103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

and primarily has sub-units throughout the Greater Manchester and Merseyside area of the North-West of England, in recent years it has extended its footprint to Wolverhampton, Isle of Man, Carlisle and Nottingham. Its purpose is to provide reinforcements for units that use the 105 mm

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 ...

Formation

The Lancashire Artillery Volunteers were first raised in 1859 as part of the Volunteer Force raised in response to threats of French Invasion. A total of 23

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

were raised initially. However, in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, numerous units that would later form the Lancashire Artillery Gunners had existed from as early as 1804, when the

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inspected the Heaton Artillery Volunteers before they were shipped off to the fronts of the

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20th Century History

Officers and men of the Lancashire Artillery Volunteers continued to give service during the two world wars of the 20th Century. In 1967, some of these units were amalgamated to form 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Light Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers). Its units were Headquarters Battery at

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, 208 (3rd West Lancashire) Light Air Defence Battery at Liverpool and 209 (The Manchester Artillery) Light Air Defence Battery at

. In 1969 213 (South Lancashire Artillery) Light Air Defence Battery was formed at St Helens and joined the regiment. In 1976, the regiment changed its designation to 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) upon being equipped with the

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air-defense weapon. Then, in 1986, 216 (The Bolton Artillery) Battery was formed at

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

and joined the regiment. In 1992, as a result of the

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, ...

, the regiment lost one Air-Defence Battery (213 Air-Defense Battery, which was amalgamated with HQ Battery at St Helens) and Regimental Headquarters were moved from Deysbrooke Barracks, Liverpool, to St. Helens to be co-located with HQ Battery.

Modern day

In 2001, the regiment transferred from Air Defence to the Field Artillery as a Light Gun Regiment. 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 ...

, 209 (Manchester & St Helens) Battery Royal Artillery increased to a battery size. 210 (Staffordshire) Battery Royal Artillery, based in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, joined this regiment from

106th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery 106 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the Army Reserve and has sub-units throughout the South of England. The Regiment's role is Close Air Defence and it was part of the Joint Ground Based Air Defence (Jt GBAD) formation, later 7 Ai ...

, and re-roled to a light gun battery. 103 Regiment is paired with the regular 4th Regiment RA under the 1st Artillery Brigade. The current structure of the regiment is as follows: * Regimental Headquarters, at Jubilee Barracks, Saint Helens ** Lancashire Artillery Volunteers Band, at Nelson Street Army Reserve Centre,

** Lancashire Artillery Pipes and Drums * Headquarters Troop, at Jubilee Barracks, Saint Helens * 208 (3rd West Lancashire) Battery, at Brigadier Philip Toosy Barracks,

** Manx Troop, at Lord Street Army Reserve Centre,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

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– formed in 2015 * 209 (Manchester Artillery) Battery, at Belle Vue Street Army Reserve Centre,

* 210 (Staffordshire) Battery, at Wolseley House,

** C (South Nottinghamshire Hussars, Royal Horse Artillery) Troop, at Hucknall Lane Army Reserve Centre,

Bulwell Bulwell is a market town in the City of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. It is south-west of Hucknall and to the north-west of Nottingham. The United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded the population of Bulwell at 29,771 which amounted ...

– formed in 2018 * 216 (Bolton Artillery) Battery, at Nelson Street Army Reserve Centre, Bolton

Equipment

The 103rd Regiment is equipped with the 105mm Light Gun, a versatile, air-portable and air-mobile artillery piece.

Freedoms

The regiment has received the

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

of several locations throughout its history; these include: * 14 October 2017:

(208 (3rd West Lancashire) Battery). * 27 October 2020:

(209 (Manchester Artillery) Battery).

References

Publications

* Litchfield, Norman E H, and Westlake, R, 1982. ''The Volunteer Artillery 1859-1908'', The Sherwood Press, Nottingham. * Litchfield, Norman E H, 1992. ''The Territorial Artillery 1908-1988'', The Sherwood Press, Nottingham.

External links

Official site
{{British Army Artillery Regiments Royal Artillery regiments Military units and formations in Lancashire Military units and formations in Manchester Military units and formations established in 1859 1859 establishments in the United Kingdom