A corner of yorkshire

THE KOYLI MEMORIAL, DONCASTER

Dating back to 1755, there can be few regiments in the British Army that have such an illustrious history as the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).

Nine members of the regiment won the Victoria Cross – one in the Boer War and all the others in the First World War.

The first soldier from the regiment to win a VC was Private Charles Burley Ward. The 22-year-old volunteered to take a vital message through the lines of the opposing forces in South Africa and was badly wounded.

Ward, who went on to serve again in The Great War, was the last man to receive his VC directly from the hands of Victoria herself. He and all the other gallant men of the KOYLI (which was amalgamated to form The Light Infantry in 1968) are remembered in an impressive statue in the tranquil rose garden of Elmfield Park in Doncaster. The regimental museum is nearby in the Danum complex.