The Defence Batteries were units 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 ...

created for beach defence during

World War II 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 ...

when the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

was threatened with invasion after the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

. Once they had served their purpose they were disbanded or converted into units of field artillery.

Home defence

After the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk and the UK was threatened with invasion, a crash programme of installing coastal artillery batteries was implemented in the summer of 1940.Collier, Chapter VIII.
/ref> Later, as the Home Defence strategy developed, the Royal Artillery formed a number of 'Defence Batteries' to deploy around the coastline for general beach defence. These were not part of the fixed defences of the RA's Coast Artillery branch covering the ports (although it had long been the practice for ''garrison'' artillery units to be equipped with a handful of mobile guns, in addition to their primary fixed guns, for similar usage), nor were they included in the field forces under

Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces was a senior officer in the British Army during the First and Second World Wars. The role of the appointment was firstly to oversee the training and equipment of formations in preparation for their deployment over ...

, but equipped with whatever old direct-fire guns were available they freed up scarce field artillery from semi-static beach defence for the mobile counter-attack forces. Most of these batteries were formed on 1 September 1940.Frederick, pp. 931–3. The batteries would have been formed around a

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

of gunners from existing units. For example, 901 (Independent) Defence Bty was commanded by an officer transferred from 135th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, which was defending the

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

coastline with a variety of obsolete guns. The 135th also supplied 64 gunners, but these were recruits who had only just joined the regiment. Most of the defence batteries were grouped into regiments on 4 October 1940:Farndale, ''Years of Defeat'', Annex M. * 1st Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

– ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 903, 904 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 905 Def Bty – ''to 2nd Def Rgt 15 March 1941'' * 2nd Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England, set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed by the main A12 road between London and Lowestoft. The town is serv ...

** 907, 808 Def Btys ** 909 Def Bty – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 905 Def Bty – ''from 1st Def Rgt 15 March 1941'' * 3rd Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Horsmonden Horsmonden ( ) is a village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The village is located in the Weald of Kent. It is situated on a road leading from Maidstone to Lamberhurst, three miles north of the latter place. The nearest railwa ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

** 911 Def Bty – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 912, 913, 914 Def Btys * 4th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

– ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 915 Def Bty – ''independent from 15 March 1941'' ** 916 Def Bty – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' * 5th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

** 917, 918 Def Btys ** 919 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' * 6th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Eynsford Eynsford ( or ) is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located south east of Swanley, south of Dartford. The village including its farmland and woods occupies the northern half of the triangle formed b ...

– ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 920, 921, 922 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' * 7th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

** 924, 927, 928 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' **925, 926, 929 Dev Btys * 8th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire Leven is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Hornsea town centre, and north-west of the A165 road. According to the 2011 UK census, Leven parish had a population of 2,433, ...

** 930, 932, 933, Def Btys ** 931, 934 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' * 9th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

** 935 Def Bty ** 936, 937, 938, 939, 940, 941 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' * 10th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Mere, Wiltshire Mere is a small town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the extreme southwestern tip of Salisbury Plain, close to the borders of Somerset and Dorset. The parish includes the hamlets of Barrow Street, Burton, Charnage, Limpers Hil ...

** 944, 946, 948, 950 Def Btys – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 945, 947, 949 Def Btys * 11th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Cornish ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

** 951 Def Bty – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 952, 953, 954 Def Btys * 12th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Dunster Dunster is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, within the north-eastern boundary of Exmoor National Park. It lies on the Bristol Channel southeast of Minehead and northwest of Taunton. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

** 955, 956 Def Btys * 13th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at Hightown,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

** 957 Def Bty ** 958 Def Bty – ''independent from 15 March 1941'' * 14th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

** 959 Def Bty – ''disbanded 12 April 1941'' ** 960, 961 Def Btys ** 964 Def Bty – ''from 15th Def Rgt 12 April 1941'' * 15th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed at

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditc ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

– ''disbanded 9 April 1941'' ** 962, 963, 964 Def Btys – ''disbanded 9 April 1941'' ** 964 Def Bty – ''to 14th Def Rgt 12 April 1941'' * Independent batteries: ** 901 (Ind) Def Bty – ''disbanded 3 March 1941'' ** 902, 906, 923, 942, 943 (Ind) Def Btys ** 910 (Ind) Def Bty – ''disbanded 15 March 1941'' ** 915 (Ind) Def Bty – ''from 4th Def Rgt 15 March 1941'' ** 958 (Ind) Def Bty – ''from 13th Def Rgt 15 March 1941''

Field Force

By the beginning of 1942 the imminent threat of invasion had passed, the coast artillery batteries were fully established, and the RA required gunners for the field forces. The remaining defence regiments and independent batteries in the UK were disbanded or converted into field artillery on 12 January 1942: * 2nd Defence Rgt became 171st Field Rgt * 3rd Defence Rgt became 172nd Field Rgt * 5th Defence Rgt disbanded, personnel to 172nd Field Rgt * 7th Defence Rgt with personnel of 923 (Ind) Def Bty became 173rd Field Rgt * 8th Defence Rgt became 174th Field Rgt * 9th Defence Rgt disbanded * 10th Defence Rgt became 175th Field Rgt * 11th Defence Rgt became 176th Field Rgt * 12th Defence Rgt disbanded, personnel of 956 Def Bty to 172nd Field Rgt * 14th Defence Rgt with personnel of 958 (Ind) Def Bty became 177th Field Rgt Most of these new field regiments served in reserve or holding formations, training reinforcements for units serving in active theatres, though 172nd Field Rgt did serve through the Tunisian and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

campaigns, and 177th Field Rgt was used to reform the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

's 25th Field Rgt, which had been captured at the Fall of Tobruk.

Overseas

A number of defence batteries and regiments were also formed during the war in British overseas garrisons: * 16th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 24 February 1941 from 10th Mobile Coast Rgt. It was captured by the Japanese at the

Fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

on 15 February 1942.Farndale, ''Far East'', Annex A.Frederick, pp. 620, 886. ** 966 Def Bty ( 18-pounder guns) – ''converted from 30 Mobile Coast Bty (or 34 Coast Bty?), Hong Kong–Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA)'' ** 967 Def Bty, HKSRA (18-pounder guns) – ''converted from 21 Mobile Coast Bty, RA'' ** 968 Def Bty, HKSRA ( 2-pounder guns)– ''converted from 22 Mobile Coast Bty, HKSRA'' * 17th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 24 February 1941 from 13th Mobile Coast Rgt (itself converted from 26th Anti-Tank Rgt on 3 September 1939). As Regular Army units, the batteries retained their existing numbers on conversion rather than take the defence battery numbers (969–72) reserved for them, and on 29 June 1941 the regiment was itself redesignated as 26th Defence Rgt. It served through the Siege of Malta and then on 18 September 1943 was converted into 26th Medium Rgt for service in the Italian Campaign.Frederick, p. 732.Joslen, p. 467.Joslen, pp. 484–5. ** 15 Def Bty – ''15/40 Def Bty from 22 August 1941'' ** 40 Def Bty ** 48 Def Bty – ''48/71 Def Bty from 22 August 1941'' ** 71 Def Bty ** 13 Def Bty,

Royal Malta Artillery The Royal Malta Artillery (RMA) was a regular artillery unit of the British Army prior to Malta's independence. It was formed in 1889, having been called the Royal Malta Fencible Artillery from 1861 until 1889. Initially on the British Esta ...

(RMA) – ''formed and joined 22 August 1941; transferred to 5th Coast Rgt, RMA, 1 June 1942'' * 18th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

as a Mobile Coast Rgt on 1 December 1940 with one field, one medium and one anti-tank battery, and redesignated 18th Def Rgt on 1 April 1941. Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) became RHQ 18th Medium Rgt on 5 January 1944 and the batteries were disbanded on 5 March 1944. 18th Medium Rgt later served in the Italian Campaign. ** 973 Def Bty – ''converted from field bty'' ** 974 Def Bty – ''converted from medium bty'' ** 975 Def Bty – ''converted from anti-tank bty'' * 805th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, was formed in Middle East Forces on 25 October 1943 and disbanded on 30 November 1943 ** A & B Field Btys In addition, 965 Defence Bty, converted from 36 Heavy Bty, HKSRA, and equipped with 18-pdr and 2-pdr guns, served as part of the mobile coast defences of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and was captured by the Japanese at the

Fall of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

on 25 December 1941.Maurice-Jones, pp. 258–63.

Notes

{{reflist, 3

References

Basil Collier John Basil Collier (1908–1983) was a British writer of books of military history, particularly military aviation, World War II and military and political strategy. Collier became a full-time professional writer in 1932. Before the war he was a ...

''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1957/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004
ISBN 978-1-84574-055-9. * Gen Sir

Martin Farndale General Sir Martin Baker Farndale, (6 January 1929 – 10 May 2000) was a British Army officer who reached high office in the 1980s. Military career Educated at Yorebridge Grammar School, Askrigg, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Farnda ...

, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941'', Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, ISBN 1-85753-080-2. * Gen Sir Martin Farndale, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Far East Theatre 1939–1946'', London: Brasseys, 2002, ISBN 1-85753-302-X. * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X. * Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, ''Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-843424-74-6. * Denis Rollo, ''The Guns and Gunners of Malta'', Valetta: Mondial, 1999, ISBN 99909-68-84-5. * Lt-Col J.D. Sainsbury, ''The Hertfordshire Yeomanry Regiments, Royal Artillery, Part 1: The Field Regiments 1920-1946'', Welwyn: Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Trust/Hart Books, 1999, ISBN 0-948527-05-6. Units and formations of the Royal Artillery