29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery is the Commando-trained unit of the British Army's

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 ...

, based in Plymouth. The regiment is under the operational control of

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from ...

, to which it provides artillery support and gunnery observation.

History

The regiment was established in 1947 by the redesignation of the 25th Field Regiment.J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X, p. 947. In 1951, it was renamed as the 29th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery and was based at Brancepeth Camp in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. In 1957, it was deployed to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

on internal security duties, and spent three years at Karlaos Camp, near Famagusta. By now it had reverted to a field regiment, at one point loaning its

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 ...

field guns to another regiment that was hurriedly deployed with a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

force to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. In late 1960 the regiment exchanged with 42 Field Regiment and on return to the UK took over that regiment's guns and station at the

Royal Citadel, Plymouth The Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been bu ...

.Major Colin Robins, '29 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in Kuwait, 1961', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol 99, No 396 (Spring 2021), pp. 95–100. In June 1961,

Abd al-Karim Qasim Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi ( ar, عبد الكريم قاسم ' ) (21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown d ...

's Iraqi Republic announced its intention to annex newly-independent

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, and a British military force was hurriedly sent to the kingdom in

Operation Vantage Operation Vantage was a British military operation in 1961 to support the newly independent state of Kuwait against territorial claims by its neighbour, Iraq. The UK reacted to a call for protection from Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah of Kuw ...

. Regimental Headquarters (RHQ), 79 (Kirkee) and 145 (Maiwand) batteries of 29 Field Regiment were flown without their guns to Kuwait City. 25-Pounder guns and 3-tonner lorries arrived a few days later by sea from the strategic reserve at Aden. The regiment moved up close to the border with Iraq and established gun positions and observation posts (OPs). The threatened invasion did not happen, and in October the British force was relieved by the Arab League. 29 Field Regiment moved back to Aden to await sea transport to Plymouth. 29 Commando Regiment memorial, Plymouth 2014-04-02 02

29 Commando Regiment memorial, Plymouth 2014-04-02 02

In 1962, the regiment re-roled and became 29 Commando Light Regiment, Royal Artillery. At that time, each battery consisted of four 105mm pack howitzers (Italian Mountain Gun). In the 1970s, batteries from the regiment completed operational tours in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. During the 1982 Falklands War, 29 Commando Regiment accompanied the Royal Marines, providing much needed close support with their

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 ...

s. In 1996, the honorary Freedom of the City of Plymouth was conferred on the regiment, with the unanimous support of Plymouth City Council. , The regiment conducted numerous operational tours in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

to provide artillery support during operations against Al Qaeda and

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

militants. A

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

to the fallen of 29 Commando Regiment in post-1945 conflicts was unveiled on

Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth ...

on 16 January 2011; It features a Commando dagger made from shells used in the Afghanistan conflict.

Organisation

The present regiment consists of a HQ battery, three gun batteries, a Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation battery and an attached Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers workshop, which includes a

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

stores section. The gun batteries are equipped with six

L118 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 ...

105mm light guns and three OPs each. The batteries are as follows: *7 (Sphinx) Battery Royal Artillery – Commando trained L118 gun battery based at RM Condor, Arbroath. Slated to lose its guns 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 ...

. *8 (Alma) Commando Battery Royal Artillery – Commando trained L118 gun battery based at the

*23 (Gibraltar 1779–1783) Commando Battery Royal Artillery – The Headquarters Commando Battery, and Radar Troop, for 29 Commando Regiment are based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth *79 (Kirkee) Commando Battery Royal Artillery – is a Commando trained Tac Battery based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth. It is also responsible for preparing soldiers and officers for attendance of the All Arms Commando Course. *

148 (Meiktila) Battery Royal Artillery 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery is a specialist Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation (NGSFO) unit within 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines. The unit provides Fire Support Teams (FST ...

– The battery, which is based at

RM Poole Royal Marines Base Poole (RM Poole) is a British naval base located in Hamworthy a suburb of Poole, Dorset, England on the Poole Harbour and is the centre for Special Boat Service activities. History The base was built in 1942 with the creatio ...

, has the primary role of a Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation (NGSFO) battery. Tasked to direct

naval gunfire support Naval gunfire support (NGFS) (also known as shore bombardment) is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as " Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibiou ...

from

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

ships, air strikes from Royal Navy and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

aircraft and artillery fire from the regiment's gun batteries, when landed in support of

. The battery is attached to Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS)

30 Commando Information Exploitation Group 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group RM is a battalion-sized unit of the Royal Marines and forms part of 3 Commando Brigade. The unit resources include communications, information operations, information systems, intelligence, surveillance ...

*29 Commando Regiment Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers – Workshop main HQ is based at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth, with battery fitter sections permanently attached to, and based with, each battery.

Gallery

A 105 mm light gun of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery sited under camouflage netting between Fitzroy and Bluff Cove in the Falkland Islands, June 1982. FKD170.jpg, A 105 mm light gun of 29 Commando Regiment sited between Fitzroy and Bluff Cove in the Falkland Islands, June 1982. 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery Commando Conditioning Course MOD 45149252.jpg, A gunner from 29 Commando Regiment, during a Commando Conditioning Course on Dartmoor, 2006. 29th Commandos finish operations in Helmand province 110912-N-TH989-182.jpg, A gunner of 29 Commando Regiment in

Helmand province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

, Afghanistan, September 2011. Soldiers of 29 Commando Regiment Firing a 105mm Light Gun MOD 45157207.jpg, Soldiers of 29 Commando Regiment Firing a 105mm Light Gun on exercise in Norway, February 2014. ROYAL NAVY PHOTOGRAPHERS RECOGNISED FOR PICTURE PERFECT SHOTS MOD 45162869.jpg, 8 (Alma) Commando Battery, operating from during

Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) The Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (or JEF(M)) (formerly the Response Force Task Group (RFTG), and prior to that the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF)), is the Royal Navy's contribution to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) maintained at v ...

operations in the Mediterranean, October 2016.

References

External links

Royal Navy Official siteBritish Army Official site
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Commandos (United Kingdom) Royal Artillery regiments Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Falklands War Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Military units and formations established in 1962 1962 establishments in the United Kingdom