An Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA) was a British Commonwealth military formation during the Second World War and shortly thereafter. Generally assigned to Army corps, an AGRA provided the medium and heavy artillery to higher formations within the British Army.
The First World War had been the first artillery war, in which the British Royal Artillery (RA) advanced enormously in technological and tactical sophistication. Independent Heavy and Siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) were grouped into Heavy Artillery Groups, later termed brigades, under the command of a lieutenant-colonel, at the disposal of Army Corps. Despite much debate, no higher organisational command structure was evolved. [1]
By the time of the Second World War, the RGA had been integrated into the RA, and brigades of heavy and siege guns became regiments of medium and heavy artillery, with more modern equipment. There was still an absence of a higher command structure, and a need for one for the central control of artillery above the division had become apparent to the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France in 1940 and in the early part of the Western Desert Campaign.
The AGRA concept was developed during Exercise Bumper held in the UK in 1941, organised by General Alan Brooke (a gunner), the commander of Home Forces, with Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery as chief umpire. [2] [3] This large anti-invasion exercise tested many of the tactical concepts that would be used by the British Army in the latter stages of the war. The RA developed what became the AGRA, a powerful artillery brigade, usually comprising three medium regiments and one field regiment, which could dominate the battlefield and have the fire power for counter-battery bombardments. [4]
AGRAs were improvised until 26 November 1942, when they were officially sanctioned, to consist of a commander and staff to control non-divisional artillery. [5]
AGRAs made their debut with First Army in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and the concept was adopted during the North West Europe and Far East campaigns. [6] [7]
An AGRA usually had three medium artillery regiments, one heavy artillery regiment and one field artillery regiment. It was commanded by a brigadier and was transferred at need from corps to corps within an army. [8] Each corps in the line usually had an AGRA and when especially heavy fire support was needed, one AGRA could be used to reinforce another, as in Operation Baytown, the initial attack on the Italian mainland, when two AGRAs fired across the Straits of Messina from Sicily or in Operation Undergo, the battle for Calais in 1944. As the British Army manpower shortage developed, the weight of fire that an AGRA could add to an attack became increasingly important. [9]
AGRAs were not originally provided with their own Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshops, and experience proved that this was a mistake in theatres with limited support services, such as the Italian Front. Switching large groupings of artillery from one corps to another put immense strain on the corps' own REME, and later the AGRAs in Italy were provided with their own workshops, though not specifically attached to any particular AGRA. [10]
Canadian corps artillery was also referred to as an AGRA and was composed of units of the Royal Canadian Artillery as well as the Royal Artillery. [11] Canada had two AGRAs in the Second World War, one in Italy as part of I Canadian Corps and North West Europe from March 1945 and the other only in North West Europe with II Canadian Corps. [12]
After the war, 59th AGRA appears to have been transferred to the British Indian Army in 1946, becoming 59 Army Group Royal Indian Artillery, retitled 2 Army Group RIA the following year. At Independence in 1947, the order of battle of the RIA included 1 AGRIA, 2 AGRIA and 11 AGRIA (AA). [13] There were at least three Royal Pakistan Artillery AGRAs - 1, 2, and 3 AGRPAs. 5 Heavy AA Regiment Indian Artillery, on transfer to Pakistan, became part of 2 AGRPA.
Where known, with area of operation and dates formed and disbanded.
The 107th Anti-Aircraft Brigade acted as an AGRA during the Siege of Dunkirk in 1944–45, controlling field and medium artillery as well as AA units firing in both the AA and medium roles. [32]
After the Second World War, AGRAs were mainly used to control Territorial Army (TA) units, particularly AA units that did not form part of Anti-Aircraft Command. Later, a few were created in the regular Army for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
1st Army Group Royal Artillery was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign and throughout the Italian Campaign. It reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1950s to command air defence units.
1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an Air Defence formation of the British Army, during the Second World War, and served in the Battle of France and during The Blitz. It then transferred to the Middle East, where it defended the Eighth Army's lines of communication during the final phases of the North African Campaign.
The 1st Anti-Aircraft Division was an Air Defence formation of the British Army before and during the early years of the Second World War. It defended London during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.
27th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an Air Defence formation of the British Army in the Second World War that served in The Blitz and later converted to infantry.
The 36th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence battalion of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1936 until 1961, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. As part of 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade it defended air bases in East Anglia through the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Towards the end of 1944 the unit underwent infantry training, serving briefly in Norway at the end of the war. After the war, the 36th continued as a TA unit, with some women serving with it. In 1961, the remnants of the regiment amalgamated with others to form a combined infantry battalion, and all links with air defence were severed.
The 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army formed just before the Second World War, which protected London and Southern England during the Blitz and later converted into an infantry formation for the liberation of Europe.
The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during the Second World War.
The 31st Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1948. During the Second World War it defended West Yorkshire and later participated in the North West Europe campaign.
53rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1922 until 1961. During World War II it fought in the Battle of France and The Blitz, and later served in India, where it was converted to Medium Artillery. Postwar it reverted to the AA artillery role.
The 32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1936 to 1955, charged with defending the East Midlands of England.
58th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised just before World War II. It defended the East Midlands of England during The Blitz, and later served as infantry in North West Europe at the end of the war, converting to the anti-aircraft (AA) artillery role postwar.
The 33rd (Western) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended Merseyside and West Lancashire during The Blitz.
35th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in the British Territorial Army (TA) formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended the important naval base of Portsmouth during The Blitz.
48th (Hampshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed just before the outbreak of World War II from existing searchlight companies of the Royal Engineers. It served in Anti-Aircraft Command until 1944, including the Portsmouth Blitz and Operation Diver. At the end of the war it formed an infantry unit for garrison duties in liberated Europe. It continued in the postwar TA until AA Command was disbanded in 1955.
The 59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of the Territorial Army (TA), part of the British Army, and was raised in Birmingham in 1938 just before the Second World War. It later served as a light anti-aircraft gun unit and continued in the postwar TA.
36th (Scottish) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of the Second World War. It was responsible for defending eastern Scotland.
59th Army Group Royal Artillery was an artillery formation of the British Army in World War II. Having operated in the North West Europe theatre in late 1944, it was switched to India to command artillery units preparing for the liberation of South-East Asia.
42nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). It was responsible for protecting the area around Glasgow and industry along the Firth of Clyde during the Second World War.
43rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). Formed in 1938, it was responsible for protecting Teesside in North East England during the early part of the Second World War, and later defended South East England from V-1 flying bombs. It was reformed postwar and survived under different titles until 1961.
2nd Army Group Royal Artillery was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign and throughout the Italian Campaign. It reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1950s to command air defence units.