Yorkshire War Time Experience

The Yorkshire War Time Experience, the north’s biggest event is only 20 mins drive away for me and PTE Heaton. As so, I drove up the site during the week for a recce of our trenches, over the winter they had fallen in badly and needed work, I cleared some nettles and left a sign with our name on it. Some Suffolk’s wanted to join us this weekend, our new 3DIVIA group is set for this purpose. 

I packed Thursday evening, taking almost every bit of kit I had in the garage, 5 ammo boxes, cammo net, sandbags, various pioneer tools & the 14 man tent. 

We arrived Friday evening to find Col/SGT Hebden sunbathing, we unpacked the tent and sleeping gear, the rest we left in the car. Friday was evening was a little windy and had a chill, so we tried the beer tent for warmth, here we found PTE Pozniak, not 2 mins after getting there, Ben and his dad Paul, from the Suffolk Regiment LHG had turned up, so I ran along to great them and show them the camp, after they were settled I ran back to beer tent..£4 for 3.8% beer from Morley...we decided cans of beer from our stock was better so headed back. 

Saturday morning was pleasant, it was obvious it had rained in the night which wasn’t a bad thing, as it kept a lot of dust down. The rest of the Suffolk’s then arrived, this was a brilliant effort, they all had to set off around 4am to get there on time, closely after them PTEs Wilson and Etherington and PTE Dennington.

After we’d all greeted each other we made our way to the trenches, where we found PTEs Dixon and new Member Elliot, everyone now on display we had 15 men & 2 ATS. 

Throughout the day the men made the trenches as comfy as possible, we also watched the stuff going on the in main arena, plenty of armour and vehicles to be seen, followed by a post war Battle & a First World War battle, then more vehicle displays.

“All In stew” was made for dinner on the Col-SGTs petrol cookers, brilliant for quick pots of tea and warming stew, however a little scary to use as you’re cooking on a pressurised petrol burner...basically a small bomb. At 3.30 the main battle Started, for me I never really enjoy these big battles as there’s too much going on to think about, and the spacing is too close, but we joined in with the Duke of Wellingtons and took the right flank, we moved up behind a Stewart tank and had to wait for him to stop until we could deploy, this took us about 60feet away from the Germans...we deployed and tried to make it look good, we won pretty quickly, after the battle we had some water and then it was finish time. Back to camp for a few beers and sociallising.

Again we attempted the beer tent, but after an hour we moved back to camp, we spent all evening chatting and getting to know each other and even finished off a bottle of port. 

Sunday was pleasant weather again, me and Col-SGT Hendon cooked breakfast for everyone, sausages and bacon grill. 

Back in the trench for much of the same apart from a new skirmish, we were treated to the battle of Crete, with some Brit’s in full KD chasing off some fallschirmjager who’d landed, they then continued to run across open ground, to meet the Germans, who counter attacked and pushed the Brit’s back in to the original fixed positions...

In the battle we moved further right this time and took some German trenches, then moved passed the Stewart when he stopped, by the time the Stewart had stopped, the Germans were no more then 30 feet away, so we couldn’t fire any weapons for safety, as a result all the East York’s and some Suffolk’s took hits, lieutenant Preece took the remaining Suffolk’s and Duke of Wellingtons further up to capture the Germans. That’s the problem with all the armour on these big battles, it’s not correct tactics for infantry to follow them up the field, and not safe for us to go in front, this results in us being far too close to the Germans by the time we can safely deploy. After the battle we packed down and moved back to camp. A few of us emptied the sand bags in to the pyro holes, idea being that next year the trenches should be left deeper. 

After everyone had packed up we thanked the Suffolk’s for a great weekend, said our goodbyes and set off home, landing 20 mins later. A brilliant weekend.

CPL Heaton

York Army Museum 8th June 2019

By the time I arrived, I was greeted by Sgt Hebden, Cpl Heaton, Pte Heaton and ATS Mellor. They were busy sorting out the dining shelter. I got parked up and joined the effort. The dining shelter was soon up and we were busy arranging the display. We were joined by Privates Hancock, Dixon and Dennington. Despite a damp start the weather was improving and the sun decided to make an appearance. I decide to take the canvas of the Jeep. This was a big mistake as no sooner had I done so than it started to rain. At first, the rain was only slight and we soon had a few members of the public stopping to chat.

As this event was on the 8^th of June we wanted it to have a strong emphasis on what the East Yorks did on D-Day. The museum was playing its part and had arranged for East Yorks D-Day veteran Bert Barrett to attend. To meet Bert was the actor William, who will be playing Bert in the play Bomb Happy and the show's producer/author Helena. The play is being performed at the museum on 14-16 June.

 Additionally, we had Jane Milne, daughter of East Yorks D-Day veteran Captain Oates, visiting. Captain Oates won the Military Cross for his courage and determination in getting his men off the beach and taking their objective despite being wounded.

Jane had very kindly provided us with many of her father’s documents including his personal diary. A great addition to our understanding of the East Yorks on D-Day.

We were visited by BBC radio York as part of their Finders Keepers feature. This gave us the opportunity to get a bit about the East Yorks live on the radio.

As the day progressed the weather worsened with only a few brief rain free spells interspersed with heavy rain. At several points, the display was completely without public.

Lunch was had and the weather continued with the odd dry spell and a great deal of heavy rain. By 15.00 hrs we had no public and the cold was beginning to seep in. So we started to tidy up the display ready to call it a day. The Sarge went to get changed and I put the canvas back on the Jeep. As soon as these two tasks had been completed it stopped raining and the sun came out and so did the public. We then had a final flurry of interest in the display. At 16.00 hrs we started to pull the display in which was hampered by a constant stream of interested public. Gradually everyone got there kit sorted and loaded into cars and people started to depart.

I stayed with Pte Hancock who was waiting for a pickup. I had loaded the jeep and Pte Hancock had piled up his kit ready to load into his van. However, the public was still interested and we kept getting kit out and then putting it away again. Eventually, Charlotte arrived with the van and we were able to get loaded up and get on our way.

Sargeant Hebden And Corporal Heaton keeping dry in the museum

The crew

The Rain

The public

Kentwell Hall 3IDA event 27th and 28th April

Left home at 10.45, Picked ATS Mellor up and after a fairly decent voyage (apart from an unscripted tour of Cambridge), we arrived at Kentwell Hall at 4.30pm. The officers tent was set up for the purposes of a cooking, a few of the Suffolks group were already there setting tentage up. Cpl Heaton and Pte Heaton arrived about 6.30, we immediately put up the 14 man tent. The East Yorks are no strangers to Kentwell, we used to take part in the "Requisitioned" event every October, i think its about 10 years since we last visited for an event. Afew more of the Suffolks arrived, so it was time for a visit to the pub (The Hare)  at the end of the very long drive, a few beers were consumed and it was soon time to head back to camp and bed.

 On Saturday we were woken by the Suffolks Sgt at 07.00, A breakfast of Bacon grill butties and tea was consumed, it was then time for an O Group, followed by section drill, i took the small group of East Yorks (now joined by Pte Dennington), for some drill, we did both foot and rifle drill, we practiced the "about turn on the march", which was very good indeed - even i am getting the hang of it now!.  At 10.00 am we had an opening parade, taken by Lt Preece, this was followed by Platoon drill, i took this, with CPL Gibson taking over for a bit. It was soon morning break time, this was followed by the East Yorks sitting in on the Suffolks weapons handling tests, lunch was had at 12.00pm (stew). The afternoon was spent on section tactics, first a single section and then 2 sections, we moved into the woods and did some firing in support of a small skirmish with Sgt Shane and C/Sgt Legg acting as the enemy.  Lt Preece then gave a very informative lecture on patrolling and house clearing - That was the training part of the day over. We had a look at the hall and a walk round the site, a BBQ was had and as the weather turned a bit wet, we retreated to the "Turks Head" (a small pub next to our camp), later on we went back to the Hare for a very sociable few beers, we stayed there until 11.15pm.

Sunday dawned a bit damp and windy, the start time was a bit later - this came in handy following the social activities the night before! The cooker then decided that it was going to break down (faulty gas regulator), i had a small spare stove, so this was used to cook a lovely breakfast of sausages, we then had a morning parade, this was followed by the group splitting into 2 groups - one group did house clearing, whilst the other group went onto the woods to practice Patrolling  - Lt Preece took the house clearing,  i took the Patrolling exercise - this was again done using Sgt Shane and C/Sgt Legg and the 3 ATS ladies as an enemy, the idea was that we would patrol into the woods and try not to be detected - on both forays into the woods, both patrols were detected - it was a very interesting exercise. Given the poor weather, it was decided that we would finish training and break camp earlier than the the programmed time, a final parade was had and we then set about taking down tents and packing vehicles. Goodbyes were said and we set off on our respective journeys home.

This was a 3rd 3IDA event and the Suffolks "home" event, there will be more - i think this alliance is the way forward - common minds, same uniform, same ethic, all that's different is the cap badge. A very good weekend indeed, interesting and informative lectures, good interaction between the 2 groups, a lovely location, good sociable evenings - whats not to like! 

C/Sgt Hebden

East Yorkshire Regiment Living History Group Morley St Georges Day 2019

East Yorkshire Regiment Living History Group Morley St Georges Day 2019

In order to make an early start, I packed the jeep up on Saturday evening. I had decided to take the radio tent as the weather was unsettled.

After a short and uneventful drive, I pulled up at the side of the road to drop the Jeep’s windscreen so as to make a proper entrance. As I got back into the Jeep I noticed a car pull in behind me. This turned out to be Pte’s Dixon and Hallet. With them following we entered the rugby ground and found our designated place. We had cowboys to the left of us and the Home Guard to the right.

We soon had the tent up and our small display laid out on the ground. With a bit of time to spare between the show opening and the public arriving, I dispatched Pte Hallet off in search of water. Meanwhile, I unpacked the Hurlock stove and prepared it for lighting. As soon as I had the water I set about getting the stove going while Pte’s Dixon and Hallet had a look around the other displays. The stove was a bit slow and had just got up to temperature when they returned. We had a warmish cuppa and chewed the fat. There were one or two folk about mainly from the other stalls so we were gently eased into the display routine.

There was a brief lull just prior to the parade returning so we ate our sandwiches and had another cuppa. Eventually, I managed to get the stove working properly and were able to keep the char flowing.

Just after midday the parade, led by Sir Kevin of Morley on his horse, arrived back and so did the public. We were soon flat out explaining the kit and equipment. There were many and various display in the arena covering the many ages of conflict. The grand finale was the WWII battle. The German contingent dutifully took its place in the arena but the P.A. was in the hands of a lady overseeing a tournament between some knights. The tournament didn’t sound like it was going to end but was eventually cut short and the battle began. The Germans were “dug in” around a 1970’s Ford Escort with a Jago Jeep body kit on it. First, they were attacked by some airborne chaps in a Jeep who were then backed up by some British infantry. That sort of just fizzled out. Then they were attacked by the Russians and after that by the Americans who won the day.

While all this excitement had been going on we had got the tent down and packed. As soon as the last of the public had disappeared Pte Dixon fetched his car. Both the Jeep and the car were quickly loaded and we departed.

Despite the weather having been very good I felt that there weren’t as many public as in previous years. My attempts to turn the conversation towards the East Yorks on D-Day did not succeed and I was a bit frustrated by this. Having said that we had a good day and it didn’t rain.

Cpl Lycett

Bodrhyddan Hall - 13 & 14 May

I packed on Wednesday night, collecting the 14 man tent (or 16 natives) from CPL Lycett’s house, this way me and PTE Heaton could get a quick get away on Friday evening. 

Friday came and we got a good get away; by 18.06 we were on the M62 down, it didn’t take long to leave England and enter Wales, as we arrived nearer our destination the scenery was amazing. A country road took us along the mountain side and overlooked the coast, I can imagine during the summer this is a great view to set your eyes on, however....this isn’t summer... it is early April....

After arriving at Bodrhyddan Hall it was clear, that my guess of warmer weather down south was wrong, and in fact I’d rather be in Castleford. The tent went up super quick and beds put up in F1 timing. Me, PTEs Heaton & Pozniak, Colour SGT Hebden and ATS Mellor retired to the Radio tent for a warm and a beer, a bottle of port helped keep off the cold, it was VERY VERY cold and windy!

Saturday was sunny but windy, with a morning frost, our camp set up on the far hillside was well attended, for a first event it had lots of public, PTEs Etherington, Wilson & Klejnow had arrived and helped set up our display. 

The 2pm Fire Display was short and sweet, PTE Heaton gave a short talk about our group and kit, then me and PTE Klejnow took the public through the Lee Enfield no.4 and Mk2 Sten, the blanks for which were kindly supplied by the organisers, this was a warm welcome from a new event, a number of the big events don't contribute to ammunition, it’s nice to know some event organisers appreciate us travelling and bringing original kit along for their events. 

Saturday evening after PTEs Pozniak, Etherington and Wilson had departed, we decided to go in to the local village for a beer and walk around, we visited the sea and found a pub for some food, at £8 a round though we decided to leave and find another pub, to my delight it was showing the Leeds United game...4 games left before promotion! We sat down and had a lovely meal together. 

Saturday night was warmer and beers around a fire were enjoyed, Sunday morning was much the same as Saturday...until the sun went away. Wind, wind and wind kept us cold all day, ATS Mellor’s lovely stew gave us some warmth at dinner time, and just after the firing display we packed up. One of the earliest pack downs we’ve done and quickest. By 4pm all of us had said goodbye and were back on the M62 north. A brilliant weekend!! 

CPL Heaton 

Pickering Castle 2018

So to the season finale and the East Yorks stormed Pickering Castle! (Not much to storm nowadays!) No A64 closures so traffic was normal for this weekend. Members arrived Friday afternoon and evening and bunks were set up in the Education Room then set off into an unseasonably mild but blustery night to sample a few beers. Lights out was around 12.30am and the heating and extra blankets weren’t needed. What a contrast to Friday night at Rufford!

Saturday morning saw more arrivals and the camp was set up in the castle grounds. Weather was still mild but the wind became stronger and was to cause problematic for the tent later in the day.

The training scenario was a section attack on a German bunker with pyros and plenty of blank-firing weapons with Pte Heaton giving his much detailed talk about the battalion, uniform, kit and weapons afterwards. The windproof smocks came in useful to portray late 1944 infantry. There were around thirty viewers and most obviously knew what was happening turning up minutes before the start.

Lunch came in the form of a delicious stew made with anything that needed using up! As we were lining up after the 2.30pm scenario the tent finally gave way to the wind so all hands were needed to erect it again.

Saturday night was Col. Sgt. Hebden’s East Yorks stag night so members dressed in best BD’s and civilians with the Heatons attired as gangsters. Well, they are from Castleford! Didn’t turn out to be much of a stag night as we were all back at the billet by 11.00pm with rolls of unused cling film! Lightweights!

Sunday turned out to be a miserable wet day with relentless rain. The scenarios were altered so no pyros or Bren team, and the talks were done in the Chapel. Visitors still turned up so the show must go on! Thanks to those who did brave the walk up to the Castle to see us.

Again the same faces turned up as they have in previous years and the 9 year old had brought his mate this year.

Because of the weather the English Heritage guys in the hut said we might as well pack up early so most were on their way home by 4.30pm, just as the clouds were breaking! Can’t really grumble as we have been very fortunate with the weather for quite a few years at Pickering.

Still a great weekend though to chat and chuckle with friends.

PTE G Cooper

Rufford Park 2018

This year saw the groups return to Rufford since 2015. After a change of organisers it was decided that the group should attend an event that has been on the calendar for many years before. A lovely setting in the grounds of a 12^th century abbey and later a 16^th/17^th centuries stately home.

On arriving camping and exhibitors were lead to their destination at walking pace by a guy with a red flag or one playing a flute!

Friday afternoon was T-shirt weather as tents were pitched but due to clear skies the temperature dropped and we had to wrap up well under the dining shelter then trekked over to the Rose Cottage for a pint or four.

And now to Friday night/Saturday morning which will be talked about for years to come as it was ‘expletive’ freezing!!

We awoke (or not for those who couldn’t sleep!) to frost but the sun soon warmed up and we were in shirt-sleeves. This year we had no commitments so time to chat and wander. After more arrivals our numbers rose to eleven and as well as the usual dining shelter table-top display, there was Pte Pozniac’s radio set up (the typewriter a favourite with the kids!), Pte Haycocks’s RAMC display and Pte Clewlow’s 1930' Ford hotrod proved popular.

As with Friday the temperature dropped but still some of us hardy souls braved the trip to the Pub and the night proved to be not as cold as the previous.

Sunday before long became a pleasant day, the crowds flocked in and our display was busy with interested visitors which included ex-services who had used some of the weapons on show. We also had an excellent view of the NFS scenario with the guy hosing the flames 50 feet up the extendable ladder. Wouldn’t get me up there!

Rufford housed officers and its grounds were used by the Army during the War so a very appropriate setting and it’s hoped that it still has a future within the WW2 re-enactment calendar.

PTE G Cooper