Hull Rifles
A History of the 4th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, 1914–1918
David Bilton
- 240 pagine
- English
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Hull Rifles
A History of the 4th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, 1914–1918
David Bilton
Informazioni sul libro
Hull Rifles looks at the 4th East YorkshireRegiment during the Great War andexamines the origins of the battalion andits history over the three years it foughtin France and Belgium. The battalion wasinvolved in some of the bloodiest battlesof the war and suffered such high casualtyrates in early 1918 that the unit ceased toexist, except in name. The men of the original battalion wereTerritorials, part-time soldiers who gavetheir free time to provide home defenseduring a war. Officially formed on 1 April1908 as a result of the Haldane changes, theunit could trace its history back hundredsof years and was one of the oldest in thecountry. All the men were volunteers andheld a full-time job. They had committedthemselves to regular weekly trainingand a camp in the summer where theypractised large-scale manoeuvres with otherunits. When the call came to volunteer foroverseas service, 80 per cent came forward.Their ranks were quickly filled with newvolunteers who were prepared to fightabroad. Volunteer numbers were high and quicklythe overseas battalion was at full strength, as was a second for home service. A thirdbattalion was also formed to providereplacements for the men at the Front. Aswell as fighting on the Western Front, abattalion was sent to guard Bermuda for theduration. The text uses letters, newspaper cuttingsand the war diary to provide a detailedpicture of a typical Territorial battalion atwar. Also included are many previouslyunseen photographs, a nominal list of themen who volunteered before Christmas1915, including a convicted murderer, awards, casualty details and lists of officers.