Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery
| Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.) 1/1st Nottinghamshire RHA (T.F.) | |
|---|---|
First World War
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| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Joe Laycock |
The Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery was a
History
Formation
The
On 18 March 1908, the Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force) was proposed as a new unit and it was recognized by the Army Council on 31 July 1908 (and the ammunition column on the same date).[3][4] The unit consisted of
- Battery HQ at Nottingham
- Nottinghamshire Battery at Nottingham
- Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade Ammunition Column also at Nottingham[5]
The unit was equipped with four
First World War
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade
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Organisation on 4 August 1914 |
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In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course.[7]
1/1st Nottinghamshire
The 1st Line battery was embodied with the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the
In November 1914, the division moved to
- Overseas service
In March 1915, the 2nd Mounted Division was put on warning for overseas service. In early April, the division starting leaving
The 2nd Mounted Division was dismounted in August 1915 and served at
The battery never rejoined the division; on 28 November 1915 the battery departed Ismailia for the
- Imperial Mounted Division
The
The battery served with the Imperial Mounted Division in the
- Australian Mounted Division
In June 1917, the Desert Column was reorganised from two mounted divisions of four brigades each (ANZAC and Imperial Mounted Divisions) to three mounted divisions of three brigades each (ANZAC, Australian – Imperial Mounted Division renamed – and the new Yeomanry Mounted Division).[25] 6th Mounted Brigade, along with Berkshire RHA, joined the Yeomanry Mounted Division and on 20 June 1917 the Imperial Mounted Division was redesignated as Australian Mounted Division as the majority of its troops were now Australian.[21] On 12 August 1917, the Desert Column disappeared and the Desert Mounted Corps was formed.[26]
The battery served with the Australian Mounted Division for much of the remainder of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. As part of the Desert Mounted Corps, the division took part in the
Still part of the Desert Mounted Corps, the division took part in the
- 5th Cavalry Division
The battery was attached to the
2/1st Nottinghamshire
| 2/1st Nottinghamshire RHA (T.F.) 812th Battery, RFA (T.F.) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1914 – 1919 |
| Country |  First World War
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Nottinghamshire RHA formed a 2nd line in 1914, initially designated as the Nottinghamshire (Reserve) Battery RHA[33] and later given a fractional designation as 2/1st Nottinghamshire Battery, RHA.[4][7]
By February 1915, the battery joined the 2nd Line
The batteries of the division were quite unready for war. Three had no horses, the fourth had just 23; three batteries had over 200 men on average, but the other just 91; one battery had no ammunition and another reported that its
The battery remained with the division when it was redesignated as 3rd Mounted Division in March 1916 and as 1st Mounted Division[e] in July 1916.[35] In September 1916, the battery was attached to the 8th Cyclist Brigade in 2nd Cyclist Division (former 4th Mounted Division) until the division was broken up on 16 November 1916.[37]
The battery was posted overseas in June 1917, arriving at
The 15th Indian Division was formally disbanded in March 1919, and there is no further mention of the 2/1st Nottinghamshire RHA in the official histories. Most British troops attached to Indian Army divisions in Mesopotamia found themselves in India when their divisions were disbanded/repatriated, as there was a shortage of shipping to get the men home to Britain. In April 1919 the Third Anglo-Afghan War broke out, and British troops were inducted into various units to serve. At least one soldier of the 2/1st Notts is known to have fought in this war with another battery.[45]
Post war
The Nottinghamshire RHA was not reconstituted until 7 February 1920 when it formed a battery (later numbered 240th) in
See also
- List of Territorial Force horse artillery batteries 1908
- The England test cricketer Harry Elliott, who had worked for Major Laycock before the war, served with the battery.[citation needed]
Notes
- Lieutenant-Colonel. Artillery brigades were redesignated as regiments in 1938. Note that the battery strength refers to a battery of six guns; a four-gun battery would be about two thirds of this.
- ^ The other three batteries were Berkshire RHA, A Battery, HAC and B Battery, HAC.[21] All four batteries were originally part of the 2nd Mounted Division.[15]
- 5th Cavalry Division only had a single artillery battery assigned to it – Essex Royal Horse Artillery.[31]
- 2/1st Berkshire Royal Horse Artillery and 2/A Battery, HAC formed the other three batteries of the division.[36]
- ^ Not to be confused with the original 1st Mounted Division which became 1st Cyclist Division, also in July 1916.[11]
- ^ Becke,[38] Frederick[39] and Mills[40] say the battery was numbered as 812th Battery, but Perry[41] and Farndale[42] say 816th Battery. Becke implies that it was numbered on 13 August 1917, agreeing with Frederick, Mills says 17 August 1917, whereas Perry says it was numbered in February 1918.
References
- ^ a b Westlake 1992, p. 3
- ^ Westlake 1992, p. 5
- ^ Frederick 1984, p. 674
- ^ a b c d Litchfield, pp. 197–8.
- ^ Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 November 2013.
- ^ Clarke 2004, p. 23
- ^ a b c Baker, Chris. "The Royal Horse Artillery". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ^ a b Farndale 1988, p. 61
- ^ Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914".
- ^ Rinaldi 2008, p. 59
- ^ a b Becke 1936, p. 6
- ^ a b Rinaldi 2008, p. 36
- ^ "The Royal Artillery". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ Baker, Chris. "What was an artillery brigade?". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ a b Becke 1936, p. 12
- ^ a b c Becke 1936, p. 16
- ^ James 1978, p. 35
- ^ Becke 1936, p. 17
- ^ Becke 1936, p. 14
- ^ Farndale 1988, pp. 62–66
- ^ a b c Perry 1992, p. 54
- ^ "3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade". Australian Light Horse Studies Centre. 8 November 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ Farndale 1988, p. 83
- ^ a b c Perry 1992, p. 56
- ^ Becke 1936, p. 34
- ^ Becke 1945, p. 38
- ^ Farndale 1988, p. 95
- ^ Farndale 1988, p. 123
- ^ Farndale 1988, Annex 9
- ^ Perry 1992, p. 55
- ^ Perry 1993, p. 26
- ^ Perry 1993, p. 28
- ^ Rinaldi 2008, p. 242
- ^ James 1978, pp. 17, 26
- ^ a b c Becke 1936, p. 25
- ^ Becke 1936, p. 22
- ^ Becke 1936, p. 29
- ^ a b Becke 1936, p. 24
- ^ Frederick 1984, p. 686
- ^ "Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Perry 1993, p. 135
- ^ Farndale 1988, p. 288
- ^ Perry 1993, p. 52
- ^ Perry 1993, p. 136
- ^ Public Record Office, war record of Gunner William Kind.
- ^ a b Frederick 1984, p. 517
- ^ Litchfield, p. 142.
- ^ a b Litchfield, p. 138–9.
Bibliography
- Becke, Major A.F. (1936). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2A. The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-12-4.
- Becke, Major A.F. (1945). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 4. The Army Council, GHQs, Armies and Corps 1914–1918. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-16-7.
- Clarke, Dale (2004). British Artillery 1914–19 Field Army Artillery. Vol. 94 of New Vanguard Series. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-688-7.
- ISBN 1-870114-05-1.
- Frederick, J.B.M. (1984). Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978. Wakefield, Yorkshire: Microform Academic Publishers. ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
- James, Brigadier E.A. (1978). British Regiments 1914–18. London: Samson Books Limited. ISBN 0-906304-03-2.
- Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
- Perry, F.W. (1992). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5A. The Divisions of Australia, Canada and New Zealand and those in East Africa. Newport: Ray Westlake Military Books. ISBN 1-871167-25-6.
- Perry, F.W. (1993). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5B. Indian Army Divisions. Newport: Ray Westlake Military Books. ISBN 1-871167-23-X.
- Rinaldi, Richard A (2008). Order of Battle of the British Army 1914. Ravi Rikhye. ISBN 978-0-97760728-0.
- Westlake, Ray (1992). British Territorial Units 1914–18. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-168-7.