THE Mayor of Keighley, Alderman T Duerden, and mace-bearer, Rufus Benstead, are being treated to an unusual ride shortly before the Second World War, during a recruiting drive for the Territorial Army.
This picture was taken in April of 1939 when the 6th Duke of Wellington’s Regiment visited Keighley.
Its band and drums marched and counter-marched on the football field before a Saturday afternoon match with Bramley, while its transport section parked outside, including a “Bren gun and anti-tank gun of the latest type”.
Men as yet unversed in warfare showed particular interest in “the new Bren gun carrier, which is a track-laying type of vehicle, with ‘caterpillar’ wheels, for travelling on rough ground and open country.”
The event raised 45 Territorial recruits in Keighley and another 20 were signed up in Haworth.
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