THE Yorkshire Regiment will celebrate 15 years since it was formed through a merger of three "historic" regiments this week.

Building on 330 years of history, and the last two decades at the forefront of UK Defence, the June 6 2006 merger combined The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and The Green Howards into what is now the only County Regiment left in the British Army.

The Yorkshire Regiment remains the only British Army regiment that seeks to recruit the majority of its soldiers from a single county.

Yorkshire Regiment soldiers have always been infantry, from foot soldiers at Waterloo, fighting in Africa, serving for over 20 years in India, raising over 300,000 Yorkshire Pals in the First World War, and,"proudly", the first three battalions to land on the D-Day beaches on June 6 1944.

A spokesperson said: "Therefore, it should come as no surprise that June 6 is recognised as the regiment’s birthday."

Covid-19 limitations and operational commitments preclude a birthday parade or major gathering, but on Sunday, The Band of The Yorkshire Regiment will be performing at the Royal British Legion led Normandy Memorial event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Present at that event will be Colonel of the Regiment, Brigadier Andrew Jackson CBE and the Regimental Secretary, Lt Col David O’Kelly.

Significantly the transfer of responsibility of the Colonel of The Regiment, Brigadier Andrew Jackson CBE, which is traditionally a five-year appointment, to Brigadier Zac Stenning OBE, will also take place.