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2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was in Khartoum when war broke out in 1939. They served in Egypt, Palestine, Crete, North Africa and Burma.
20th May 1941 Landings
20th May 1941 In Action
9th Aug 1942 Recce
11th Aug 1942 Unrest
12th Aug 1942 Unrest
13th Aug 1942 Damage
15th Aug 1942 Unrest
16th Aug 1942 Sabotage
17th Aug 1942 Orders
Feb 1944 Chindit force preparations In early February 1944 preparations began for the 2nd Chindit Expedition. The Special Force or 3rd Indian Division as it was known consisted of the following units, which were split into Columns.
3rd West African Brigade and 14th Brigade
- 6th Btn. Nigeria Regiment. (Columns 66 & 39)
- 2nd Btn. Black Watch (Columns 42 & 73)
- 7th Btn Nigeria Regiment (Columns 29 & 35)
- 1st Btn. Beds & Herts Regiment (Columns 16 & 61)
- 12th Btn. Nigeria Regt (Columns 12 & 43)
- 2nd Btn. York & Lancaster Regiment (Columns 84 & 65)
- 7th Btn Leicestershire Regiment (Columns 47 & 74)
- 54th Field Company, Royal Engineers
77 Brigade and 111 Brigade
- 3rd Btn. 6th Gurkha Rifles (Columns 36 & 63)
- 1st Btn. Cameronians (Columns 26 & 90)
- 1st Btn. Kings (Liverpool) Regiment (Columns 81 & 82)
- 2nd Btn. Kings Own Royal (Lancaster) Regiment (Columns 41 & 46)
- 1st Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers (Columns 20 & 50)
- 3rd Btn. 4th Gurkha Rifles (Column 30)
- 1st Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment (Columns 38 & 80)
- 3rd Btn. 9th Gurkha Rifles (Columns 57 & 93)
23rd Indian Infantry Brigade
- 1st Btn. Essex Regiment (Columns 44 & 56)
- 2nd Btn. Duke of Wellington's Regiment (Columns 33 & 76)
- 4th Btn. Border Regiment (Columns 34, 55)
- 60th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, deployed as infantry, (Columns 60 & 68)
- 12th Field Company, Royal Engineers
16th Brigade Morris Force
- 1st Btn. Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment (Columns 21 & 22)
- 4th Btn. 9th Gurkha Rifles (Columns 49 & 94)
- 2nd Btn. Leicestershire Regiment (Columns 17 & 71)
- 3rd Btn. 4th Gurkha Rifles (Column 30)
- 45th Recce Regiment (Columns 45 & 54)
- 51st and 69th Field Regiments, Royal Artillery, deployed as infantry (Columns 51 & 69)
- 2nd Field Company, Royal Engineers
Dah Force
Stronghold Defences
- R S & U Troop 160th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (25 Pounders)
- W X Y & Z Troops 69th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (Bofors)
Divisional Troops
- 219th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
- Detachment 2nd Burma Rifles
- 145th Brigade Company, R.A.S.C.
- 61st Air Supply Company, R.A.S.C.
- 2nd Indian Air Supply Company, R.I.A.S.C.
Feb 1944 Chindit force preparations
24th Mar 1944 On the March
27th of March 1944 Plan
15th of April 1944 Supply issues
21st of April 1944 Change of Plan
24th of April 1944 Orders Recieved
1st of May 1944 Report
6th May 1944 Orders
10th May 1944 Evacuation
27th of May 1944 Maintain position
13th Apr 1945 Snipers
 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment searching the ruins of a railway station for Japanese snipers, during the advance of 14th Army to Rangoon along the railway corridor, 13th of April 1945. IWM (SE 3804)
13th Apr 1945 Snipers
If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.
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Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment? There are:1339 items tagged 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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A/CQMS. Frederick Arthur Crosby 2nd Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.28th May 1941)  Fred Crosby was born in Barton-le-Willows Yorkshire on 14th March 1915 and grew up in the surrounding area of Howsham, Claxton and Bossal. He was the son of Frederick James Crosby, who had seen action in the First World War, and Louisa Stephenson, one of a family of 23 children.
He married Doreen Plater Wood in Portsmouth in 1935, and was almost immediately shipped out to the Sudan, leaving Doreen expecting a child. He never came home again nor ever met his daughter, named Joan.
At the outbreak of World War 2, he was sent with his battalion to Cairo and was then shipped to Crete on HMS Ajax in November 1940. Alongside the Black Watch and the Leicestershire Regiment, Fred and his mates in the 2nd Yorks and Lancs were tasked with protecting Heraklion Airfield. On 28th of May 1941, he was killed during an attack by the Germans.
He is now buried and remembered at Suda Bay Commonwealth War Grave, alongside many of his regiment. His name is also registered on a war memorial plaque on the wall of his local church at Bossal in Yorkshire.
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Pte. Duncan Macrae 2nd Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment (d.10th Aug 1944) Duncan Macrae is buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery.
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Pte. Henry Hague 2nd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (d.25th November 1941) Henry Hague, aka Harry to his friends and family sadly died aged 25 during the Battle of Tobruk. He is now buried at Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma.
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Bruce Dransfield 2nd Btn. York and Lancaster Regiment Bruce Dransfield served with the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment Regiment as a Chindit in Burma.
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Pte. Mark Cornelius Reynolds 2nd Btn. 6 Platoon. York and Lancaster Regiment Mark Reynolds was a runner in the unit. He saw the battle in Crete. He was taken prisoner at Tobruk by the Italians. They were going to shoot them but a German Panzer commander saved their lives and took them back to his harbour area as POWs.
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Gnr William Frederick Lawrence 2nd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment My Grandfather, Bill Lawrence served in 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment which were part of 10th Army in Burma.
He survived and never spoke about the war. The cigarettes that they gave him would later take his life!
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Pte. Frank Malcolm Machin 2nd Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment  My father Frank Machin was born in British India in 1922. His father was WO2 in the York & Lancaster Regiment. My father joined the battalion as a boy soldier in 1936 at the age of 14 years. he served in Iceland, Norway, Greece, Crete, Tobruk, France Belgium, Holland, and Germany.
He met my mother in Nijmegen (Holland). After Market Garden, he was billeted at my mother's home in September 1944. They were married in 1945.
I believe that my father served with the Chindits in Burma, but cannot confirm this. After the war he was stationed in Germany, and then was stationed at Pontefract Barracks the regiments depot. I was born in the barracks, at No6, B Block. We then moved to Colchester where my brother Ian was born.
We were then posted to Brunswick in Eastern Germany. After 2 years we returned to Pontefract, where my father was now the Provost Sargeant.He did tours in Sudan,Egypt, and Palistine. On his return, he was promoted to CSM (WO2), and was in charge of training recruits. In 1954, we moved to Dover Castle. Whilst there, he took part in the Suez Crisis. The battallion were also extras in the film Dunkirk. I also remember standing in the school playground, watching thousands of Hungarian refugees walking past with all their worldly goods on their backs.
This was 1956, the battalion had just received their new colours. We returned to Pontefract for the last time before it was closed down. Late 1958, we had our final posting to Queen Elizabeth Barracks at Strensall near York, where again my father was training CSM. He retired after 26 years service, in 1961.
He passed away in 1988.
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Frank Kevin Dunne 2nd Btn. Attchd Argyll& Sutherland Highlanders Yorks & Lancs Rgt. (d.23rd May 1941) Frank Dunne served with the York and Lancs 2nd Btn., attached to Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He is commemorated in Athens War Cemetery.
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L/Cpl. Ernest Whitfield 2nd Battalion. York and Lancaster Regiment I have been handed down, what I would describe as a death plaque, it is about Lance Corporal Ernest Whitfield of the York and Lancaster Regiment. It was a shock to me as I never knew this person existed, however I was aware that two of my father's brothers was killed in action in WW2. The only thing I am aware of is that Ernest was killed sometime during WW2.I would like to tidy up this piece of history.
Editor's Note: The CWCG website records L/Cpl Ernest Whitfield aged 23, son of Harry H. Whitfield and Ada Whitfield as being killed on the 25th of May 1941 during the campaign in Greece and Crete, he has no known grave and is remembered on the Athens Memorial
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Pte. William Joseph "Soapy Joe" Reid 2nd Btn, D Company Yorks & Lancs My father Joe Reid, joined the 2nd York & Lancs Regiment in September 1932 as a regular after being in the Teritorial Army for two years. My father like most of the heroes of any campaign did not talk about his experiences. So I am putting together my account of his involvement in the second World War to the best of my knowledge. Up until the outbreak of the war, my father's regiment during the 1930's were mainly on garrison duties in Sudan and India.
When the war broke out his regiment was in North Africa and by all accounts they had had it rough for twelve months. His regiment made up the 14th Infantry Brigade along with the 2nd Black Watch and the 1st Leicestershire Regiment. These three regiments, in my opinion, were very professional and tough. They were in the thick of all the action such as Crete, Palestine and the break out from Tobruk on Operation Crusader. How on earth my father survived the Tobruk breakout I don't know because these three regiments took a right pasting from the crack German forces. My father got shot in this campaign and was captured by the Germans. My father never said a bad word about the Germans because I think they patched him up good and proper before he was interned in Stalag XV111A for the rest of the war.
With the benefit of hindsight I have come to the conclusion that being captured by the Germans may not have been a bad thing from my point of view, as I dont think I would have been born. This is because the three regiments went onto to form the special force know as the Chindits and it is common knowledge what those brave soldiers achieved. My father returned home after the war and worked at Kirkstall Power Station in Leeds until he retired in 1977. He enjoyed his retirement but sadly died in 1988 at the ripe old age of 73. I loved my father but I wish he had told me more, but there you go.
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