World War 2 Memorial to the Queens Own Yorkshire Dragoons

Inscription: Remember the men of the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons who lost their lives in the war 1939-1945.
May they rest in peace.

The memorial tablet was installed in the church early in 1950 and was unveiled by General Sir Philip Balfour, GOC in C Northern Command on Sunday 29th October in that year. The tablet was executed by Esmond Burton and is situated on the north wall of the church. It is dedicated to 12 officers and 130 men of the regiment who gave their lives during the Second World War.

A parade was held prior to the service and General Balfour took the salute on the steps of the Mansion House. The Lord  Lieutenant of the West Riding, Lord Scarborough, marched with the old comrades.

The memorial was dedicated by the Vicar, the Revd Arthur Llewellyn Davies. The service was attended by the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt. Revd Leslie Hunter and Herbert Wilson, the Mayor.

The Last Post was sounded by Mr T Flewker, Regimental trumpeter from 1940-1944. Reveille was sounded by the trumpeters of the 14/20th Hussars.

Over the years the surface of the memorial deteriorated and the inscription became very difficult to read. ln 2018 it was fully restored meaning that it is once again a worthy tribute to the men of the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons.

The Queens Own Yorkshire Dragoons

During World War 2 the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons were attached to the 5thCavalry Brigade and were sent to Syria where they took part in what was probably the last action of British Horse Cavalry on July 10th 1941.

On February 13th 1942, it was ordered that the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons were to be “re-roled” and officers and men said goodbye to their horses, the last active cavalry regiment in the British Army. They were trained to convert to an armoured regiment and in May 1942 were posted to El Alamein.

Owing to heavy losses it was not possible for the regiment to become fully armoured. Instead, they were equipped with Bren Carriers, 3 inch mortars and anti-tank guns, under the command of the 2nd Armoured Brigade. As part of the Armoured Brigade the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons fought in various North African battles until February 1944 when they were transferred to Anzio, Italy. On 13th March they suffered 170 casualties. On June 3rd they led the attack on opening the road to Rome.

ln August 1944, the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons were sent home. The regiment was put in “suspended animation” and the majority of the officers and men were posted to 2/4 KOYLI.

ln 1956 they merged with the other Yorkshire Yeomanry regiments to form the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Yeomanry and in April 1967 formed as a TAVR unit, with RHQ and A Unit based in York, B Unit based in Doncaster and C Unit based in Hull.
In 1969, they were reduced to a cadre and finally reformed in 1971 as A Squadron Queen’s Own Yeomanry