The 1st Carnarvonshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army in North Wales from 1862 to 1922. It fought on the Western Front in World War I. Postwar it was amalgamated with the Denbighshire Hussars as a medium artillery regiment that served in World War II.

Volunteer Force The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.Beckett.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 1–3.Spiers, pp. 163–8. One such unit was the 1st Carnarvonshire Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVC) raised at Carnarvon on 12 March 1862 under Captain William Haywood and 1st Lieutenant William Turner.Beckett, Appendix VIII.Frederick, p. 651.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 38–9.Owen, pp. 137–41. It was a small unit (51 strong in 1871), and for most of the 1860s and 1870s only had one officer, William Turner, promoted to captain on 13 August 1864, and later Sub-Lieutenant William Owen, commissioned on 20 June 1874.Army List, various dates. It joined the 1st Administrative Brigade, Anglesey Artillery Volunteers when that was formed on 28 August 1863. However, Volunteer recruitment in Anglesey declined and in 1873 the remaining Anglesey and Carnarvon AVCs were transferred to the Administrative Brigade in Cheshire This was consolidated as the 1st Cheshire and Carnarvonshire Artillery Volunteer Corps in 1880, with 1st Carnarvon AVC providing No 8 Company.

In 1882 the 1st Cheshire and Carnarvonshire was assigned to the Lancashire Division of the Royal Artillery, but when the divisional structure was reduced in 1889 it joined the Southern Division. On 1 June 1899 all the Volunteer artillery units became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and from 1 January 1902 the unit became the 1st Cheshire and Carnarvonshire RGA (Volunteers). However, in 1904 the Carnarvonshire batteries were withdrawn to form a separate unit, the 1st Carnarvonshire RGA (V) of four companies under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Savage, VD, with the following organisation: Headquarters at Glynne Road, BangorBangor at Drill Hall Project.Caernarvonshire at Great War Centenary Drill Halls. No 1 Company at Bangor, formed from part of No 6 Company No 2 Company at Llanfairfechan, formed from part of No 6 Company No 3 Company at University College of North Wales, Bangor, formerly No 7 Company No 4 Company at Carnarvon and Penygroes, formerly No 8 Company

Territorial Force

When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. the 1st Carnarvonshire RGA (V) became the Welsh (Carnarvonshire) Heavy Battery RGA, with its HQ at Bangor and a dedicated Ammunition Column at Argyll Road, Llandudno.Frederick, pp. 696–701.Llandudno at Drill Hall Project. The former No 3 Company at Bangor College transferred to the Officers' Training Corps.Litchfield pp. 27–8. The new unit provided the heavy battery in the TF's Welsh Division, equipped with four 4.7-inch guns.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 117–23.Conrad 1914.

World War I Mobilisation The units of the Welsh Division had just departed for their annual summer camp when the order to mobilise was received on 4 August 1914. They then returned home and assembled at their drill halls to mobilise. The Welsh (Carnarvonshire) Heavy Battery mobilised at Bangor under the command of Major W.H. Hughes, who had held the command since 20 December 1913.53rd (W) Division at Long, Long Trail.TF RGA at Regimental Warpath. The battery immediately went by train to its war station at Scoveston Fort, above the Royal Navy anchorage of Milford Haven. The battery's horse purchaser was able to impress and buy enough horses for the guns and ammunition column in just four days. The men spent September digging gun positions around the anchorage. The two sections being widely separated – a wagon taking 48 hours by road to travel between Pembroke Dock and Scoveston Fort – battery training proved difficult.'1/1 Welsh Heavy Bty War Diary Aug 1914–Jan 1918', The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/226/4.

By 11 August the Welsh units had completed their concentration and TF members were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. Four days later the War Office (WO) issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. Then 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. 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.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6. The Welsh Hvy Bty began forming its 2nd Line battery in October.

1/1st Welsh (Carnarvonshire) Heavy Battery The battery moved on 20 October to Northampton where the Welsh Division had concentrated at to continue its training. The men were billeted on private houses and the horses picqueted on The Racecourse. By the end of November the wagons of the battery and ammunition column were complete and the battery considered itself mobile. On 18 November the division was warned for garrison duty in India, but this was cancelled and in December it moved to Cambridge, the battery moving by train on 21 December, with the men billeted as before and the horses in the open on Coe Fen; battery headquarters (BHQ) was at 8 Brookside, Cambridge. Training continued, and in April 1915 the gunners attended a practice camp at Larkhill.

The Welsh Division (officially the 53rd (Welsh) Division from 14 May 1915) next moved to Bedford, with the 1/1st Welsh Hvy Bty marching via St Neots on 5–6 May; BHQ was established at Kempston. In July the infantry of the division embarked for service at Gallipoli, leaving the divisional artillery behind in Bedford. On 20 November the divisional field artillery left to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, but the heavy battery remained at Bedford with the 2nd Line Welsh Division (now numbered as the 68th (2nd Welsh) Division).Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 83–90.

Finally, on 10 February 1916 the battery was warned for overseas service and on 16 October it moved to Woolwich to mobilise for overseas service with the BEF. It embarked on the transport Karnak at Southampton Docks on 26 February, but after three days at anchor was landed again. It re-embarked on 2 February and landed at Le Havre next day. It then went by train to Doullens and by road to join 23rd Heavy Artillery Group (HAG) in Third Army. It went into action on 17 March in the Vimy Ridge area.RGA Heavy Btys at Long, Long Trail.'Allocation of Heavy Batteries RGA', The National Archives, Kew, file WO 95/5494/2.'Allocation of HA Groups', TNA file WO 95/5494/1. Major Hughes was evacuated to hospital on 26 March, and Maj G.H. Nugent arrived next day to take command. During May, Maj Nugent took over temporary command of 23rd HAG and XVII Corps Counter-Battery (CB) Group.

Somme

At the time the policy was to move RGA batteries from one HAG to another as required. 1/1st Welsh Hvy Bty moved to 6th HAG in First Army, then to 17th HAG with Fourth Army, when it joined in preparations for the Battle of the Somme. On 6 June the battery's Left Section and half the ammunition column set off by road to the Somme front, reaching Sarton on 10 June, where they began preparing gun positions for the battery near Colincamps. The other half of the battery joined them on 18 June and the positions were completed and stocked with ammunition by 23 June. From 24 to 30 June the battery bombarded targets in the Beaumont-Hamel sector. On Z Day (1 July) the battery began firing at 06.00 and lengthened its range at 07.30 when the infantry went 'over the top'. By 16.30 it had fired approximately 1000 rounds.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 102–7.

1/1st Welsh Hyv Bty remained active on this front through the summer. On 13 August it was heavily shelled and Maj Nugent was wounded; Capt G. Brymer assumed command and was confirmed in the position on 15 September. The battery was in the bombardment of Beaucourt Redoubt between 05.05 and 08.30 on 3 September, and then engaged in CB fire. On 15 September (the Battle of Flers–Courcelette) it assisted with CB fire in the direction of Courcelette. On 3 October the two guns of Left Section were condemned as unserviceable and sent to the Ordnance workshops, being replaced by two Mk IV 4.7-inch guns.

Ancre The battery fired in support of the operations on 13 and 15 November (the Battle of the Ancre) for the final Capture of Beaumont-Hamel and Grandcourt. At the end of the Somme offensive the battery was transferred to 32nd HAG in Fifth Army on 1 December. There were still ongoing Operations on the Ancre: on 3 February 1917 the battery fired 960 rounds in four hours, setting a unit record.

The BEF had begun progressively replacing its obsolescent 4.7-inch guns with 60-pounders during 1916. From 5 February 1917, 25 Other Ranks of 1/1st Welsh Hvy Bty were attached to 25th Hvy Bty for instruction on the 60-pdr. However, it had not received its new guns when the Germans began their planned retreat to the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich). The battery followed up and took up positions between Serre and Beaumont-Hamel in what had been the German positions (it was now part of 56th HAG, having transferred on 19 February 1917).Farndale, Western Front, Annex E

In December 1916 the WO decided that all heavy batteries should be composed of six guns. 1/1st Welsh Hvy Bty received its first four new 60-pdrs on 27 February, and then on 3 March it was joined by a section of one officer and 83 gunners from 200th Hvy Bty (newly arrived in France and immediately broken up) to bring it up to a six-gun establishment. On 7 March it fired off all its 4.7-inch ammunition and passed its old guns over to 1/1st Highland Hvy Bty. Next day it began a four-day march to Verquin to join 31st HAG in First Army on 12 March. That night it emplaced three guns at Bully-Grenay, the other three following on 16 March.

Vimy Ridge

On 20 March the artillery preparation began for the Battle of Vimy Ridge, with the batteries of 31st HAG firing from around Bully-Grenay on the extreme north flank of the attack, from where they could virtually enfilade the German lines in support of I Corps. The artillery plan for the heavy guns emphasised counter-battery fire. At Zero hour, while the field guns laid down a Creeping barrage to protect the advancing infantry, the 60-pounders switched to 'searching' fire on the German rear areas to catch machine gunners and moving infantry. When the British infantry reached their Phase 2 objective (the Blue Line) the field guns would move forward and the 60-pounders move up to occupy their vacated positions. The attack went in on 9 April with I Corps and Canadian Corps successfully capturing Vimy Ridge while Third Army attacked further south near Arras. The only hold-up on 9 April was at Hill 145, near the north end of the Canadian attack, and the capture of this position was completed the next day. During the day the battery suffered several casualties from German CB fire.Farndale, Western Front, pp. 164–6, 174–6, Map 23.Cave, pp. 119–27, Map p. 121.Becke, Pt 4, pp. 74–8.

As the Arras Offensive continued, the battery advanced three guns to a new position at Cite Calonne on 21 April, the others moving up to Rollencourt on 27 April, and the wagon lines to Petit Sains on 12 May. The battery suffered a number of casualties. The half battery at Cite Calonne was heavily shelled on 11 May when two guns were put out of action, and again on 14 May, this time without casualties.

Arras Front