During the First World War it served on the Western front, seeing a great deal of action at Ypres, the Somme (where it was one of the first infantry units ever to cooperate with tanks), Arras, and in the German spring offensive, when it was virtually destroyed.

During the Second World War the 4th Battalion was captured at the Battle of Gazala, but its wartime duplicate unit fought on through the Western Desert, Tunisia and Sicily, and then landed in Normandy on D Day.

However, another meeting held on 21 May resolved to raise the East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers, and 10 independent company-sized RVCs were quickly formed, their officers receiving their commissions the following year.

[3][15] When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,[16][17][18] the 1st VB formed the 4th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, based in Hull.

They were turned out at 01.00 on 24 April and marched to take over trenches astride the Yser Canal, where they came under shellfire at first light, 1/4th East Yorkshires losing their first casualties of the war.

[21][22][31][32][33][34][35] Next morning the 1/4th Bn took over some support trenches in the 'GHQ Line', where it was shelled all day, before being withdrawn during the night to march through the ruins of Ypres to a rest camp west of the town.

There was almost constant low-level fighting: on 14 February the enemy began a heavy bombardment of 150th Bde's trenches opposite Hill 60 where 1/4th East Yorkshires held the left of the brigade's line, followed by blowing of mines.

However, 149th (Northumberland) Bde to the right had been less successful, and with its flank exposed 1/4th East Yorkshires had been unable to get beyond Martin Trench, reporting the Starfish Line to be full of German troops.

The brigade was relieved on 28 September and was in reserve when 50th (N) Division made another setpiece attack at the Battle of the Transloy Ridges on 1 October, but 1/4th East Yorkshires were driven out of their trenches by German shellfire.

The German spring offensive opened on 21 March 1918 (the Battle of St Quentin) and the division was urgently called forward to be deployed along the Rear Zone defences or 'Green Line'.

There was no fighting on this front on 24 March, and the battalion snatched some sleep in an abandoned Casualty Clearing Station, but the enemy were across the river at Épénancourt and 1/4th East Yorkshires and 1/4th Green Howards were detailed to drive them out at 05.00 next morning.

Pollock and Captains Barr and Ruthven of 1/4th East Yorkshires led the attack, which cleared the woods at bayonet point, taking 73 German prisoners and re-establishing the line south of the River Luce.

[21][22][70][71][72] Out of the line the 50th (N) Division reorganised, absorbing large numbers of inexperienced reinforcements, and by 9 April 1/4th East Yorkshires had 16 officers and 639 other ranks under the command of Maj Jackson.

[21][22][76][77][78][79] As a result of the casualties, all of 50th (N) Divisions' battalions were reduced to cadres on 15 July 1918 and transferred to work on the Lines of Communication, with 1/4th East Yorkshires going to the Dieppe area.

[5][20][24][84][85][86][87][88][89] The 3rd Line battalion was formed at Londesborough Barracks on 19 June 1915 from the recruits training for the 1/4th Bn; the CO (Maj A. Easton) and a nucleus of officers and NCOs were available from among those wounded at Second Ypres.

However, obtaining volunteers was becoming increasingly difficult: on the first anniversary of the outbreak of war the 3/4th Bn held a recruiting drive in Hull in an attempt to attract a further 400 men each for the 3/4th and 2/4th Bns.

[98][113] When 150th Bde and 4th East Yorkshires were overrun at Gazala, the duplicate units were defending their own Box further north, from which they launched raids on the enemy supply convoys while the armoured battle continued in the Cauldron.

For 69th Bde's box, 5th East Yorkshires was ordered to smash a gap in the encircling Italian positions and then hold it open while the brigade's column passed through.

Nearly all the columns ran into the enemy at some stage during the night, leading to what the Official History described as 'a spirited rough-and-tumble', but the division got through and set about reforming in the rear of the El Alamein position.

During the night the 1st South African Division was to make and mark a wide gap in the enemy's minefields south-east of Miteirya, then the 24th Australian Bde would capture the eastern end of the Miteiriya ridge and exploit north-west.

However, after the pursuit across North Africa to Tunisia, 69th Bde was moved up to spearhead Eighth Army's operations against the Mareth Line by capturing the outposts on the night of 16/17 March 1943.

A Company in the lead for 5th East Yorkshires was advancing over an exposed forward slope when it came under intense and accurate machine gun and mortar fire from well-concealed enemy strongpoints about 200 yards (180 m) away.

However, the 6th Green Howards and the supporting tank squadron of 4th County of London Yeomanry were able to cross behind the neighbouring brigade of 51st (Highland) Division and cut behind the defenders.

At one point an Italian counter-attack was led by five elderly Renault R35 tanks, one of which pursued the 5th East Yorkshires' CO, Lt-Col Robert James, along the road until it was knocked out by artillery.

There were few casualties during the run-in to the shore, but after the naval bombardment lifted the line of grounded landing craft unloading onto the beach provided the enemy with easy targets.

The squadron leader of the AVREs cleared a lane to La Rivière so that the DD tanks could get through, and he used his Petard mortar against enemy positions that were holding up 5th East Yorkshires.

The rest of the division completed the tasks over the next two days and advanced as far as Condé, cutting one of the enemy's main routes of retreat through the developing Falaise Pocket.

[143][144] XXX Corps then carried out the ground part of Operation Market Garden, attempting to thrust forward to the Nederrijn across a series of bridges captured by airborne forces.

It was not until the next day that the road was reopened and the reunited 69th Bde could move on to Nijmegen, where it relieved 43rd (Wessex) Division and US paratroopers and took responsibility for defending the vital bridges over the River Waal.

However, the Vice Lord Lieutenant objected, asserting that the Battle of Inkerman had shown that the grey worn by Russian troops was less visible at shorter distances than Rifle green.