| Stockport Armoury | |
|---|---|
| Stockport | |
 Stockport Armoury | |
  Stockport Armoury Location in Greater Manchester | |
| Coordinates | 53°24′10″N2°09′42″W / 53.40266°N 2.16165°W |
| Type | Drill hall |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1862 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1862 – Present |
Stockport Armoury is a military installation in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is a Grade II listed building. [1]
The building was designed by Henry Bowman as the headquarters of the 4th Administrative Battalion, Cheshire Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1862. [2] The unit evolved to become the 4th Volunteer Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment in 1883 and the 6th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment in 1908. [3] The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the Western Front [4] and then being disbanded in 1920. [3]
After the war, a new 6th (Cheshire and Shropshire) Medium Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery, was formed at the Armoury from the Cheshire Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, incorporating the former 6th Bn Cheshire Regiment and the Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery. In 1921, the new unit was redesignated 60th (6th Cheshire and Shropshire) Medium Brigade, RGA. [5] [6] [7] In the late 1930s, the unit was converted into 81st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, which saw service in The Blitz, in the Orkney and Shetland Defences, and in the Middle East during World War II. After the war it became 360th (Mobile) Heavy AA Regiment, but was amalgamated with other regiments in Manchester when Anti-Aircraft Command was disbanded in 1955. [6]
"A" Company, the Mercian Volunteers was formed at the Armoury in 1967 and evolved to become the "A" Company, the 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment in 1988 and Salerno Company, the Fire Support Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment in 1995. [8] The presence at the Armoury was reduced to a mortar platoon of "B" (Cheshire) Company, The King's and Cheshire Regiment in 1999, of "A" (Cheshire) Company, The West Midlands Regiment in 2006 and of "A" (Cheshire) Company, 4th Battalion, The Mercian Regiment in 2007. [8] The Armoury is still an active Army Reserve Centre. [9]
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to the immediate challenges to security in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Published under the then Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, the report effectively introduced a series of cutbacks to core equipment and manpower and the scaling back of a series of future capital procurement projects. This was justified due to the implementation of a policy termed Network Enabled Capability. The review also outlined a major restructuring and consolidation of British Army Infantry regiments.
The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry. Duncan Sandys, the recently appointed Minister of Defence, produced the paper. The decisions were influenced by two major factors: the finances of the country and the coming of the missile age.
The 42nd Infantry Brigade, also known as 42 Brigade, was a brigade of the British Army.
The 25th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised as part of Lord Kitchener's Third New Army (K3) in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the Great War. It served on the Western Front for most of the war.
The Home Service Force (HSF) was a Home Guard type force established in the United Kingdom in 1982. Each HSF unit was placed with either a Regular Army or Territorial Army regiment or battalion for administrative purposes and given that formation's title, cap badge and recruited from volunteers aged 18–60 with previous British forces experience. It was introduced to guard key points and installations likely to be the target of enemy special forces and saboteurs, so releasing other units for mobile defence roles. It was stood down in 1992 due to budget cuts.
The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineage is maintained by C Squadron, the Queen's Own Yeomanry.
The Shropshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1795, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an artillery regiment in the Second World War. It was then amalgamated with the Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
The Liverpool Brigade, later 165th (Liverpool) Brigade was an infantry brigade of Britain's Volunteer Force that served during World War I with the 55th Division of the British Army. During World War II, again as part of the 55th Infantry Division, the brigade remained in the United Kingdom.
The 224th Brigade was a Home Defence formation of the British Army in World War I and World War II. It existed under several variations of the 224th Brigade title.
The Staffordshire Rangers was a volunteer unit of the British Army from the 'Potteries' area around Stoke-on-Trent. It fought on the Western Front in World War I as the 5th Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment. In World War II it served as a Royal Artillery searchlight regiment in Home Defence and was the first complete searchlight unit to land in North-Western Europe after the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. Its successors continue to serve in the Army Reserve as part of the Mercian Regiment.
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The St Paul's Street drill hall is a military installation in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. It is a Grade II listed building.
The Old Street drill hall is a former military installation in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England.
The Cheshire Artillery Volunteers was a brigade of Volunteer artillery units raised in the county of Cheshire in the mid-19th century. Their successors served as field artillery in Palestine during World War I and as anti-aircraft (AA) gunners in the Middle East in World War II. They continued in the air defence role in the Territorial Army until 1955.
The 6th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment was a Territorial Force (TF) unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer units recruited in Cheshire since 1859, it was one of the first TF units to go to the Western Front in World War I. It had a wandering existence, moving frequently from one command to another, seeing a considerable amount of combat at the Somme, Ypres, during the German spring offensive and in the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive. After the war it was amalgamated into a local artillery regiment.
The 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters was a former territorial infantry battalion that existed for a short time towards the end of the Cold War. Following reductions to the Territorial Army (TA) in 1992, the battalion was disbanded with elements helping to form RHQ & HQ Sqn of 37 Signal Regiment, and 96 Signal Squadron. This squadron was then reduced to a signal troop in 2009, but continues to exist as part of 48 Signal Squadron.
The Mercian Volunteers was a Territorial Army infantry regiment of the British Army, in existence from 1967 to 1988. Upon formation, it consisted of a singular battalion, however it later raised a second in 1975.
The 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment was a part-time infantry battalion based in Cheshire, England and tasked with home defence during its tenure. The battalion was formed in the latter part of the Cold War, but later disbanded forming two companies in the new local Territorial Army (TA) regiment, the King's and Cheshire Regiment. Today, the battalion's lineage is continued in Mortar Platoon, B Company, 4th Battalion, Mercian Regiment.
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