1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. It currently serves in the armoured

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...

role, and is equipped with the

AS90 The AS-90 ("Artillery System for the 1990s"), known officially as Gun Equipment 155 mm L131, is an armoured self-propelled artillery weapon used by the British Army. It can fire standard charges up to using 39 calibre long barrel (comp ...

self-propelled gun. The regiment is currently based at

Larkhill Garrison Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

. The regiment completed its move from Assaye Barracks,

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, south o ...

, to Larkhill in June 2019.

History

Formation

The regiment was formed as 5th Brigade Royal Horse Artillery in March 1901 and was renamed 1st Brigade Royal Horse Artillery in October 1906. It served in Iraq in 1920, returned to the Uk in 1923 and served in Egypt in 1931, before returning to the UK again in 1936. It was renamed 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery on 1 May 1938.

Second World War

In 1939, 1 RHA was part of

51st (Highland) Infantry Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

, and fought at

Saint Valery Saint Walaric, modern French Valery (died 620), was a Frankish monk turned hermit who founded the . His cult was recognized in Normandy and England. Life Walaric was born in the Auvergne to a peasant family. Taught to read at a young age, he a ...

. The regiment was captured after severe fighting, but some batteries managed to escape after the

Battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk (french: Bataille de Dunkerque, link=no) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on ...

. The regiment reformed and was deployed to

Northern Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

in late 1940, where it arrived with the

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

in October 1940 and took a large part in Wavell's campaign which opened on 9 December 1940. The most notable actions were those during the

Siege of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. ...

and all the batteries fought during the fierce fighting just before El Alamein and then the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Battles of El Alamein itself. 1 RHA then joined 10 Armd Division in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

and spent the next year training all over

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

Zone. 1 RHA then landed in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

from Palestine in May 1944 at

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

, and were in action south of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 15 May 1944 and thereafter played a full part in the remainder of the Italian Campaign and finished the war in Italy.

Cold War

The regiment saw service as follows: 1 RHA was stationed in Palestine after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during the period of terrorist activity that led to the creation of the State of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. 1 RHA returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as part of 6th Armoured Division at

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

in 1951. in 1952 1 RHA moved to

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, where they remained until 1958 as part of the 20th Armoured Brigade of 6th Armoured Division. In 1958, it moved to

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

, where it was equipped with the

M44 self-propelled howitzer The M44 was an American-made self-propelled 155 mm howitzer based on the M41 Walker Bulldog tank chassis, first introduced in the early 1950s. Flaws in its design prevented it from seeing action in the Korean War, but the type went on to serve i ...

. In 1965, RHA deployed to Aden with three batteries (each split into three independent two-gun sections), where they supported British battalions in the

Radfan Radfan or the Radfan Hills is a region of the Republic of Yemen. In the 1960s, the area was part of a British protectorate of Dhala (a member of the Federation of South Arabia) and was the site of intense fighting during the Aden Emergency. In 1 ...

, and South Arabian battalions on the

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i border. On returning from the region, the regiment was based at Kirkee Barracks,

Colchester Garrison Colchester Garrison is a major garrison located in Colchester in the county of Essex, Eastern England. It has been an important military base since the Roman era. The first permanent military garrison in Colchester was established by Legio XX ...

and subsequently renamed as 1st Field Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, and its batteries also taking the new designation. The regiment was then equipped with the 105mm Pack Howitzer, and assigned to the 19th Infantry Brigade. Elements of 1 RHA were deployed on

Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initial ...

in November 1969. As part of support to support 3rd Infantry Brigade, units were deployed to

Long Kesh Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

and

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

City Centre. After returning from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, the regiment was granted the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. In May 1970 they moved to Hobart Barracks in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

and equipped with the new Green Archer Radar and joined CRA, 4th Armoured Division in support of the 20th Armoured Brigade.Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 54, 105, 115. The regiment then deployed to

three more times, Sep 72 - Jan 73 in

, Mar - Jul 74 in

(City Central), and Mar - Jun 76

(Grand Central/City Centre). In September 1976, the regiment was equipped with the new Cyberline Radar, and the batteries re-equipped with the

FV433 Abbot SPG FV433, 105mm, Field Artillery, Self-Propelled "Abbot" is the self-propelled artillery, or more specifically self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion sy ...

, and E Bty subsequently became an independent abbot bty. In March 1977 the regiment moved to Alanbrooke Barracks, Topcliffe and E bty remained for one year until joining the regiment again in March 1978. In 1979 the regiment was re-equipped with the new FH70 155mm Field Howizer and joined the 24th Airportable Brigade. In April 1982 the regiment moved to back to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and was based at Haig Barracks, Hohne Garrison, re-equipped with the Abbot 105mm and joined CRA, 1st Armoured Division, and from 1988 in the close support role for the 22nd Armoured Brigade. Just after moving back to Germany, the regiment gained

D Battery A D battery (D cell or IEC R20) is a standardized size of a dry cell. A D cell is cylindrical with an electrical contact at each end; the positive end has a nub or bump. D cells are typically used in high current drain applications, such as in ...

from 45th Regiment Royal Artillery, but in April 1984 that battery moved to 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. When the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

ended in 1990, the Options for Change reforms were published, and the regiment ordered back to

within the next two years. Another change was during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, all three batteries, A, B, and E amalgamated to form A/B/E Bty for Gulf service. On returning from the gulf in April 1991, the batteries were separated into their independent identities again. In September 1992, the regiment moved to Assaye Barracks, Tidworth, renamed as 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery and re-equipped with the

L118 light gun The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally designed and produced in England for the British Army in the 1970s. It has since been widely exported. The L119 and the United States Army's M119 are variants that use a different ...

in CRA,

3rd (United Kingdom) Mechanised Division The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the ...

in support of the 1st Mechanised Brigade.

Current history (1993–present)

In September 1993 the regiment was equipped with the new

AS-90 The AS-90 ("Artillery System for the 1990s"), known officially as Gun Equipment 155 mm L131, is an armoured self-propelled artillery weapon used by the British Army. It can fire standard charges up to using 39 calibre long barrel (com ...

and the observation parties equipped in the

Warrior tracked armoured vehicle The Warrior tracked vehicle family is a series of British armoured vehicles, originally developed to replace FV430 series armoured vehicles. The Warrior started life as the MCV-80, "Mechanised Combat Vehicle for the 1980s". One of the requirement ...

. In December of that year, L (Néry) Battery and O Battery (The Rocket Troop) joined the regiment after the disbandment of the 2nd Regiment Royal Artillery, and O Bty became O Headquarters Battery (The Rocket Troop) of the regiment. The regiment now controlled the following batteries after the recent reforms; A Battery (The Chestnut Troop), B Battery, E Battery, and L (Néry) Battery as field batteries, and O Headquarters Battery (The Rocket Troop). In April 1994 the regiment's radar troop deployed to

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

and the regiment then joined and deployed many times until 2002. In November 1999 after the recent Strategic Defence Review 1998, N Battery (The Eagle Troop) joined from 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery and amalgamated with L (Néry) Battery to form L/N (Néry) Battery (The Eagle Troop). In 2004, 1 RHA deployed to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

(Op TELIC 4) as part of 1st Mechanised Brigade: Sergeant Terry Bryan from 1RHA was awarded the

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) is a second level military decoration of the British Armed Forces. Created in 1993 and first awarded in 1995, it was instituted after a review of the British honours system to remove distinctions of rank in ...

for his actions during an incident on 9 August 2004. On 28 September 2004, a convoy of 1 RHA vehicles was ambushed, resulting in the loss of Cpl Marc Taylor REME and Gunner David Lawrence in an improvised explosive device attack. In 2007, 1 RHA re-deployed to Basra, Iraq on Operation Telic (Operation TELIC 10). In September 2009 1 RHA deployed for approximately 7 months to Helmand province, Afghanistan on

Operation HERRICK Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assis ...

11 supporting

11 Light Brigade The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ ...

. 1 RHA deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

for a second time, on

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assis ...

16, in 2013. Under

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

, and its successor,

Army 2020 Refine Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. Army 2020 Refine The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reac ...

, the regiment is now part of the re-organised 1st Artillery Brigade and provides armoured artillery support to the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier Programme, the regiment will re-subordinate to the new 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team (a merger of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade and 1st Artillery Brigade) in 2022. The regiment's role will remain the same, but will gain L (Nery) battery equipped with the

General Dynamics Ajax The Ajax, formerly known as the Scout SV (Specialist Vehicle), is a group of armoured fighting vehicles being developed by General Dynamics UK for the British Army. The Ajax is a development of the ASCOD armoured fighting vehicles used by the ...

as a "tactical group" charged with reconnaissance from 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery.

Batteries

The batteries are as follows: *Regimental Headquarters, at Assaye Barracks, Larkhill Garrison * O Headquarters Battery (The Rocket Troop) * A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) equipped with

* B Battery, equipped with

* E Battery, equipped with

Notes

References

* Graham E. Watson & Richard A. Rinaldi, ''The British Army in German (BAOR and After): an Organisational History 1947–2004'', 2005 Tiger Lilly Book Productions. {{ISBN, 0-9720296-9-9}. Royal Horse Artillery regiments Royal Horse Artillery 001 1938 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1938