102nd (Ulster) Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery was part of the Territorial Army and used to have sub-units initially in Scotland and Northern Ireland and, latterly, just in Northern Ireland.

History

The regiment was formed as 102 (Ulster and Scottish) Light Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) in 1967, from the amalgamation of 245 (Ulster) Light Air Defence Regiment RA, 445 (Lowland) Light Air Defence Regiment RA, and 278 (Lowland) Field Regiment RA (The City of Edinburgh). Its units initially were Headquarters Battery at

Newtownards Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtownard ...

, 206 (Ulster) Light Air Defence Battery at

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

and 207 (Scottish) Light Air Defence Battery in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. The regiment was equipped with the

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

surface-to-air missile. In 1969 212 Battery was formed at

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

from the Highland Regiment RA and joined the regiment. The regiment was renamed 102 (Ulster and Scottish) Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) in 1976. In 1986 207 Battery and 212 Battery (the Scottish-based batteries) left the regiment and 215 Battery was formed at

and joined the regiment at which point the regiment was renamed 102nd (Ulster) Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery. The regiment was disbanded under

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

in 1993.

Batteries

Immediately prior to disbandment its batteries were as follows: * Headquarters Battery, based at Newtownards - Suspended Animation * 206 (Coleraine) Battery, based at Coleraine - transferred to 105th Regiment Royal Artillery * 215 (North Down) Battery, based at Newtownards - Suspended Animation

References

Bibliography

*Litchfield, Norman E H, 1992. The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988, The Sherwood Press, Nottingham. Royal Artillery regiments Air defence regiments of the British Army Military units and formations in Northern Ireland 1967 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1967 Military units and formations disestablished in 1993 {{UK-mil-unit-stub