205 (3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery) Battery Royal Artillery is part of the

101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery 101 (Northumbrian) Medium Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the Army Reserve and has sub units throughout the north east as well as one sub unit in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is equipped with M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). History ...

and is equipped with the

M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. The U.S. Army variant of the MLRS vehicle is based on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The first M270s wer ...

. It is based in South Shields, United Kingdom. The Battery can trace its history back to the formation of the 3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery in 1860. Its history exemplifies the single Battle Honour of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

- "Ubique" (Everywhere), serving in the major battles of both world wars. In more recent times Battery members have seen active service in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Artillery Volunteers 1859-1908

In 1859 the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

was created as a result of rising tensions on the European continent. An appeal was made to citizens to form Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) in maritime towns. In the County of Durham this appeal resulted in the formation of four Corps in 1860: * 1st Durham AVC ( Sunderland) *

2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps The 2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery raised in County Durham by the Vane-Tempest family during an invasion crisis in 1860. It became a permanent part of the Volunteer Force and late ...

(

Seaham Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and ...

) * 3rd Durham AVC ( South Shields) * 4th Durham AVC ( Hartlepool) Some of the batteries within the 1st and 3rd Corps were part of the Northumberland Artillery Volunteers.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 59-60. In 1893 the War Office Mobilisation Scheme had allocated the 3rd Durham Artillery Volunteers to the Tyne fixed defences. In 1899, the 3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery were retitled the 3rd Durham Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers).

Territorial Army

Territorial shoulder title of the Durham artillery

On the formation of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

in 1908, the 3rd Durham RGA re-roled as Royal Field Artillery and provided the 4th Durham (Howitzer) Battery and 4th Northumbrian Ammunition Column of the 4th Northumbrian (County of Durham) Howitzer Brigade RFA (T).Litchfield, pp. 55–6.

First World War

The Brigade mobilised in August 1914 and deployed to France in April 1915. In early May, the Brigade were the first Territorial field gunners to engage in the Ypres fighting in the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

. A reorganisation of Field brigades in 1916 saw the 4th Durham Battery transferred to 250 (Northumbrian Brigade) as D/250 Battery, the 5th Durhams going to 251 Brigade, D/251 Battery. These units would go on to take part in the Battles of

the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

, Arras and Passchendaele, before the final battles of 1918.

Inter-War

On the re-forming of the Territorial Army in 1921, the brigade became the 3rd (Northumbrian) Field Brigade RA (TA), which was then re-designated as the 74th Field Brigade RA (TA). A re-organisation of Artillery Field Brigades in 1938 resulted in the formation of the 74th (Northumbrian) Field Regiment RA (TA) together with a duplicate unit, 125th (Northumbrian) Field Regiment RA (TA).

Second World War

The 74th Regiment mobilised as divisional Artillery within the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, supporting

151st Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) The 151st Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service during the Second World War in Belgium and France in 1940, and later in North Africa, Tunisia and Sicily, and later in Normandy in mid-1944 and North ...

, The Durham Light Infantry Brigade, with whom it served from 1939 to 1944. The Regiment deployed to France in 1940 as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It returned to the UK in the Dunkirk evacuation. In 1941 it embarked with the 8th Army for the

Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre The Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Medi ...

. Initially the Regiment took part in the

Jock column During the Second World War, Jock columns were small combined arms groups of armoured cars, artillery and motorised infantry, generally drawn from the British 7th Armoured Division. They were used in the Western Desert Campaign by the British Ar ...

actions to harass the enemy. Supporting 151 (DLI) Brigade, it was engaged in the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the ( Erwin Rommel) consisting of German an ...

, breaking out through

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway ...

to avoid capture, (although suffering many casualties). Following re-fitting and re-equipment, the Regiment was engaged in the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...

, followed by the assault on the

Mareth Line The Mareth Line was a system of fortifications built by France in southern Tunisia in the late 1930s. The line was intended to protect Tunisia against an Italian invasion from its colony in Libya. The line occupied a point where the routes into T ...

. Joining the Italian Campaign, it landed in the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

where it was engaged in the battle of Primosole Bridge (Operation ''Fustian'') and the barrage across the Straits of Messina as part of the invasion of Italy. The Regiments' next major action was D-Day and the Invasion of Normandy, landing on Gold Beach with the 50th Northumbrian (Infantry) Division. It was subsequently involved in the breakout from Normandy in

Operation Perch Operation Perch was a British offensive of the Second World War which took place from 7 to 14 June 1944, during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to encircle and seize the German occupied city of Caen, which ...

. Later service through Northwest Europe saw the Regiment involved in the liberation of Brussels and the battle of the Gheil bridgehead on the Albert Canal. In September 1944 it formed part of Operation ''Market Garden''. When the rest of the 50th Division returned to England in November, 74 Regiment was attached to

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

, being engaged on the Grebbe line. Following the German surrender in May 1945, the Regiment remained in the Army of Occupation, returning to South Shields in 1946. 74 (Northumbrian) Field Regiment fought with distinction in some of the most decisive battles of the Second World War, winning three DSOs, seven MCs and eight MMs. 125 (Northumbrian) Field Regiment re-roled as 125 Anti-Tank Regiment in 1940. It deployed to the Far East and was captured in 1942. Many of the Regiment became Prisoners of War.

1947-1967

In 1947 the Territorial Army was reconstituted, 74 Regiment was re-formed as 274 (Northumbrian) Field Regiment RA (TA), with 125 Regiment converted to 325 (Durham) LAA (Light Anti-Aircraft) Regiment RA (TA). Following subsequent amalgamations, 325 Regiment was absorbed by 463 (Durham Light Infantry) Light Air Defence Regiment RA (TA). On the disbandment of Anti-Aircraft Command in 1955, 274 Regiment absorbed 487 HAA (Heavy Anti-Aircraft) Regiment RA (Durham) (TA) and 377 (Durham) Observation Regiment RA (TA).

101 (Northumbrian) Regiment RA (V)

In 1967 the TA became the Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve (TAVR). As part of this re-structuring, 101 (Northumbrian) Medium Regiment RA (V) was formed. 205 Medium Battery was constituted from 274 Field and 463 LAA Regiments. In 1974 the honour title 3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery was adopted by the Battery. Initially equipped with the 5.5 inch gun, the Battery converted to the

105mm 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 1980 and to

FH-70 The FH70 (field howitzer for the 1970s) is a towed howitzer in use with several nations. History In 1963, NATO agreed a NATO Basic Military Requirement 39 for close support artillery, either towed or tracked. Subsequently, Germany and UK sta ...

in 1991. The Battery was the last to fire 101 Regiment's guns during the prestigious Queens Cup which it won for the second year running. The following year, in 1997, 205 Battery converted to a missile Battery equipped with

and became the first TA Battery to fire that weapon system.

References

Publications

* Beckett, Ian F.W., ''Riflemen Form: A study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, . * * * 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

205 (3rd Durham Volunteers) Battery Royal Artillery (V)

101 Regiment RA(V)

Royal Artillery - MOD Sire

The Royal Regiment of Artillery
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603123713/http://www.wix.com/northumbrian/royal-artillery , date=3 June 2012
74 Regiment Field Artillery RA (TA)
Royal Artillery batteries Military units and formations established in 1860 Army Reserve (United Kingdom) Military units and formations in County Durham