206 (Ulster) Battery Royal Artillery is an

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 ...

sub-unit, part of the

105th Regiment Royal Artillery 105th Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve and has sub-units throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is currently equipped with the L118 Light Gun. History The regiment was first formed as the ...

. The battery is spread between two locations,

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 ...

and

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 ...

History

Formed on 1 April 1967 as 206 (Coleraine) Light Air Defence Battery Royal Artillery (Volunteers) from 245 (Ulster) Light Air Defence Regiment RA (TA), the battery was originally part of 102 (Ulster and Scottish) Light Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers). On 1 April 1993 the battery transferred to 105 (Scottish) Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) after the disbandment of 102 Regiment. 206 (Ulster) Battery formed HQ and A Troop at Newtownards with B Troop at Coleraine. It has been re-roled from an air-defence battery to a field artillery battery using 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 t ...

. The battery received the freedom of

in 1992. It carries the honour of firing regular royal salutes at

Hillsborough Castle Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

References

Bibliography

* Litchfield, Norman E H, 1992. ''The Territorial Artillery 1908-1988'', The Sherwood Press, Nottingham. {{ISBN, 0-9508205-2-0

External links

Battery Website
Royal Artillery batteries Military of Northern Ireland Military units and formations established in 1939