Northamptonshire Battery, Royal Field Artillery

The Northamptonshire Battery, Royal Field Artillery was a unit of Britain's

The following officers commanded the 6th Northamptonshire RVC during its independent existence:[8]

• Hon G. Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, appointed 3 March 1860
• John N. Fazakerley, appointed 14 March 1862
• Thomas J. Walker, 29 July 1865; appointed Captain-Commandant August 1876
• John Beecroft, appointed second Captain 3 June 1872

When the Administrative Battalion was consolidated as the 1st Northamptonshire RVC in 1880, the former 6th at Peterborough formed H and I (later G and H) Companies.^[3][9] Under the Childers Reforms of 1881, the battalion was attached to the Northamptonshire Regiment, and formally changed its title to 1st Volunteer Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, in December 1887.^{[3][4][6][10]}

Territorial Force

When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new

The Northamptonshire Battery was based at the Drill Hall, Queen's Street, Peterborough, and became popularly known as the Peterborough Battery or Peterborough Artillery.

William Cecil, 5th Marquess of Exeter, previously a captain in the 3rd Bn Northamptonshire Regiment (the Northampton and Rutland Militia) was appointed commanding officer of the Northamptonshire Battery in the rank of major in 1910. In January 1914 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and appointed CO of the whole IV East Anglian Brigade of which his Cecil kinsman, the Marquess of Salisbury, was honorary colonel.^[19][24]

World War I

Mobilisation

The East Anglian Division had begun its annual training on 27 July 1914 and by 3 August the divisional artillery had concentrated at the Redesdale training area in Northumberland. When the order to mobilise was given on 4 August, the units returned to their headquarters. The division then concentrated around Brentwood, Essex, the 1st Northamptonshire Battery having the furthest to travel arrived on 12 August. On 20 August the division moved to Chelmsford and formed part of the coast defences of the UK until the following May.^[20][21][25]

Meanwhile, the formation of duplicate or 2nd Line TF units from Home Service men and recruits had been authorised on 1 September,^[26] and towards the end of 1914 the 2nd East Anglian Division came into existence at Peterborough. The original (1st Line) Northampton Battery became the 1/1st, and its 2nd Line became the 2/1st Northampton Battery. Later a 3rd Line or Depot unit was formed.^[12][27][28]

1/1 Northamptonshire Battery

The 1st East Anglian Division was employed on coast defence until May 1915, when it was concentrated at St Albans preparatory to going overseas as the

On 17 November 1915 the 54th Divisional Artillery embarked for France, where it joined 33rd Division, a 'Kitchener's Army' division whose artillery were still under training.^{[20][21][29][27][31]}

After a month on the Western Front, during which parties of officers and men had been attached for training to other divisions in the Front Line, 54th Divisional Artillery was warned that it was to be transferred to Egypt to rejoin its parent division, which had been withdrawn from Gallipoli. Embarkation began at Marseille on 30 January 1916 and disembarkation was completed at Alexandria by 14 February. The divisional artillery rejoined 54th Division at Mena Camp near Cairo and in April moved into No 1 (Southern) Section of the Suez Canal defences.^[20][21][32]

On 29 May 1916 the IV East Anglian Brigade was renumbered CCLXXIII (273) Brigade RFA and its batteries became A, B and C. It was renumbered again on 29 December, becoming CCLXX (270), and was reorganised into six-gun batteries. C (1/1st Northamptonshire) Battery was joined by half of B (1/2nd Hertfordshire) Battery and became B Battery.^{[20][21][23][33]}

Gaza

The infantry battalions of 54th Division were slowly brought back up to strength with drafts from home during 1916, and by mid-January 1917 the whole division had assembled at Moascar in preparation for the

During the Second Battle of Gaza (17–19 April) the brigade was not required to fire a shot on the first days. On 19 April it joined in the barrage 10 minutes before H-Hour but the preliminary bombardment had failed to neutralise Turkish artillery and machine guns, and 54th Division's infantry suffered heavy casualties.^[38]

On 14/15 and 20/21 July, 270th Bde gave covering fire for major raids on the Turkish lines.^[39] A six-day preliminary bombardment for the Third Battle of Gaza began on 27 October, with B/270 Bty attached to 271 (II East Anglian) Bde in No 3 Group supporting 161st (Essex) Brigade. On X-Day (2 November), 161st Bde attacked along the coast behind a creeping barrage laid down by No 3 Group. In preparation for the final capture of Gaza B/270 Bty moved forward after dark on 5 November and spent the following day registering for a new fire programme on 7 November that began two hours before dawn and led to the Turkish evacuation of the town.^[40]

On 24 November the Turks counter-attacked the pursuing ANZAC Mounted Division, which was supported by A and C/270 Btys. B/270 Battery was hurried up from the rear to join in, but arrived after the action had ended. The brigade remained in support of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, with B/270 Bty dug in under Turkish fire and suffering a steady trickle of casualties until the Surrender of Jerusalem on 9 December.^[41]

Jaffa and Majdal Yaba

During the Battle of Jaffa (21–22 December), B/270 Bty carried out a pre-dawn bombardment of 'Bald Hill' supporting the attack of 2/11th Battalion, the London Regiment, and then followed up 'galloping in best R.H.A. (Royal Horse Artillery) fashion, to be in at the death if necessary'.^[42]

During the night of 11/12 March 1918 the 54th Division formed up for an

The Battle of Megiddo opened on 19 September with the Battle of Sharon. B/270 Battery's task was to fire smoke shells for an hour to create a screen in front of 54th Division's assault battalions, and then switch to High Explosive and shrapnel. Once the timed barrage was complete, the battery had to advance in the open under enemy shellfire to a new position from which it was able to shell two tepes holding up the attack. Corporal Runciman, the signaller in the battery commander's observation post, was awarded a DCM for standing up under heavy fire and signalling by flag to the gun positions. Despite the fire, the battery suffered no casualties in this action.^[45]

The division was then taken out of the line and concentrated at Haifa, where it was engaged in repairing communications for the rapidly advancing army. It next moved to Beirut, where it was concentrating when the Armistice of Mudros was signed with Turkey and hostilities ended on 31 October.^[20][46]

In late November 1918 the division was ordered to return to Egypt, the artillery proceeding by sea and arriving in mid-December. Demobilisation began in January 1919, and the TF units were slowly reduced to cadres. In March and April, when its guns had been handed in and about one-third of its men had left, 54th Divisional Artillery was converted into an ad hoc cavalry regiment to act as mounted police during disturbances in Cairo, and men of B/270 Bty were scattered over five different posts. Demobilisation recommenced in May and was completed in June.^[20][47]

2/1 Northamptonshire Battery

Training for the 2nd Line artillery was hindered by the shortage of equipment, and several months passed before guns, horses and harness were received. Even then, only obsolete French 90 mm guns were available for training. Early in 1915 the

In May 1916, the 2/IV East Anglian Brigade was numbered CCCXLVIII Bde RFA, in which 2/1st Northampton became C Battery, and the following month he division was transferred to Northern Command and moved to Harrogate in North Yorkshire. In the summer of 1917 the divisional artillery moved into camp at Welbeck in Nottinghamshire (with practice camps on Salisbury Plain) until winter set in, when they moved into winter quarters around Doncaster and Darlington.^[27][23][49]

The division's role throughout the war was to train drafts of reinforcements for units serving overseas. By the end of 1917 the 2nd Line infantry battalions had been replaced by training units, and from 1 January 1918 the division lost its 'East Anglian' title. The artillery remained around Darlington (later

The 3rd Line Depot brigade (3/IV East Anglian Brigade) was formed at Hertford early in March 1915. At first, training had to be carried out without any guns, harness or horses. In May the unit was affiliated to No 4 TF Artillery School at High Wycombe, and moved there itself at the end of the year. The Artillery School took over training while the 3/IVth became a holding a draft-finding unit. The Third Line East Anglian brigades were merged into the school in August 1916, when it became 4th Reserve Brigade, RFA (TF).^[50]

Interwar

When the TF was reformed (as the

In 1938, the 84th Field Brigade was one of a number of units selected for conversion to the Anti-Aircraft (AA) role. However, 336th (Northamptonshire) Bty was replaced in the Norfolk unit by an existing AA battery from Suffolk.[19]^[4][52] Instead, the Peterborough Battery remained a field artillery unit, joining 86th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment on 1 November and forming E and F Troops of 344th Field Battery based in Hitchin.^[51][54]

However, in early 1939 the TA was required to double in size, and existing units formed duplicates. The 86th did this by forming 135th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment based on 344th Bty, recreating 336th Bty at Peterborough and 344th at Hitchin. It formed part of 18th Division, the duplicate of 54th (East Anglian) Division.^{[51][55][56][57][58][59]}

World War II

Phoney war

Advance parties of the TA were mobilised on 24 August and general mobilisation was ordered on 1 September, two days before the outbreak of war. 135th Field Regiment assumed full independence from its parent unit on 7 September.

At the beginning of 1941, 18th Division moved from coastal defence duties to join GHQ Reserve and begin mobile training for overseas service. On 1 January, 135th Rgt moved to billets between

135th Field Regiment landed at

11th Indian Division now organised a mixed column under Major Banham of 336 Bty ('Bancol') to open the road from Rengit to Senggarang. The two sections of B Troop were ordered to advance by leap-frog bounds so that they could provide continuous fire support for the scratch force of Norfolks and armoured cars of the Federated Malay States Volunteers. The armoured cars advanced under fire from both sides of the road until a road bock was encountered and the length of the road came under fire, the infantry being cut down, one howitzer lost and the other saved (together with many wounded) by Bombardier Thompson who turned the gun tractor round in the narrow road. Banham in an Indian Carrier did get through to Senggarang, where he reported the road impassable for wheeled vehicles. The commander of 15th Indian Brigade decided to retire to Benut through the mangrove swamps along the shoreline, so A Troop's remaining howitzer was put out of action by dropping the breech-block into the river. Banham, Halford-Thompson and the men of 336th Bty reached Benut late on 27 January. Meanwhile, Rengit was under heavy attack and was overrun during the night of 26/27 January; guns and vehicles were disabled and the survivors made their way to Benut. Lieutenant Lang of 336th Bty took a party to the mouth of the Benut River and helped boatloads of evacuees.^[66][67]

53rd Brigade HQ at Benut was now effectively the front line, defended by 3rd Bn 16th Punjab Regiment and the two remaining howitzers of B Troop of 336th Bty under Captain Neal. The Brigade was given permission to withdraw during the night of 27/28 January to Pontian Kechil, which was held by 28th Indian Brigade and 344th Bty. The Benut river bridge and 336th Bty's ammunition dump were blown up and 336th Bty withdrew its two guns. On the night of 30/31 January all the troops in Johor withdrew across the causeway onto Singapore Island, Lt-Col Philip Toosey of 135th Fd Rgt withdrawing his guns by leap-frog bounds to ensure continuous fire support.^[68]

At Singapore, 135th Fd Rgt was reunited with its own 25-pounder guns, just arrived with the rest of 18th Division. 336th Battery was the last to refit, due to the casualties it had suffered, and moved into positions near Nee Song on 4 February. Here they were engaged in counter-battery fire missions against Japanese gun positions on the mainland until 9/10 February when the Japanese landed on the western side of the island. 336th Battery was placed in direct support of 28th Indian Brigade, which was ordered to advance into the gap that had appeared between 11th Indian and 8th Australian Divisions. The regiment supported 28th Indian Brigade's attacks with intense fire, followed by harassing fire missions through the night. The following morning the Japanese were within three miles of the regiment's gun positions, so 344th and 499th Btys were withdrawn to join 366th Bty at Nee Soon. On 12 February the regiment was moved again, changing front to go into action at Sembawang airfield, with 336th Bty in a rearguard position covering the Mandai Road. As the defenders were pushed back, 336th Bty withdrew from its rearguard after dark to the Singapore City perimeter defences. One of its Quad gun tractors broke down, so it was overturned into a monsoon drain and the battery's Bedford 15 cwt wireless truck successfully towed out two limbers and a 25-pounder.^[69][70]

The following morning 336th Bty was established on the

The men were imprisoned in Selarang Barracks at

135th Field Regiment lost 67 men killed in action or died of wounds, and a further 159 died while prisoners of the Japanese. The survivors were repatriated after the end of the war in August 1945. Officially it was disbanded in 1947, but the regiment regarded the remembrance service held in December 1945 as its final parade.[56]^[59][74]

Insignia

While part of 135th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, officers and men of the Northamptonshire Battery wore the Hertfordshire Yeomanry cap badge, the officers also wearing it beneath the rank badges on their shoulder straps.^[59][75] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) design for headstones for members of the regiment includes both the Royal Artillery and Hertfordshire Yeomanry badges.^[76]

Prominent members

• William Cecil, 5th Marquess of Exeter, was appointed officer commanding the Northamptonshire Battery from 1910 until his promotion to command IV East Anglian Brigade in January 1914.^[19][24]
• Ailwyn Fellowes, 3rd Baron de Ramsey was an officer in 336th Fd Bty throughout World War II, being taken prisoner at Singapore.^[77]

Footnotes

Notes

References

• The Drill Hall Project
• The Long, Long Trail
• The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918
• Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth (Regiments.org)
• Royal Artillery 1939–1945 (archive site)