The 61st Carnarvon and Denbigh (Yeomanry) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a Welsh unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) formed after World War I from existing Royal Garrison Artillery and Yeomanry Cavalry units. In World War II it fought in the Battle of France and was evacuated from Dunkirk. It returned to North-West Europe in June 1944, participating in the battles in the Orne valley and the bocage south of Caumont before the breakout from the Normandy beachhead, operations to close up to the Maas, and the assault crossing of the Rhine (Operation Plunder). The regiment continued in the postwar TA, and a successor unit continues in today's Army Reserve.
Origin
The Welsh (Carnarvonshire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and the Denbighshire Hussars were units of Britain's part-time Territorial Force (TF), which had served in World War I. When the TF was reformed on 7 February 1920, the prewar Welsh (Carnarvonshire) RGA was initially reformed as 12th (Carnarvon and Denbigh) Medium Brigade, RGA, which was to have had its headquarters (HQ) and two batteries at Colwyn Bay and one battery at Bangor. However, when the TF was reconstituted as the Territorial Army (TA) the following year the unit was redesignated 61st Medium Brigade, RGA, with probably only one battery (241st Medium Bty) at Bangor.Frederick, pp. 723, 735, 737.Litchfield, pp. 27–8. Similarly, the Denbighshire Hussars, a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment headquartered at Wrexham, was reformed as a mounted unit in the TF, even though it had ended World War I fighting as infantry. Wartime experience showed that the army had too many mounted units, and so only the 14 most senior Yeomanry regiments were retained in the TA as horsed cavalry, the remainder being converted to other roles. On 1 March 1922 the Denbighshire Hussars were converted to artillery and merged with the new medium brigade to form 61st Carnarvon and Denbigh (Yeomanry) Medium Brigade, RGA as with the following organisation:Frederick, p. 28.Litchfield, Appendix VII.Monthly Army List, various dates.
HQ at Drill Hall, Colwyn Bay, from Denbighshire Hussars 241st (Carnarvon) Med Bty at Bangor, from 61st Medium Bde 242nd (Carnarvon) Med Bty (Howitzer) at Llandudno, from Denbighshire Hussars 243rd (Denbigh) Med Bty (H) at Colwyn Bay, from Denbighshire Hussars 244th (Denbigh) Med Bty (H) at Wrexham from Denbighshire Hussars
The commanding officer (CO) was Acting Lieutenant-Colonel W.F. Christian, DSO, of the RGA, with Major W.H. Hughes (the Welsh Heavy Battery's prewar CO) as senior major. No prewar officers of the Denbigh Yeomanry were carried over to the new brigade. On 1 June 1924 the RGA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery (RA) and the titles were adjusted. The brigade was defined as 'Army Troops' in 53rd (Welsh) Divisional Area and 53rd (Welsh) Divisional Signals also included 212th Medium Artillery Signal Section, Royal Corps of Signals, to service the brigade.War Office, Titles & Designations, 1927. The establishment of a medium brigade was four 4-gun batteries, one equipped with 60-pounder guns and three with 6-inch howitzers, all of World War I patterns. These were finally fitted with pneumatic tyres in 1937.Farndale, p. 4.Townend & Baldwin, p. 52.
In 1938 the RA modernised its nomenclature and a lieutenant-colonel's command was designated a 'regiment' rather than a 'brigade'; this applied to TA brigades from 1 November 1938. The TA was doubled in size after the Munich Crisis, and most regiments formed duplicates. During 1939 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt divided as follows:Western Command, 3 September 1939, at Patriot Files.
61st (Carnarvon & Denbighshire) Medium Regiment Regimental HQ at Colwyn Bay 242 (Carnarvon) Med Battery at Llandudno 243 (Denbigh) Med Battery at Colwyn Bay
69th Medium Regiment RHQ at Bangor 241 (Carnarvon) Med Battery at Bangor 244 (Denbigh) Med Battery at Wrexham
Each battery would consist of two 4-gun Troops.Ellis, France & Flanders, Appendix I.Farndale, Annex A.
World War II Mobilisation When the TA was mobilised on 1 September, just ahead of the outbreak of World War II on 3 September, the regiment mobilised at Colwyn Bay. Under the command of the recently promoted Lt-Col G.E. Fitzhugh (who had commanded 243 Bty before the war) it crossed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Although classed as 'Army Troops' it was attached to 2nd Infantry Division in I Corps.Farndale, p. 15.
Battle of France The period of 'Phoney War' ended with the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May, and in response the BEF advanced into Belgium under Plan D. Soon 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt was deployed with 2nd Division on the River Dyle, with the regiment at Chateau d'Etoiles on the extreme right of the BEF's line. C Troop fired the regiment's first round of the campaign at 17.00 on 13 May in support of 4th Brigade. However, the Germans had broken through the French positions in the Ardennes and the BEF was in danger pof being outflanked on the right. On 15 May the regiment had reports of enemy tanks approaching the gun positions and was withdrawn to Terbloc. On 16 May it was in action all day from positions some north of Notre-Dame-Au-Bois. The BEF now began to withdraw from its exposed positions towards the River Escaut. 61st (C&DY) Medium Rgt was on the move under very difficult conditions throughout 17 May, and on 19 May it came into action at Ere, just south of Tournai, where it fired 953 rounds. On the Escaut 2nd Division and 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt came under the command of III Corps. The enemy attacked north of Calonne on 21 May but were driven back by artillery fire. However, 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt was heavily shelled and suffered 17 casualties.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter III.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter IV.Farndale, pp. 42, 54.Joslen, p 462.
Although III Corps was successfully holding the Escaut Line, the German breakthrough had reached the English Channel and the BEF was fighting on two fronts, cut off from its bases and the main French forces. 2nd Division was switched to guarding the 'Canal Line' through St Venant–Robecq–La Bassée. Arriving on 25 May it recaptured St Venant, but at the end of the day the decision was made to withdraw the BEF and evacuate through Dunkirk. It was vital that 2nd Division held its wide positions to allow the other British and French forces to withdraw to the River Lys. On 26 and 27 May the division came under intense pressure from German Panzer formations, but supported by 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt and counter-attacking when it could, the division managed to maintain a line despite heavy casualties. Afterwards the division fought its way back to the Dunkirk beaches, where it was evacuated on 31 May, having destroyed all its guns and equipment.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter IX.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter XII.Farndale, pp. 55–6, 58–60, 68, 80.Joslen, pp. 39–40.
Home defence On return to the UK the BEF's units were reorganised and reinforced, but it was many months before the artillery could be re-equipped with anything better than a handful of obsolescent guns. Eventually the medium regiments were issued with the modern 5.5-inch gun and AEC Matador gun tractor.Ellis, Normandy, Appendix IV.Farndale, pp. 103.Townend & Baldwin, p. 50.
By December 61st (D&DY) Med Rgt and its signal section were stationed in Northern Command. About March 1941 they were reassigned to I Corps, affiliated with 2nd Division once more until that division left to go to India at the end of the year. By the Spring of 1942 the regiment had its own Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (later the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME)) attached to it for mobile operations.Order of Battle of the Field Force in the United Kingdom, Part 3: Royal Artillery, 26 December 1940, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, files WO 212/4 and WO 33/2365.Order of Battle of the Field Force in the United Kingdom, Part 3: Royal Artillery (Non-Divisional Units), 25 March 1941, TNA files WO 212/5 and WO 33/2323.Order of Battle of the Field Force in the United Kingdom, Part 3: Royal Artillery (Non-Divisional units), 2 April 1942, TNA file WO 212/515.
The need for a higher organisational command structure for medium and heavy artillery had become apparent during the Battle of France. The Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA) concept was developed during Exercise 'Bumper' held in the UK in 1941, organised by the commander of Home Forces, General Alan Brooke (himself a Gunner) with Lt-Gen Bernard Montgomery as chief umpire.Farndale, p. 99. This large anti-invasion exercise tested many of the tactical concepts that would be used by the British Army in the latter stages of the war. The gunnery tacticians developed the AGRAs as powerful artillery brigades, usually comprising three or four medium regiments and one heavy regiment, which could be rapidly moved about the battlefield, and had the punch to destroy enemy artillery with counter-battery (CB) fire. AGRAs were provided to field armies at a scale of about one per Army corps.Buckley, p. 41 & fn 60, p. 309.Townend & Baldwin, pp. 54–5.
61st (C&DY) Medium Rgt was assigned to 8th AGRA when it was formed on 1 May 1943 at Brandeston Hall, Woodbridge, Suffolk. It was assigned to 21st Army Group being formed for the planned invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord), in which it generally supported operations by VIII Corps.Frederick, p. 965.Joslen, pp. 89, 463.Townend & Baldwin, Appendix A.Order of Battle of the Forces in the United Kingdom, Part 2: 21 Army Group, 24 July 1943, TNA file WO 212/238.
Normandy Overlord was launched on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and HQ 8th AGRA landed at Arromanches on 18 June to prepare for the forthcoming Operation Epsom.Townend & Baldwin, pp. 234, 236–8. However, landings fell behind schedule and 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt did not arrive until 2 July, when it deployed at St Manvieu under the command of Lt-Col D.M. Bateson. The regiment arrived in time to take part in Operation Jupiter directed against the dominating ridge of Hill 112 and the villages of Éterville and Maltot, which would open the way to the River Orne. The AGRA's tasks were to be CB, counter-Flak, counter-mortar (CM) and harassing fire (HF), some fired at extreme range. For the assault phase 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt was directly allocated to support the Royal Scots Greys of 4th Armoured Brigade aiming to exploit to the Orne in Phase 4 of the attack.Townend & Baldwin, pp. 315–21. Each medium regiment provided a double observation post (OP) with two forward observation officer (FOO) parties to the field regiment supporting the attacking brigade. The fireplan began on 10 July with HF tasks from 01.00 to 03.00, then heavy timed concentrations on all the known centres of enemy resistance began at 03.50: 8 AGRA's four medium regiments fired for 10 minutes on Les Duanes. 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division got into Éterville and Maltot, but a stalemate developed on Hill 112 and Maltot was untenable unless the ridge could be taken; 4th Armoured Bde's exploitation never happened. A renewed bombardment and attack late in the day saw 43rd (W) Division gain a footing on the crest, which was held against counter-attacks during the night with artillery support. When a company of 5th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment got into difficulties later in the day, it was extricated with corps-level fire support. The medium batteries moved forward to keep them within range of the battle. Captain G.W.R. Ormerod, commanding C Trp of 61st (C&DYR), was killed when 214th Infantry Bde's HQ was shelled while he was receiving orders to establish an OP on Hill 112. 61st (C&DY) Medium Rgt had fired 1877 rounds, its highest daily total of the campaign.Ellis, Normandy, pp. 317–8.Essame, pp. 37–46.Saunders, Hill 112, pp. 52–96, 189.Townend & Baldwin, pp. 324–35.