The Durham Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain'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

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

where they distinguished themselves fighting as infantry in the defence of Fort Prospect.

Background

The long-standing national

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

of 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 revived by the Militia Act of 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the Militia Ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time service in three circumstances:Litchfield, pp. 1–7.Dunlop, pp. 42–5. * 1. 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'. * 2. 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'. * 3. 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'. The 1852 Act introduced Militia Artillery units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the

(RA) for active service.

History

Under the 1852 reorganisation,

's quota was assessed as 2000 men, to consist of two infantry regiments and an artillery corps. The new artillery unit was raised on 20 July 1853 as the Durham Artillery Militia, with four batteries. Its headquarters was at

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

until 1861 when it moved to

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

. A fifth battery was raised in 1874.Frederick, p. 979.Hay, pp. 203–5.Litchfield, pp. 71–7. The

Marquess of Londonderry Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of County Londonderry, Londonderry ( ), is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry ...

, as Lord Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Durham, appointed Henry Stobart, a

Half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the RA,''Army List'', various dates. to be

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Commandant (with the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

) of the Durham Artillery Militia on 20 July 1853, and he was promoted to

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

on 4 October 1854. Colonel Henry Stobart (died 26 August 1866) was the proprietor of Etherley Colliery, a director of the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...

, and later of the North Eastern Railway. He remained in command until 6 September 1859 when he became Honorary Colonel and was succeeded as Lt-Col Commandant by Major George Hall of the

Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery The Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Lancashire from 1853 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Militia Act of 1852, ...

and formerly of the Madras Artillery. Following the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the ''Army List'' from December 1875. This assigned places in an order of battle of the 'Garrison Army' to Militia Artillery units: the Durham Artillery's war station was in the

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

Division of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

Defences. The Artillery Militia was reorganised into 11 divisions of garrison artillery in 1882, and the Durham unit, with a sixth battery, became the senior Militia unit in the new Northern Division, taking the title of 2nd Brigade, Northern Division, RA (the 1st Brigade comprised the Regular RA units of the division). When the Northern Division was abolished in 1889 its militia were transferred to the Western Division and the unit's title was altered to The Durham Artillery (Western Division) RA. The unit's HQ transferred from Hartlepool to

Sunderland Barracks Sunderland Barracks was a military installation in the old east end of Sunderland, built as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution. History In early 1794 the Corporation of Sunderland petitioned for a barracks to be ...

in 1895. From 1899 the Militia artillery formally became part of the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

(RGA), and when the RGA abolished the divisional structure the unit at Sunderland took the title of The Durham RGA (M) on 1 January 1902.

Embodiments

The Durham Artillery Militia was twice embodied for full-time service to release Regular RA units for overseas service: * 5 April 1859 to 25 March 1861 during the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, when it was embodied at Bishop Auckland and stationed first at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

, then at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. before returning to Gosport. In 1860 it moved to

Parkhurst, Isle of Wight Parkhurst is a neighbourhood northwest of the town of Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport, Isle of Wight. It has few amenities, but a large residential population. It is notable for housing H.M.P. Isle of Wight, on three sites, formerly three separa ...

and then to

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 ...

* 1 May to 11 October during the

South Africa

Under the Militia Acts, units could also volunteer for overseas service. The Durham Artillery did so in 1900, and was one of the six Militia Artillery units permitted to form a Service Company of volunteers to serve in South Africa alongside the Regulars. The service company of the Durham Artillery, consisting of five officers and 170 other ranks, sailed on 24 March 1900 and landed at

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. On arrival they were combined with the service company of the

Duke of Edinburgh's Own Edinburgh Artillery The Duke of Edinburgh's Own Edinburgh Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the City of Edinburgh from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War. Background The long-standing nati ...

, the composite unit being designated the Durham & Edinburgh Division RGA, under the command of Lt-Col H.P. Ditmas of the Durham Artillery. Harold Ditmas was a solicitor and longtime auxiliary officer, first as a lieutenant with the 3rd (York) Yorkshire (West Riding) Artillery Volunteers, later with the Durham Artillery, which he had commanded since 1895. In July 1900 the composite company moved to

Eshowe Eshowe is the oldest town of European settlement in Zululand, historically also known as Eziqwaqweni, Ekowe or kwaMondi. Eshowe's name is said to be inspired by the sound of wind blowing through the more than 4 km² of the indigenous Dlinza ...

in Zululand, where having swapped their artillery

Carbines A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighte ...

for infantry rifles they were engaged in preventing Boer border raids. In September a 3000-strong Boer Commando under

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

threatened Zululand, and a 51-strong detachment of the company without guns was sent to Fort Prospect, near Melmoth, to prepare defences. Assisted by 35 men of B (

Dorsetshire Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...

), Company, 5th Division

Mounted Infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely specially m ...

, and all under the command of Capt A.C. Rowley of 2nd Battalion Dorsets, they dug trenches and constructed stone sangars. At 04.15 on 26 September, the detachment at Fort Prospect were warned by a native that hundreds of Boers were on their way. Fifteen minutes later the position was attacked under cover of mist by 400–500 men of the Ermelo Commando or the Carolina Commando, led by General Cecil 'Cherry' Cheere Emmett. The brunt of the attack fell on two sangars on the north and west of the position held by the Durham Company acting as infantry. Although the Boers broke through the

Wire obstacle In the military science of fortification, wire obstacles are defensive obstacles made from barbed wire, barbed tape or concertina wire. They are designed to disrupt, delay and generally slow down an attacking enemy. During the time that the atta ...

and got within of the sangars, they held out and Rowley was able to repulse the attack with the aid of a

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian M ...

. The Boers drew off at 06.30 and contented themselves with rifle fire against the completely surrounded fort. A second attack at 10.00 got as far as the rear trench where they were driven off by Serjeant F. Doyle's party. About that time a party of 14 Nongqayi (Zululand Police) under Serjeant Gumbi fought their way through the Boer lines to join the defenders. The Boer fire slackened off towards evening, and they withdrew at about 18.30.Fort Prospect at Battlefields Route, KwaZulu Natal.
/ref>'This Day in History: Thursday, 26 September 1901' at South African History Online.
/ref> One Bombardier and five gunners of the Durham Artillery were wounded in this action.

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a 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-command on the ...

Neville Lyttelton General The Honourable Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton, (28 October 1845 – 6 July 1931) was a British Army officer from the Lyttelton family who served against the Fenian Raids, and in the Anglo-Egyptian War, the Mahdist War and the Second Boer W ...

recommended Lt R.G.M. Johnson for the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) and Sjt Doyle and two Bombardiers of the battery for the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

(DCM) for their actions, but these awards were not made. However, all four were later

Mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. Later in the war, Lt-Col Ditmas, Major James Gowans, Capt Hugh Streatfeild and Company Serjeant Major O'Neill of the Durham Artillery were also mentioned in dispatches, and Maj Gowans was awarded a DSO at the end of the war. After the action at Eshowe, the Durhams were marched to

. The remainder of the Durham & Edinburgh Division was brought down from the

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

–

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

frontier and sailed to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

guarding Boer

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. Part of the unit remained in India guarding prisoners for some time, the rest embarked for home in November 1901, arriving a dew days after the company from Durban. Officers and men of the service company received the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

and

King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...

with clasps for 'Cape Colony', 'Orange Free State' and 'South Africa 1901'.

Disbandment

After the Boer War, the future of the Militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia,

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...

and

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by

St John Brodrick William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

. Some batteries of Militia Artillery were to be converted to field artillery. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out. Under the sweeping

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the Haldane Reforms, military reforms im ...

, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for Regular units serving overseas in wartime. Although the majority of the officers and men of the Durham RGA (M) accepted transfer to the Special Reserve

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

, becoming the Durham Royal Field Reserve Artillery on 5 July 1908, all these units were later disbanded. The Durham unit disbanded on 31 October 1909. Instead the men of the RFA Special Reserve would form Brigade Ammunition Columns for the Regular RFA brigades on the outbreak of war. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Ditmas was re-employed as a Temporary Lt-Col until 1917.''London Gazette'' 21 July 1917.
/ref>

Equipment

Although the 19th Century role of the Militia Artillery was usually to man guns in fixed fortifications, photographs of the Durham RGA (M) at its annual training camp at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

in 1906 show the men working with horsedrawn 4.7-inch heavy guns, as was being done with the Volunteer batteries in Brodrick's scheme.

Honorary Colonels

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit: * Lt-Col Henry Stobart, former CO, appointed 6 September 1859 * Lt-Gen

Sir Henry Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet Lieutenant General Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet (6 August 1830 – 30 December 1897) was a British soldier and politician. 'Allan' in the surname was added in March 1880. Early life Havelock was born in Cawnpore, India on 6 Au ...

, VC, KCB, appointed 7 May 1887

Notes

References

* Brig-Gen Sir

James E. Edmonds Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier-General Sir James Edward Edmonds (25 December 1861 – 2 August 1956) was an commissioned officer, officer of the Royal Engineers in the late-Victorian era British Army who worked in the Intelligence Corps ...

, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1914'', Vol I, 3rd Edn, London: Macmillan,1933/Woking: Shearer, 1986, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * Col John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * Lt-Col James Moncrieff Grierson (Col Peter S. Walton, ed.), ''Scarlet into Khaki: The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War'', London: Sampson Low, 1899/London: Greenhill, 1988, .
Col George Jackson Hay, ''An Epitomized History of the Militia (The Constitutional Force)'', London:United Service Gazette, 1905/Ray Westlake Military Books, 1987
ISBN 0-9508530-7-0. * Norman E.H. Litchfield, ''The Militia Artillery 1852–1909 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1987, . * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Army and Society 1815–1914'', London: Longmans, 1980, . * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Late Victorian Army 1868–1902'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992/Sandpiper Books, 1999, .
William Weaver Tomlinson, '' The North Eastern Railway: Its Rise and Development'', Newcastle: Andrew Reid/London: Longmans, 1915.

External sources

Battlefields Route, KwaZulu Natal.

Durham Mining Museum

Grace's Guide to British Industrial History

Gazette Online

South African History Online

Victorian Wars Forum
{{British Militia Regiments Military units and formations in County Durham Bishop Auckland Military units and formations in Hartlepool Military units and formations established in 1853 Militia regiments of the Royal Artillery