39 Regiment Royal Artillery was part 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 ...

. Its name is pronounced "three nine", The Regiment was one of the Depth fire units of 1st Artillery Brigade, part of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. It was formed in 1947, and placed into suspended animation on 20 February 2015. The Regiment was based at

Albemarle Barracks Albemarle Barracks was a prisoner-of-war camp for British prisoners during the American Revolutionary War. History Following Gen. John Burgoyne's defeat at the Battle of Saratoga, in 1777, several thousand British and German ( Hessian and Bruns ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. As of 2011, the regiment was equipped with the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (

GMLRS The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. The U.S. Army variant of the MLRS vehicle is based on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The first M270s wer ...

). They will be the first unit to deploy the new

Fire Shadow Fire Shadow is a Loitering Munition, loitering munition designed by MBDA for the British Army. It is designed to loiter above the battlefield for up to 6 hours before attacking stationary or mobile targets. The cost of Phase 1 of the programme, in ...

loitering munition; training has already begun and they were planned to take it to Afghanistan in 2012. The regiment deployed Batteries on Op Herrick and fired the first GMLRS rounds in theatre. 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 ...

, the regiment was disbanded and its GMLRS launchers transferred to the other RA regiments and the Territorial Army. The regimental flag was lowered on 20 February 2015.

History

39 Regiment RA was formed with the re-designation of 2 Medium Regiment RA in 1947. It was originally equipped with BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun and was first stationed in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The Regiment left the

in 1948 after an Emergency Tour to Palestine, where it deployed to Ayrshire and was re-equipped with the M59

155 mm Long Tom The 155 mm gun M1 was a 155 millimeter caliber field gun developed and used by the United States military. Nicknamed "Long Tom" (an appellation with a long and storied history in U.S. field and naval artillery), it was produced in M1 and M2 ...

Gun. It converted to a 155mm Self Propelled Regiment in 1955 and deployed to Cyprus to support operations against EOKA with batteries based in Episkopi, Dhekhlia, and Jophinou in 1958. In 1960 the Regiment moved to support the

BAOR 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 ...

, and was based in Dempsey Barracks in

Sennelager Sennelager is a village in Germany that forms part of the City of Paderborn. It is notable for its association with the military since the 19th century. Location Sennelager lies around 5 km north of Paderborn city centre in the west of the ...

for the next 35 years. Here its role was one of three Nuclear Regiments, and was equipped with Honest John Rockets and towed M115 203 mm howitzer. 75 Battery was placed in suspended animation and was replaced by H Battery (Ramsay's Troop) Royal Artillery in 1967. The Regiment was caught up in the

Coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

by Captain Gaddaffi in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

in 1969, and the Regiment's

2IC Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, ...

was captured and held hostage, but later released unharmed. There was a further reorganisation with 39 Medium Regiment using the

M109 Howitzer The M109 is an American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s to replace the M44. It has been upgraded a number of times, most recently to the M109A7. The M109 family is the most common Western indirect-f ...

and M110 Self Propelled Guns in 1972, and 132 Bty RA and 176 (Abu Klea) Bty RA joining H Battery. The Regiment completed four tours of Northern Ireland over the next seven years. The regiment was redesignated 39 Field Regiment with H Bty, 132 & 176 Btys in 1977. 43 Bty joined Regt. equipped with Blowpipe. On 15 Mar 1980 the regiment was granted Freedom of the City of Paderborn, Germany. It was redesignated 39 Heavy Regiment was joined by 56 (Olpherts) Bty RA, 34 (Seringapatam) Battery and 76 (Maude's) Battery in 1982. H Battery was placed into suspended animation and 132 Battery together with 176 Battery departed for the

Royal School of Artillery The Royal School of Artillery (RSA) is the principal training establishment for artillery warfare in the British Army. Established in 1915, it is located at Larkhill, Wiltshire, on the south edge of Salisbury Plain in the United Kingdom. The Scho ...

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

. In 1985 132 Battery and 176 Battery rejoined the Regiment with the M110 Self Propelled Gun role and 56 Battery converted to a special weapons battery, equipped with the M109 Self Propelled Guns. Then in 1989 39 Heavy Regiment took delivery of the Multiple Launch Rocket System

MLRS A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a voll ...

, and was given a year to convert, complete training and become operational. However, within just three months the Regiment was deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of 1st Armoured Division on

Operation Granby Operation Granby, commonly abbreviated Op Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations w ...

. In 1993 the Regiment was joined by 57 (Bhurtpore) Battery Royal Artillery, who were to be equipped with the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

UAV, and 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 ...

, as the British detachment in UNFICYP. This tour saw the Danish and Canadian Contingents leave, with only the Austrians and the British left.

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

then sent a force to control Sector One, the Austrians were in charge of Sector Three and the British in charge of Sector Two. This was the first time that British and Argentine army units had met since the Falklands war in 1982. In 1995 39 Regiment left Dempsey Barracks, and moved to Albemarle Barracks in

. In 1996 the regiment deployed again to Cyprus in support of UNFICYP. The island experienced some of its highest tension along the buffer zone in 30 years, and two of the Regiments soldiers were shot and wounded by Turkish Troops. The regiment deployed to Northern Ireland in 1998. The Regiment supported MAFF, in the North-East of the UK, during the Foot and mouth outbreak. 57 Battery deployed to

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

to carry out UAV flights in 2001. In 2003 57 Battery moved to 32 Regt RA, which was reorganised as one of the

Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiments with its focus on

UAVs An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

; 74 Bty (The Battle Axe Company) joined 39 Regiment. 39 Regiment completed several tours of

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 ...

in that period, as the Urban Reinforcement Battalion. It continued to support operations in the province, until the end of

Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initial ...

in 2007. Soldiers of the Regiment also deployed to

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

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

as part of Operation Telic. In 2004 35 Bty RA joined 39 Regiment after the disbandment of 22nd Regiment Royal Artillery. The Regiment was also equipped with

in 2004. The Regiment continued to deploy soldiers to

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 support Op Herrick at that time. 39 Regiment was disbanded on 20 February 2015 at Albemarle Barracks in

Batteries

The regiment's batteries were as follows: * 35 Battery * 56 (Olpherts) Headquarters Battery * 176 (Abu Klea) Battery *132 (Bengal Rocket Troop) Battery *51 (Kabul 1842) Battery

References

External links

Official site
{{British Army Artillery Regiments Royal Artillery regiments 1947 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1947