M Battery Royal Horse Artillery

Last updated

M Battery Royal Horse Artillery
Active23 January 1809 –present
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Allegiance Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg Hon East India Coy (till 1858)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom (post 1858)
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Artillery
Role Headquarters
Size Battery
Part of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Garrison/HQ Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland, England
Engagements Anglo-Egyptian War
Second Boer War
Third Anglo-Afghan War
Second World War
Western Desert Campaign
Tunisia Campaign
Italian Campaign
North West Europe Campaign
Battle honours Ubique

M (Headquarters) Battery Royal Horse Artillery is the Headquarters Battery of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, part of the Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army. As of 2015, it is based at Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland, England. The Battery Commander is Maj B Johnston RHA.

Contents

History

Madras Horse Artillery

M Battery, Royal Horse Artillery was formed on 23 January 1809 as 2nd Troop, Madras Horse Artillery, a horse artillery battery of the Honourable East India Company's Madras Army. [1] On 5 August 1825, it was redesignated as B Troop, 1st Brigade, Madras Horse Artillery [2] as the Madras Horse Artillery expanded to 8 troops and was organized as two brigades. A reduction to 6 troops on 4 January 1831 resulted in the brigades being discontinued and the remaining troops lettered in a single sequence, hence becoming B Troop, Madras Horse Artillery. [3]

As a result of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Crown took direct control of India from the East India Company on 1 November 1858 under the provisions of the Government of India Act 1858. The Presidency armies transferred to the direct authority of the British Crown and its European units were transferred to the British Army. Henceforth artillery, the mutineers' most effective arm, was to be the sole preserve of the British Army (with the exception of certain Mountain Artillery batteries). On 19 February 1862, the Madras Horse Artillery transferred to the Royal Artillery as its 3rd Horse Artillery Brigade [lower-alpha 1] and B Troop became B Battery, 3rd Horse Brigade, RA. [2]

Late Victorian era

The battery was stationed at Secunderabad from June 1862. [5] [6] A reorganization of the horse artillery on 13 April 1864 saw 3rd Brigade became D Brigade. [7] [lower-alpha 2] As battery designations were tied to the brigade the battery was assigned to, the battery was now designated B Battery, D Brigade. [2]

From 1866, the term "Royal Horse Artillery" appeared in Army List [8] hence the battery was designated B Battery, D Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery from about this time. Another reorganization on 14 April 1877 saw the number of brigades reduced to three (of 10 batteries each) and D Brigade was broken up. Its batteries were transferred to B and C Brigades and redesignated again, hence the battery became G Battery, B Brigade. [9] The number of brigades was further reduced to two (of 13 batteries each) in 1882 without effecting the designation of the battery. [10] The battery took part in the Anglo-Egyptian War, notably the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882. [6]

The brigade system was finally abolished on 1 July 1889. Henceforth, batteries were designated in a single alphabetical sequence in order of seniority from date of formation [11] and the battery took on its final designation as M Battery, Royal Horse Artillery. [2]

Equipped with six 12 pounders, [12] [13] the battery was sent to South Africa, unbrigaded, [14] [lower-alpha 3] and saw active service in the Second Boer War including the Relief of Mafeking. [6] [15]

Early 20th century

The brigade system was reintroduced on 1 March 1901, this time as tactical formations, and the battery was assigned to the XIV Brigade-Division, RHA (redesignated as VIII Brigade, RHA on 1 October 1906) along with Q Battery [16] and was stationed at Woolwich. [17]

By the time the First World War broke out, the battery had been re-equipped with six quick-firing 13 pounders [13] and was stationed at Risalpur, India with the 1st (Peshawar) Division. [18] On mobilization it was assigned to the 1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade. It remained in India throughout the war, the only RHA battery to do so, [19] [lower-alpha 4] seeing extensive service on the North-West Frontier. Between 1914 and 1917 it was reduced to four guns as it provided a section [lower-alpha 5] as reinforcements for the Western Front. [25] In May 1919, it mobilized with the 1st (Risalpur) Cavalry Brigade and took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. [1] [26]

Inter-war period

Light Dragon Mark II tractor towing a 3.7 inch howitzer on Carriage Mk IV and limber. 3.7inchHowitzerTowedByLightDragonTractor.jpg
Light Dragon Mark II tractor towing a 3.7 inch howitzer on Carriage Mk IV and limber.

In the aftermath of the First World War, the Royal Horse Artillery was reorganized as it returned to pre-war levels and the battery was assigned to I Brigade, RHA. Further reductions saw the RHA shrink to five brigades (of three batteries each) by March 1920; [27] VIII Brigade, RHA was absorbed in I Brigade [16] and, in particular, M Battery absorbed AA Battery [lower-alpha 6] on 4 January 1920 (the batteries were separated again on 11 May 1938). [2] [28]

By March 1920, the battery was overseas again, in Egypt. [30] In October 1923 it returned to the United Kingdom and was stationed at Exeter. [31] In November 1926 it moved to Aldershot where it was transferred to III Brigade, RHA. [32] 1934 saw the start of mechanization; M and A Batteries were the first RHA batteries to be converted, replacing their horses and 13 pounders with 3.7" Howitzers towed by Light Dragon gun tractors. [33] In September 1937 it moved back to Egypt with the brigade and was at Abbassia. [32]

Two significant changes occurred in 1938. Firstly, artillery brigades were reorganized from three six-gun batteries to two 12-gun batteries. Rather than disband existing batteries, they were instead linked in pairs. As a result, M Battery was linked with P Battery to form M/P Battery on 11 May. [2] The second change was that hereafter brigades were redesignated as regiments and III Brigade became 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery on 27 August with D/J and M/P Batteries. [32] In the event, the batteries were unlinked within months (in September 1939) and the regiment operated with four batteries (D, J, M and P). [34]

Second World War

By the outbreak of the Second World War, 3rd Regiment, RHA was still in Egypt and on 16 October 1939 was assigned to Headquarters RA Group (Middle East Reserve). [35] M Battery, however, was permanently attached to the Armoured Division (Egypt) (later the 7th Armoured Division, the "Desert Rats") in the anti-tank role [36] armed with 2 pounder guns. [37] The battery was to remain with the 7th Armoured Division for the rest of the war. [36]

In January 1940, the 7th Support Group was formed for the division and the battery joined it on 22 January. The rest of 3rd RHA did not join the Support Group until 1 March 1941. In the meantime, the battery took part in the Western Desert Campaign: the Battle of Sidi Barrani (8 –11 December 1940), the Battle of Bardia (3 –5 January 1941), the Capture of Tobruk (21 and 22 January) and the Battle of Beda Fomm (5 –8 February), and the whole regiment in Operation Crusader (18 November –10 December) [38]  –notably the Battle of Sidi Rezegh. [6]

The regiment left the 7th Support Group on 8 February 1942 (the day before it was reformed as the 7th Motor Brigade) [38] and was assigned directly to the 7th Armoured Division. [36]

It later took part in Operation Overlord. [1]

Post war

In 1993, the battery was amalgamated with the HQ Battery of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery to become M (Headquarters) Battery. [1]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The original Horse Brigade Royal Artillery formed 1st Horse Brigade RA, the 1st Brigade Bengal Horse Artillery became 2nd Horse Brigade RA, the Madras Horse Artillery became 3rd Horse Brigade RA, the Bombay Horse Artillery became 4th Horse Brigade RA and the 2nd Brigade Bengal Horse Artillery became 5th Horse Brigade RA. The 3rd Brigade Bengal Horse Artillery was split between 2nd and 5th Horse Brigades RA. These brigades performed an administrative, rather than tactical, role. [4]
  2. ↑ The 1st Brigade with 10 batteries was much larger than the other four (with four to seven batteries each) so was split as A and B Brigades, 2nd Brigade become C Brigade, 3rd become D Brigade, 4th become E Brigade, and 5th become F Brigade. [7]
  3. ↑ Of the 10 RHA batteries that took part in the Second Boer War: [14]
  4. ↑ Of the other eight RHA batteries in India in August 1914:
  5. ↑ A Subsection consisted of a single gun and limber drawn by six horses (with three drivers), eight gunners (riding on the limber or mounted on their own horses), and an ammunition wagon also drawn by six horses (with three drivers). [24] Two Subsections formed a Section and in a six gun battery these would be designated as Left, Centre and Right Sections. [13]
  6. ↑ From 1 July 1889, RHA batteries were lettered in a single alphabetical sequence in order of seniority from date of formation. [11] When more than 26 batteries were needed, double letters were used, AA, [28] BB, [29] etc.

Related Research Articles

3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. They are currently based at Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland, England.

J Battery Royal Horse Artillery are a Close Support Battery of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. They were currently based in Caen Barracks in Hohne, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Cavalry Division (United Kingdom)</span> Inactive British Army formation

The 2nd Cavalry Division was a division of the regular British Army that saw service in the Peninsular War and in World War I, when it also known as Gough's Command, after its commanding general. It was part of the British Expeditionary Force that served in France in from 1914 to 1918. It was involved in most of the major actions where cavalry were used as a mounted mobile force, and also many where the troops were dismounted and effectively served as infantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Z Battery Royal Artillery</span> British Army artillery battery

Z Battery RA was a Battery of 5th Regiment Royal Artillery in the Royal Artillery. It had the Surveillance and Target Acquisition role and was equipped with various weapon platform locating equipment using radars and acoustic sound ranging assets.

VIII Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It was dissolved at the outbreak of World War I as its constituent batteries were posted to other formations. It was briefly resurrected post-war before being dissolved once again. A related unit 8th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery also had a brief existence post-World War II.

I Indian Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery formed at the outbreak of World War I. It served with 1st Indian Cavalry Division on the Western Front. It was redesignated XVI Brigade, RHA in February 1917 and XVI Army Brigade, RHA in March 1918. It was disbanded after the war.

II Indian Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery formed at the outbreak of World War I. It served with the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division on the Western Front. It was redesignated XVII Brigade, RHA in February 1917 and XVII Army Brigade, RHA just before being disbanded in April 1918.

6th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery was a Regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery that acted as a training formation during World War II. It was the last RHA unit to serve in India between December 1945 and April 1947, before being redesignated as 6th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in Palestine in 1948.

V Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It served with 8th Division on the Western Front in World War I before becoming V Army Brigade, RHA in January 1917. It was reformed after the war but was disbanded in October 1928.

IV Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It served with 3rd Cavalry Division throughout World War I but was dissolved shortly thereafter.

III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It served with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions on the Western Front throughout World War I.

2nd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery was a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery that served in the Second World War. It saw action in France, Greece, North Africa and Italy. It was redesignated as 2nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1958.

I Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It was dissolved at the outbreak of World War I as its constituent batteries were posted to other formations.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery</span> Former British Army horse 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.

G Parachute Battery Royal Horse Artillery is a close support battery of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, part of the Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army, currently based in Merville Barracks in Colchester.

I Parachute Battery Royal Horse Artillery is the Headquarters battery of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, part of the Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army, currently based in Albemarle Barracks in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

H Battery Royal Horse Artillery is a battery of 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, part of the Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army. As of 2015, it is based at Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland, England and is equipped with GMLRS.

V Battery Royal Horse Artillery was a battery of the Royal Horse Artillery. Formed in 1804, the battery took part in the Napoleonic Wars – notably the Peninsular War and Battle of Waterloo – before being placed into suspended animation in 1816 as part of the usual post-war reductions of the British Army.

T Battery Royal Artillery is an air defence battery of the Royal Artillery that serves with the British Army's 12 Regiment Royal Artillery. It is stationed at Baker Barracks, Thorney Island, West Sussex.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) . Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clarke 1993 , p. 101
  3. ↑ Clarke 1993 , pp. 100–109
  4. ↑ Frederick 1984, pp. 428–429
  5. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 139
  6. 1 2 3 4 "M (Headquarters) Battery History". 3 RHA Past & Present Members Association. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 Clarke 1993 , p. 53
  8. ↑ Frederick 1984 , p. 431
  9. ↑ Frederick 1984 , p. 433
  10. ↑ Frederick 1984 , p. 435
  11. 1 2 Clarke 1993 , p. 54
  12. ↑ "Battle of Paardenburg". British Battles.com. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 Clarke 1993 , p. 45
  14. 1 2 Clarke 1993 , p. 55
  15. ↑ "Royal Horse Artillery - M Battery". Anglo Boer War website. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  16. 1 2 Frederick 1984 , p. 445
  17. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 142
  18. ↑ Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914" . Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Perry 1993 , p. 36
  20. ↑ Perry 1993, p. 14
  21. ↑ Perry 1993, p. 18
  22. ↑ Perry 1993, p. 31
  23. ↑ Perry 1993, p. 30
  24. ↑ Clarke 1993, p. 43
  25. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 60
  26. ↑ Perry 1993 , p. 38
  27. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 62
  28. 1 2 Clarke 1993, p. 99
  29. ↑ Clarke 1993, p. 100
  30. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 119
  31. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 120
  32. 1 2 3 Clarke 1993 , p. 131
  33. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 50
  34. ↑ Clarke 1993 , p. 151
  35. ↑ Joslen 1990 , p. 469
  36. 1 2 3 Joslen 1990 , p. 19
  37. ↑ Joslen 1990 , p. 130
  38. 1 2 Joslen 1990 , p. 218

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.