Yorkshire Day memorial in Doncaster for county soldiers
- Published
Campaigners raised £175,000 for the memorial in two years
A bronze statue to commemorate soldiers who served in a former Yorkshire infantry battalion has been unveiled as the county celebrates Yorkshire Day.
Hundreds of people gathered for the ceremony in Elmfield Park, Doncaster to mark the service of soldiers in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
It also marks 50 years since it was "taken out of line" and became the 2nd Battalion, The Light Infantry.
Campaigners for the memorial raised £175,000 towards it in two years.
Yorkshire Day is celebrated on 1 August across the county but was already marked by the British Army's Light Infantry.
The date marks the Battle of Minden on 1 August 1759 during the Seven Years War where troops picked flowers and roses as a tribute to their fallen comrades.
The Yorkshire soldiers picked white roses, the emblem of the county.
Spokesman David Wroe, who served with the battalion until it became the 2nd Battalion the Light Infantry, said the memorial "meant a great deal to the soldiers and families of the light infantry.
He said: "This is the first and only statue to the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
"We are shown on other memorials, but this one is special for the battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, not only for everyone whoever served."
He added that "300 members of the regimental family" attended and many cried at the unveiling as it "means so much to them."