The 181st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery ('The Shropshire Gunners') was a unit of the Royal Artillery, raised by the British Army during World War II. First raised as infantry of the 6th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry from the Welsh Borders, it was converted to the field artillery role, serving in a Scottish formation in the North West Europe campaign in which it was the first British field artillery regiment to cross the Rhine and Elbe rivers.
6th King's Shropshire Light Infantry In June 1940, shortly after the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) began forming a new 6th Battalion at its regimental depot at Shrewsbury. A previous 6th (Service) Battalion had been raised as part of Kitchener's Army during the Great War of 1914–18, and the men of the new unit were conscious of its heritage.Frederick, pp. 142–3.KSLI at Regiments.orgNeal, p. 41. The bulk of the men (95 per cent) were recent conscripts, mostly from Shropshire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, and other parts of the Welsh Borders and the English Midlands. The battalion's four rifle companies were designated W, X, Y and Z and the Commanding Officer of the battalion was Lt-Col Robert Munn, who had served with the KSLI in the First World War and was awarded a Military Cross.Neal, pp. 1–2 & Appendix 2.
The new battalion was officially formed by 4 July 1940 and moved to the Dukeries area of Nottinghamshire to commence basic training. Battalion Headquarters was established first at Thoresby Park and then a short distance away at Welbeck Abbey.Neal, pp. 1–2, 41. On 12 October the 6th KSLI became part of the new 204th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), which had been formed by No 4 Infantry Training Group.Neal, p. 3.Joslen, p. 367.
After six months' training, the 6th KSLI and the rest of 204 Bde were sent at the beginning of January 1941 to man coastal defences in Lincolnshire as part of Lincolnshire County Division, which became operational on 27 March.Neal, p. 5.Joslen, p. 113.
181st Field Regiment, RA In January 1942, when the battalion was stationed at Melton Mowbray, orders were received to convert 6th KSLI into a field regiment of the Royal Artillery (RA). The change was officially carried out on 28 February, when the battalion became 181st Field Regiment. Officers were given the choice of transferring to the RA or to another infantry unit; 484 Other Ranks continued with the regiment after suitability tests, while 140 transferred to other battalions of the KSLI and the Herefordshire Light Infantry and a similar number went to the Pioneer Corps. Specialists and signallers were drafted in from the RA, bringing the strength up to 672 all ranks. Lieutenant-Colonel E.O. Herbert, DSO, RA, was appointed to command the new regiment.Frederick, p. 539.Neal, pp. 5–8, 41.181 Fd Rgt at RA 39–45
Training 181 Field Regiment transferred to Northern Command to begin artillery training on ranges in North Yorkshire. It was organised into three batteries: 'Q' training drivers, 'R' training gunners, and 'S' training signallers; these were redesignated P, Q and R respectively on 11 March 1942. Later, the training batteries exchanged Troops to give three equal batteries, designated 177, 178 and 179 on 1 January 1943. Each battery was to be equipped with eight 25-pounder guns, though at first there were only two on which to train, and still only four in April 1942.Neal, pp. 8–10.
On 7 November 1942, 181 Field Regiment was assigned to 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division (replacing a Scottish artillery unit, which had already gone on active service), and began training with 44th (Lowland) Brigade, with whose units it would operate in action:Joslen, p. 58.Martin, p. 16.Neal, p. 10. 177 Battery supporting 8th Bn Royal Scots 178 Battery supporting 6th Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers 179 Battery supporting 6th Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Overlord In March 1943 the division was raised to full war establishment, initially as a 'Mixed' division including an armoured brigade, then from September 1943 as a conventional infantry division as part of Second Army in 21st Army Group preparing for the Allied landings in Normandy (Operation Overlord). In that month, 15th (S) Division moved from Northumberland to a training area in the West Riding of Yorkshire and began a series of training exercises through the winter. In mid-February the whole division participated in a 12-day training exercise (Exercise Eagle) in the Yorkshire Wolds along with the other divisions assigned to VIII Corps. On 22 April 1944, 181 Fd Regt moved south to the Worthing area as part of the concentration for Overlord. Then on 10 June it was moved close to Tilbury Docks ready for embarkation in two Liberty ships, which sailed on 12 and 13 June, arriving off Arromanches-les-Bains on the evening of 15 June (D + 9). Disembarkation was disrupted by a storm: 178 and 179 Btys were landed by 19 June, but RHQ and 177 Bty could not get ashore, at another beach, until 21 June, and then without guns and most of their equipment.Martin, pp. 16–27, 31.Neal, pp. 14–15.
Normandy The assault formations of 21st Army Group had landed on D Day (6 June). 15th (S) Division was not completely ashore until 23 June. The guns then moved up into 'hides' during 24 June before the division was committed to its first action in the Battle of the Odon (Operation Epsom). The regiment was shelled on 25 June and took its first battle casualties, one gun being hit with three of its crew killed and three wounded. The following day 181 Fd Rgt fired its guns in action for the first time as 15th (S) Division commenced Epsom at 07.30. It attacked on a two-brigade front behind a Creeping barrage fired by 344 divisional and corps field and medium guns. The objective was to force crossings of the Rivers Orne and Odon. The infantry fought their way into the villages of Cheux and St Manvieu but the Odon bridges were still away at the end of the first day. At one point there was a threat of German tanks breaking through and 181 Fd Rgt prepared to fire in the anti-tank role over open sights. The fighting was intense, but on the second day the Scots captured the vital bridge over the Odon. By now 15th (S) Division had created a deep salient into the German positions (known as 'Scottish Corridor') without reaching the Orne. Over following days the Germans made repeated attempts to overwhelm the corridor. Ultimately the Germans could not take the pounding from concentrated Allied firepower and had to stop their attacks. However, Operation Epsom caused a quarter of all the casualties suffered by 15th (S) Division in the North West Europe campaign.Buckley, pp. 77–82.Ellis, Normandy, pp. 277–80.Keegan, pp. 166–81.Martin, pp. 27, 30–57.Martin, Appendix A.McKee, pp. 154–78.Neal, pp. 16–8.Saunders, Epsom, pp. 23–31, 37–87, 93–100, 112–20, 163–76.Stacey, pp. 147–9.
For the next month the division fought its way slowly through the Bocage country, capturing Éterville, retaking Gavrus and advancing to Évrecy in Operations Jupiter and Greenline. Early on the morning of 16 July 181's forward observation officer (FOO), Capt Meredith, was advancing with a troop of four 17-pounder guns of 97th Anti-Tank Rgt who got lost. He called down a defensive fire (DF) task on Évrecy to get his bearings, and found his own shells landing all round him. Realising that they were in Évrecy itself, and it was full of German tanks, he and the anti-tank gunners quickly withdrew in the dark.Ellis, Normandy, p. 334.Martin, pp. 62–78.
After Greenline the division was rapidly switched west for Operation Bluecoat, the attack on Caumont-sur-Orne, beginning on 30 July. This allowed the artillery little time to plan, and to preserve secrecy there was no preliminary bombardment. 181st Field Rgt married up as usual with 44th (Lowland) Bde, its observation posts (OPs) accompanying the infantry; the field regiments also had OPs in tanks with the supporting 6th Guards Tank Brigade. 15th (Scottish) Division's artillery including 181 Fd Rgt was tasked with firing concentrations in support of the attacking troops in Phase I. For Phase II a 110-minute slow barrage was fired. Three-quarters of the 25-pdr rounds were fuzed to Air burst, which was effective over bocage and allowed the tanks to keep close to the barrage in safety. The division's objective was Point 309 ('Quarry Hill') to protect the flank of the attack. Launched on 30 July the attack made good progress, with 15th (S) Division getting onto the Estry and Perrier Ridges to support the advancing armour. Heavy fighting ensued for several days, 15th (S) Division supporting 43rd (Wessex) Division's seizure of Mont Pinçon on 6 August. By 11 August 181 Fd Regt had reached Monchamp near Caen. On 13 August the Germans began to withdraw and 15th (S) Division was relieved and went for its first rest since the landings.Anon, Bluecoat, p. 26.Buckley, pp. 153, 160–5.Daglish, pp. 25–6, 29–54, 170–1.Ellis, Normandy, pp. 388–91, 402, 409.Martin, pp. 78–106.McKee, pp. 332–3.Neal, p. 19.
Belgium After its rest, the division joined XII Corps and was engaged in rapid movements as 21st Army Group advanced to the River Seine. 15th (S) Division made an assault crossing of the river against limited opposition, and the Royal Engineers soon erected bridges to allow the supporting units to cross. The division pressed on to Les Andelys, finding the Germans already gone. The armoured divisions then passed through, and 15th (S) Division followed them into Belgium, 181 Field Rgt crossing the border on 6 September.Martin, pp. 110–23.Neal, p. 20. The following day, guided by Belgian Resistance fighters, 177 Bty's FOO, Capt Jack Cunis from an OP at the top of a block of flats, brought down regimental fire all day at columns of retreating German: the divisional history described it as 'a target such as generations of gunners dreamed of'.Martin, p. 123.
The regiment reached the Albert Canal on 12 September, where the division took over a small bridgehead near Geel. Next day the it pushed on to the Junction Canal. Here on the night of 14/15 September it seized a bridgehead over the canal at Aart, but it attracted no less than 13 German counter-attacks over the next eight days that reduced it to an area less than 440 yards square. Ammunition shortage restricted the divisional artillery to urgent DF tasks only. One attack on the evening of 16 September was held off by small arms fire, while the guns hit the enemy troops in the rear, then caught another counter-attack as it was forming up. Operation Market Garden was launched on 17 September, with XXX Corps breaking out of its own canal bridgehead. Given the fierce resistance at Aart, XII Corps HQ decided to cross elsewhere, while 15th (S) Division merely improved its position and bridged the Junction Canal. The divisional artillery continued its DF tasks to break up counter-attacks. Despite the artillery Observation Posts being shelled and disrupted, 181's CO, Lt-Col Dick Bethell, organised fire plans that beat off the attacks. The regiment's FOOs working in a tall factory building won high praise during this action, and afterward the 181st was awarded three Military Crosses, three Military Medals and a Distinguished Service Order (to Bethell) for this action.Martin, pp. 124–47.Neal, pp. 21–2; Appendix 7.
Netherlands 15th (Scottish) Division next went into action at Best on 21 September in an attempt to widen XXX Corps' narrow corridor. The divisional artillery OP parties took up position in the Bata Shoe Factory. On 26 September the division put in a set-piece attack on the cement factory with 46th (H) Bde, supported by the whole of the divisional artillery. Although Operation Market Garden had ended in failure, fighting continued round Best until 1 October, when the division was finally relieved for rest.Martin, pp. 156–70.