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The Yeoman Rifles battalion was formed in 1915. It was made up of mainly farmers and estate workers from Helmsley and the surrounding villages.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles William Reginald Duncombe was the 2nd Earl of Feversham and commander of regiment. They were attached to The King’s Royal Rifle Corps, one of the British Army’s most elite battalions.

Jake Duncombe is the current occupier of Duncombe Park and Lady Clarissa Colin, granddaughter of Lt. Col. Charles Duncombe. They have in their possession the battle scarred helmet worn by Lt. Col. Charles Duncombe when he was killed during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette in September 1916.

Many of the men in the regiment worked on the Duncombe Estate and Charles knew them all personally.

Statements at the time by soldiers who witnessed the death of the 2nd Earl of Feversham, Charles Duncombe, told how the Earl stood up to rally his men in the face of heavy machine gun and rifle fire during the Battle of the Somme.

‘During the whole period of this attack’, wrote one soldier, ‘he showed great bravery and indifference to personal danger’.

He was 36 when he died.

His unit was decimated at the Battle of the Somme, which had a profound impact on the small and tight-nit communities back home, in Helmsley and the surrounding villages.

Location: Duncombe Park, Helmsley YO62 5EB
Image: The Yeoman Rifles, courtesy of York Museums Trust (York Castle Museum)
Presented by Mike Kemp

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