190th Field Regiment was a unit of Britain's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II. It was formed in 1942 and joined 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division remaining with that formation for its whole existence. After serving in home defence the regiment fought in Normandy (Operation Overlord) and through the campaign in North West Europe, during which it distinguished itself in the defence of Stadensen on 14/15 April 1945. It was disbanded after the end of the war.

Mobilisation

The regiment was formed at Birtley, County Durham, on 21 December 1942, from personnel drawn from 9th Armoured Division. It consisted of three batteries, each of two troops of four Mk II 25-pounder guns. The batteries were initially designated P, Q and R, then numbered 529, 530 and 531 on 1 January 1943.Ellis, Normandy, Appendix IV.Frederick, pp. 487, 541. After training, under the command of Lt-Col R.J. Streatfield, the regiment joined 15th (Scottish) Division on 29 March 1943.Joslen, pp. 58–9.Martin, p. 16; Appendix B.

Service Overlord training 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. 190th Field Rgt was paired with 46th (Highland) Bde for training and future operations. 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. In April 1944 the division moved to its concentration area in Sussex to prepare for embarkation.Martin, pp. 16–27, 31.

Normandy The assault formations of 21st Army Group landed on D Day (6 June). Although parts of 15th (S) Division had begun landing on 13 June, the weather deteriorated and some units were not complete 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) at 07.30 on 26 June. 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. The following day the Scots captured the vital bridge over the Odon, by the end of which 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.Ellis, Normandy, p. 334.Martin, pp. 62–78. The division was then quickly 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. 190th Field Rgt married up as usual with 46th (H) Bde, its observation posts (OPs) accompanying 9th Battalion Cameronians; the field regiments also had OPs in tanks with the supporting 6th Guards Tank Brigade. 15th (Scottish) Division's artillery 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. On 13 August the Germans began to withdraw and 15th (S) Division was relieved and went to rest.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.

Low Countries 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 after four days 15th (S) Division followed them into Belgium, taking over a small bridgehead across the Albert Canal near Geel. On 13 September the division pushed on to the Junction Canal. Then on the night of 14/15 September it struggled to seize a bridgehead over the canal at Aart and defend it against a succession of counter-attacks. Ammunition shortage restricted the divisional artillery to urgent defensive fire (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.Martin, pp. 110–47.Neal, pp. 20–2.

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.

The division returned to the line on 19 October for Operation Pheasant to support 51st (Highland) Division, which was attacking 's-Hertogenbosch. After 15th (Scottish) liberated Tilburg on 28 October, the Germans put in a heavy counter-attack against 7th US Armored Division at Asten. The division's troops were rushed across to help stop the attack up the Asten–Meijel road. Afterwards 15th (Scottish) Division remained at Meijel under heavy German artillery fire for several weeks, but its own barrage when advancing towards the town was also effective. The Germans withdrew on 18 November, and the division followed up in bad weather. It was relieved on 27–28 November.Martin, pp. 173–213.Neal, pp. 22–3.

On 3 December the Division carried out a textbook attack on Blerick to eliminate the remaining German bridgehead on the River Maas, opposite Venlo. It employed a single brigade, 44th (Lowland), backed by Second Army's's superior resources in airpower, engineering and artillery to overcome formidable minefields, anti-tank ditches and fortifications. The divisional artillery was reinforced with no less than three Army Groups Royal Artillery (AGRAs), making a total of over 400 guns, including super-heavies. The artillery programme began at 05.25, when 'Blerick was blotted out by smoke and dust and sheets of flame'.Martin, p. 218. The breaching operation started at 07.25 and was a complete success, with low casualties.Buckley, pp. 240–1.Ellis, Germany, pp. 160–1.Martin, pp. 214–9.Neal, p. 23. 15th (Scottish) Division remained on the line of the Maas for the next seven weeks while Second Army turned to assist US forces to block the German Ardennes Offensive.Martin, pp. 220–3.

Rhineland Between 23 and 28 January 1945 15th (S) Division was concentrated at Tilburg to prepare for Operation Veritable to clear the Reichswald between the Maas and the River Rhine. The division was given four objectives, the first and easiest phase (Operation Gilbert) was to close up to the Siegfried Line defences. Advancing on a two-brigade front, the attack was supported by the divisional artillery reinforced by two self-propelled field regiments and a medium regiment. The divisional artillery moved up to its assembly area on the night of 5/6 February, the field regiments taking up positions astride the main road by last light on 7 February. The preliminary bombardment of the enemy defences began at 05.00 on 8 February, and at 07.30 the guns switched to firing smoke screens designed to draw enemy fire against the expected attack. There was then a pause to allow the sound-rangers and flash-spotters to locate the German artillery. The destructive fire was renewed at 07.50, with Counter-battery fire until 10.00 when the barrage began. H Hour for 15 (S) Division was at 10.30 and then the barrage advanced ahead of the infantry in a series of lifts every 12 minutes; each lift was signalled to the infantry by one gun of each troop firing a round of yellow smoke. By keeping up with the barrage the infantry achieved the first objective successfully, but Operation Sullivan, to breach the Siegfried Line at 21.00, was held up by traffic jams and bad going. By 08.00 the following morning there was still no sign of the battalion due to carry out the attack. It took until the evening of 9/10 February for the division to reach its main objective, the 'Materborn Feature' overlooking the town of Kleve. Over following days it made slow progress through the forest against increasing German artillery. Conditions were so bad that 25-pdr ammunition had to be delivered to the guns by amphibious vehicles until a circuitous road was opened up. Two brigades of the division were relieved on 15 February, but 46th (H) Bde continued attacking Moyland Castle until 17 February. The division then took part in Operation Blockbuster to capture Goch. It was finally relieved on 25–26 February.Anon, Veritable, pp. 19–22, 29–31, 39–41, 46–7, 49–50, 54, 58, 69–88; Appendix F, Table 2; Appendix G.Martin, pp. 224–72.Neal, p. 24.Stacey, pp. 464–5, 469–70, 474, 476–7, 490–1, 493–4.

Rhine crossing