In 1912 the dark clouds of conflict were once again gathering over Europe and those with memories of the relatively recent Boer War were preparing for the future as they saw it.

One such veteran of the Boer War was Colonel Mark Sykes, squire of the Sledmere estate in he Yorkshire Wolds. He had seen the importance of trained horsemen when handling the type of waggon used by the army of the time.

Most military vehicles needed at least two horses and because of the vulnerablility of shafts under combat conditions, central coupling poles were the norm.

The Yorkshire Wolds was the last region of Great Britain to give up oxen as draught animals and although horses predominated in the early 1900's, the custom of using waggons with a central coupling pole persisted.

James Arnold mentions the use of coupling poles in the Yorkshire Wolds in his Farm Waggons and Carts (David & Charles 1977).

The horsemen recruited into Colonel Sykes reserve regiment in 1912 possessed a unique level of experienceand expertise in handling this type of vehicle. About a thousand young farmers and carters were enlisted, receiving the princely sum of one pound per annum for their part-time services. When, in 1914, the Yorkshire Wold Waggoners received their call-up papers they formed a core of an elite troop of horsemen, much in demand throughout the army, to maintain a stead supply of materials and munitions to the front.

The Yorkshire Wold Waggoners are remembered today in the form of a twenty foot Portland stone monument in the village of Sledmere, Yorkshire. Nine relief carvings depict Yorkshire farm boys in driving competitions, gathering the harvest, receiving their call-up papers, crossing the Channel and fighting in France.

Sledmere is 6 miles N.W. of Great Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

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