provided an active service company of volunteers to fight alongside the Regulars in the Second Boer War. This gained the battalion its first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02.Leslie.
Territorial Force When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane reforms in 1908,Dunlop, Chapter 14.Magnus, Chapter 1.Spiers, Chapter 10. the 2nd Volunteer Battalion became the 6th Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) (6th West Yorkshires). The West Riding Brigade split, the four TF battalions of the West Yorkshires forming the 1st West Riding Brigade in the West Riding Division.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 85–91.West Yorkshires at Long, Long Trail.Barker, p. 53. On the outbreak of war in 1914, the 6th West Yorkshires were commanded by Lt-Col H.O. Wade.Magnus, p. 28.
World War I Mobilisation Towards the end of July 1914, the units of the West Riding Division left their headquarters for their annual training camps, but on 3 and 4 August they were ordered to return; on 4 August immediate mobilisation was ordered. On the evening of 5 August, 575 out of the total strength of 589 of the 6th Bn were present at Belle Vue Barracks, and 215 former members had re-enlisted. By 8 August, the battalion was already up to its war establishment, including about 100 Class II National Reservists – old soldiers who would be invaluable for training the mass of recruits who were coming forward.Magnus, pp. 31–2.National Reserve at Long, Long Trail.James, pp. 57–8.
Shortly afterwards, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and the majority of the battalion did so. 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 while the parent unit took '1/'. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.Barker, p. 54.Magnus, pp. 39, 71–2.
1/6th Battalion After mobilisation, the 1st West Riding Division concentrated in the South Yorkshire area, with the 1/6th Bn going to Selby on 10 August before moving to camp on Knavesmire Common, near York on 24 August. On 22 November half of the battalion was sent to Redcar to dig defences along the North Sea coast; it returned to York on 10 December, having handed over to the reserve companies furnished by the 2/6th Bn.Magnus, p. 32.49th Div at Long, Long Trail. At the end of February 1915 the battalion moved to billets in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and at the end of the month the division was informed that it had been selected to proceed to France as a complete formation.
On 15 April, the battalion entrained for Folkestone, where it embarked and landed at Boulogne the same night to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). On 22 April, the 1st West Riding Bde was attached to 7th Division for training in the routine of trench duties. On 28 April the West Riding Division took over its own section of the line at Fleurbaix. It now formed part of IV Corps, which attacked at the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May. While the other two divisions of IV Corps made the actual attack, the West Riding Division took over the greater part of the corps' trench line. It was supposed to follow up and occupy the captured enemy line, but the breakthrough did not occur.Magnus, pp. 45–6, 50–.
On 12 May, the division was designated 49th (West Riding) Division and the brigade became 146th (1st West Riding) Brigade.Magnus, p. 40.
For the next nine months, the 49th Division took part in no major operations but was almost continuously engaged in day-to-day trench warfare, much of it in the Ypres Salient, with the considerable casualties that this entailed. On 15 November 1915, the 1/6th West Yorkshires relieved the 1/8th Bn in trenches near the Yser Canal north east of Ypres. On 19 November, one of the platoons was heavily shelled, with six killed and seven wounded out of its strength of 20 men. Corporal Samuel Meekosha took command, sent a runner for assistance, and dug out the wounded and buried men while under heavy shell fire. Meekosha was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the first to be won in the division.Magnus, pp. 57–62.London Gazette, 22 January 1916.
On 19 December, the division received a sudden attack with the new German phosgene gas, followed by heavy shelling. The battalion lined the parapet, but no serious infantry attack followed.Edmonds, pp. 158–62.Magnus, p. 63. In January 1916, the division was withdrawn for its first period of complete rest since it first entered the line.
Somme In February 1916, the division went back into the line in the Somme sector, and spent the next few months alternating trench duties with working parties and training for the forthcoming Somme Offensive. For this the 49th Division formed the reserve for X Corps, which was tasked with seizing the Thiepval Spur, after which the 49th was to pass through and continue the pursuit. The West Riding battalions moved up to assembly trenches in Aveluy Wood before dawn on the day of the attack (1 July), and by 09:00 the 1/6th West Yorks had crossed the River Ancre and was in Thiepval Wood. Ordered to move towards Thiepval village to support the 36th (Ulster) Division, the battalion came under fire the moment it left the shelter of the wood. Men were caught by machine gun fire passing through a gap in a hedge, and it was plainly impossible to cross No man's land. The attacking companies lost half their strength, including the CO, Lt-Col Wade, who was wounded. The 1/6th Bn was withdrawn and became brigade reserve while the rest of the brigade attempted to relieve the beleaguered Ulstermen.Edmonds, pp. 394–9, 411–4.Magnus, pp. 85–9, 93–6.Middlebrook, pp. 209–10, Appendix 3.
By 14 July, the British had taken Leipzig Redoubt on the Thiepval Spur; 1/6th West Yorkshires relieved 1/7th (Leeds Rifles) Bn in the line that night. Early the following morning, the Germans counter-attacked using flamethrowers. After the first surprise, the battalion manned the parapets and drove back most of the attackers. One German party got into a British sap, but were driven out by the battalion's bombers and the brigade's light mortar battery. The fight lasted about three hours.Magnus, pp. 96–7.
While the offensive continued, 49th Division remained holding the area round the Leipzig salient, with a number of small actions and suffering a good deal of shelling, while preparing trenches and dumps for a renewed attack in that sector. The attack was made on 3 September, at the end of the Battle of Pozières, and 1/6th Bn was in the first wave, which went over the top punctually at 05:10. Communication was poor, and after about four hours the remnants of the attacking companies were back on the start line. Although the first objectives had been reached, they could not be held, and many small parties were cut off and captured. A second attack was called off, and 146th Bde was withdrawn. 49th Division continued minor operations towards Thiepval during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15–22 September) before the offensive petered out.Magnus, pp. 100–7.
Ypres