West Riding Regiment Photos -

The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment.

Close up detail of a white marble gravestone showing the engraved regimental badge of the Duke of Weillington's West Riding Regiment. It is a maned lion rising out of a crown. The lion is holding a pennant. There are scrolls beneath with the words 'VIRTUTIS FORTUNA COMES,' and 'DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S REGT. — Duke of Wellington’s Regiment badge from a Commonwealth War Graves Commission gravestone in Keighley.

The full name of the Regiment is as written above, but we have seen references to them being called the ‘Dukes,’ or ‘Dukes Men,’ and more often or not, simply ‘West Riding.’

There are two pages in our archives with the full lists of names of the men (many who were local to us) who embarked for France on 14th April 1915 and others who went a couple out months later and these have been transcribed from the book ‘Craven’s Part in the Great War.’

You can see the name lists if you click on ‘Nominal Roll’ below:

Nominal roll of the 1/6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment.
Nominal roll of the 2/6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment.

We’re sharing group photographs on here of men from the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, simply because a great many of our local men served with this regiment.
If you have any similar photographs we’d be very pleased to add them to this page. Please get in touch through our Contact page to do this.
Naturally, the same applies if you spot anyone whom you can identify!

Many of these photographs are scans from the private collection of our friend Stewart Wright of Haworth and we will be forever grateful to him for giving us access to them.
Photograph 17 is from the Herbert A. France Archive BK424, which is held at Keighley Library.
Photograph 26 was very kindly supplied by Paul Reed.

Photo 1 – 15 Territorial soldiers in 1915.

A posed group photograph of 15 soldiers in uniform and service caps with West Riding Regiment badges. — Fifteen Territorial soldiers with their sergeant

Third from left on the back row is Private Charles Lowndes, Fifth from left on the back row is Joseph William Tatton. Laid on the ground at front left is Private Isaiah Sanders, Laid on the ground at front right is Private Joseph Hudson. Charles Lowndes and Joseph William Tatton were killed in action together on 20th November 1916. Joseph Hudson was killed in action on 12th November 1915. (His brother William died in the same bombardment as Charles Lowndes and Joseph Tatton.)
Isaiah Sanders survived the war, only to be tragically killed when he slipped and fell under the wheels of a bus in 1930.

Photo 2 – Nine soldiers in front of their bell tent at an Army camp.

Nine soldiers in front of their bell tent at an Army camp. They appear to be in training, suggesting this was in 1915. They are in various states of dress, indicating that this was a very informally taken photograph, probably by a visiting photographer at the camp. — Nine soldiers in front of their bell tent at an Army camp.

Photo 3 – Fourteen soldiers on a signaller’s course.

14 soldiers from the Great War period, wearing British Army uniform, they appear to be on a signaller's course. A stone building is in the background.Nine of the men are standing in the back row and five are seated on a bench in front. several flags are being held. — Fourteen soldiers on a signaller’s course.

Photo 4 – Shirt sleeve order.

Fifteen British Army soldiers posing in a group for a photograph. Most are in shirt sleeve order suggesting the weather is warm. The man in the centre is holding a small union flag. — Fifteen soldiers in shirt sleeve order.

Photo 5 – Three relaxed soldiers.

Three soldiers in a relaxed photograph. Two have their hands in their pockets. — Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment.

Photo 6 –Six soldiers and one sergeant, standing in front of a bell tent at an Army camp.

Six soldiers and one sergeant at a tented Army camp. — Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment.

The man on the left is believed to be 8626 Private Wilfred Harrison. 1/5th West Riding who was killed in action on 20th January 1917.

Photo 7 – A large platoon sized group photo of 32 men and their officer.

Thirty two soldiers and one officer posing for an official photo. They are in front of an Army hut made from corrugated iron sheeting. — A large platoon sized group photo of 32 men and their officer.

Photo 8 – Two West Riding soldiers in a studio photograph.

Two British Army soldiers in full uniform posing at a photographic studio. — Two soldiers in a studio photograph. They are both wearing the West Riding badge.

Photo 9 – 26 soldiers in a group photo on camp.

A platoon of soldiers posing for a group photograph outside a large wooden Army hut with several windows. — Twenty six soldiers posing for a group photograph by a wooden Army hut.

Photo 10 – Three men standing in front of some trees.

Three solders in uniform in a cleared grass area with trees in the background. — Three West Riding Men standing in front of some trees.

Photo 11 – Seven men and their sergeant.

Seven men wearing full Army uniform and standing having the photograph taken outside at an Army camp. — Seven West Riding men and a sergeant pose for their photograph.

Photo 12 – 6th Battalion, West Riding men.

Forty five men and one officer pose for an official photograph. — The written caption reads: No. 6 Platoon. 6th D. of W. W. R. Regt.

Photo 13 – Eight men in front of their bell tent at camp.

Nine men pose in front of their bell tent at campNine men at Army camp. They are all in uniform and behind them are several white bell tents. — Nine men pose in front of their bell tent at camp.

Photo 14 – Three men in front of a larger bell tent.

Three men in uniform standing in front of a bell tent which may be the cookhouse as the sidewalls are much taller than normal. Two of the men are wearing waistcoats which are unbuttoned. — Three men in front of a larger bell tent.

The soldier on the right is believed to be Private Tom Garthwaite of Cross Roads who was taken prisoner at Messines on 10th April 1918, whilst serving with the 10th Worcestershire Regiment.

Photo 15 – Two West Riding men in a studio photograph.

Two West Riding Regiment soldiers in a studio photograph. One is seated left and has a lance corporal's stripe on his upper arm. The other is standing and is holding a walking cane under his arm. — Lance Corporal Joe Chaplin seated in the deckchair.

The soldier seated at left is Private Joe Chaplin of Haworth, gassed and wounded in September 1917.

Photo 16 – Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment.

Eight West Riding Soldiers with three of their officers. Six are standing on the back row and the five in front row are seated. There are bushes behind them. — A group of Officers and senior NCOs at Catterick in 1931.

This group photograph of Officers and Senior NCOs was taken at Catterick in 1931.

Photo 17 –6th Battalion Regimental Colours being laid up at Skipton.

Skipton High Street at the end of the war when the 6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s men deposited their Regimental colours at Skipton Parish Church. The men are being paraded in uniform with their colours. Skipton Parish church can be seen in the background.
Photo appears courtesy of the Bradford Libraries Service. (archive BK424 in Keighley Library.)

Photo 18 –Three West Riding lads on guard.

Three rather young looking West Riding soldiers standing at ease with rifles. They have white belts on and are standing in front of a stone building with a georgian glass window. — Three young looking West Riding soldiers standing at ease with their rifles.

Three rather young looking West Riding soldiers standing at ease with their rifles. They have white belts on and are standing in front of a stone building with a georgian glass window.

Photo 19 – Five soldiers with full equipment, standing in a garden.

Five soldiers in a garden. Three of them standing in the back row are wearing steel helmets and webbing pouches and are standing at ease with their rifles. Two men are crouched down and holding their rifles upright. — Five soldiers in a garden are dressed for action, with their rifles.

Photo 20 – Six West Riding Regiment soldiers with rifles at the slope.

Six soldiers standing at attention, holding their rifles at the slope over their left shoulders. The young man on the left is holding a bugle. They are standing in a line in front of a brick building with two arched wooden doors. Probably taken during training.

Photo 21 – Twelve West Riding men in a group photo at camp.

Twelve West Riding Regiment soldiers at a tented camp, posing for a group photograph. Some of them are holding rifles. — Twelve men at Army camp. They have signs.

Five at the back row standing, four seated in the middle row and three sit cross legged on the ground. Two of the men in the middle row are holding humorous signs written in chalk on two spades, one reads: ‘THE KNUTS’ and the other reads: ‘Off to France little fishes’

Photo 22 – A New Year’s message for 1918.

The board in front reads ‘A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL’ Notably the soldier standing second from left has a black button on his jacket, which is a sign of mourning, as is what appears to be a black armband on the soldier standing at the right side. They all look very happy and the two lads seated have cigars in their hands. Overleaf is written in pencil ‘Xmas 1917 Arras, France.’ Also the name ‘Tommy Chapman’ in pencil. Another name, ‘Tommy Clarke, 6 DWR of Prince Street Haworth’ which is a modern addition written in biro pen. Unfortunately there is no indication which soldiers these names refer to.

Photo 23 – 8th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment soldiers at Belton Camp near Grantham.

Some are wearing the darker looking ‘Kitchener Blue’ uniforms. The man in the front row, second from the right (note the arrow) is Private Stephen Tatham of Keighley. He survived service at Gallipoli and was killed in action on 11th August 1917 near Langemarck.

Photo 24 – Five sergeants from the 2/6th Battalion, West Riding Regiment.

Five sergeants sitting for a photo in what appears to be a sergeant’s mess. It’s a relaxed photo and three of them are holding pipes for smoking, but they’re not lit. The board on the right says: Serg’ts B.2. 6th D of W W.R. Regt.

Photo 25. Eight Duke of Wellington’s Regiment chums, probably taken between 1916 and 1917.

Kindly supplied by Paul Reed.
Sadly we have no other information about who these men might have been.

Photo 26 – Private John Edward Adams on a signaller’s course.

One officer, one sergeant and fiften other ranks on a signaller's course. — Private John Edward Adams is standing on the back row, immediately above the officer.

One officer, one sergeant and fifteen other ranks on a signaller’s course. Private John Adams is standing on the back row, his head is visible immediately above the officer seated in the centre. John Adams Arrived in France on 15th July as a private in the 9th Battalion, West Riding Regiment, no. 12517. At some point he transferred to the 27th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Irish). No. 41008. Later he was promoted to Lance-Corporal and then Acting Corporal. He died of wounds received in action, on 6th October 1916.