III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.) | |
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Active | April 1916 – July 1917 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Artillery |
Size | Battalion |
Part of | ANZAC Mounted Division |
Equipment | Ordnance QF 15-pounder Ordnance QF 18-pounder |
Engagements | World War I |
III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force), along with its sister IV Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.), was a Royal Horse Artillery brigade [lower-alpha 1] of the Territorial Force that was formed in Egypt in April 1916 for the ANZAC Mounted Division.
Both brigades served with the ANZAC Mounted Division during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. In July 1917, the division's artillery was reorganized and the brigade headquarters were dissolved.
The ANZAC Mounted Division was formed in Egypt in March 1916 with four cavalry brigades, each of three regiments: the Australian 1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Brigades and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. Four British Territorial Force horse artillery batteries were assigned to the division to provide artillery support, one per brigade. [3]
III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force) was formed in April 1916 in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force for the division with [4] [lower-alpha 2]
The batteries had been assigned to the North Midland and 2nd South Western Mounted Brigades, respectively, at the outbreak of the war, [5] each equipped with four [6] Ehrhardt 15-pounder guns. [7] The batteries had arrived in Egypt independently; [3] Leicestershire RHA landed at Alexandria on 25 February 1916. [8]
In practice, the batteries were permanently attached to the mounted brigades: Leicestershire RHA to the 1st Light Horse Brigade [9] and Somerset RHA to the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. [10]
The brigade, and its batteries, served with the ANZAC Mounted Division in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign until July 1917. With the division, it saw action at the Battle of Romani (4 –14 August 1916) as part of No. 3 Section, Suez Canal Defences. This saw the repulse of the final Turkish attempt to cut the Suez Canal. [11]
The division then joined the Desert Column and with it took part in the advance across the Sinai. It fought at the Battle of Magdhaba (23 December 1916) and the Battle of Rafah (9 January 1917). [11] The batteries were then re-equipped with four 18 pounders each. [12] They then took part in the First (26 –27 March 1917) and Second Battles of Gaza (17 –19 April 1917). [11]
Leicestershire RHA departed on 20 June 1917 for the Yeomanry Mounted Division. [3] It formed part of XX Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.) from 5 July. [13]
In July 1917, the artillery of the ANZAC Mounted Division was reorganized. A new headquarters, XVIII Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.), was formed for the division and took command of Somerset RHA. It was joined by Inverness-shire and Ayrshire RHA of IV Brigade, RHA (T.F.). With the departure of its batteries, III Brigade was dissolved. [3] [lower-alpha 3]
The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, light horse and yeomanry division. The division was formed in Egypt, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed part of Desert Column, Egyptian Expeditionary Force in World War I. The division was originally made up of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade, the reconstituted 4th Light Horse Brigade, and two British yeomanry brigades; the 5th Mounted Brigade and 6th Mounted Brigade.
The Yeomanry Mounted Division was a Territorial Force cavalry division formed at Khan Yunis in Palestine in June 1917 from three yeomanry mounted brigades. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, mostly as part of the Desert Mounted Corps. In April 1918 six of the regiments were withdrawn from the division and sent to France, being converted from Yeomanry to battalions of the Machine Gun Corps. These were replaced by Indian Army cavalry regiments withdrawn from France, and the division was renamed 1st Mounted Division, the third such division to bear that title. In July the combined division was renamed as the 4th Cavalry Division.
V Lowland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery was a field artillery brigade formed from three Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery batteries in January 1916. It was assigned to the 52nd (Lowland) Division to replace I Lowland Brigade, RFA (T.F.) and joined the division in Egypt.
The West Riding Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1908. It saw active service as field artillery with 52nd (Lowland) Division in Egypt during the First World War before being broken up at the end of 1916. Post-war, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.
The Hampshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Hampshire in 1909. It saw active service during the First World War in Egypt and Palestine from 1916 to 1918, initially as field artillery with 52nd (Lowland) Division before being converted back to horse artillery and serving with the Yeomanry Mounted Division and 1st Mounted / 4th Cavalry Division. A second line battery, 2/1st Hampshire RHA, served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. Post-war, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.
The Essex Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Essex in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in Egypt and Palestine from 1916 to 1918, initially as field artillery with 52nd (Lowland) Division before being converted back to horse artillery and serving with the 2nd Mounted / 5th Cavalry Division. A second line battery, 2/1st Essex RHA, served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade.
The Glamorganshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Glamorganshire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. A second line battery, 2/1st Glamorganshire RHA, served in England and Ireland before being broken up in January 1917. Glamorganshire RHA was not reconstituted in the post-war Territorial Force.
II Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery , along with its sister I Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.), was a horse artillery brigade of the Territorial Force that was formed in September 1914 for the 2nd Mounted Division at the start of World War I.
IV Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery , along with its sister III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.), was a Royal Horse Artillery brigade of the Territorial Force that was formed in Egypt in April 1916 for the ANZAC Mounted Division.
XVIII Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a Royal Horse Artillery brigade of the Territorial Force that was formed by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine in July 1917 for the ANZAC Mounted Division. It served with the division thereafter in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and was broken up after the end of World War I.
A Battery, Honourable Artillery Company is a L118 light gun battery that provides a reserve to 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. Its predecessor was a horse artillery battery that was formed from Light Cavalry Squadron, HAC, in 1891. It transferred to the Territorial Force in 1908 as artillery support for the London Mounted Brigade.
B Battery, Honourable Artillery Company was a horse artillery battery that was formed from the Field Artillery, HAC in 1899. It transferred to the Territorial Force in 1908 as artillery support for the South Eastern Mounted Brigade.
XIX Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a Royal Horse Artillery brigade of the Territorial Force that was formed by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine in January 1917 for the Imperial Mounted Division. It served with the division thereafter in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and was broken up after the end of World War I.
The Ayrshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Ayrshire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign with the ANZAC Mounted Division from 1916 to 1918. It was disembodied after the end of the war and was not reconstituted in the post-war Territorial Force.
The Inverness-shire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Inverness-shire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign with the ANZAC Mounted Division from 1916 to 1918. A second line battery, 2/1st Inverness-shire RHA, served in the United Kingdom throughout the war. It was disembodied after the end of the war and was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery in 1920.
The Somerset Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Somerset in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign with the ANZAC Mounted Division from 1916 to 1918. A second line battery, 2/1st Somerset RHA, served on the Western Front with the 63rd Division from 1916 to 1918. It was disembodied after the end of the war and was not reconstituted in the Territorial Force in 1920.
The Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Leicestershire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in Egypt and Palestine from 1916 to 1918, initially with ANZAC Mounted Division before joining the Yeomanry Mounted Division and 1st Mounted / 4th Cavalry Division. A second line battery, 2/1st Leicestershire RHA, served on the Western Front with the 63rd Division from 1916 to 1918. Post-war, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.
The Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Shropshire in 1908 from the Shropshire Battery of the 1st Shropshire and Staffordshire Artillery Volunteers, Royal Garrison Artillery of the Volunteer Force. It saw active service during the First World War on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. A second line battery, 2/1st Shropshire RHA, also served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of another Army Field Artillery Brigade. It was reconstituted post-war as a medium artillery battery and served as such in the Second World War.
The Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Warwickshire in 1908. It was the first Territorial Force artillery unit to go overseas on active service, spending the whole of the First World War on the Western Front, mostly with 1st Cavalry Division and 29th Division. A second line battery, 2/1st Warwickshire RHA, also served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. Post-war it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.
The Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Nottinghamshire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in the Middle East – in the Senussi Campaign and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign – from 1915 to 1918. A second line battery, 2/1st Nottinghamshire RHA, served in the Mesopotamian Campaign in 1917 and 1918 as a Field Artillery battery. Post-war, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.