The Regiment was raised on 22 June 1685 and saw early service in Scotland and Flanders. In 1702 the 15th Foot formed part of Marlborough's Army and took a prominent part in the battles of Blenheim, Ramilles, Malplaquet and Oudenarde.
From 1740-42 the 15th Foot served in the West Indies before returning to help put down the Scottish rebellion of 1745. The Regiment played an important part in the conquest of Canada and during the Seven Years War the 15th took the fort at Louisberg in 1758 and followed this by joining the forces of General Wolfe and, as part of a force of 4,500 men, climbed the Heights of Abraham above the city of Quebec on 13th September 1759. The brief, sharp battle, which took place on the Heights, was one of the world's decisive battles. It gave Canada to Britain, destroyed French power and led ultimately to the independence of nearly all the British Colonies in the New World. Unfortunately General Wolfe was killed in the Battle at the moment of victory. His death was considered a national loss and it was ordered that all officers in the Army would wear mourning for General Wolfe, their late Commander-in-Chief. This mourning has been continued to this very day in the black background to the silver rose worn in the collar badge of The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. Also the black on the Regimental stable belts and flashes.
During the American War of Independence the 15th served from 1776-78 and in this time gained the nickname 'The Snappers'. On 11th September 1777, at the Battle of Brandywine the 15th Foot ran short of ball ammunition, and what was left was handed over to the best shots, whilst the remainder continued 'snapping', that is firing small powder charges only. The bluff worked, the battle was won.
Martinique in 1794, Guadaloupe and St Lucia fell to the East Yorkshire Regiment whilst the Regiment was posted back and forth to the West Indies on active service between 1790-1810. In 1858 the 2nd Battalion was raised and took part in the Afghan War, in 1880 and the Boer War in South Africa from 1900. In two and a half years the Regiment lost only 96 men killed in action and 55 wounded.
On the outbreak of World War I in 1914 the 1st Battalion was sent to France followed in 1915 by the 2nd Battalion. The Regiment expanded greatly to number some 21 battalions all of which achieved undying fame on many battlefields around the world. At Ypres, in April 1915, after the first German gas attack of the war, the 2nd Battalion was put in to restore the situation and went into battle 800 strong; at the end of the day only two officers and eighty rank and file remained to tell the story of the battle. The memorial to the 9,000 fallen of The East Yorkshire Regiment is in the shrine in the Soldier's Chapel in Beverley Minster. The Regiment gained four Victoria Crosses in addition to a large number of decorations.
In 1935, the Regiment was further honoured by being granted the additional title of 'The Duke of York's Own'. In 1939, the 2nd, 4th and 5th Battalions were sent to France and were engaged in the fighting retreat to Dunkirk. Service in the Middle East followed taking part with great distinctions in the battles of El Alemein and the Mareth Line and in the invasion of Sicily in 1943. The Regiment was the only Infantry Regiment to have two battalions (2nd and 5th) in the initial assault in the Normandy Landings, 1944. The 1st Battalion, meanwhile, were engaged against the Japanese in Burma, taking part in the final advance prior to the surrender in August 1945.
After the second World War the Army cut back its numbers during the Army Reorganisations drastically and then in Dover on the 25th April 1956 the 15th Regiment of Foot, The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own) amalgamated with the 14th Regiment of Foot, The East Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own) to become the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire..