| Kent Militia Artillery 2nd Brigade, Cinque Ports Division, RA Kent Artillery (Eastern Division) RA Kent Royal Garrison Artillery (M) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1798–1815 1853–1909 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Militia |
| Role | Garrison Artillery |
| Part of | Cinque Ports Division, RA (1882–89) Eastern Division, RA (1889–1902) |
| Garrison/HQ | Dover |
The Kent Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based at Dover in Kent, from 1853 to 1909.
The long-standing national Militia of Great Britain was greatly expanded during the French Revolutionary Wars, and one of the new regiments was an artillery unit in the county of Kent, raised at Dover in 1798. It was embodied for full-time service from 1803 to 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars. Thereafter it disappeared from the Army List. [1]
The militia was revived by the Militia Act of 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the Militia Ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances: [2] [3] [4] [5]
The 1852 Act introduced a number of Militia Artillery units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service. [2] [3]
The unit was raised in Kent in May 1853 with six batteries under the title of Kent Militia Artillery with headquarters at Dover. The colonel was John Townshend, 3rd Viscount Sydney and the first commandant was Lieutenant-Colonel John Farnaby Cator, a Half-pay Captain in the RA, who later changed his surname to Lennard and was created a Baronet. Several of the other early officers were half-pay or retired officers of the Royal Engineers or Brigade of Guards or were prominent personages in Kent, including Major the Hon. Charles Stewart Hardinge, MP, son of the Commander-in-Chief. [1] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Captain Walter G. Stirling, RA, (later 3rd Baronet) was appointed Lt-Col on 24 April 1876, having been the major since 5 December 1871. [9]
Following the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned places in an order of battle of the 'Garrison Army' to Militia Artillery units: the Kent Artillery's war station was at Dover, including Dover Castle, Drop Redoubt, the Western Heights and Breakwater batteries, and the forts and batteries from Dymchurch to Ramsgate. [9]
The Artillery Militia was reorganised into 11 divisions of garrison artillery in 1882, and the Kent unit became the senior Militia unit in the new Cinque Ports Division, taking the title of 2nd Brigade, Cinque Ports Division, RA (the 1st Brigade comprised the Regular RA units of the division). When the Cinque Ports Division was abolished in 1889 its militia were transferred to the Eastern Division and the unit's title was altered to Kent Artillery (Eastern Division) RA. [1] [2] [7] [9] [11] [12]
From 1899 the Militia artillery formally became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), and when the RGA abolished the divisional structure the Dover unit took the title of Kent RGA (M) on 1 January 1902. [1] [2] [7] [9]
The unit was twice embodied for home defence: [6] [7] [8] [9]
Although the Kent Artillery volunteered for overseas service during the Boer War, this offer was not accepted. However, two officers of the regiment did serve as individuals, and both were Mentioned in dispatches: Capt C.E. Schlesinger was attached to 8th Division Ammunition Column, [7] [13] and Capt R. De B. Hassell was attached to the Remount Department. On 8 December 1900 he was in charge of a train of remounts that was derailed and shelled between Kokomere and Klerkensdorp. Hassell personally uncoupled the engine and sent it for help while he and 11 others held off 100 attackers and saved the train. [7]
After the Boer War, the future of the Militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War. Some batteries of Militia Artillery were to be converted to field artillery. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out. [14] [15]
Under the sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the Special Reserve, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for Regular units serving overseas in wartime. Although the majority of the officers and men of the Kent RGA (M) accepted transfer to the Special Reserve Royal Field Artillery, becoming the Kent Royal Field Reserve Artillery on 7 June 1908, all these units were disbanded in March 1909. [1] [2] [7] [16] [17] [18] Instead the men of the RFA Special Reserve would form Brigade Ammunition Columns for the Regular RFA brigades on the outbreak of war. [19]
In 1853 the officers of the Kent Militia Artillery wore badges that were unique to the unit. Their black leather helmet carried a plate consisting of an ornate silver shield surmounted by a crown. The shield bore a gilt grenade, on the ball of which was the Royal 'VR' Cypher. Below the grenade were crossed gilt cannons. A separate silver scroll beneath the plate was inscribed 'KENT'. The officers' black leather pouch belt bore a white metal plate comprising a simple shield with the White horse of Kent stamped in the centre. Below the shield was a scroll inscribed with the Kent motto 'INVICTA', and either side of the shield was a spray of leaves. After 1882 the officers wore the standard gilt Cinque Ports Division helmet plate. An 1896 photographs shows that the Kent was one of the few artillery militia corps to issue all ranks with the standard British Army blue cloth helmet of the period. [7]
The 1st Kent Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery from 1860 to 1956. Primarily serving as coastal artillery defending the Port of Dover and other harbours in South-East England, the unit's successors also served in the heavy artillery role on the Western Front during World War I and as anti-aircraft artillery during the Blitz and later in the North African and Italian campaigns of World War II.
The 1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery from 1860 to 1956. Raised as coastal defence artillery, the unit later served as field artillery in Mesopotamia during World War I, and as anti-aircraft artillery during the Blitz and in the Middle East during World War II.
The Durham Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in County Durham from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War where they distinguished themselves fighting as infantry in the defence of Fort Prospect.
The Yorkshire Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire from 1860 to 1909.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Own Edinburgh Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the City of Edinburgh from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War.
The Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Lancashire from 1853 to 1909.
The Antrim Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, from 1853 to 1919. It numbered 1st on the order of precedence of the Militia Artillery. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War. During World War I it defended Belfast Lough and trained gunners for service overseas. Subsequent units continued the Antrim Artillery traditions.
The Mid-Ulster Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Northern Ireland. Formed from three smaller units in 1875, it served until 1909.
The Dublin City Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Dublin, Ireland, from 1854 to 1909.
The Galway Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in County Galway, Ireland, from 1854 to 1888.
The Royal Glamorgan Artillery Militia (RGAM) was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based at Swansea in Glamorgan, South Wales, from 1854 to 1909.
The Northumberland Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the County of Northumberland, from 1854 to 1909.
The Royal Sussex Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery from the County of Sussex, which served from 1853 to 1909.
The Argyll & Bute Militia was a part-time military unit in the west of Scotland from 1798 to 1909, serving in Home Defence during the French Revolutionary War, Napoleonic Wars and Second Boer War. Originally an infantry regiment, it was converted into artillery in 1861.
The Clare Militia was a British militia regiment from 1798 to 1909. It was based in County Clare. At first an infantry unit, it was converted to artillery in 1882, making it the last artillery militia unit raised in the British forces. It was disbanded in 1909.
The 1st Inverness-shire Artillery Volunteers, later the Highland Artillery Volunteers, was a Scottish auxiliary unit of the British Army from 1860 to 1908. With its headquarters in Inverness, it was recruited for home defence from a number of shires in the northern Scottish Highlands. It later provided the basis for a number of Territorial Force units in the Highlands.
The Cinque Ports Division, Royal Artillery was an administrative grouping of garrison units of the Royal Artillery, Artillery Militia and Artillery Volunteers within the British Army's South Eastern District from 1882 to 1889.
The Eastern Division, Royal Artillery, was an administrative grouping of garrison units of the Royal Artillery, Artillery Militia and Artillery Volunteers within the British Army's Eastern District from 1882 to 1902.
The Fifeshire Militia was an auxiliary regiment raised in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1798. It served in home defence during the Napoleonic Wars and again during the Crimean War when it was converted into an artillery unit as the Fifeshire Artillery Militia. It served in home defence again during the Indian Mutiny and the Second Boer War. It was disbanded in 1909.