| Chapel Field Road drill hall | |
|---|---|
| Norwich, Norfolk | |
 Chapel Field Road drill hall | |
  Chapel Field Road drill hall Location in Norfolk | |
| Coordinates | 52°37′41″N1°17′09″E / 52.62801°N 1.28583°E |
| Type | Drill hall |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1866 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1866 – 1959 |
The Chapel Field Road drill hall was a military installation in Norwich, Norfolk.
The building, which was designed by James Benest in the Gothic style to incorporate part of a tower from the old city wall and built by William Gilbert, was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in October 1866. [1] It was initially used by elements of the 1st Norfolk Rifle Volunteer Corps which became the 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment in 1883. [1] It became the headquarters of the 4th Territorial Battalion the Norfolk Regiment when that battalion moved from the Bethel Street drill hall during the First World War. [2] The battalion was mobilised at the Chapel Field Road drill hall in September 1939 for service in the Middle East and then the Far East during the Second World War. [3] Following the amalgamations that lead to the formation of the 1st East Anglian Regiment in 1959, the Chapel Field Road drill hall was decommissioned and then demolished to make way for the ring road in 1963. [1]
The 54th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. The division was disbanded after the war but reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920. During the Second World War it was a home service division and did not see any combat service abroad and was disbanded in late 1943 but many of its component units went to see service in the Normandy Campaign and North-western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
East Harling is a village in the civil parish of Harling, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is the principal settlement in the parish of Harling, and is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) east of Thetford and 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-west of the city of Norwich on the banks of the River Thet.
Besthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England, about a mile east of Attleborough, on the A11 road. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 561, increasing to 778 at the 2011 Census.
The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named the 9th Regiment of Foot.
The 163rd Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service during the First World War in Gallipoli and the Middle Eastern Theatre as part of the 54th Division. In the Second World War the brigade remained in the United Kingdom until it was disbanded in late 1943.
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The Norfolk Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry (Yeomanry) regiment of Britain's Territorial Army accepted onto the establishment of the British Army in 1794. After seeing action in the Second Boer War, it served dismounted at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front during the First World War. Between the wars it converted to the Royal Artillery (TA), and served as an anti-tank regiment in France, the Western Desert, Italy and North West Europe during the Second World War. After the war it served as a TA air defence unit and then as an Army Air Corps unit.
The 1st Isle of Wight Rifle Volunteers, later the 8th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, but known informally as the 'Isle of Wight Rifles', was an auxiliary unit of the British Army formed to defend the Isle of Wight after a mid-19th Century invasion scare. During World War I it fought in the Gallipoli Campaign, taking part in the calamitous attack at Suvla Bay, and later at the battles of Gaza and Megiddo in Palestine. Between the wars it was converted to coast defence artillery and served in this role on the Isle of Wight throughout World War II. One battery was sent to reinforce the garrison of Tobruk, where it was captured in 1942. Postwar the unit converted to the air defence role, then reverted to infantry, and its successors continue in today's Army Reserve.
The Duke of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. Originally formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1793, it fought in the Second Boer war as part of the Imperial Yeomanry. In the World War I the regiment fought at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front. The unit was subsequently converted into a Royal Artillery unit, serving in the anti-tank role North Africa, Italy and France during World War II. The lineage is maintained by No. 677 Squadron AAC.
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The 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers were a unit of the British Army raised from 1859 onwards as a group of originally separate Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). They later became the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and saw action in the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns during the First World War. Converted into a searchlight unit between the wars, they served in the defence of the United Kingdom and as an infantry regiment in liberated Norway during the Second World War. Postwar they continued in the air defence role until 1961 when they reverted to infantry as part of the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The 1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force raised in the County of Norfolk in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. It became part of the Territorial Force in 1908 and served under various designations as field artillery in Palestine during World War I, and as heavy anti-aircraft artillery in North Africa and Italy during World War II. It disappeared in a merger in 1955.
The 1st Suffolk Artillery Volunteers was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army from 1860 until 1955. Raised at Lowestoft in Suffolk, it served under various designations, as field artillery in Palestine during World War I and as heavy anti-aircraft artillery defending the UK during World War II.
The Bethel Street drill hall office is a former military installation in Norwich, Norfolk. It is a Grade II* listed building.
The Cattle Market Street drill hall is a former military installation in Norwich, United Kingdom.
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The Poyser Street drill hall is a former military installation in Wrexham, Wales.
The Queen Katherine Street drill hall, sometimes known as the Aynam Road drill hall is a former military installation located on Queen Katherine Street, off Aynam Road, in Kendal, Cumbria, England.
The 2nd Sussex Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the county of Sussex in 1859. It later became the 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. A detachment served in the Second Boer War. During the First World War, the battalion fought at Gallipoli, in Sinai and Palestine, and then in the final months of the war on the Western Front. In the Second World War, both the battalion and its duplicate served in the Battle of France and were evacuated from Dunkirk. The 4th Battalion then fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein, and served in the Middle East until the end of the war. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until it lost its individual identity in a series of mergers from 1967.
The 1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the Cinque Ports of Kent and Sussex in 1859. It later became the 5th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. During the First World War, it served on the Western front as pioneers, seeing a great deal of action at Aubers Ridge, the Somme, Ypres, and in Italy. In the Second World War, both the battalion and its duplicate served in the Battle of France and were evacuated from Dunkirk. The 5th Battalion then fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein while its duplicate unit served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the campaign in North West Europe. Neither unit was reformed after the war.
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