The 289 Commando Troop originated as a parachute

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 siege ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the Territorial Army formed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1956. It was transferred to the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

in 1960 and reduced to a

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

in 1967. In 1977 it was re-roled as a

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

battery before being reduced to a

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

in 1999. It is now based in Plymouth as a detached part of 266 (

Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery 266 (Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery) Battery Royal Artillery is a Royal Artillery unit of the British Army Reserve. It was first formed in Bristol in 1859 and served through World War I as field artillery on the Western Front and in Italy. ...

) Battery where they perform the same Close Support Light Gun Role as part of 104 Regiment Royal Artillery, whilst also supporting 29 Commando Regiment in an unofficial role.

History

Regiment

The post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Territorial Army included a single airborne division

16th Airborne Division The 16th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Territorial Army. It was first commanded by Major-General Roy Urquhart, and had its divisional headquarters in London. It was raised in 1947, to compensate for the los ...

. The division was disbanded in 1956 with the remaining units forming the

44th Independent Parachute Group (TA) 44th Parachute Brigade was a British Army Territorial Army parachute brigade, active from c.1950 to 1978. History Formation From 1950-1956 it was one of the brigades of 16th Airborne Division. From 1956 the division was reduced to the 44th Indep ...

. On 31 October 1956, 289 Parachute Light Regiment, Royal Artillery (TA) was formed by the amalgamation of the ''

285th (Essex) Parachute Field Regiment RA The 1st Essex Artillery Volunteers was a unit of Britain's part-time auxiliary forces raised in Essex in 1860 in response to an invasion scare. It served under various designations as field artillery in Palestine during World War I. During World ...

'' and '' 292nd (5th London) Parachute Field Regiment''. Both regiments had served with the 16th Airborne Division before amalgamation. The new regiment's number was the median of 285 and 292. The regiment consisted of: :

Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

: P Battery at Stratford : Q Battery at

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

: R Battery at

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic counties of England, historic county of Kent and the detail of mu ...

: S Battery at Grays Each battery was equipped with six 4.2" Mortars and supported one of the four parachute infantry battalions of 44th Independent Parachute Group. The regiment's armament was later augmented with

25 pounder The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was the major British field gun and howitzer during the Second World War. Its calibre is 3.45-inch (87.6 mm). It was introduced into service just before the war started, combin ...

s. On 10 September 1960, the regiment was transferred to the

as 289 Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (TA). It was amalgamated with ''880th Locating Battery'' without change of title on 1 May 1961 and was redesignated as 289 Parachute Light Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (TA) on 18 March 1963.

Battery

The

1966 Defence White Paper The 1966 Defence White Paper (Command Papers 2592 and 2901) was a major review of the United Kingdom's defence policy initiated by the Labour government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The review was led by the Secretary of State for Defence, ...

announced a complete

reorganisation A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the securities—equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of directors ...

of the Territorial Army as the ''Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve'' (TAVR) and the former regimental and divisional structure was ended. As a result, the regiment was reduced to an independent battery in TAVR II (which had a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

role, specifically support for the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

) in London and adopted the title 289 Parachute Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (Volunteers) on 1 April 1967. It was the only independent battery in TAVR II and continued to be assigned to 44th Parachute Brigade (Volunteers). The battery left the 44th Parachute Brigade shortly before it was disbanded and on 1 April 1977 it was reroled and redesignated as 289 Commando Battery, Royal Artillery (Volunteers). Now it was to provide support to the

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

based

29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery is the Commando-trained unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery, based in Plymouth. The regiment is under the operational control of 3 Commando Brigade, to which it provides artillery support and gunnery ...

, equipped with

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 ...

Troop

On 30 June 1999, the battery was disbanded; a troop-sized sub-unit, 289 Parachute Troop, Royal Artillery (Volunteers), joined the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

based 266th (Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery) Battery, Royal Artillery (Volunteers) in

100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery 100 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery was part of the Territorial Army and had sub-units throughout the South of England. It had three gun batteries all equipped with the L118 Light Gun. The regiment's original role was British Army of the Rhi ...

and provided support to 29th Commando Regiment, still equipped with L118 Light Guns. In 2007, 289 Parachute Troop, by now located at

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

, was transferred to 201st (Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery (still in 100th (Yeomanry) Regiment). 201st Battery was now made up of two troops (

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

and Romford) and Battery Headquarters in Luton. The battery provided support to the

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

based

7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (7 Para RHA) is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It serves in the field artillery role with 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, and is equipped with the L118 Light Gun. The ...

, including deployments to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. 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 ...

plans, 201st Battery was placed in suspended animation. Luton elements formed part of 678th (The Rifles) Squadron, 6th Regiment,

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

in April 2014. 289 Parachute Troop was placed in suspended animation on 31 March 2014 but was subsequently transferred to Plymouth where they performed the UAV DH3 role until being re-equipped with 105mm Light Guns in 2017.

Honorary Colonels

The regiment's Honorary Colonel was

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

from formation in 1956, through to 1967. He had been Honorary Colonel of the predecessor ''292nd (5th London) Parachute Field Regiment, Royal Artillery''. The position seems to have been vacant from 1967 until 1970 when

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

W. F. K. "Sheriff" Thompson was appointed on 2 January 1970. Thompson held this position until his tenure expired and he was succeeded on 13 November 1978 by

Lt-Gen Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star rank, three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Terence D.H. McMeekin. He was succeeded on 13 November 1983 by Maj-Gen Arthur G.E. Stewart-Cox.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:289 Parachute Troop, Royal Artillery Airborne units of the Royal Artillery Military units and formations established in 1999 Military units and formations disestablished in 2014 Military units and formations in London 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom