266 (Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery) Battery Royal Artillery is a Royal Artillery unit of the British Army Reserve. It was first formed in Bristol in 1859 and served through the First World War as field artillery on the Western Front and in Italy. In the Second World War, it acted as anti-aircraft (AA) artillery. Reduced to a battery postwar, it has carried out a number of roles. At present, the battery fields the L118 in the offensive support role.
Volunteer Artillery 1859-1908 The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Volunteer units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.Beckett.Spiers, pp. 163–168. In November that year, the Earl of Ducie, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, organised a unit of Gloucestershire Artillery Volunteers in Bristol under the command of Major Henry Bourchier Osborne Savile, a former Royal Artillery officer. The Society of Merchant Venturers in Bristol provided land in Whiteladies Road, Clifton, to build its headquarters (HQ), known as 'the Artillery Grounds'. Four smoothbore 18-pounder guns were obtained from Woolwich and arrived in Bristol in April 1860. Further Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) were quickly organised in the county of Gloucestershire and in 1863 they were brigaded together with those from neighbouring Somerset (dates are those of the first officers' commissions):Beckett, Appendix VIII.Frederick, pp. 658–659.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 86–88, 153.
1st Administrative Brigade, Gloucestershire Artillery Volunteers HQ: Whiteladies Road, Clifton 1st (Bristol) Gloucestershire AVC (21 December 1859; initially five batteries, No 6 Battery raised October 1872) 2nd (Newnham on Severn) Gloucestershire AVC (1 March 1860) 3rd (Gloucester) Gloucestershire AVC (26 July 1860) 4th (Forest of Dean) Gloucestershire AVC (1 September 1861; attached to 1 August 1863; merged into 2 January 1864) 1st (Clevedon) Somerset AVC (18 June 1860) 2nd (Weston-super-Mare) Somerset AVC (30 July 1860; disbanded 1867) 2nd Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteer Corps (10 April 1861; attached from August 1862 until June 1864)Westlake, p. 8.
In 1863 a subscription by 'Bristol ladies' purchased two Whitworth 3-pounder guns.
Major Savile was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the administrative brigade on 28 November 1863. He was succeeded as Major Commandant of the 1st Gloucester AVC by Lord Glentworth, a former officer in the Rifle Brigade. Savile retired in 1873, becoming Honorary Colonel of the unit, when Brevet Colonel Arthur Blunt, formerly of the Bombay Artillery, became commanding officer (CO) of the brigade, and shortly afterwards of the 1st AVC as well.Army List
The brigade was consolidated in March 1880 under the command of Lt-Col Adolphus H. Versturme, formerly of the 59th Foot, as:
1st Gloucestershire (Gloucester and Somerset) AVC HQ at Bristol Nos 1–6 Batteries at Bristol No 7 Battery at Newnham No 8 Battery at Gloucester No 9 Battery at Clevedon
Further batteries were added in following years: No 10 at Portishead, No 11 at Weston-Super-Mare, No 12 at Clevedon and No 13 at Bedminster. A Cadet Corps with HQ at Bristol also existed from 1880 to 1884. The 1st Gloucester AVC was assigned to the Welsh Division of the Royal Artillery (RA) on 1 April 1882, changing to the Western Division on 1 July 1889. By 1893 the War Office Mobilisation Scheme had allocated the 1st Gloucestershire Artillery Volunteers to the Plymouth fixed defences.Mobilization Tables for Home Defence, List of Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Units, HMSO, London, 1893
Frederick Cusac Ord, a former captain in the Royal Artillery, was appointed Major on 25 April 1885, became Lt-Col commanding on 7 December 1889 and Lt-Col Commandant on 1 April 1891. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Elton, 8th Baronet, commissioned as Captain on 24 September 1881, became Major on 19 August 1893.
In 1899, the artillery volunteers were assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and when the divisional organisation was abolished the unit was as 1st Gloucestershire (Gloucester and Somerset) RGA (Volunteers) on 1 January 1902.
Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. the unit was to become the II (or 2nd) South Midland (Gloucestershire) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (RFA), but this was changed in 1910 to I (or 1st) South Midland (Gloucestershire) Brigade, RFA. It formed part of the South Midland Division of the TF, with the following organisation (each battery consisted of four 15-pounder guns):Frederick, p. 680.Litchfield, pp. 84–86.London Gazette 20 March 1908.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 77–83.48th (SM) Divisional Artillery at Long, Long Trail.48 (SM) Division at Long, Long Trail. HQ: Artillery Grounds, Clifton 1st Gloucestershire Battery, Clifton 2nd Gloucestershire Battery, Clifton 3rd Gloucestershire Battery, Barracks, Gloucester 1st South Midland Ammunition Column, Clifton
First World War Mobilisation On the outbreak of war, I SM Bde mobilised at Clifton and Gloucester under Lt-Col A.M. Balfour, a retired Regular officer who had been in command since 7 December 1909. Initially went to its war station in the defences of the Naval base at Plymouth. It then joined the concentration of the South Midland Division around Chelmsford, where it formed part of Central Force. On the outbreak of war, units of the TF 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. 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 battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.
1/I South Midland Brigade
1/I South Midland Bde was stationed at Broomfield, near Chelmsford. The training of 1st South Midland Division proceeded satisfactorily, and it was selected for service on the Western Front. Orders arrived on 13 March 1915, final stores and reinforcements from 2/I SM Bde arrived, and 1/I SM Bde entrained on 29 March for Southampton, where it embarked on the transports City of Lucknow and Huanchaco, landing at Le Havre on 30 March. By 2 April, the brigade reached Neuve Eglise in Belgium where the division had concentrated. The batteries took up positions assigned to them by XXVII Bde of 5th Division, and began registering their guns on 5 April, despite problems with the fuzes of their old 15-pdr ammunition. Lieutenant-Col Balfour of 1/I SM Bde took over tactical control of the sector from XXVII Bde at midnight on 7/8 April. The brigade could do little, being allowed only three rounds per gun per day at first. Most of the firing was retaliatory exchanges with identified German batteries or to harass enemy working parties.240th SM Bde War Diary, March 1915–November 1917, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/2749/3.Farndale, Western Front, p. 94.
On 12 May, the division was designated the 48th (South Midland) Division. On 26 June, 1/I SM Bde was relieved by a Canadian brigade and went back to billets in Outtersteene, near Bailleul., and later to Ferfay It now formed part of a brigade group with 144th (Gloucester & Worcester) Brigade. After training, 1/I South Midland Bde went by train to Thièvres where on 21 July it was re-equipped with modern 18-pounder guns. It then went back into the line and on 31 July took over gun positions from the French at Colincamps in the Somme sector, where 48th (SM) Division joined a new Third Army.
During August, 1/I SM Bde also had 1/3rd Worcester and 1/1st and 1/2nd Warwickshire Btys from 48th (SM) Divisional Artillery (DA) under its command, forming an artillery group under 144th Bde. It carried out some good shooting for the infantry with the new 18-pdrs. The ammunition limit was now 188 rounds per brigade per week. Some of the gun positions were frequently under water, and some were moved to obtain enfilade fire against enemy trenches. Brigade HQ was in Hébuterne, where the gunners were billeted when they were not in the line. The village was often shelled, when the batteries would retaliate on the Germans in Puisieux; they also carried out barbed wire-cutting. This quiet routine continued into the new year, the guns remaining in position while the infantry brigades were regularly rotated out of the line for rest. 1/I South Midland Bde formed an additional battery, D Bty, at Thièvres on 29 March, including a fresh draft of men from the UK. On 31 March batteries of the newly-arrived 31st Division began taking over 1/I SM Bde's guns and positions, and on 6 April the brigade moved a short distance to Sailly, with two batteries in position in front of Serre.
On 22 April Lt-Col Balfour left the brigade and Lt-Col Lord Wynford took over command on 9 May. On 18 May the brigade was redesignated CCXL (or 240th) Brigade and the old 1/1st–1/3rd Gloucester batteries became A, B and C Btys. At the same time, the recently formed D Bty was transferred to CCXLIII (IV SM) Bde in exchange for 1/4th Warwickshire Howitzer Bty, equipped with four 4.5-inch howitzers, which became D (H) Bty. The Brigade Ammunition Column (BAC) was also abolished and merged into the Divisional Ammunition Column (DA).Frederick, p. 692.
Somme After a long period of low-level Trench warfare, 48th (SM) Division's first offensive operation was in the Battle of the Somme. Both sides' artillery became more active and there were regular trench raids: A Bty was lent to 31st Division to support one raid on the night of 3/4 June. The following night CCXL (SM) Bde was relieved by CCXLIII (SM) Bde – the first time the whole brigade had been out of the line since July 1915. It moved to Coigneux, inspected its guns, and carried out training while the brigade and battery staffs reconnoitred the new positions it was to take up for the coming offensive. A, C and D Btys went into their new positions on 15 June, and work went on to improve them and to dump the ammunition (1000 rounds per gun for 18-pdrs and 800 for 4.5s). The bombardment programme for the offensive was to be spread over five days, U, V, W, X and Y before the assault was launched on Z day. On U Day (24 June) A and B Btys began wire-cutting on the German 2nd and 3rd lines in front of Serre, while C Bty bombarded suspected observation posts (OPs) and machine gun positions and D (H) Bty shelled trench junctions and communication trenches. On W and X days, C and D Bty supported VIII Corps' heavy artillery in bombarding the German 3rd line trenches. On several days the weather was too bad for good air or ground observation and the programme was extended by two days (Y1 and Y2). The battle was launched on 1 July 1916. Most of 48th (SM) Division was in reserve, only two battalions being engaged, but the brigade fired until 12.00 in support of 31st Division's assault on Serre. Despite the successful wire-cutting, not enough OPs and MG posts had been destroyed and 31st Division's attack was a disaster: the survivors had made their way back to the British lines by the end of the day.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 299–305, 426, 441–4.Farndale, Western Front, pp. 142–6.