E Battery Royal Horse Artillery is a Close Support Battery of

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the armoured field artillery role, and is equipped with the AS90 self-propelled gun. The regiment is currently based at La ...

. It is currently based in Purvis Lines in Larkhill Camp.

History

E Battery Royal Horse Artillery was formed as E Troop on 1 November 1794.

19th century

E Troop saw action in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

in 1811 and also at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. Between 1815 and 1856, the Troop saw service in England,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. By this time E Troop had been renamed D Troop. In 1877, D Troop was re-designated as E Battery RHA. In 1878, E Battery was deployed to the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the ...

World War I

In 1914, E Battery was sent to France as part of the BEF, equipped with QF 13-pounder guns. At 0930 hours on 22 August 1914, northeast of

Harmignies Harmignies ( wa, Armégnî) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country ...

in Belgium, No. 4 gun of E Battery fired the first British artillery rounds on the Western Front 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 ...

, E Battery went on to fight in many of the battles on the Western Front and then joined the Army of Occupation.

Between the World Wars

E Battery moved to India in 1926. In 1938, E Battery merged with the

A Battery file:Triode Circuit.svg, A generic triode vacuum tube circuit showing "A", "B" and "C" batteries In the early days of electronics, vacuum tube (called ''valves'' in British contexts) devices (such as radios) were powered by battery (electricity), ...

to form A/E Battery prior to the formation of 1 RHA.

World War II

In 1939, E Battery fought in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, before being evacuated from St Valery in June 1940. The battery later deployed to the Western Desert.

was reorganised as

, B Battery and E Battery. The Battery saw action in the campaigns in the Western Desert and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

up to 1945.

Post war

In 1946, E Battery deployed to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and later The Battery went to Palestine. Between 1952 and 1965, E Battery was stationed in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. By 1965, E Battery deployed to the

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ar, محمية عدن ') was a British protectorate in South Arabia which evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut following the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India ...

. In 1990, the Battery provided soldiers for a combined A/B/E Battery which fought in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. Later, in 1992, E Battery moved to Assaye Barracks in

Tidworth Camp Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison. History The Camp was established when the War Office acquired a 19th-century mansion – Ted ...

and converted to the

AS-90 The AS-90 ("Artillery System for the 1990s"), known officially as Gun Equipment 155 mm L131, is an armoured self-propelled artillery weapon used by the British Army. It can fire standard charges up to using 39 calibre long barrel (com ...

artillery gun. In the late 1990s, E Battery deployed on to the Balkans. In 2004, E Battery deployed on Operation Telic 4 to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

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 ...

to train the Iraqi Border Police. By 2005, E Battery 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 ...

for UNFICYP operations and in 2009, the Battery deployed as part of Operation Herrick 11 while in 2013, E Battery deployed as part of Operation Herrick 18.

Future

Under the

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 ...

plan, the battery re-roled from a light gun battery to an AS-90 battery.Gunner Magazine, December 2012

Current Role

E Battery is currently a Close Support Battery which uses the

Self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled ...

Guns. The Battery is sub-divided into four troops: *Gardiner's Troop: (Gun Troop) *Salamanca Troop: (Gun Troop) *Waterloo Troop: (Echelon Troop) *Mons Troop: (Observation Party Troop (Fire Support Teams and Joint Fires Cell)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Royal Horse Artillery Royal Horse Artillery batteries Royal Artillery batteries 1794 establishments in Great Britain Military units and formations established in 1794