I believe my grandfather joined the 2nd Battalion, from the 6th, around Oct/November, 1916, and I believe he left the 2nd to join the 10th Battalion in February 1917.  It is difficult to be exact because of the lack of any information in the family, and the destruction of my grandfather’s service record in the WW2 bombing of the record office.

Private John Caffrey, V.C.

Remains of a soldier, believed to be from 2nd Battalion, found 31 March, 2006.

I have added a few details on Aquila Booth who served in both WW1 and WW2.

At the outbreak of war the 2nd Battalion was based at Limerick in Ireland, the other battalions of 16th Brigade, 6th Division were also in Ireland. These were 1st Battalion the East Kent, 1st Battalion the Leicestershires and the 1st Battalion the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.  The order for mobilization was received at Division at 10pm on the 4th August. On the 14th they left Ireland for Cambridge and Newmarket.  The 2nd York and Lancs received orders on the 8th September for “an unknown destination”, and arrived in St. Nazaire on the Minneapolis on the 9th. “The battalion reached Courcelles in heavy rain early on the morning of the 20th September, to learn that the battalions which had been engaged in the Battles of the Marne and Aisne were much weakened and exhausted, and that the 16th Brigade was required to relieve next day the 7th and 9th Brigades to the north-east of Vailly.  The relief was carried out late on the night of the 20th-21st, the Battalion taking over the trenches which had up to then been occupied by battalions of the Lincolnshire regiment and Royal Scots Fusiliers; and almost immediately the enemy opened a heavy shrapnel fire on the portion of trench occupied by “A” Company of the Battalion. causing a loss of three killled, one officer - Lieutenant Lethbridge - and eleven men wounded.” The Battalion was in the war.

I will slowly add sections to cover some of the actions that the 2nd Battalion were involved in during the time I believe my grandfather to have been with them, as well as some when he was not, starting with Hooge in 1915, and the action at Flers in September 1916.  This was the end of the Somme assault, and the first occasion when tanks were used.

I have added a page on Lance Corporal Thomas Walter Dunkley, who was killed the day before the battalion was in the attack on Hooge.  I was sent some details by his Great Nephew, Pete Sayers, who lives in Australia.

I have been contacted by Annmarie Evans with some details of her Grandfather who served in both WW1 and WW2.  His name was Aquilla Booth, and he was born on June 24th 1895 in a little village called Jump, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

He enlisted with the 2nd York & Lancaster Regiment on the 5th February 1916 and served until 31st March 1920. His Army number number was 44706.

In WW2 he enlisted in the Pioneer Corps on 19th February 1940, his rank was Corporal and his Army number was 13006437, he served until 8 February 1944, he was then discharged for ceasing to fulfil Army Physical requirements. His military conduct was exemplary. His rank on discharge was W/Corporal and he was nearly 49 years old

In February 1917 the 6th Division relieved the 37th Division in the Loos and Hulloch sectors. I believe this is a good point at which my grandfather may have found himself moving to the 10th Battalion, as at this time the 10th was a part of the 37th Division. Without the old records, who can say, but there is some logic behind the assumption.

My grandfather would be back again in the 2nd Battalion in February 1918, following the disbandment of the 10th Battalion. He would be with the 2nd when they took part in Kaiserschlacht, the German offensive of March 1918, where my grandfather was captured.

There was one Victoria Cross awarded to a member of the 2nd Battalion in WW1, this was to Private John Caffrey.

John Caffrey was Irish and 24 years old and on the 16 November 1915 the battalion was near La Brique in France.  A man was badly wounded and lying in the open unable to move, about 350 yards in front of the enemy trenches.  A corporal of the RAMC and private Caffrey at once started to rescue him, but at the first attempt they were driven back by shrapnel fire. They tried again and succeeded in reaching and bandaging the wounded man, but just as they were lifting him up, the RAMC corporal was shot in the head.  Private Caffrey bandaged the corporal and helped him back to safety, and then returned and brought in the other wounded man.

The remains of a soldier, believed to be from the 2nd Battalion, are found at Beaucamps-Ligny, 31 March 2006.

The following is an extract from the WFA Bulletin, June 2006.

“On the 31 March of this year, during the installation of a water pipeline in the rear garden of the mayor on Beaucamps-Ligny house, a mechanical digger unearthed the final resting place of a British Soldier. Soon a quantity of ammunition was revealed and some personal items conducive to a soldier of 1914. Buttons, a fountain pen, a gold sovereign and finally a cap badge of the York & Lancaster Regiment offered up clues to the identity of the man. Work was stopped and the local gendarmerie were called in to preserve the scene, after an initial police investigation the Commonwealth War Graves Commission were informed and the remains are now in their careful care pending further research.”

The article suggests that the soldier may have been part of an action fought on the 23rd October 1914. The following is an extract from the Battalion history for that time.

“Fighting continued throughout the rest of this month, and was especially severe on the 23rd when the enemy made a heavy and sustained attack on the trenches occupied by the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment.  The Battalion was this day holding the right of the Brigade line with “A” and “B” Companies in front, the right of “A” Company joining on to the left of the 19th Brigade and the platoons of “A” being commanded, from left to right, by Lieutenant Cowley, Sergeant Usher, Lieutenants Cullen and Horlington. In their initial attack the enemy crept up a gully between the platoons of Lieutenant Cullen and Sergeant Usher, causing the greater part of these to fall back, partly because they were enfiladed and partly because many of the rifles had jammed. But the trench line continued to be held by a Sergeant of the wholly appropriate name of Tough, and eight men.

Simultaneously the Germans made an assault upon the portion of trench held by “C” Company, effected something of a lodgment and began to entrench; they were, however, ejected by bayonet charges led by Lieutenants Ripley and Houston, the former officer being killed in this fighting. Reinforcements coming up, the enemy was held, but continued attacking until the 27th, contenting himself thereafter with bombardment of the trenches and sniping; but it was not until the 14th November that the Battalion was finally relieved in the front line and went back into billets at Fleurbaix, having, during the fighting since the 23rd incurred an additional loss of thirty-five killed or died of wounds, including two officers, Captain M.K. Sandys and Lieutenant C.R. Ripley.”