The 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment was a mobile coast defence unit of Britain's

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

. It was formed in 1908 from a nucleus provided by a

Volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

battalion first raised in 1859. It carried out its defence duties along the East Coast throughout

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and after the war it was incorporated into a unit of the new

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

Volunteer Force

The enthusiasm for the

Volunteer movement The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrate ...

following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in time of need. A public meeting to form an RVC in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

(Hull) in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

was held in February 1859, but the proposal was defeated by an active minority on political grounds. 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. In 1860 these were formed into two battalions: the 1st (Consolidated) Battalion, comprising all the RVCs in Hull, and the 2nd (Administrative) Battalion East York Rifle Volunteers incorporating those outside the town:''Army List'', various dates.Norfolk, pp. 35–40, 56.Westlake, pp. 253–4. * 3rd (

Howdenshire Howdenshire was a wapentake and a liberty of England, lying around the town of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the district was under the control of Peterborough's monastery, but it was confiscated by Edward ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC, 28 March 1860 – replacing an earlier 3rd (Hull) RVC absorbed into 1st Bn * 5th (

Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC, 19 January 1860 * 6th (

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC, 28 February 1860 * 8th (

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield (neighbouring Little Driffield), is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC, 11 May 1860 * 9th (

Market Weighton Market Weighton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Kingston upon Hull, Hull and York, about from e ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC – formed as a sub-division 12 May 1860, increased into a full company in 1865 when it replaced a short-lived 9th (Hull) RVC * 10th (

Hedon Hedon is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately east of Kingston upon Hull, Hull city centre. It lies to the north of the A1033 road at the cross ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC, 8 November 1860 – disbanded 1876 * 11th (

Pocklington Pocklington () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, its population was 10,123. It lies east of York, and ...

) Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC – formed 8 August 1868 under the command of Lord Muncaster, formerly of the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

The first commanding officer (CO) of the 2nd (Admin) Battalion was

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

(later Lieutenant-Colonel) P. Saltmarshe, formerly of the

8th Hussars The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in force ...

, with his headquarters (HQ) at Beverley. After the consolidated battalion became the 1st Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC the administrative battalion took the number 1 (though there were no others in the East Riding). It consolidated as the 2nd Yorkshire (East Riding) RVC in 1880 when the constituent RVCs became A to F Companies. The two corps became the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and 2nd Volunteer Battalions (VBs) of the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

in 1883. From the 1870s to the 1890s the two VBs organised their own annual training camps, usually at Bridlington. Higher formations for the Volunteers were lacking, but from 1875 various mobilisation schemes for the Regulars and Militia began to be circulated, and by 1880 a number of Local Brigades had begun to appear in the ''Army List''. B Company of the 2nd VB was included in Local Brigade No 25 at Bridlington, along with two batteries of volunteer artillery. Following the

Stanhope Memorandum The Stanhope Memorandum was a document written by Edward Stanhope, the Secretary of State for War of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on 8 December 1888. It set out the overall strategic aims of the British Empire, and the way the B ...

of December 1888 a comprehensive mobilisation scheme was introduced 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 two East Yorkshire VBs did not at first form part of the East Yorkshire Brigade, whose designated place of assembly was

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, but were attached to it by the end of the 1890s when its headquarters was at

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...

. By 1902 they were brigaded with the VBs of the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under variou ...

as the Yorkshire Brigade at

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 ...

, and later formed the Humber Brigade based at Beverley, together with battalions from the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

across the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

. The late Victorian era saw a craze for cycling and the Volunteer Force took a leading role in developing the new

Safety bicycle A safety bicycle (or simply a safety) is a type of bicycle that became very popular beginning in the late 1880s as an alternative to the penny-farthing (also known as an "ordinary" or "high wheeler") and is now the most common type of bicycle. Ear ...

for military use. In 1893 the East Yorkshire VBs raised a cyclist section that proved so popular that it was enlarged into a full company.

South Africa

After

Black Week Black Week refers to the week of Sunday 10 December – Sunday 17 December 1899 during the Second Boer War, when the British Army suffered three devastating defeats by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg on Sunday 10 December, Mage ...

in December 1899, the Volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. The

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

decided that one company 116 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. The two VBs accordingly raised a service company under Major Mortimer of Driffield to serve with the 2nd Battalion. This earned the VBs the

Battle Honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or Military operation, operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In ...

'South Africa 1900–01'.

Territorial Force

When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new

(TF) under the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the e ...

of 1908, the 2nd VB including the cyclist company formed the nucleus of the 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, although the new unit's HQ and half the companies were based in Hull:Frederick, p. 181. * HQ at Park Street, Hull (formerly the Artillery Barracks occupied by the

2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers The 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based at Hull and along the Humber Estuary. Its successor units provided field artillery on the Western Front during World War I and air defence artille ...

) * A, B, C, and D Companies at Hull * E Company at Shire Hall, Market Place,

Howden Howden () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62 motorway, M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, ...

* F Company at Greyburn Lane, Beverley; Drill Hall, Southgate,

Hessle Hessle () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of H ...

; Southgate, Market Weighton; and Barmby Road, Pocklington * G Company at Armoury, Quay Road, Bridlington; Drill Hall, Middle Street South, Driffield;

Hunmanby Hunmanby is a large village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of the shire county of North Yorkshire. ...

; and

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located between Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing village, it has a large ...

* H Company at Hedon and

Withernsea Withernsea is a seaside resort town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its white inland lighthouse, rising around above Hull Road, now houses a museum to 1950s actress Kay Kendall, wh ...

The cyclist battalions were not included in the TF's main divisional structure but were instead given the role of using their mobility to defend vulnerable sectors of the coastline and maintain communications between the static defence units. The 5th Bn East Yorkshires fulfilled this role in Northern Command.

World War I

On the declaration of war in August 1914 the battalion mobilised at Park Street under the command of Lt-Col Sir Robert Aske, a local lawyer and politician who was first commissioned into the 1st VB on 9 February 1898 and became Commanding Officer of the 5th Bn on 20 August 1910. It moved out to its designated war station at

Louth, Lincolnshire Louth () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000): Louth serves as an important town for a large rural area of east ...

to begin patrolling the coastline from

Tetney Tetney is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, just west of the Prime Meridian. History On the edge of the village is the site of a Marconi Beam Station from where telegrams were sent to Australia and India as par ...

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

.James, p. 59.East Yorkshires at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> Shortly after the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. 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, and would be filled up with the recruits who were flooding in for both the TF and '

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the F ...

'. At first, competition was keen to join the Cyclist Battalion, which was seen as rather glamorous, with distinctive knee breeches and black bugle buttons. However, the battalion lost out to the other units being formed in Hull, particularly the '

Hull Pals The Hull Pals were a brigade of four battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment (the "East Yorks") raised as part of Kitchener's Army in 1914. They served in 31st Division (United Kingdom), 31st Division at Serre-lès-Puisieux, Serre on the first ...

', a full brigade of whom were raised for Kitchener's Army by Lord Nunburnholme. In March 1915 the cycle unit was designated 1/5th Battalion, in expectation of a 2nd Line unit, but it appears that the 2/5th Battalion was never formed – in November 1914 the battalion still required 900 recruits. Those men who had enlisted for home service only were formed into 2nd Provisional Cyclist Company on 4 July 1915. The latter served in the Humber Defences until it was disbanded on 13 April 1916 after the

Military Service Act 1916 The Military Service Act 1916 (5 & 6 Geo. 5. c. 104) was an Act of Parliament, act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during the First World War to impose conscription in Great Britain, but not in Ireland or any other British jurisdi ...

swept away the Home/Foreign service distinction. The 1/5th (Cyclist) Battalion patrolled the

coast through the winter of 1914–15, day and night, in all weathers. In May 1915 it moved to

on the

Yorkshire Coast The Yorkshire Coast runs from the River Tees, Tees estuary to the Humber estuary, on the east coast of England. The cliffs at Boulby are the highest on the east coast of England, rising to above the sea level. The North York Moors, North York ...

, and subsequently to

Roos Roos is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated east from Kingston upon Hull city centre and north-west from Withernsea, and on the B1242 road. History The de Ros family originated from the vill ...

, with its companies distributed between

Spurn Head Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit (landform), spit with a s ...

and

. In January 1916 it adopted the modern four-company organisation in place of eight companies, and was allotted to the northern section of the Humber Defences. Sir Robert Aske retired and was transferred to the TF Reserve on 24 December 1917; he was later awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

. The battalion never saw active service, though a number of officers and men served with other battalions of the East Yorkshires. It was demobilised on 24 January 1919 at Hull.

Disbandment

After the war the battalion was reformed on 7 February 1920, but shortly afterwards cyclist battalions were abolished and it was amalgamated into 50th (Northumbrian) Divisional Signals in the new

. The merged unit moved its HQ to 4 West Parade in Hull, but later it went to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

.Wyrall, p. 402.

Uniforms and insignia

The first meeting of the East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers in Hull in 1859 decided that the uniform would be green. However, the

Vice Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

objected, asserting that the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, and w ...

had shown that the grey worn by Russian troops was less visible at shorter distances than

Rifle green Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tin ...

. Reluctantly the units agreed to a uniform of 'Volunteer' grey with black braid and red

facings A facing colour, also known as facings, is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where the visible inside lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself.René Char ...

and trouser stripe. The headgear was a grey

Shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or Cap badge, badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, hackle ...

with black leather peak and top. The belts and pouch were black leather. In 1880 a scarlet tunic was adopted with white facings, blue trousers with red stripe, and white belts. The headgear was the

Home Service helmet The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish military adaptation of the native salakot hea ...

for officers, a

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

cap for other ranks. In 1885 the VBs were granted the right to wear the cap badge of the East Yorkshire Regiment. In 1903 the Cyclist Company adopted a

Khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...

service dress with a

Slouch hat A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt or cloth hat most commonly worn as part of a military uniform, often, although not always, with a chinstrap. It has been worn by military personnel from many different nations including Australia, Ireland, the ...

. The rest of the battalion adopted khaki in 1906.

Honorary Colonels

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit and its predecessor: *

William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough (''né'' Conyngham; 19 June 1834 – 19 April 1900), known as The Lord Londesborough from 1860–87, was a British peer and Liberal politician. He was also one of the main founders of S ...

(1834–1900) appointed to 2nd VB 9 September 1893 * William Francis Henry Denison, 2nd Earl of Londesborough (1864–1917) appointed to 2nd VB 4 August 1900; to 5th Bn 1 October 1909 * Capt

Charles Wilson, 2nd Baron Nunburnholme Charles Henry Wellesley Wilson, 2nd Baron Nunburnholme (24 January 1875 – 15 August 1924), was a British peerage, peer, and one of the heirs to the Thomas Wilson Sons & Co., a Kingston upon Hull, Hull-based shipping company that built a near- ...

, CB, DSO, appointed 21 November 1917

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Anon, ''The London Cyclist Battalion'', London: 25th London Cyclist Old Comrade's Association/Forster Groom, 1932. * Ian F.W. Beckett, ''Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, . * David Bilton, ''Hull in the Great War 1914–1919'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2015, . * David Bilton, ''Hull Pals, 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Battalions East Yorkshire Regiment – A History of 92 Infantry Brigade, 31st Division'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2014, . * Col John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * Brig E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914–18'', Samson Books 1978/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, . * Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, ''Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents'', Solihull: Helion, 2003, . * Maj-Gen R.F.H. Nalder, ''The Royal Corps of Signals: A History of its Antecedents and Developments (Circa 1800–1955)'', London: Royal Signals Institution, 1958. * R.W.S. Norfolk, ''Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Forces of the East Riding 1689–1908'', York: East Yorkshire Local History Society, 1965. * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Army and Society 1815–1914'', London: Longmans, 1980, . * Ray Westlake, ''Tracing the Rifle Volunteers'', Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, . * Everard Wyrall, ''The East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War 1914–1918'', London: Harrison, 1928/Uckfield,Naval & Military, 2002, {{refend

External sources

The Drill Hall Project

The Long, Long Trail

* ttps://www.wartimememoriesproject.com Wartime Memories Project East Yorkshire Regiment

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west ...

Military units and formations in the East Riding of Yorkshire Military units and formations in Kingston upon Hull Military units and formations established in 1908 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920