The Yorkshire Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 battalions of Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

After the Second World War there were 14 infantry

British Army Infantry

The British Army's Infantry, part of the Structure of the British Army, comprises 51 battalions of Infantry, from 19 Regiments. Of these 37 battalions are part of the 'Regular' army and the remaining 14 a part of the 'Territorial' force...

 depots in Britain, each bearing a letter. The depots were territorially organised, and Infantry Depot E at Catterick

Catterick Garrison

Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...

 was the headquarters for six line county regiments recruiting in Yorkshire and Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

. In 1948, the depots adopted names and this depot became the Yorkshire and Northumberland Brigade, with all regiments being reduced to a single battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

 at the same time.

The Brigade was formed on 14 July 1948 and combined the depots of the following regiments:

• The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
• The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own)
• The East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own)
• The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)
  The Green Howards
  The Green Howards was an infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division...
  
  
• The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
• The York and Lancaster Regiment

Under the defence review

1957 Defence White Paper

The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry...

 announced in July 1957, the number of battalions in the Brigade was reduced to four in 1958: the East Yorkshire Regiment and the West Yorkshire Regiment were amalgamated into the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire

Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire

The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was created in 1958 by the amalgamation of The West Yorkshire Regiment and The East Yorkshire Regiment...

, while the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers were transferred to the newly-formed Fusilier Brigade

Fusilier Brigade

The Fusilier Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1958 to 1968. The Brigade combined the depots of the English infantry regiments designated as fusiliers.The Brigade was created as part of the defence reforms announced in July 1957...

. This led to the Yorkshire and Northumberland Brigade being renamed as simply the Yorkshire Brigade.

As part of the 1958 reforms, all regiments in the Brigade adopted a common cap badge depicting a crowned white rose above a scroll inscribed "Yorkshire". Regimental collar badges continued to be worn.

On July 1, 1968 the Yorkshire Brigade was united with the Lancastrian and North Irish Brigades, to form the King's Division. However, as part of reforms, the York and Lancaster Regiment chose to be disbanded.