135th Field Regiment was a Royal Artillery (RA) unit being formed in Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) on the outbreak of World War II. Spun off from an existing unit, it took over two batteries from Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire and was later granted the double subtitle '(East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry)'. As part of the 18th (East Anglian) Infantry Division the regiment remained in the United Kingdom until 1941 when it was sent to India. The division was deployed to Fortress Singapore where it was captured by the Japanese. Some of the prisoners were murdered in cold blood, many of the others died working on the Burma Railway. The regiment was never reformed.

Mobilisation

With the rapid expansion of the TA after the Munich Crisis, existing units were ordered to form duplicates of themselves. In practice, 86th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment contributed to three new RA regiments: 135th Field Rgt, 191st (Hertfordshire and Essex Yeomanry) Field Rgt and 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Rgt. In the case of the 135th Field Rgt this was done by combining one of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry batteries with one from another East Anglian field regiment that was being converted to the anti-aircraft (AA) role:Frederick, pp. 491, 493, 522, 531.Litchfield, pp. 101–4.Sainsbury, pp. 62–5. Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Yeomanry House, Hertford, then at 91 Bancroft, Hitchin, from 20 September 1939 336 (Northampton) Field Battery at Lincoln Road, Peterborough – from 84th (East Anglian) Field Rgt 344 (Hitchin) Field Battery at Bearton Camp, Hitchin – from 86th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Rgt

Advance parties of the TA were mobilised on 24 August 1939 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. The commanding officer (CO) was Brevet Colonel J. Hudson, MC, TD, a retired TA officer who had previously command 88th (2nd West Lancashire) Field Brigade, RA from 1930 to 1936. The new regiment was assigned to 18th Infantry Division, the duplicate of 54th (East Anglian) Division in which 86th Field Rgt served; 18th Divisional HQ took over responsibility on 30 September.Sainsbury, pp. 65–6, 69, 153–4, Appendix 3.Joslen, pp. 60–1.Monthly Army List, various dates.

At this time the establishment of an RA field regiment was two batteries, each of three four-gun Troops. The intention was to equip field regiments with 24 of the new 25-pounder gun-howitzers, but prior to the outbreak of war the four batteries of 86th Field Rgt had been equipped with just 16 4.5-inch howitzers of World War I pattern.Farndale, Years of Defeat, Annex A.Sainsbury, pp. 17–9, 61.

Service

Home defence There now followed the period known as the Phoney War. 18th Division moved to Norfolk in November 1939 as a home defence division under the 'Julius Caesar' plan, though it was still badly equipped. RHQ and 336 Bty of 135th Field Rgt were billeted at Kimberley Hall, 344 Bty at Wymondham, with the regiment's four 4.5-inch howitzers at No 5 AA Practice Camp on the coast at Weybourne. 336 Battery moved from the outbuildings of Kimberley Hall to nearby Hingham Hall when the weather turned bad. During March 1940, parties were temporarily sent to man Lewis guns for AA defence on coastal shipping, and 20 volunteers left the regiment to join No. 8 Commando, being formed from units of 18th Division.Collier, Chapter V.Sainsbury, pp. 154–6.

When the Battle of France began on 10 May, 18th Division was redeployed for immediate coast defence. 135th Field Rgt and 53rd Infantry Brigade took over the Norfolk coastline between Wells-next-the-Sea and Sheringham. 336 Battery manned the four 4.5-inch howitzers at Weybourne, later at Cley next the Sea, while F Trp of 344 Battery had two 18-pounder Mk II PA guns on pneumatic wheels at Catton. These six guns comprised half of 18th Divisional Artillery's firepower. Those personnel of the regiment not required to man the guns became part of a temporary '18th Divisional Artillery Rifle Regiment' on anti-paratroop duties, while the signallers went to assist the training of 57th (Newfoundland) Heavy Regiment. After the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk, the regiment exchanged three officers and 57 other ranks (ORs) with 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field Rgt, which had experience of the fighting in France.Collier, Chapter VII.Farndale, Years of Defeat, pp. 95–6.Sainsbury, pp. 156–8.

On 24 August 1940 the regiment received additional guns: eight French World War I 75 mm guns, carried Portee on 30-cwt Fordson trucks. These were assigned to A and B Trps of 336 Bty, while C Trp additionally manned some fixed 4-inch naval guns in beach defences. Further 75 mm guns arrived later, so that by mid-September the regiment had its full allocation of guns, albeit extemporised:Sainsbury, p. 159.

336 Bty A Trp at Lowes Farm, Holt – 4 x 75mm B Trp at Aylmerton – 4 x 75mm C Trp – 2 x 18-pdrs; 2 x 4-inch

344 Bty D Trp – 4 x 18-pdrs E Trp – 4 x 75mm F Trp – 4 x 75mm

During September the gunners carried out practice shoots against targets at sea and on the beaches. They also received some training on borrowed 18/25-pounders, after which the two batteries went in succession to West Down on Salisbury Plain to fire the guns there. Meanwhile, the coastal defences had been reinforced by a number of independent Defence Batteries. The first of these was 901 Defence Bty, for which 135th Field Rgt provided a cadre of 64 recently-joined ORs. The battery was commanded by Maj J.R.O'B, Warde, the senior officer transferred from 97th Field Rgt. 901 Independent Defence Bty served on the Norfolk Coast from 1 September 1940 until its disbandment on 3 March 1941.Sainsbury, pp. 159–60.Frederick, p. 931.

In November 1940, with winter approaching, the regiment moved back into billets: RHQ at Holt, 336 Bty at West Runton, 344 Bty at Sheringham. It was supporting 222nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), a newly-formed coast defence formation attached to 18th Division. The regiment now began to receive its allocation of motor transport, including Quad (4 x 4) gun tractors in preparation for the eventual issue of 25-pdr guns: 336 Bty had 18 Guy Quad-Ants, while 344 Bty had 18 Morris C8s. The regiment also received No 11 wireless sets. It was only now that the RA was producing enough trained battery staffs to begin the process of changing regiments from a two-battery to a three-battery organisation. (Three 8-gun batteries were easier to handle, and it meant that each infantry battalion in a brigade could be closely associated with its own battery.) On 27 November C Trp of 336 Bty and F Trp of 344 Bty were detached to become E and F Trps of a new battery initially designated as C Bty; consequently D and E Trps of 344 Bty were redesignated C and D. Inevitably C Bty now had a mixture of different equipment, and full implementation of the new organisation appears to have been delayed for some months.Farndale, Years of Defeat, pp. 99–100.Joslen, p. 385.Sainsbury, pp. 22, 160, 165.

Mobile training

At the beginning of 1941, 18th Division moved from coastal defence duties to GHQ Reserve and began mobile training for overseas service. On 1 January, 135th Rgt moved to billets between Lockerbie and Annan in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. At the same time parties were sent to the ordnance depot at Donnington in Shropshire to collect the regiment's allocation of 24 Mk II 25-pdrs and limbers. The division trained in the Scottish Borders until the beginning of April, when it moved to Cheshire, with 135th Field Rgt billeted in Macclesfield. The regiment spent a few days at the end of April at No 4 Field Practice Camp at Trawsfynydd in North Wales, where it fired its 25-pdrs for the first time. On 5 May the regiment sent a large party to assist in air raid duties at Liverpool, which had suffered four successive nights of heavy bombing. Two nights later the city suffered one of the worst raids of the Liverpool Blitz and the regiment suffered its first casualties by enemy action, one killed and two seriously injured.Sainsbury, pp. 161–5.Collier, Appendix XXX.

The Blitz ended on 16 May and the firewatching party returned to billets. 336 Battery moved to a mill building at Congleton, and later to Knowsley Park. Battle training in North Wales and the Welsh Borders continued during the summer. The provisional C Bty was formally established as 499 Bty on 1 June and its acting commander, Captain O.H. Daltry, promoted to major; Lord de Ramsey became the battery-captain. As the regiment approached readiness, Maj Philip Toosey, was promoted from second-in-command of 59th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regiment to lieutenant-colonel to succeed LCol Hudson in command of 135th Field Regiment on 1 September 1941. Warning orders to proceed overseas arrived on 22 September.Sainsbury, pp. 165–6.Anon, History, pp. 94, 99; Appendix VII.

At sea 18th Division was earmarked as a reinforcement for Middle East Forces. The men were issued with desert uniforms and sun helmets. The regiment handed in its Guy and Morris Quads and received new Canadian-built Chevrolet CGT Quad gun tractors. It loaded them together with the guns and vehicles (all painted desert sand colour) aboard ship at Liverpool in mid-October. The personnel of the regiment embarked on the SS Sobieski at Gourock on the Firth of Clyde and sailed on 31 October as part of convoy CT5.Sainsbury, pp. 166–7.

The Sobieski took the regiment to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where 135th Field Rgt and 53rd Bde transshipped to the USS Mount Vernon and CT5 sailed on via Port of Spain to Cape Town. Training continued during the voyage. A Troop manned the Bofors 40 mm guns that had been shipped for AA defence, and practised against balloons while at sea. While the convoy was at sea news of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor and Malaya was received. From Cape Town the convoy's destination was changed from the Middle East to India. Then on 23 December the Mount Vernon was detached and sent alone via Mombasa to join a convoy proceeding direct to Malaya.Sainsbury, pp. 167–70.Farndale, Far East, p. 42.Farndale, Far East, Annex D.Joslen, p. 293.Playfair, p. 123.Woodburn Kirby, pp. 253, 256.

Malayan campaign

The Mount Vernon docked at Singapore on 13 January 1942 and 135th Field Rgt landed during a Japanese air raid. Its guns and equipment were in other ships of CT5 on their way to Bombay, so it had to be re-equipped on arrival with whatever guns were available from the Singapore Ordnance Depot, 336 Battery being issued with eight 4.5-inch howitzers and 344 Bty with eight 25-pdrs, all towed by Chevrolet 4 x 4 1-ton trucks; 499 Bty remained without guns. A number of officers of the Federated Malay States Volunteers (FMSV) were attached to the regiment to act as interpreters and liaison officers equipped with civilian vehicles as reconnaissance and staff cars. Together with 53rd Bde the regiment was attached to 11th Indian Division.Farndale, Far East, Annex A.Sainsbury, pp. 170–2.