209 (Manchester Artillery) Light Air Defence Battery, Royal Artillery

The Manchester Artillery is a Volunteer unit of the British Army first raised in the City of Manchester in 1860, whose successors continue to serve in the Army Reserve today. It became a brigade of the Royal Field Artillery in the Territorial Force in 1908, and in World War I it served in Egypt in 1915–17 before being broken up. Its second line unit went to the Western Front in 1917, seeing action at Ypres, against the German Spring Offensive, and leading the pursuit in the Allies' victorious Hundred Days Offensive. Just before World War II the Manchester Artillery again formed a duplicate. While the parent regiment served in the Battle of France including the Dunkirk evacuation, and later in the Middle East and the Italian campaign, its duplicate fought in Normandy and North West Europe. Both regiments were reformed postwar, but after a number of amalgamations they and several other Manchester-based units were reduced into 209 (Manchester Artillery) Battery in the present-day Army Reserve.

Volunteer Force

The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. A large number of independent Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) were formed across Lancashire, including the 19th (Manchester) AVC, formed as a subdivision in Manchester on 17 August 1860, becoming a full battery by the following month. It formed a 2nd Battery on 14 December 1860, a 3rd and 4th on 22 January 1861, and the 5th and 6th on 6 May 1863, when John Isaac Mawson (director of the Lancashire Steel Company and designer of Blackpool's Central Pier) was commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel in command. While many smaller AVCs were grouped into administrative brigades, the 19th Lancashire was large enough to stand on its own, and the single-battery 15th (Garston and Hale) Lancashire AVC (formed at Garston, Liverpool on 2 April 1860) was attached to it between 1863 and 1867. The 1st (Manchester) Lancashire Light Horse Volunteers (formed on 22 March 1860 as the 1st Lancashire (Manchester) Mounted Rifle Volunteers) was also attached to the 19th AVC from 1871 until its disbandment in 1873.Frederick, p. 664.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 107–13.Lancashire Record Office, ''Handlist 72''.
/ref>''Army List'', various dates.

On 4 February 1870 Lt-Col Mawson became the unit's Honorary Colonel and Major Thomas Sowler (a newspaper proprietor who had first joined the 19th AVC as a gunner) was promoted to lt-col to succeed him as commanding officer (CO). On 14 June 1876 Maj Ralph Peacock (of the Manchester locomotive manufacturers Beyer, Peacock and Company) was promoted to the command in turn (Sowler later succeeded Mawson as Hon Col). By this time the unit's headquarters (HQ) was given as Hyde Road, Manchester. When the Volunteers were consolidated in 1880 the 19th Lancashire AVC became the 7th Lancashire AVC, and the following year its full title became 7th Lancashire (The Manchester Artillery) AVC. The unit became part of the Lancashire Division of the Royal Artillery (RA) from 1 April 1882. When the RA's divisional structure was reorganised on 1 July 1889, the 7th Lancashire became part of the Southern Division.

As well as manning fixed garrison artillery, some of the early Artillery Volunteers manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. But the War Office refused to pay for the upkeep of field guns for Volunteers and they had largely died out in the 1870s. In 1888 the 'position artillery' concept was revived and some Volunteer companies were reorganised as position batteries to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades. By 1890 the whole of the 7th Lancashire Volunteer Artillery was organised as position batteries.Litchfield & Westlake, p. 6. Lieutenant-Col Richard K. Birley took over as CO on 25 March 1891.

On 1 June 1899 all the Volunteer artillery units became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and with the abolition of the RA's divisional organisation on 1 January 1902, the unit became the 7th Lancashire (The Manchester Artillery) Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers). 'Position artillery' was redesignated 'heavy artillery' in May 1902.

Territorial Force

When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Gibbon, pp. 3–4. the unit became the II (or 2nd) East Lancashire Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (TF), consisting of the 15th, 16th and 17th Lancashire Batteries and the II East Lancashire Brigade Ammunition Column. The brigade formed part of the divisional artillery for the TF's East Lancashire Division and was equipped with four 15-pounder field guns to each battery From 23 March 1913 the brigade was commanded by Lt-Col Harry Sowler, son of Sir Thomas, the former Hon Col.Litchfield, pp. 116–8.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 35–41.42nd (EL) Division at Long, Long Trail.
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World War I

Mobilisation

Units of the East Lancashire Division had been on their annual training when war came: on 3 August they were recalled to their drill halls and at 17.30 next day the order to mobilise was received. The men were billeted within reach of their drill halls while the mobilisation process went on.

On 10 August, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. The infantry brigades of the East Lancashire Division volunteered within two days and soon 90 per cent of the division had signed up. On 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had opted for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix and would absorb the flood of volunteers coming forwards. In this way duplicate batteries, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.

1/II East Lancashire Brigade

On 20 August the East Lancashire Division moved into camps around Bolton, Bury and Rochdale, and on 5 September it received orders to go to Egypt to complete its training and relieve Regular units from the garrison for service on the Western Front. It embarked on a convoy of troopships from Southampton on 10 September, the first TF division to go overseas. However, only two brigades of its divisional artillery accompanied it, and 1/II East Lancs was one of those left behind, spending the next few months in Manchester.

1/II East Lancs Bde did not reach Alexandria until 14 June 1915, by which time the rest of the East Lancashire Division (now designated 42nd (East Lancashire) Division) had been landed at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The brigade remained in Egypt until the remnants of the division returned from the Gallipoli campaign in January 1916. 42nd (EL) Division concentrated at Mena Camp on 22 January before moving into the southern sector of the Suez Canal defences. On 27 February the brigade was rearmed with modern 18-pounder guns handed over by 29th Division as it left for the Western Front. On 31 May 1916 1/II East Lancs Bde was numbered CCXI (211) Brigade, RFA, and the batteries designated A, B and C.Frederick, pp. 688–9.

The canal defences were situated east of the waterway, with a string of self-contained posts, each garrisoned by an infantry battalion and an artillery battery. The division did much of the construction and trained in the desert, the gunners carrying out field firing with their new guns. The gun wheels were fitted with 'ped-rails' to assist movement across soft sand, for which 12 rather than 6 horses were harnessed to gun-carriages and limbers. In late July the division was ordered north, where a Turkish column was advancing on the defences. CCXI Brigade was stationed at El Ferdan. The Turkish force was defeated at the Battle of Romani near Pelusium on 4–5 August, after which 42nd (EL) Division set off in pursuit. The men and horses suffered badly from lack of water, but the Turks lost heavily. The division then returned to the canal posts, with A Bty of CCXI Bde at Pelusium.

For the next few months the division was part of the Desert Column covering the extension of the railway and water pipeline into the Sinai Desert to permit the Egyptian Expeditionary Force to mount an offensive into Palestine. The head of the Desert Column reached El Arish, near the Palestine frontier, on 22 December.Farndale, ''Forgotten Fronts'', pp. 77–80. On 25 December 1916 CCXI Bde was renumbered CCXII (exchanging numbers with the former 1/III East Lancs (Bolton Artillery)) and was reorganised, with C Bty being split between A and B to bring them up to six guns each.

On 28 January 1917, after the division reached El Arish, orders arrived for it to be sent to the Western Front. It was at Alexandria by 21 February, when CCXII Bde was broken up before the division embarked. A Battery became C Bty of CCX (formerly 1/I East Lancs) Bde, and B Bty became C Bty of CCXI Bde (the Bolton Artillery). The Brigade Ammunition Column did go to France, where it became No 3 Section of the reformed 42nd Divisional Ammunition Column. The two Manchester batteries fought with their new brigades in 42nd (EL) Division for the rest of the war on the Western Front, including the operations on the Flanders coast in 1917, the defence against the German Spring Offensive in March 1918, and the Allies' final Hundred Days Offensive.

2/II East Lancashire Brigade

The 2nd Line units of the East Lancashire Division were raised in September and October 1914, with only a small nucleus of instructors to train the mass of volunteers. Training was slow because the 2nd Line artillery lacked guns, sights, horses, wagons and signal equipment.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 67≠74.66th (2nd EL) Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> The 2nd East Lancashire Division, now numbered 66th (2nd EL) Division, began concentrating in Kent and Sussex in August 1915. 2/II East Lancs Bde was given four old French De Bange 90 mm guns for training, but passed these on to 69th (2nd East Anglian) Divisional Artillery in October and it was not until December that it received its 18-pdrs. In September Lt-Col Francis Hill transferred from the IV East Lancashire (Howitzer) Bde to take command of the 2/II. In early 1916 the division moved into the East Coast defences, with its artillery at Colchester.331 Bde RFA War Diary September 1915–February 1916, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/3128/1.
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In May 1916 the brigade was numbered as CCCXXXI (331) Brigade and the batteries designated A, B and C. The division's howitzer brigade (2/IV East Lancs) was broken up, and 2/1st Cumberland (Howitzer) Bty joined CCCXXXI Bde as D (H) Bty, equipped with 4.5-inch howitzers. 66th (2nd EL) Division's training suffered long delays caused by having to find reinforcement drafts for 42nd (EL) Division. Supplying one draft of 250 gunners in 1916 considerably delayed the whole division; these then had to be replaced by drafts from the 3rd Line (in the case of 2/II East Lancs Bde these came from 3/II East Lancs Bde at Southport and later Whitchurch, and from the brigade's administrative centre at Manchester). The division was finally ready for overseas service at the end of 1916. Before leaving England the brigade's batteries were made up to 6 guns each and a section of the former 2/2nd Cumberland (H) Bty joined from CCCXXXII Bde to bring D (H) Bty up to six howitzers, giving the final organisation of the brigade: 331 Bde RFA War Diary May 1917–May 1919, TNA file WO 95/3127/2.
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* A Bty (2/15th Lancashire Bty) – 6 x 18-pdr
* B Bty (2/16th Lancashire Bty) – 6 x 18-pdr
* C Bty (2/17th Lancashire Bty) – 6 x 18-pdr
* D (H) Bty (2/1st + half 2/2nd Cumberland (H) Bty) – 6 x 4.5-inch

Ypres

66th (2nd EL) Division was ordered to France on 11 February 1917 and CCCXXXI Bde entrained on 11 March for Southampton, where it embarked for Le Havre. The division concentrated under First Army and CCCXXXI Bde's batteries went into the line around Cambrin. The artillery covered a number of trench raids by the division, but otherwise the front was quiet. In July the division moved to Nieuport on the Flanders Coast where British troops were being concentrated for a planned thrust up the coast in conjunction with the Third Ypres Offensive. However, the Germans launched a spoiling attack, and the expected breakthrough at Ypres failed to materialise, so the operation was cancelled. Lieutenant-Col Hill left the brigade in July and Maj H.B. O'B. Traill, a regular RGA officer, was transferred in and promoted to succeed him. 66th (2nd EL) Division was relieved by 42nd (EL) Division in October and went to the Ypres Salient. The road congestion and the mud on the Passchendaele ridge was so bad that the batteries could not all get up to their intended positions: only C Bty got into action in time to support the division's attack on 9 October (the Battle of Poelcappelle). The barrage was weak, and shells buried in the mud did no damage. The division's attack, in heavy rain, made little progress.Farndale, ''Western Front'', pp. 211–2.

After the infantry of 66th (2nd EL) Division were relieved on 11 October, the guns remained in position. They were regularly under fire, and the ammunition had to be brought up by pack-horses. CCCXXXI Brigade supported the attacks by II ANZAC Corps on 12 October (the First Battle of Passchendaele) and Canadian Corps on 26 October (the Second Battle of Passchendaele). The gunners were finally relieved by 2nd Canadian Division, who took over their guns in position on 27 October. 66th Divisional Artillery then rallied at the waggon lines, taking over the Canadian guns, and marched to rest billets at Le Doulieu on 31 October. The brigade had suffered casualties of 8 killed and 65 wounded in the month. It went back into the line on 11 November, relieving Australian gunners. The final attack on Passchendaele had been made the previous day, but the guns remained under shell and gas attack on the open slopes. Major R.J. Adams was promoted to take command of CCCXXXI Bde at the end of the month.

Spring Offensive

66th Divisional Artillery remained in the line at Ypres during the winter, finally reverting to the command of its parent division when that returned to the sector on 13 January 1918. The division moved south by rail in mid-February, with CCCXXXI Bde established at Ignaucourt, where it carried out intensive training. In early March it moved to Hargicourt, in 66th (2nd EL) Division's defences. These consisted of an Outpost Zone (the Blue Line) along Cologne Ridge, and a Battle Zone behind as the position of main resistance, with the Red Line in front and the Brown Line at the rear; the final line of resistance was the Green Line. The guns were disposed in depth through these zones, with fall-back positions prepared. Hargicourt itself was in the outpost zone, and brigade HQ was moved back to Templeux to be in close touch with the infantry brigade it was to support. Some 18-pdrs (one each from A and C Btys) were given an anti-tank role in anticipation of the Germans using them. The long-anticipated German Spring Offensive began at 04.30 on the morning of 21 March with a heavy 6-hour bombardment of the division's gun positions, which also cut the telephone lines and prevented runners getting through with messages. There was a heavy mist and Germans troops were able to penetrate the Blue Line before the artillery OPs could see them. The anti-tank guns were overrun and captured, though most of the two gun detachments got away. In the absence of other information the batteries fired their pre-arranged SOS tasks. 66th (2nd EL) Division defended its positions stubbornly, but about midday a section of C Bty was overrun. The mist having cleared, the batteries were now firing over open sights at ranges of to and about 15.00 they were ordered to withdraw. The gunners got away, but B Bty had to disable and abandon its guns. At 16.30 the brigade was ordered to prepare to defend the Brown Line. Brigade HQ moved back to Roisel, and later to Nobescourt Farm to be close to the infantry HQ. Although 66th (2nd EL) Division still held some of its Battle Zone positions at the end of the day, its casualties were heavy, and it was outflanked following the collapse of the neighbouring division to the north.66th DA War Diary March 1918, TNA file WO 95/3124/2.
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Next day the Germans again attacked under cover of mist, and were through the Brown Line by midday. The division withdrew towards the Green Line. By now some reinforcements had arrived, including 50th (Northumbrian) Division, which manned the Green Line as the 66th passed through. Lieutenant-Col J. Laird of CCCXXX Bde was now given command of 'Left Group' of field artillery covering the left half of XIX Corps, consisting of what remained of 66th DA (two of his own btys, with A, C (3 guns) and D (5 howitzers) Btys of CCCXXXI Bde), and other nearby RFA and Royal Horse Artillery units. Lieutenant-Col Adams with CCCXXXI Brigade HQ went back to the wagon lines to take charge of the withdrawal of the transport. That night the surviving units of XIX Corps, slipped away from the meagre defences of the Green Line and joined the 'Great Retreat' towards the Somme Canal. The heavy artillery and transport began crossing the canal next morning, with Laird's group coming into action at Cartigny and then Le Mesnil to support the infantry rearguards before crossing itself and taking up positions at Barleux. On 26 March the Germans forced their way across the canal and the retreat was resumed. On 28 March 66th DA crossed the River Somme. Here the division's infantry were relieved, but 66th DA fired in support of 'Carey's Force' , a scratch force of engineers that held the line at Villers-Bretonneux, where the retreat ended on 29 March.

66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division disappeared from the war for many months, its surviving infantry units becoming training cadres for newly-arrived American troops, but 66th DA continued as an independent artillery force. By now XIX Corps had assigned its available field artillery to cover particular sectors, regardless of the formation to which they belonged. On 30 March Lt-Col Adams took command of a group comprising C Bty of CCCXXXI Bde (6 guns) with C Bty (6 guns) and part of D Bty (2 howitzers) from CCCXXX Bde, with his HQ in Villers-Bretonneux and the batteries deployed around the station. Next day Adams' Group was joined by D/CCCXXXI Bty (4 howitzers) and A/CCCXXX Bty (4 guns), while the rest of his brigade was under Laird. During the Battle of the Avre (4 April) 66th DA (temporarily commanded by Lt-Col Adams) supported 18th (Eastern) Division, and was heavily shelled. Communications were cut so runners had to be used, and some of the batteries had to be pulled back into Villers-Bretonneux, but they achieved good results, their SOS fire stopping one attack just short of the positions of 35th Australian Battalion attached to 18th (E) Division. CCCXXXI Brigade was now organised into three four-gun batteries (B, C and D) under the command of Maj Grice-Hutchinson. 66th DA was relieved on the night of 7/8 April. Between 21 March and 13 April CCCXXXI Bde had suffered casualties of 4 officers and 35 other ranks (ORs) killed, 6 officers and 96 ORs wounded, and 3 officers and 31 ORs missing (mainly Prisoners of war).

On 16 April 66th DA was sent north by train to Second Army which was fighting the Battle of the Lys. From 20 April it formed a single composite brigade under Lt-Col Laird, with C and D Btys manned by CCCXXXI Bde. It supported 36th (Ulster) Division until 26 April, then concentrated in the Proven area to reorganise, with the batteries returning to their own brigades. With no infantry to support, the trench mortar batteries and the Small Arms Ammunition Section of the Divisional Ammunition Column were disbanded, releasing gunners and drivers to reinforce the gun batteries. By the end of the month all the batteries were back to their six-gun strength. From 14/15 to 22 May 66th DA was in action near Busseboom supporting counter-attacks by the 14th French Division, and in June and early July it covered small operations by various formations in Second Army. XIX Corps HQ then moved into the area and assigned 66th DA to support 27th US Division (which had no artillery of its own) under training in the East Poperinghe Line or 2nd Position. After a short spell in the front line when 66th DA relieved 41st Divisional Artillery for an operation near Kemmel, 66th DA returned to the East Poperinghe Line and briefly joined 30th US Division.

Hundred Days

The Allied Hundred Days Offensive was now under way, and 66th DA's batteries began moving forward on 1 September, supporting various divisions advancing on the River Lys, including 40th Division from 7 September. On 11 September, near Steenwerck, CCCXXXI Bde took over responsibility for protecting the division's advance guard and next day it laid down a barrage to help 12th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment establish a bridgehead on the Lys. After a quiet period, Second Army launched the Fifth Battle of Ypres on 28 September. 66th Divisional Artillery was not initially involved, but the day before CCCXXXI Bde fired a creeping barrage to support 23rd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers in a small attack to straighten the line on the Lys. With the success of Second Army's attack further north, the Germans in front of 40th Division on the Lys began to withdraw, and from 3 October CCCXXXI Bde was put under the tactical command of 120th Infantry Bde as it formed the advance guard. However, the German retirement was so rapid that the brigade had little to do except reconnoitre new positions across the Lys, which it crossed on 5 October. The Germans took up positions beyond Armentières and the brigade operated from south of the town, carrying out harassing fire and covering raids. The advance was resumed on 15 October, CCCXXXI Bde once again supporting the advance guard, moving by way of La Houlette (17 October), Wambrechies (18 October) and Erquinghem, where 66th DA was relieved by 40th DA.

66th Divisional Artillery moved south by train to join Fourth Army and went back into the line on 27 October to support 25th Division of XIII Corps for the Battle of the Sambre. On 2 November CCCXXXI Bde pushed a section from each battery up close to the line at Bousies, the rest of the guns and HQ following next day. Zero hour for 25th Division was 06.15 on 4 November, and the brigade fired a creeping barrage lasting 5 hours 20 minutes as the infantry attacked between Fontaine-au-Bois and Happegarbes. The barrage initially advanced slowly, which was an advantage given the heavy mist disrupting the crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal, but the Germans were driven off by the barrage and left a number of bridges undestroyed. These were rushed by 75th Infantry Bde, and the Sappers began work on other crossings. The barrage began moving forward again at 10.33 and by 11.15 the brigade had secured Fourth Army's objective for the day. The infantry had worked further forward by 19.30, and CCCXXXI re-arranged the night SOS barrage lines accordingly.

By now 66th (2nd EL) Division had been reformed as a fighting division and had fought at the battles of Cambrai and the Selle in XIII Corps, covered by the artillery of other formations. It now came up from reserve and took up the advance. On 5 November A and C Btys of CCCXXXI Bde, each with a howitzer section from D Bty, crossed the canal at Landrecies to provide close support to 198th (East Lancashire) and 199th (Manchester) Infantry Bdes respectively as they followed the retreating Germans. The rest of CCCXXXI Bde moved up over the next two days. On 9 November Fourth Army formed a pursuit force under the commander of 66th (2nd EL) Division, Major-General Hugh Bethell. 'Bethell's Force' comprised 5th Cavalry Bde and the South African Bde, with A, B and two sections of D (H) Btys from CCCXXXI Bde under Lt-Col Adams, together with Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons, armoured cars, anti-aircraft guns, cyclists, machine gunners, engineers and pioneers, and support services. While Bethell's force continued pursuing the beaten Germans, the remainder of Fourth Army halted to ease its supply problems. The rest of CCCXXXI Bde supported 199th Bde around Avesnes. On 10 November Bethell's Force picked its way forward with single field gun sections accompanying the South African advance guard. Cavalry patrols found the enemy deployed just beyond Hestrud. The South Africans attacked, coming under fire from artillery, machine guns and aircraft, but captured the high ground, while the RAF attacked the retreating German transport column. Following, CCCXXXI Bde HQ moved up to Solre-le-Château, where the Germans had abandoned its ammunition trains and dumps. That night the Germans shelled the station, attempting to destroy the ammunition. Early next morning, 11 November, 199th Bde sent forward two battalions, each with two 18-pdrs, to drive off the enemy's screens. Hostilities ended at 11.00 that day when the Armistice with Germany came into force.

Having led the pursuit, 66th (2nd EL) Division was initially selected to form part of the Army of Occupation, and began its march to the Rhine on 18 November. However, the march was halted on 1 December, when CCCXXXI Bde had reached Philippeville in Belgium. On 14 December the division went into winter quarters around Ciney while other formations went to form British Army of the Rhine. CCCXXXI Brigade remained billeted at Havelange while demobilisation began. This process was completed on 4 May 1919 when the brigade was disbanded.

Interwar

When the TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920, II East Lancs Bde reformed at Manchester with 17 to 20 Lancashire Btys. In 1921 the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA) and the unit was redesignated as 52nd (Manchester) Brigade, RFA, with the following organisation:Frederick, pp. 489, 515.
* Brigade HQ at Hyde Road, Ardwick, Manchester
* 205, 206, 207 (East Lancashire) Btys
* 208 (East Lancashire) Bty (Howitzer)

The brigade was once again part of 42nd (EL) Divisional Artillery. In 1924 the RFA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery (RA), and the word 'Field' was inserted into the titles of its brigades and batteries. The establishment of a TA divisional artillery brigade was four 6-gun batteries, three equipped with 18-pounders and one with 4.5-inch howitzers, all of World War I patterns. However, the batteries only held four guns in peacetime. The guns and their first-line ammunition wagons were still horsedrawn and the battery staffs were mounted. Partial mechanisation was carried out from 1927, but the guns retained iron-tyred wheels until pneumatic tyres began to be introduced just before World War II.

In 1938 the RA modernised its nomenclature and a lieutenant-colonel's command was designated a 'regiment' rather than a 'brigade'; this applied to TA field brigades from 1 November 1938. The TA was doubled in size after the Munich Crisis, and most regiments formed duplicates. Part of the reorganisation was that field regiments changed from four six-gun batteries to an establishment of two batteries, each of three four-gun troops. For the Manchester Artillery this resulted in the following organisation from 25 May 1939:Frederick, p. 528.

52nd (Manchester) Field Regiment
* Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Hyde Road, Manchester
* 205 (East Lancashire) Field Bty
* 206 (East Lancashire) Field Bty

110th Field Regiment
* RHQ at Gorton
* 207 (East Lancashire) Field Bty
* 208 (East Lancashire) Field Bty

The Manchester Artillery mobilised on 1 September 1939, just before the outbreak of war, as part of 42nd (EL) Infantry Division, but from 27 September the newly-formed 66th Infantry Division took over the duplicate units including 110th Fd Rgt.Farndale, ''Years of Defeat'', p. 21.Joslen, p. 68.Joslen, p. 97.

World War II

52nd (Manchester) Field Regiment

Battle of France

On the outbreak of war 52nd Fd Rgt was still equipped with 18-pdrs and 4.5-inch howitzers, but by the time 42nd (EL) Division began crossing to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in April it was fully equipped with 18/25-pounders. When the German offensive began on 10 May, the BEF advanced into Belgium under Plan D, and by 15 May its leading divisions were in place on the River Dyle. 42nd (EL) Division moved up to reserve positions on the River Escaut in France. But the '' Wehrmacht's'' breakthrough in the Ardennes threatened the BEF's flank, and it had to retreat again. 52nd Field Rgt was deployed in emergency anti-tank (A/T) positions along the River Scarpe.Ellis, ''France & Flanders'', Chapter II.
/ref> As the Germans thrust behind the BEF, by 26 May RHQ of 52nd Fd Rgt was controlling a group consisting of 206 Bty and 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery and was falling back to Mont des Cats; 205 Bty was detached to 2nd Division. On that day the decision was made to evacuate the BEF through Dunkirk

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