When the Territorial Force (TF) was created in 1908 by the Haldane Reforms,[1][2][3] each infantry division was allocated a heavy battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The West Riding Division was provided with the West Riding battery, based at York. This unit had originally been formed on 9 February 1861 as the 3rd Yorkshire (West Riding) Artillery Volunteer Corps but for almost 50 years it had been brigaded as part of the 1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers, later the 1st East Riding RGA (Volunteers).[4][5][6][7]
The West Riding Division went to its annual training camps in late July 1914, but on 3 August the units were instructed to return to their headquarters. The battery was ordered to mobilise at York on 4 August. Under the command of Major W. Graham (a retired captain in the Army Remount Service), it moved to its war station at Hedon on 16 August.[7][11][14]
On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. On 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units, and on 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate units were created, mirroring those being sent overseas. The parent battery was designated 1/1st West Riding Heavy Battery and the new unit recruiting at York became the 2/1st Battery.[8][9][11][15][16]
1/1st West Riding Heavy Battery
At first, the 1st Line West Riding Division (designated the 49th (West Riding) Division on arrival in France in May 1915) formed part of Central Force in Home Defence, but while working on defences in East Yorkshire it also underwent progressive training. On 31 March 1915 it was informed that it would soon proceed to France and join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The heavy battery received its orders on 6 April and disembarked at Le Havre on 17 April.[11][17][18]
4.7-inch gun on the Somme, 1917.
However, artillery policy in the BEF was to withdraw heavy batteries from the divisions and group them into dedicated heavy artillery brigades, so the battery was immediately posted to VIII Brigade, RGA, in II Group, Heavy Artillery Reserve.[11][18][19][20] II Group consisted of a variety of heavy and siege artillery and was tasked with Counter-battery fire for the Allies' forthcoming Artois Offensive. On the British front this opened with the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May. The group was provided with Royal Flying Corps reconnaissance aircraft fitted with wireless to assist observation in the flat country. Unfortunately the weight of the artillery support was inadequate for the task in hand: the obsolescent 4.7-inch guns were so worn that in many cases the driving bands were stripped off the shells at the muzzle, resulting in extreme inaccuracy. In spite of the counter-battery fire, German guns were able to open up on the British trenches, which were soon packed with wounded men from the first attacking wave, and support troops waiting to follow up. A second attempt to attack in the afternoon was hampered by the shortage of artillery ammunition to repeat the bombardment.[21][22]
1/1st West Riding Battery returned to 49th Division on 13 May for the continuation of the offensive on 15 May (the Battle of Festubert).[11][18][20][23] The division's role in this operation was confined to localised trench warfare, one short advance by two companies on 24 May being supported by 96 guns.[24] On 28 June the battery permanently left 49th Division and joined VIII Bde.[11][18][20]
Moving a 60-pounder gun out of its emplacement, 1917.
The obsolescent 4.7-inch guns were progressively replaced in the BEF by 60-pounders during 1915–16.[19] The policy at the time was to move batteries between heavy artillery brigades (later termed Heavy Artillery Groups or HAGs) as required. The 1/1st West Riding Bty transferred to 27th HA Bde on 3 March 1916, then to 9th HAG on 21 April and 2nd HAG in First Army on 6 June, moving with it to Reserve Army (later Fifth Army) on 10 September. The battery remained with 2nd HAG until the end of the year, being rested from 11 December to 4 January 1917.[20]
The battery then joined 55th HAG on 6 February 1917 in time for a minor operation at Miraumont on 17–18 February. 55th and three other HAGs bombarded enemy gun positions, but a thaw had turned the ground to mud, surprise had been lost, and the wire-cutting bombardment had been ineffective, so the infantry attack by II Corps failed.[25][26]
The battery was brought up to a strength of six guns on 28 February 1917 when it was joined by a section from 200th Heavy Battery, RGA, which had just arrived in France.[lower-alpha 1] On 25 March 1917 the augmented 1/1st West Riding Bty joined 12th HAG, which was one of the groups assigned to support XVII Corps' successful attack on the first day of the Battle of Arras.[8][20][27][28]
1/1st West Riding Bty transferred to 28th HAG on 8 August 1917, with which it remained (apart from short attachments) until the end of the war. In August 1917, 28th HAG was supporting Fifth Army in the dreadful Third Ypres Offensive, moving to Second Army when that took over part of the line on 16 September for the artillery-led battles of the Menin Road Ridge, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde and Poelcappelle before the offensive bogged down in the two Battles of Passchendaele. 1/1st West Riding Battery was withdrawn for rest and refitting on 8 November. 28th Brigade reverted to Fourth Army during the winter of 1917–18.[20][29]
HAGs became RGA Brigades again on 1 February 1918, by which time the 28th was a 'Mixed' brigade containing both 60-pounder gun and 6-inch howitzer batteries. It transferred to First Army on 1 May. On 28 June 1918, 28th was one of the RGA brigades supporting an operation by XV Corps just east of the forest of Nieppe designed to improve the British line (the action of La Becque).[20][30]
28th (Mixed) Brigade joined Fifth Army on 7 July 1918 and remained with it until the Armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918.[20][31] 1/1st West Riding Bty was detached to 49th Bde RGA (normally composed of 8-inch howitzers) with Fourth Army from 21 August to 16 September, during the Second Battle of the Somme returning to 28th Bde thereafter.[20][32] It was with 28th Bde during Fifth Army's pursuit of the defeated German army towards the Scheldt in October 1918, when the 'heavies' were principally employed on harassing fire on the roads and tracks the Germans were using, and on concentrations of fire on headquarters and exits from villages, while trying to avoid civilian casualties.[20][33][34]
When the BEF demobilised in 1919, the battery was placed in suspended animation.[9]
2/1st West Riding Heavy Battery
The 2/1st West Riding Heavy Battery began to form once the 1/1st Battery had volunteered for overseas service, and it served with the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division.[6][9][16][35][36] Although early recruitment to the 62nd Division was generally good, this was tempered by the need for critical workers to be released back to industry, and to provide drafts for the 49th Division in France. Training was also hampered by the lack of guns and equipment. In March 1915 the division moved into billets around Derbyshire and Nottingham for training, then in May to camps in 'The Dukeries' area before concentrating round Retford in October. The division moved to the Newcastle upon Tyne area in December, where it dug entrenched lines in the Tyne Defences.[16][36]
Early in 1916 the division moved to Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain for battle training, but the continual drain of drafts for the BEF held back the completion of this training and in June it moved to the East Coast defences round Lowestoft. In October it moved inland to the Bedford area to complete its equipment for overseas service.[16][36]
However, when the 62nd Division finally embarked for France in January 1917 the heavy battery did not accompany it, but was detached and remained in England. It served in the Tyne Defences, being stationed at Blyth, Northumberland (where its four old 4.7-inch guns supplemented the coast defence battery equipped with two 6-inch guns) and then at Whitburn, South Tyneside until the end of the war.[16][35][37]
The 2/1st West Riding Battery was disbanded in 1919.[9]
Postwar
When the renamed Territorial Army (TA) was formed in 1920–2, the former West Riding Heavy Battery was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 as two batteries, based at York and Huddersfield. It was combined with two batteries reconstituted from the former North Midland Heavy Battery to form the 9th (West Riding & Staffordshire) Medium Brigade, RGA, renumbered 54th the following year:[6][8][9][7][38][39][40][41]
216 (2nd Staffordshire) Medium Battery (Howitzers) at Drill Hall, Stoke-on-Trent
The RGA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery (RA) in 1924.[38] In these postwar years the medium artillery was still equipped with wartime 60-pounder guns and 6-inch howitzers.[42]
54th Medium Bde HQ and the two West Yorkshire batteries were in 49th Divisional Area, while the two Staffordshire batteries were in 46th Divisional Area. This awkward arrangement persisted until 1932 when the brigade was split up, the two Staffordshire batteries becoming 51st (Midland) Medium Brigade, while the West Riding batteries were joined by two from County Durham, giving the following organisation:[9][7][38][39][41]
The need for increased Anti-Aircraft (AA) provision for Britain's cities saw a further reorganisation of TA artillery units in the late 1930s. This resulted in the breaking up of 54th Medium Brigade in October 1937:[9][7][38][39]
The 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army from 1860 to 1956. During World War I, it was the only coastal defence unit to engage the enemy, and it also trained siege gunners for service on the Western Front. It continued its coast defence role in World War II, after which it was converted into air defence and engineer units.
The North Midland (Staffordshire) Heavy Battery was a Territorial Force (TF) unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) formed in Staffordshire in 1908. It fought on the Western Front during World War I. Converted to medium artillery in the 1920s, the unit took part in the Battle of France and Dunkirk Evacuation in the early part of World War II, before returning to action in North Africa and Italy, and finally in North West Europe.
The 1st Fife Artillery Volunteers, later the Highland (Fifeshire) Heavy Battery, was a volunteer unit first recruited in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1860, which fought on the Western Front in the First World War. Its successor units expanded recruitment to Aberdeenshire and again fought in North West Europe, during the Second World War.
The Wessex (Hampshire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery was a volunteer unit of the British Territorial Force formed in 1908. It fought on the Western Front during World War I.
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 North Riding Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit formed in the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1860 in response to an invasion scare. The unit later became part of the Territorial Force and served on the Western Front during World War I, while their successors served as anti-aircraft gunners in World War II.
The 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based at Hull and along the Humber Estuary. Its successor units provided field artillery on the Western Front during World War I and air defence artillery during and after World War II. Latterly it formed part of the Humber Artillery based at Hull.
The East Riding Royal Garrison Artillery (ERRGA) was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based at Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It provided coastal defence artillery along the Humber Estuary from 1908 to 1956, manned siege batteries on the Western Front during World War I at the Somme and Ypres and played a role in the pursuit of the German army during the Hundred Days Offensive. It served as infantry in Allied-occupied Germany after World War II. Its successor units in the Territorial Army included anti-aircraft artillery and field engineers.
The Edinburgh City Artillery was a part-time unit of Britain's Volunteer Force raised in the City of Edinburgh in 1859. It was the parent unit for a number of batteries in the later Territorial Force, including heavy batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery that fought on the Western Front during World War I. It later formed a heavy regiment that served in the Battle of France and the campaign in North West Europe during World War II, while a spin-off medium regiment fought in Sicily and Italy. Its successor units continued in the postwar Territorial Army until the 1960s.
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 1st Carnarvonshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army in North Wales from 1862 to 1922. It fought on the Western Front in World War I. Postwar it was amalgamated with the Denbighshire Hussars as a medium artillery regiment that served in World War II.
The 8th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers was a unit of the British Volunteer Force raised in Liverpool, Lancashire, in 1860. Later it transferred to the Territorial Force as a brigade of heavy artillery, and its batteries fought in many of the great battles on the Western Front in World War I.
The North Scottish Royal Garrison Artillery and its successors were Scottish part-time coast defence units of the British Army from 1908 to 1961. Although the unit saw no active service, it supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I.
67th Siege Battery, was a heavy artillery unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) formed in Scotland during World War I. It saw active service on the Western Front at the Somme, Arras, Ypres, and in the final Hundred Days Offensive.
The Forth Royal Garrison Artillery and its successors were Scottish part-time coast defence units of the British Army from 1908 to 1956. Although they saw no active service, they supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I.
The 1st Dorsetshire Artillery Volunteers and its successors were part-time coast defence units of the British Army from 1859 to 1956. Although these units saw no action, they protected the Dorset Coast, including the naval base of Portland Harbour, in both World Wars and also supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I. The unit continued in the Territorial Army after World War II.
The 1st Lancashire Artillery Volunteers, popularly known as 'Brown's Corps', was an auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in Liverpool in 1859. As the Lancashire & Cheshire Royal Garrison Artillery in the Territorial Force it was responsible for defending the Mersey Estuary and the coastline of North West England. It was one of the few coast defence units to fire a shot during World War I but also provided personnel for a number of siege batteries that saw action on the Western Front. It continued in the coast defence role during World War II, at the end of which it sent troops to work in the rear areas in Europe. It was reformed postwar but was broken up when the coast artillery branch was abolished in 1956.
The Sussex Royal Garrison Artillery and its successors were part-time coast defence units of the British Army from 1910 to 1932. Although the unit saw no active service, it supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I.
The 1st Suffolk & Harwich Volunteer Artillery, later the Essex & Suffolk Royal Garrison Artillery was an auxiliary coastal artillery unit of the British Army first raised in 1899. It defended the ports and naval bases around the estuaries of the Rivers Orwell and Stour. Although the unit saw no active service, it supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I. It was greatly expanded in World War II to defend the invasion-threatened East Anglian Coast from Harwich to Great Yarmouth. Postwar it continued in the coast and air defence roles until it disappeared in a series of amalgamations from the 1950s.
The South African Heavy Artillery (SAHA) was a regiment formed in 1915 as part of the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force to serve under British command during World War I. It never fought as a single formation, but contributed a number of batteries and brigades to the Royal Garrison Artillery that fought on the Western Front from 1916 until the Armistice.
References
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN1-847347-39-8.
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN1-847347-39-8.
Ian F.W. Beckett, Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908, Aldershot, The Ogilby Trusts, 1982, ISBN0 85936-271 X.
Col John K. Dunlop, The Development of the British Army 1899–1914, London: Methuen, 1938.
Brig-Gen James E. Edmonds & Lt-Col R. Maxwell-Hyslop, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1918, Vol V, 26th September–11th November, The Advance to Victory, London: HM Stationery Office, 1947/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1993, ISBN1-870423-06-2.
Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Western Front 1914–18, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986, ISBN1-870114-00-0.
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Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, ISBN1-85753-080-2.
J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN0-9508205-2-0.
Norman Litchfield & Ray Westlake, The Volunteer Artillery 1859–1908 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1982, ISBN0-9508-2050-4.
Laurie Magnus, The West Riding Territorials in the Great War, London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1920//Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN1-845740-77-7.
Edward M. Spiers, The Army and Society 1815–1914, London: Longmans, 1980, ISBN0-582-48565-7.
Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army, London: War Office, 7 November 1927.
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