Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery

The Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, was a unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Force formed in 1908 from elements of an existing volunteer artillery unit in Kent. It fought on the Western Front during World War I, in the Attack on the Gommecourt Salient, at the Battles of the Somme and Passchendaele. During the German Spring Offensive of March 1918, the battery was caught up in the 'Great Retreat', saving its guns but losing the rest of its equipment. It then participated in the Allies victorious Hundred Days Offensive, including the battles of Albert, Bapaume, Cambrai and the Selle. It was merged into a medium artillery (later anti-aircraft) unit in the postwar Territorial Army.

Origin

When the Territorial Force (TF) was created in 1908 by the Haldane Reforms, each of the new force's infantry divisions was allocated a heavy battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The Home Counties Division was provided with a battery formed from part of the 1st Kent Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers), the rest of which continued as coast defence artillery in the TF.Frederick, pp. 660–1, 697.Frederick, pp. 699–701.Army List, various dates.Litchfield, pp.107–13.London Gazette 20 March 1908.1st Kent Artillery Volunteers at Regiments.org.

The new Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery was based at Faversham, where the original 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteer Corps had been formed in 1859. The Battery Headquarters and Left Half Battery were at the Drill Hall in Preston Street, Faversham, the Right Half Battery and Ammunition Column at Chatham, and it had a practice battery at Harty Ferry. The battery was equipped with four 4.7-inch guns (sometimes referred to as '45-pounders').Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 49–54.44 Division at Long, Long Trail.Artillery at British Army 1914.Faversham at Drill Hall Project.Chatham at Drill Hall Project.

World War I Mobilisation On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, the battery mobilised at Faversham under Major E.L. Gowland, who had commanded it since 4 March 1911. After mobilisation, units of the TF were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service, and on 15 August 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. These reserve units absorbed the mass of volunteers who were coming forward. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way, duplicate batteries, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Thus were formed the 1/1st and 2/1st Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Bys.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.

The Home Counties Division accepted the liability for service in India to release the regular units of the garrison there for active service on the Western Front. However, heavy artillery was not required for India, so when the division departed on 30 October, the 1/1st Bty stayed behind with the 2nd Home Counties Division that was being formed.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 75–82.67 Division at Long, Long Trail.

1/1st Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery The battery (normally referred to as the 1/1st Kent Heavy Bty) formally joined 2nd Home Counties Division on 30 October 1914, and the division assembled in billets round Windsor, Berkshire during November. It was numbered 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division in August 1915. On 17 November, the 1/1st Bty left the division to equip for overseas service, and it landed at Le Havre on 29 December 1915. It joined the XVI Heavy Brigade, RGA, in Third Army on 31 December and went into billets at La Herlière, south-west of Arras.Heavy Btys RGA at Long, Long Trail.'Allocation of Heavy Batteries RGA', The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/5494/2.16th HAG War Diary May–December 1915, TNA file WO 95/216/5.

In XVI Bde 1/1st Kent Heavy Bty was serving alongside 9th, 14th and 114th Heavy Btys of the New Army, and later 1/1st Lowland and 1/2nd Lancashire Heavy Btys of the TF. On 1 January 1/1st Kent Heavy Bty moved two guns into positions previously occupied by 9th Heavy Bty and took over that battery's billets at Pommier, while the wagon lines remained at La Herlière. The gunners began preparing platforms for the other two guns, despite a shortage of timber. A shortage of ammunition for the obsolescent 4.7-inch guns meant that there was little firing at this time. 1/1st Kent Bty fired a few rounds to register its guns, then from 9 January was given targets such as enemy batteries and observation posts (OPs), using Lyddite and high explosive (HE) and timed Shrapnel shells as available. Otherwise the work consisted of night firing to harass enemy communications. From February to April the battery concentrated on Counter-battery (CB) fire against targets round Essarts and Bucquoy, occasionally firing to break up an enemy working party. In March XVI Bde came under 6th Heavy Artillery Reserve, soon redesignated VI Corps Heavy Artillery.Anon, 9th Heavy, 'Battery Log'.Anon, 14th Heavy, pp. 30–4.16th HAG War Diary January–August 1916, TNA file WO 95/216/6.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 169–74; Appendix 3.

RGA brigades were redesignated Heavy Artillery Groups (HAGs) in April 1916, and the policy now was to move batteries between them as required.Farndale, AnnexE.Frederick, p. 718. 16th HAG handed over its batteries to the newly arrived 48th HAG on 27 April 1916. The work did not change, but there was more ammunition available and the improved weather meant that aircraft could be used to range the guns onto enemy batteries48th HAG War Diary August 1915–June 1917, TNA file WO 95/225/1.

Gommecourt

48th HAG was assigned to VII Corps to support 56th (1/1st London) Division in Third Army's Attack on the Gommecourt Salient for the forthcoming 'Big Push' (the Battle of the Somme). Its main role was CB fire, although its 4.7-inch guns could not actually reach the German heavy gun positions in the rear. The planned seven-day bombardment of the German positions began on 24 June but shortage of 4.7-inch ammunition meant that 48th HAG did not participate in this programme on the first three days (U, V and W Days), only carrying out some 'night line' harassing fire into German-held villages.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 89–98.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 175–8.MacDonald, pp. 170–2, 178–80, 192–4.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, p. 460.Ward, pp. 34 and 45.

The 4.7-inch guns joined in the bombardment programme at dawn on 27 June (X Day), firing into the village of Bucquoy at 06.00. However, accuracy was poor: when the Kent battery fired 30 shells at German Battery position 504 at 11.04, only three were on target. Later the guns practised a six-minute hurricane bombardment on the German positions. Y Day was spent shelling German gun positions, but the weather was poor for observation. Because of the weather, the attack was postposed for two days, and the additional days (Y1 and Y2) were used for further bombardment. On Y2, 48th HAG engaged 18 separate targets, and 1/1st Kent Bty fired 228 rounds, but this was far below the 400 per battery permitted, because of difficulties of observation. Many of these rounds were wide of their intended targets.MacDonald, pp. 194–6.

On Z Day (1 July), the entire artillery supporting 56th Division fired a 65-minute bombardment of the German front, starting at 06.25. At 07.30 the guns lifted onto their pre-arranged targets in the German support and reserve lines as the infantry got out of their forward trenches and advanced towards Gommecourt. At first this went well for 56th Division. Despite casualties from the German counter-bombardment on their jumping-off trenches, the smoke and morning mist helped the infantry, and they reached the German front line with little loss and moved on towards the second and reserve lines. The artillery Observation Posts (OPs) reported the signboards erected by the leading waves to mark their progress. However, the OPs themselves came under attack from the German counter-bombardment, which prevented supplies and reinforcements crossing No man's land to reaching the leading waves who had entered the German trenches. The heavy guns tried to suppress the German artillery, but the commander of 56th Division commented that although 'our counter-batter groups engaged a large number of German batteries – the results were not apparent'. By mid-afternoon, the division's slight gains were being eroded by German counter-attacks, and all the remaining gains had to be abandoned after dark.Edmonds, 1916 Vol I, pp. 462–4, 471–3.MacDonald, pp. 258–67, 345, 364-8, 373–6, 385, 392–405.Ward, p. 45.

Somme The Gommecourt attack had only been a diversion from Fourth Army's main Somme offensive, and Third Army closed it down at the end of the first day. 48th HAG resumed routine work. On 3 August 1/1 Kent Bty was posted to Fourth Army. It pulled its guns out and marched to Talmas to join 18th HAG, arriving on 6 August. It came into action that night about south east of Mametz Church.18th HAG War Diary May 1915–October 1918, TNA file WO 95/540/1.

18th HAG was supporting the operations of III and XV Corps with CB fire, and firing on 'night lines' against the villages of Morval, Lesbœufs and Flers, together with the nearby road junctions. The Mametz area was subject to German shellfire. The worn-out old 4.7-inch guns were proving troublesome. III and XV Corps attacked in Delville Wood on 18 August, and 18th HAG participated in a protective barrage against a German counter-attack; this sequence was repeated on 31 August. By now, 18th HAG was keeping about 50 enemy batteries under regular bursts of shelling in an attempt to suppress them. XV Corps attacked Ginchy and Guillemont on 3 September but 1/1st Kent's 4.7's were out of action. A shortage of ammunition kept all of 18th HAG's 4.7s silent during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette on 15 September, but by 20 September the group had accumulated 5000 rounds. The batteries resumed night firing and on 24–6 September laid down concentrated bombardments to support the Capture of Gueudecourt. During the Battle of Le Transloy (1 October) 1/1st Kent Bty kept the exits from Ligny village under fire to assist XV Corps. Activity died away on Fourth Army's front during October.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 145–51.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 223–8.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 198, 205–7, 385, 428–30.

Winter 1916–17

62nd HAG took over 18th HAG's batteries on 2 December as 18th HAG moved to Bussy-lès-Daours with XV Corps, which was taking over part of front from the French, but 1/1st Kent Bty returned to the command of 18th HAG next day and joined it on 13 December. It had one gun in the workshops but got the other three in position by 15 December. The group began routine shelling of German positions.

On 13 February 1917, 1/1st Kent Heavy Bty battery was joined by a section of 118th Heavy Bty RGA to make it up to a strength of six guns. The 118th Heavy Bty was a regular unit formed at Woolwich shortly after the outbreak of war and had been in France with 4.7-inch guns since 6 November 1914.Farndale, Western Front, p. 82.Becke, Pt 1, pp. 89–95. By now, the heavy batteries on the Western Front were adopting the modern 60-pounder in place of the obsolete 4.7-inch.Farndale, Western Front, Annex E.

The battery transferred to 21st HAG on 17 March. This group was engaged in following up the German retirement to the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich).21st HAG War Diary June 1915–July 1919 (April 1917 missing) TNA file WO 95/469/1. The newly arrived 92nd HAG took over part of 21st HAG at Fins, including 1/1st Kent Heavy Bty, on 30 April.92nd Bde War Diary March 1917–March 1919, TNA file WO 95/397/3.