In 1859, as the United Kingdom feared invasion from the continent, the government reluctantly accepted the creation of many Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.[1][2] The Secretary of State for War allowed the Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) free access to guns and ammunition for practice.[3] Most of the AVCs were formed in the coastal counties to man fixed coast defence guns but the following corps were raised in the inland West Riding of Yorkshire:[4][5][6]
1st (Leeds) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC raised at Leeds on 2 August 1860; additional batteries were formed on 6 August and 1 November, and on 4 January 10 and 17 February 1862; there were eight batteries by the beginning of 1866[7][8]
2nd (Bradford) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC formed at Bradford on 10 October 1860; included batteries at Bowling and Heckmondwike[8][9]
4th (Sheffield) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC formed with two batteries at Sheffield on 6 February 1861; additional batteries formed on 2 May 1861 (one) and 17 October 1862 (two); there were eight batteries by the beginning of 1866; its subtitle 'The Sheffield Artillery' was authorised in 1864[11]
5th (Bowling) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC formed from two batteries of the 2nd Corps (including one at Batley) on 1 March 1864; absorbed back into 2nd Corps in November 1874[9]
6th (Heckmondwike) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC formed from part of the 2nd Corps on 24 May1867 absorbed back into 2nd Corps by April 1875[9]
7th (Batley) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC formed from part of the 5th Corps on 24 May 1867; disbanded in August 1877[9]
8th (Halifax) Yorkshire (West Riding) AVC formed on 19 May 1871[9]
The 1st Administrative Brigade of Yorkshire (West Riding) Artillery Volunteers was formed at Bradford on 21 March 1864 and eventually included the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th AVCs.[9] The 3rd West Riding AVC at York joined the 1st Administrative Brigade of Yorkshire (East Riding) Artillery Volunteers.[10][12] The larger 1st and 4th West Riding AVCs remained independent.[5][6][13]
The West Riding AVCs began as coastal artillery armed with 32-pounder smoothbore muzzleloading guns.[8] In 1868 the 5th West Riding AVC won the Queen's Prize at the annual National Artillery Association competition held at Shoeburyness. The following year the 7th West Riding AVC won the competition, with the 4th West Riding AVC winning it in 1872.[14]
When the Volunteers were consolidated into larger units in 1880, the 1st Admin Brigade became the 2nd Yorkshire (West Riding) Artillery Volunteers on 16 March with the batteries distributed as follows:[5][6][13][9]
Numbers 1 to 4 at Bradford
Numbers 5 and 6 at Heckmondwike
Numbers 7 and 8 at Halifax
The 3rd West Riding AVC was absorbed into the 1st Yorkshire (East Riding) AV.[10]
On 1 April 1882, the West Riding AVs became part of the Northern Division, Royal Artillery, changing to the Western Division on 1 July 1889, and were titled 1st, 2nd and 4th West Riding of Yorkshire Artillery Volunteers, with headquarters at Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield respectively.[5][6][13][7][9][11]
As well as manning fixed coast defence artillery, some of the early Artillery Volunteers manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. But the War Office refused to pay for the upkeep of field guns for Volunteers and they had largely died out in the 1870s. In 1888 the 'position artillery' concept was revived and some Volunteer companies (particularly in inland counties) were reorganised as position batteries to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades. By 1894 all three West Riding units had been classified as position artillery, each organised in four batteries and equipped with 40 pounder rifled breechloading guns.[5][6][8][15][16]
On 1 June 1899 all the Volunteer artillery units became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and with the abolition of the RA's divisional organisation on 1 January 1902, the West Riding units became the 1st, 2nd and 4th West Riding of Yorkshire RGA (Volunteers).[5][6][16] 'Position artillery' was reclassified as 'heavy artillery' in May 1902, and the batteries were re-equipped with 4.7-inch quick-firing guns drawn by steam tractors.[8][17]
Territorial Force
Haldane Reforms
After the end of the Boer War in 1902, a review of the Army took place and a Royal Commission reported on the Militia and Volunteers. The War Office was concerned over the different standards of efficiency, but had to concede that this was in the hands of individual commanding officers. Lieutenant-Colonel Allen of the 4th West Riding RGA (V) was one of five Volunteer officers invited to sit on a committee under Lord Raglan to consider the difficulties of the new efficiency regulations.[18] Eventually, the Secretary for War in the Liberal Government of 1905, Richard Haldane, was given the task of preparing legislation for reform. His Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 brought together the Volunteer and Yeomanry units to form the Territorial Force (TF), with the same home defence role as before, but, in addition, giving them the capability of acting as backup to the Regular Army if the need arose, with a full organisation of infantry divisions and mounted brigades, with supporting arms. In addition, the Act set up County Associations to help co-ordinate the work of the War Office and the new TF, and to recruit, house and administer the units.[8][19][20][21]
West Yorkshire Divisional Artillery
The West Riding Territorial Association was responsible for the whole of the TF's West Riding Division, including its Divisional Artillery.[a] The majority of TF artillery units transferred to the Royal Field Artillery (RFA), with a smaller number remaining as heavy artillery under the RGA. The heavy RGA battery at York was brought back from the East Riding Association, but the West Riding Association still needed to form some new units and subunits to complete the force, which was organised as follows:[8][13][22][23][24][25][26]
Divisional Artillery HQ: Red House, Marygate, York
I West Riding Brigade, RFA – from 1st West Riding RGA (V)
Battery HQ: Lumley Barracks, Burton Stone Lane, York[35]
Battery Ammunition Column, York
Each RFA battery was equipped with four 15 pounder guns or four 5-inch howitzers as appropriate; the RGA heavy battery retained its 4.7-inch guns. With the change to the smaller guns, steam tractors were no longer required and the drill halls had to be adapted to accommodate horses.[8][23]
During the Great War (1914–18) the West Riding brigades formed the divisional artillery for the 49th (West Riding) Division, going to France in 1915. Each formed a second line brigade (designated with a '2/' prefix) in the autumn of 1914, which then supported 62nd Division. In May 1916, all the TF RFA brigades were renumbered.[24][26]
49th (West Riding) Divisional Artillery
49th (West Riding) Divisional Artillery was organised as follows:[23][26]
1/I West Riding Bde – became CCXLV (245) Bde
1/II West Riding Bde – became CCXLVI (246) Bde
1/III West Riding Bde – became CCXLVII (247) Bde; broken up February 1917
1/IV West Riding (H) Bde became CCXLVIII (248) Bde; broken up among 49th Divisional Artillery October 1916
49th (West Riding) Divisional Ammunition Column – formed after mobilisation; absorbed the brigade ammunition columns (BACs) May 1916
49th (West Riding) Trench Mortar Brigade
X/49, Y/49, Z/49 Medium TMBs – formed by 4 April 1916
V/49 Heavy TMB – formed 18 April 1916
W/49 Heavy TMB – formed 17 May 1916, absorbed by W/49 by 7 June 1917
Heavy artillery batteries did not serve with their original divisions. As the war progressed sections and batteries were exchanged between field brigades to bring them up to a final establishment of three 6-gun 18-pounder field gun batteries and one 4.5-inch howitzer battery; this resulted in some brigades being broken up. Divisional artillery then consisted of two of these larger brigades, and the remaining brigades became Army Field Artillery (AFA) brigades.[23][26][38][39]
The onset of Trench warfare revealed an urgent need for high angle mortars. During 1915 the BEF began forming ad hoc trench mortar batteries (TMBs) manned by a mixture of infantry and RFA gunners. At the end of the year TMBs were defined as light, medium or heavy, with the light batteries (LTMBs) formed in infantry brigades and the medium and heavy forming part of the divisional artillery. 49th (WR) Divisional Artillery was assigned 34, 37 and 48 TMBs from December 1915 until it formed its own batteries. In February 1918 the mortars were reorganised into larger batteries: Z MTMB in each division was split between X and Y and the HTMBs became corps-level units, with W/49 joining X Corps. From July 1918 the divisional TMBs became wholly RFA units, the heavies becoming RGA units.[23][40][41][42]
62nd (2nd West Riding) Divisional Ammunition Column – absorbed the BACs before embarking for France
62nd (2nd West Riding) Trench Mortar Brigade
X/62, Y/62 Medium TMBs
Z/62 Medium TMB – broken up between X and Y 13–18 February 1918
V/62 Heavy TMB – broken up 11 February 1918
After a long period of training hampered by lack of equipment, 62nd (2nd WR) Division served on the Western Front from January 1917. It followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and took part in the subsequent actions. Later in the year it fought in the Battle of Cambrai. It was engaged in the German spring offensive of March 1918, and then through the Hundred Days Offensive. It was disbanded in 1919.[38][39]
CCCXI Army Field Artillery Bde served with a wide variety of formations in 1917–18. It took part in the battles of Arras, Messines (with the Anzacs), and Passchendaele (with the Canadians). In 1918 it fought in the German spring offensive, and the final advance in Artois, ending the war under Canadian command.[43][44]
Interwar period
Following the War, the names of the Brigades reverted to their pre-war designations – 1st, 2nd and 3rd West Riding Brigades RFA when they were reformed in the reconstituted TF on 7 February 1920. The 4th West Riding Bde was not reformed: its batteries remained as howitzer batteries with the 1st and 2nd Brigades, while the former West Riding Royal Horse Artillery provided the fourth battery of the 3rd Brigade (from which it had emerged in 1908). In 1921 the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA) and the units were redesignated:[7][9][11][13][24][31][37][45]
69th (West Riding) Brigade, RFA
HQ, Leeds
273rd (1st West Riding) Battery, Leeds
274th (2nd West Riding) Battery, Bramley
275th (3rd West Riding) Battery, Leeds
276th (11th West Riding) (Howitzer) Battery, Ilkley
70th (West Riding) Brigade, RFA
HQ, Bradford
277th (4th West Riding) Battery, Bradford
278th (5th West Riding) Battery, Halifax
279th (6th West Riding) Battery, Bradford
280th (10th West Riding) (Howitzer) Battery, Otley
71st (West Riding) Brigade, RFA
HQ, Sheffield
281st (7th West Riding) Battery, Sheffield
282nd (8th West Riding) Battery, Sheffield
283rd (9th West Riding) Battery, Sheffield
284th (12th West Riding) (Howitzer) Battery, Rotherham
The brigades once again provided the divisional artillery for 49th (WR) Division, which had also reformed in 1920. In 1924 the RFA and RGA were subsumed into the Royal Artillery (RA), and the word 'Field' was inserted into the titles of its brigades and batteries. 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 field brigades from 1 November 1938.[13][24][45][46]
Post-Munich
The TA was doubled in size after the Munich Crisis, and regiments formed duplicates in 1939. Part of the reorganisation was that field regiments changed from four six-gun batteries to an establishment of two batteries, each of three four-gun troops. The West Riding Artillery reorganised as follows:[8][24][45]
First Line (49th (West Riding) Divisional Artillery)
The 122nd Field Regiment, after training in the United Kingdom, was sent out to the Far East in late 1941. The 122nd suffered 13 war casualties during the Malayan Campaign up until the naval base at Singapore surrendered in February 1942 after the Battle of Singapore. Thereafter, more than 200 died, mainly as a result of their treatment as prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army.[8]
A regimental history was assembled by Sergeant R.W. Morris and published in 1946; entitled '121 Field Medium Regiment Royal Artillery 1939–1946'. In 2023 it was established that no public library held a copy and a privately held copy was uplifted to a WWII history website, which is open to the public.[48]
Postwar
An honour, unique at the time for a TA unit, was conferred upon the 70th on 5 September 1945. They were granted the Freedom of the City of Bradford.[49]
269th and 270th (West Riding) Field Regiment RA(TA) reconstituted in the TA in Leeds and Bradford respectively on New Year's Day 1947. Both units were equipped with the 25 pounder self propelled gun (the Sexton), and both became part of 49th (West Riding) Armoured Division. In 1956, they were re-equipped with 25 pounder (towed), familiar to so many. When Anti-Aircraft Command was abolished in the mid-fifties, 269th absorbed 321 (West Riding) HAA Regiment and the 270th absorbed 584 LAA Regiment RA (6th West Yorkshire) without changing their titles (although the 270th did move their HQ from Valley Parade to 584's barracks at Belle Vue, Bradford).[8][24]
To mark the centenary of the formation of the 1st Yorkshire (West Riding) Artillery Volunteer Corps, the Freedom of the City of Leeds was granted to the 269th on 3 February 1960.[50] Shortly afterwards, the 269th and 270th amalgamated with each other to form the 249th (The West Riding Artillery) Field Regiment RA(TA), with headquarters at Carlton Barracks in Leeds and batteries at Leeds, Bramley and Bradford.[8][24]
TAVR III
This reform saw the Regiment reorganised as The West Riding Regiment RA (Territorials) on 1 April 1967: but, by 1969, the Regiment was reduced to a cadre at Bradford (some of Q Battery was absorbed into E Company, The Yorkshire Volunteers; 272 (West Riding Artillery) Field Support Squadron, 73 Engineer Regiment RE(V) also formed at Bradford). In 1971, this cadre was expanded to become "A" (West Riding Artillery) Battery, 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Volunteers. On 1 April 1975, an independent observation post battery, 269 (West Riding) OP Battery RA (Volunteers), was formed at Leeds from the cadre (and the cadre disbanded), reviving the West Riding Artillery lineage in the Royal Artillery.[24][51]
Footnotes
^The artillery component of a British infantry division during World War I was commanded by a brigadier-general and was effectively a brigade, but was never referred to as such because 'brigade' was the term used by the Royal Artillery to designate a regimental-sized unit.
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8.
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918, London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-43-6.
Ian F.W. Beckett, Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908, Aldershot, The Ogilby Trusts, 1982, ISBN0 85936-271 X.
J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3.
J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
Norman Litchfield & Ray Westlake, The Volunteer Artillery 1859–1908 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1982, ISBN 0-9508205-0-4.
Laurie Magnus, The West Riding Territorials in the Great War, London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1920//Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-77-7.
Edward M. Spiers, The Army and Society 1815–1914, London: Longmans, 1980, ISBN0-582-48565-7.
War Office, Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army, London: War Office, 7 November 1927 (RA sections also summarised in Litchfield, Appendix IV).