27 Regiment, Royal Artillery was a field regiment 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 ...
during the
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 opposi ...
and the
Cold War.
History
The regiment saw active service in the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
during the
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 opposi ...
. After re-forming at
Twycross
Twycross is a small village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England, on the A444 road.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was ...
in 1947,
it became 27 (Heavy) Anti-Aircraft Regiment in 1948 and moved to
Dortmund as part of 1st Army Group Royal Artillery with
Corporal SSM missiles in 1961.
It was renamed 27 (Army Missile) Regiment in 1964 and returned to the UK in October 1967. It then became 27 (Medium) Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1967 and deployed to
Lippstadt with
M109 as part of
4th Division in 1969. The Regiment then benefited from the first deployment of
M110 alongside M109 becoming as part of
2nd Armoured Division. In 1976 the Regiment was restructured and designated 27 Field Regiment.
It moved to
Topcliffe as part of
2nd Infantry Brigade in 1986 and returned to Dortmund as part of
3rd Armoured Division in 1990. Finally it returned to the UK and was placed in suspended animation in 1993.
Nickname
The regiment through its history had been known as "The
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
Gunners" and recruited mostly from that area. After its suspended animation the name was given to
47 Regiment Royal Artillery
47 Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It is equipped with the Thales Watchkeeper WK450. It is located at Horne Barracks, Larkhill in Wiltshire. It falls under command of 1st Aviation Brigade (Unite ...
.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*{{cite book , last1=Watson , first1=G, last2=Rinaldi , first2=R , title=The British Army in Germany: An Organizational History 1947-2004 , year=2005 , publisher= Tiger Lily Publications , isbn=0-9720296-9-9, ref= {{harvid, Watson, 2005
Royal Artillery regiments