The 191st (Hertfordshire and Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment was a unit of Britain's Royal Artillery (RA) formed during World War II. Created around experienced drafts from existing Territorial Army units, it trained as mobile artillery with an armoured division. Later it served through the campaign in North West Europe, supporting varied formations such as the Royal Marine Commandos, Royal Armoured Corps and Polish troops operating under First Canadian Army.
Origin In late 1942 the Royal Artillery formed 11 new regiments of field artillery built upon cadres drawn from experienced units. On 16 December the two field regiments in 42nd Armoured Division, 86th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) and 147th (Essex Yeomanry) were ordered to provide cadres of approximately battery strength for a new regiment to be numbered 191st. The unit started to form on 21 December and immediately adopted the designation 'Herts and Essex Yeomanry', with the following organisation:Farndale, Annex D.Foakes & McKenzie-Bell, p. 22.Mileham, p. 89.Sainsbury, pp. 83, 215.British Artillery in World War 2. Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) 532 Field Battery – cadre from 413 Bty of 147th Fd Rgt 533 Field Battery – cadre from 462 Bty of 86th Fd Rgt 534 Field Battery – cadres from both regiments
The second-in-command of 147th (EY) Fd Rgt, Major J.R. Cochrane, a Regular Army officer, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel to command the new regiment, which took over billets and Nissen huts at Hovingham and Slingsby, North Yorkshire, previously occupied by 86th (HY) Fd Rgt. Apart from the large cadres from the two yeomanry regiments, 191st was to be made up to strength with men from disbanded infantry battalions. The first to arrive were 112 men from 30th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment.
Training
The regiment's first eight 25-pounder guns and tractors arrived at the beginning of January 1943, and a month later 533 and 534 Btys had their full establishment of eight guns each, though 532 Bty had to make do with old 18/25-pounders at first. At the end of three months, the regiment was at full establishment in manpower, and training was proceeding, though there were few men suitable for training as signallers. A Light Aid Detachment (LAD) of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) had been formed, but at first had no vehicles or equipment.Sainsbury, pp. 215–6.
At the end of March 1943, 42nd Armoured Division transferred from Northern Command to Southern Command and 191st (H&EY) Fd Rgt went with it, moving to Trowbridge Barracks. On 3 May it officially replaced 86th Fd Rgt in 42nd Armoured Division. That month a detachment of the Royal Corps of Signals arrived to man the 'rear link' communications. Later the regiment was issued with Crusader Mk III tanks for armoured Observation Posts (OPs), later replaced by Cavaliers. During the spring of 1943 the regiment carried out field firing at Okehampton Camp, mobile exercises with 30th Armoured Brigade on West Down, Salisbury Plain, and an armour–infantry live-firing exercise at Sennybridge Training Area with 71st Infantry Brigade. It was known that 42nd Armoured Division was to be broken up, so during the summer 147th Fd Rgt worked mostly with 30th Armoured Bde and 191st with 71st Infantry Bde – 532 Bty affiliated to 1st Battalion Highland Light Infantry, 533 to 1st Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, and 534 to 1st Bn East Lancashire Regiment. In September there were further practice shoots at Okehampton, with 532 Bty being loaned to 79th Armoured Division for exercises at Linney Head, Pembrokeshire.Joslen, p. 29.Sainsbury, pp. 216–8.
42nd Armoured Division was broken up in October 1943, and after a period of uncertainty 191st (H&EY) Fd Rgt went to Ramillies Barracks, Aldershot, where it was ordered to mobilise as part of 2nd Canadian Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA).Sainsbury, pp. 218–9.
In November 1943 the regiment moved to Sutton in Surrey, but spent much time training on the Otterburn and Redesale ranges and on Salisbury Plain. On 1 January 1944 Lt-Col Cochrane was appointed to the staff of First Canadian Army and was succeeded in command by Lt-Col Maurice Hope. Shortly afterwards, the regiment was offered the opportunity to take on the identity of 6th Field Regiment, a Regular Army unit that had been disbanded in India. However, 191st decided to retain its links with the county Yeomanry regiments and turned down the offer.Dickson, p. 241.Sainsbury, pp. 219–20.
Training now concentrated on the role the regiment would take in the forthcoming invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord). 2nd Canadian AGRA was not scheduled to land until late in the build-up programme for the invasion, but 3rd Canadian Division would be landing on Juno Beach on D-Day under the command of I British Corps and would require extra firepower. 191st (H&EY) Field Rgt was therefore attached to I Corps' 4th AGRA for the early stages of the operation. Training in loading and unloading from landing craft became a priority, and the Cavalier tanks were abandoned (thereafter OP tanks would have to be borrowed from the armoured formations the guns were supporting). Final live-firing and loading exercises were carried out in the spring of 1944, and in April the regiment moved into I Corps' concentration area in Essex: RHQ and 533 Bty at Ramsden Hall, near Billericay, 532 Bty to Great Baddow, and 534 Bty to Little Baddow. On 2 June the regiment moved to its marshalling area in Epping Forest and on the morning of 6 June, as the leading assault waves landed on the Normandy beaches, 191st (H&EY) Fd Rgt moved to Royal Albert Dock, where it embarked at 18.00.Sainsbury, pp. 220–2.
Normandy campaign
The regiment began landing about half a mile west of Courseulles-sur-Mer on 9 June (D + 3) and completed disembarkation of its light scale of vehicles and equipment by nightfall on 10 June. Two guns out of each four-gun Troop were towed by 3-tonner ammunition lorries instead of their normal Quad gun tractors, and some personnel had to walk. The forward observation officers (FOOs) deployed on 11 June in support of No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando and the North Shore Regiment, who were clearing villages along the River Mue. Supported by concentrations from 191st Fd Rgt, these units took all their objectives before nightfall, and defensive fire (DF) missions broke up the German counter-attacks on 12 June.Sainsbury, pp. 222–3.
On 13 June the regiment was switched to support 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, which had just come into the line at Barbières. Each battery established an OP with one of the battalions: 532 Bty supporting The Highland Light Infantry of Canada at the western end of Les Buissons, 533 with the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders at Vieux Cairon, and 532 with The Nova Scotia Highlanders at the eastern end of Les Buissons. Once the DF tasks had been registered there was not much firing because of ammunition shortages. On 15 June the regiment's 'second residue' arrived with the remaining vehicles. Sainsbury, p. 223.
Operation Epsom On 17 June the regiment moved to Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse where in addition to supporting 9th Canadian Bde it was to take part in the barrage preceding Operation Epsom. Over 700 guns were assembled to support this attack around the western edge of Caen, but the operation was delayed until 26 June by a storm in the English Channel that disrupted the landing of supplies and reinforcements. The barrage began at 07.30 and continued (with pauses to allow the guns to cool) until 10.20, during which the regiment fired 11,000 rounds of High explosive shell (HE). It had been firing in support of 15th (Scottish) Division, which advanced towards the bridges over the River Odon but was held up by German strongpoints and lost the protection of the artillery's creeping barrage. By the end of the day they had established 'Scottish Corridor' but were still short of the bridges. The next day 191st Fd Rgt returned to its positions at Barbières.Buckley, pp. 74-82.McKee, pp. 164–70.Sainsbury, pp. 223–4.Saunders, pp. 39–66.
Operation Charnwood
191st Field Rgt fired in support of 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade in its attack on Carpiquet Airfield on 4 July, and then prepared for Operation Charnwood on 8 July. For this attack on Caen, the whole regiment was supporting a single battalion, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders. I Corps' barrage opened at 04.20 for 90 minutes, then the FOOs advanced with the Canadian battalion, calling down fire as required. A protective barrage was laid while the leading infantry company dealt with a minefield on the way to Gruchy, and later in the day the right hand company advanced behind a barrage from 191st to capture the isolated Chateau de St-Louet. Late in the day the North Nova Scotia Highlanders attacked Franqueville, and 191st switched to support this attack, followed by DF tasks to ensure that the Canadians could hold the positions captured. At the end of the day I Corps called a 'Victor' target (all available guns) on the German troops and vehicles streaming out of Caen in retreat.Ellis, Vol I, pp. 309–15.Sainsbury, pp. 224–6.
The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders spearheaded the next day's attack supported by 191st Fd Rgt's guns, even though these had been unable to get forward and the FOOs were now at the extreme range of their radios. As the Canadians slowly cleared the houses of Caen, Lt-Col Hope with Maj Pearson of 532 Bty got ahead of them and were the first Allied troops to reach the Abbaye aux Hommes and liberate thousands of refugees sheltering there. By 12.45 Carpiquet Airfield had been cleared and 191st's guns could get forward. The regiment fired several concentrations on enemy pockets south of the River Orne on 10 July.Ellis, Vol I, p. 316.McKee, pp. 236–8.Sainsbury, pp. 226–7.
Operation Goodwood There was a regrouping of artillery after the fighting in Caen, with 191st Fd Rgt returning to the command of 4th AGRA and moving north-east of Caen to support 6th Airborne Division along the lower Orne. FOOs joined 4th Special Service Brigade (532 Bty) and 1st Special Service Brigade (533 Bty). This front was quiet, and on 17 July 191st Fd Rgt came under the command of 51st (Highland) Division for Operation Goodwood. This operation opened with a massive bombing programme by RAF Bomber Command and the US Eighth and Ninth Air Forces, assisted by a 'flak suppression' barrage by the British and Canadian artillery on every known German anti-aircraft ('Flak') position. Once the heavy bombers left the area, the artillery switched to engaging every known German artillery position. 191st Field Rgt played a full part in these bombardments, starting with flak suppression on the Colombelles factory area in the outskirts of Caen. Although the fighting went on for three days, 191st Fd Rgt's guns were out of range of most targets after the first afternoon.Ellis, Vol I, pp. 337–40.Sainsbury, pp. 227–8.