The Berkshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Berkshire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in the Middle East, notably at Aden and in particular in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, from 1915 to 1918. A second line battery, 2/1st Berkshire RHA, served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. After the Armistice, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery of the Territorial Army (TA), later being expanded into a full heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) regiment that served during the Second World War in the Battle of Britain and Blitz, in the assault landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), Sicily (Operation Husky) and Italy (Operation Avalanche). Postwar, it continued in the TA until 1968.
Formation The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades. Each yeomanry brigade included a horse artillery battery and an ammunition column.
On 18 March 1908, Berkshire Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force) was proposed as a new unit and it was recognized by the Army Council on 21 July 1908 (and the ammunition column on 11 August 1908). The unit consisted of:Litchfield, p. 21.Monthly Arm List August 1914.Berkshire Artillery at Regiments.org., retrieved 31 March 2018.RHA at Long, Long Trail. Battery HQ at Yeomanry House, Castle Hill, Reading,Berkshire at Drill Hall Project. with a section at AscotBerkshire Drill Stations at Drill Hall Project. 2nd South Midland Ammunition Column also at Reading The battery was equipped with four Ehrhardt 15-pounder guns and allocated as artillery support to the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade.
First World War
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.
1/1st Berkshire The 1st Line battery was embodied with the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War. Initially, the brigade concentrated in Berkshire and on 5 August 1914 was assigned to the 1st Mounted Division.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 1–6. A decision was made to form a new mounted division from the mounted brigades in and around the Churn area of Berkshire. On 2 September 1914, 2nd Mounted Division, with Headquarters at Goring, came into being and 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade was transferred to the new division. I Brigade and II Brigade, RHA (T.F.) were formed for the division and the battery was assigned to II Brigade, RHA at Churn, along with Nottinghamshire RHA and A Battery and B Battery, Honourable Artillery Company.
In November 1914, the division moved to Norfolk on coastal defence duties. Artillery headquarters was established at Cromer, before joining the divisional headquarters at Hanworth in December, and Berkshire RHA was at Little Walsingham (2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade was at Fakenham).
Overseas service
In March 1915, the division was put on warning for overseas service. In early April, the division starting leaving Avonmouth and the last elements landed at Alexandria before the end of the month. By the middle of May, the horse artillery batteries were near Ismaïlia on Suez Canal Defences. On 14 July 1915, Berkshire RHA (along with B Battery, HAC and 28th Indian Brigade) left for Aden. They fought a sharp action at Sheikh Othman on 20 July that removed the Turkish threat to Aden for the rest of the war, before returning to Egypt.
The 2nd Mounted Division was dismounted in August 1915 and served at Gallipoli. The artillery batteries and ammunition columns, signal troops, mobile veterinary sections, Mounted Brigade Transport and Supply Columns and two of the Field Ambulances were left behind in Egypt. The division returned from Gallipoli in December 1915 and was reformed and remounted. On 10 December 1915, Berkshire RHA briefly rejoined the division from Ismailia, Suez Canal Defences; on 17 January 1916 it was transferred with 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade to the Western Frontier Force.
Imperial Mounted Division The Imperial Mounted Division was formed in Egypt in January 1917; 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade (by now numbered as 6th Mounted Brigade) was one of the four cavalry brigades selected to form the division. Berkshire RHA joined the division on formation and was assigned to XIX Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.). In practice, the battery remained attached to its mounted brigade.
The battery, and its brigade, served with the Imperial Mounted Division in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign as part of the Desert Column. With the division, it took part in the advance across the Sinai. The battery was re-equipped with four 18 pounders in time for the First Battle of Gaza (2627 March 1917). It also took part in the Second Battle of Gaza (1719 April 1917).
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, AustralianImperial Mounted Division renamedand the new Yeomanry Mounted Division).Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 31–4. Consequently, the 6th Mounted Brigade, along with Berkshire RHA, was transferred from the Imperial to the Yeomanry Mounted Division on 27 June 1917.
Yeomanry Mounted / 1st Mounted / 4th Cavalry Divisions Berkshire, RHA (by now re-equipped with four 13 pounders) joined the Yeomanry Mounted Division with 6th Mounted Brigade on 27 June 1917 and transferred to XX Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.) when it joined the division on 5 July 1917. The battery remained with the division when it was restructured and indianized as the 1st Mounted Division (from 24 April 1918) and later renamed as 4th Cavalry Division (23 July 1918).
During its time with the Yeomanry Mounted Division, the division served as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine. From 31 October it took part in the Third Battle of Gaza, including the Battle of Beersheba (in GHQ Reserve) and the Capture of the Sheria Position under the Desert Mounted Corps (DMC). Still with the DMC, it took part in the Battle of Mughar Ridge on 13 and 14 November and the Battle of Nebi Samwil from 17 to 24 November. From 27 to 29 November, it withstood the Turkish counter-attacks during the Capture of Jerusalem.
Once the division was restructured and renamed, it served with the DMC for the rest of the war, taking part in the Second Transjordan Raid (30 April to 4 May 1918) and the Final Offensive, in particular the Battle of Megiddo (19 to 25 September) and the Capture of Damascus (1 October).
The 4th Cavalry Division remained in Palestine on occupation duties after the end of the war. However, demobilization began immediately and most of the British war time units had left by May 1919. The Berkshire battery were reduced to cadre in Egypt on 14 October 1919.
2/1st Berkshire
Berkshire RHA formed a 2nd line in 1914, initially designated as the Berkshire (Reserve) Battery RHA and later given a fractional designation as 2/1st Berkshire Battery, RHA.
The battery joined the 2nd line 2/2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade when it was formed in September 1914. On 6 March 1915, the 2/2nd Mounted Division was formed to replace 2nd Mounted Division which had been warned for overseas service. The brigade joined the division on East Coast Defences in March 1915 and concentrated at King's Lynn with the battery at North Runcton.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 19–26
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. The Berkshire battery was only issued with sights for its Ordnance BL 15 pounders in December 1915, but had no ammunition. On 17 January 1916 it received four slightly more modern Ordnance BLC 15-pounders, eight ammunition wagons and 210 rounds of ammunition per gun.
The battery remained with the division when it was redesignated as 3rd Mounted Division in March 1916 and as 1st Mounted Division in July 1916. In September 1916, the battery was attached to the 7th Cyclist Brigade in 2nd Cyclist Division (former 4th Mounted Division) until the division was broken up on 16 November 1916.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 27–30.
The battery (along with 2/1st Shropshire RHA) joined CLVIII Brigade, RFA when it was reformed. The original CLVIII Brigade, RFA was formed for 35th Division in Accrington and Burnley from December 1914.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 51–9. It was broken up in France between 8 January and 28 February 1917. The two RHA batteries provided the manpower for the Brigade Ammunition Column. The battery (personnel only) disembarked at Boulogne on 24 May 1917. It was equipped with 18 pounders and the brigade became an Army Field Brigade. On 6 July 1917, the battery was redesignated as C/CLVIII Battery and 2/1st Shropshire RHA became A/CLVIII Battery.
At the Armistice, the battery (by now made up to six 18 pounders) was still with CLVIII Army Brigade, RFA serving as Army Troops with the Fifth Army.
Interwar years When the TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 the Berkshire RHA formed a battery (later numbered 264th (Berkshire) Battery) in 1st South Midland Brigade, RFA (later 66th (South Midland) Field Brigade, RA) and ceased to be a Royal Horse Artillery battery.
In the late 1930s, particularly at the time of the Munich Crisis in September–October 1938, the need for improved anti-aircraft (AA) defences became apparent, and a programme of converting existing TA units was pushed forward. On 1 October 1938, 264 Bty was separated from 66th Field Brigade, converted to the heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) role, and expanded into a full brigade as 80th (Berkshire) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, organised as follows:Frederick, pp. 756–8, 775.Monthly Army List May 1939. Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Yeomanry House, Reading 249 (Berkshire RHA) AA Battery at Reading 250 (Reading) AA Battery at Reading, raised 1 October 1938 251 (Buckinghamshire) AA Battery at Slough, raised 1 November 1938 252 (City of Oxford) AA Battery at Oxford, raised 1 November 1938
(The remainder of 66th Field Brigade at Bristol became 76th (Gloucestershire) AA Brigade.)
Second World War Mobilisation The new regiment (RA brigades were redesignated as regiments from January 1939) formed part of 47 AA Brigade in 5th AA Division, which had the responsibility for defending Southampton.Routledge, Table LX, p. 378. In February 1939 the UK's AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June a partial mobilisation of the TA was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA and searchlight positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations.Routledge, pp. 65–6, 371. The 'Phoney war' that followed was an opportunity for training and equipping the AA defences. In June 1940 the RA's AA regiments were designated Heavy AA (HAA) to distinguish them from the new Light AA (LAA) units being formed.
Battle of Britain