It served in some of the bitterest fighting on the Western Front during World War I, including the Somme, Ypres and the German spring offensive.

Before World War II it was converted to air defence, in which role it served during The Blitz and in Burma, where it employed anti-aircraft guns for 'bunker-busting'.

[1][2][3] A large number of independent RVCs were raised in the West Riding of Yorkshire, including the 'Barnsley Rifles' and the 'Rotherham Rifles' and in August 1860 some of these were grouped into the 4th Administrative Battalion, Yorkshire West Riding RVCs, based at Doncaster (dates are those of the first officers' commissions):[4][5][6] The 20th RVC was recruited largely from employees of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) at Doncaster Works and was commanded by the railway's locomotive superintendent, Archibald Sturrock.

[6][8][10][11][12] A drill hall was built at Wharncliffe Street, Rotherham, in 1873, prior to which the 18th and 36th RVCs had used the Court House and Corn Exchange in the town.

[5][6][8] The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war.

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 March it was informed that it had been selected to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and the battalion landed at Boulogne on 14 April.

[30][31][32][39] 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.

[44][45] By 14 July the British had taken the Leipzig Redoubt on the Thiepval Spur, and while the offensive continued 49th Division remained holding this area, with a number of small actions and suffering a good deal of shelling, at the same time preparing trenches and dumps for a renewed attack.

The troops had a long night approach march in rain across appalling ground under shellfire, and only just reached the jumping-off tapes in time for Zero.

The division was now pinned down under fire from artillery, riflemen hidden in shell craters, and from machine guns in German pillboxes on the higher ground ahead.

However, the Germans were unable to follow up this success and over the next three days 148 Bde was able to improvise a line behind the ridge, pushing Lewis gun teams well forward to command the valley.

During the pursuit to the River Selle, 49th Division was ordered to attack on 12 October, but patrols found that the enemy had disappeared, so the barrage was cancelled and zero hour was brought forward.

With these antiquated weapons the 62nd Division was under orders to move at short notice to defend the East Coast, for which railway trains were kept in readiness.

In May 1915 the Home Service men of 187 Bde were withdrawn to form 26th Provisional Battalion serving in coast defence in North East England.

At dawn on 22 November, a heavy barrage and counter-attack hit the leading units of the division and a company of 2/5th York & Lancasters was sent forward to help restore the situation.

[5][58] The 3/5th Bn was formed at Strensall on 25 March 1915 and then moved to Clipstone Camp in Nottinghamshire where its role was to train drafts for the 1st ad 2nd Line battalions.

The CO of 67th HAA Rgt was acting as AA Defence Commander (AADC), Sheffield Gun Zone, with his HQ at the drill hall at Rotherham.

However, it only stayed a month: the rapid progress of the Japanese invasion of Malaya begun on 7/8 December meant that reinforcements were urgently needed for India and 67th HAA Rgt was among the units re-embarked.

[86][104][105][106][107][108] On arrival, 67th HAA Rgt immediately moved to Calcutta, where it came under 1 Indian AA Bde, which was responsible for the air defence of the industrial areas and airfields of the city.

[86][107][108][109] As the Japanese advanced though Burma, they began air raids against Allied airfields and facilities in Assam from October 1942, and these progressed to South-East Bengal, Chittagong and Calcutta itself by December.

9 AA Brigade deployed batteries of 8 HAA guns at each of 15 airfields, as well as defending key supply points for the First Arakan offensive.

[115] It helped to reduce the enemy garrison at Tiddim with accurate long-range ground fire and then 'climbed the high ground of the Kennedy Peak feature with 5th Indian Division, no easy task as tracks had to be bulldozed to take heavy vehicles, the steep slopes required vehicles and guns to be winched up them and enemy bunkers had to be blasted clear by concentrated fire.

[119][120] Moving these heavy guns through the jungle and Paddy fields into firing positions took enormous labour, and often required extra recovery vehicles and bulldozers.

Sergeant E. Parnell of 187 HAA Bty recalled that normally the howitzers went forward at first light to join the infantry, who would identify the target, usually a bunker.

On one occasion the detachment cooperated with a Stinson L-5 Sentinel air observation post aircraft to obtain a direct hit on a Japanese 155 mm gun hidden under a building on stilts at Chauk.

During these engagements there was pressure to achieve early hits and to couple the gun up to its tractor and withdraw before the Japanese retaliated with mortar fire.

[121] In January 1945 the rest of the regiment resumed its AA role with 16 x 3.7-inch HAA guns and moved up from Imphal to rejoin IV Corps at the Irrawaddy.

[119][124][127] At the end of April the regiment was at Myingyan under Fourteenth Army, and in May it came under the command of 24 AA Bde, which took over air defence in the Meiktila area.

[5][84][129][130][134][135][136][137] The following officers served as Honorary Colonel of the battalion:[8] The uniform of the 8th Yorkshire West Riding RVC was scarlet with green facings.