I Parachute Battery (Bull's Troop) Royal Horse Artillery is the Headquarters

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, part of the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

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 ...

, currently based in Merville Barracks in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. Formed in 1805, the battery took part in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, notably 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 ...

and 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 ...

for which service it was awarded its Honour Title as ''Bull's Troop''and the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War 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 opposi ...

s. In 1961, it was given a parachute role as part of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery and has seen considerable active service particularly in Northern Ireland (

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 ...

), the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

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 ...

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 ...

History

Napoleonic Wars

The battery was formed on 1 February 1805 as I

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...

, Horse Artillery at

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 Grea ...

as a horse artillery

of the

. Captain Robert Bull was appointed to command and he took it to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

in August 1809 where it served until 1814. It arrived too late for the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish a ...

, but thereafter took part in most of Wellington's major actions of the

including Bussaco (1810), Fuentes de Oñoro (1811),

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right ban ...

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

, and

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

(1812), Vitoria, San Sebastián, the

Bidassoa __NOTOC__ The Bidasoa (, ; french: Bidassoa, ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the pro ...

and the

Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by t ...

(1813) and Bayonne (1814). Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro, 1811

Its most famous action during the Peninsular War occurred at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro on 5 May 1811 when it was temporarily under the command of

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 ...

Norman Ramsay. The troop was surrounded by French cavalry and cut off from the main force. With the guns limbered up and swords drawn, they charged through the surprised enemy horsemen thereby saving themselves from being captured. Armed with six -inch howitzers, it took part in the Hundred Days Campaign in 1815. Early in the

it was ordered to support the garrison at

Hougoumont Château d'Hougoumont (originally Goumont) is a walled manorial compound, situated at the bottom of an escarpment near the Nivelles road in the Braine-l'Alleud municipality, near Waterloo, Belgium. The site served as one of the advanced defens ...

. Firing

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

over the heads of friendly troops, in 10 minutes it cleared a nearby wood of French

tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...

, much to the satisfaction of Wellington and Frazer (commander of the horse artillery). It then took part in the advance to Paris and joined the Army of Occupation. In commemoration of its performance in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, the Honour Title "Bull's Troop" was officially granted to the battery on 13 October 1926. In the usual post-war reductions of the British Army, a number of troops of horse artillery were disbanded between 1815 and 1816, including D Troop ( Beane's Troop) on 31 July 1816. The remaining troops were then moved up to assume the next available letter and the I Troop became H Troop on the same date.

Victorian era

The next forty years were spent in peacetime routine. The troop was not one of the three sent to take part in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, nor one of the three dispatched to

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 ...

in 1858 to assist in the final operations to quell the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 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 ...

. However, by 1 July 1859 it was in Madras when it was assigned to the Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery along with all the existing horse artillery batteries 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 ...

. This was an administrative, rather than tactical, formation. As a result of the Rebellion, the British Crown took direct control of India from the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

on 1 November 1858 under the provisions of the

Government of India Act 1858 The Government of India Act 1858 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (21 & 22 Vict. c. 106) passed on 2 August 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company (who had up to this point been ruling ...

. The

Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presiden ...

transferred to the direct authority of the British Crown and its European units were transferred to the British Army. Henceforth artillery, the mutineers most effective arm, was to be the sole preserve of the British Army (with the exception of certain Mountain Artillery batteries). On 19 February 1862, the Horse Brigade RA became the 1st Horse Brigade RA and the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, Madras and

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-m ...

horse artillery formed the 2nd to 5th Horse Brigades. The 1st Brigade with 10 batteries was much larger than the other four (with four to seven batteries each). Therefore, a reorganization of the Horse Artillery on 13 April 1864 saw 1st Brigade split as A and B Brigades. The battery was moved to B Brigade, and as battery designations were tied to the brigade the battery was assigned to, it was redesignated as D Battery, B Brigade (or D/B Battery in short). The battery was at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

at this time. From 1866, the term "

" appeared in Army List hence the battery was designated D Battery, B Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery from about this time. Another reorganization on 14 April 1877 saw the number of brigades reduced to three (of 10 batteries each); the batteryat

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

joined A Brigade and became I Battery, A Brigade. The number of brigades was further reduced to two (of 13 batteries each) in 1882 without effecting the designation of the battery by which time it was at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

. The brigade system was finally abolished on 1 July 1889. Henceforth, batteries were designated in a single alphabetical sequence in order of seniority from date of formation and the battery took on its final designation as I Battery, Royal Horse Artillery. The battery did not take part 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 South ...

First World War

The brigade system was reintroduced on 1 March 1901, this time as tactical formations, and the battery was assigned to the VIII Brigade-Division, RHA (redesignated as VII Brigade, RHA on 1 October 1906) along with L Battery. In 1903 it was stationed at Secunderabad and in 1905 it took part in the Rawalpindi Parade. QF13pounderBouncingNYTribune20October1918

QF13pounderBouncingNYTribune20October1918

By the time the

First World War 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 ...

broke out, the battery had been re-equipped with six quick-firing

13 pounder The Ordnance QF 13-pounder ( quick-firing) field gun was the standard equipment of the British and Canadian Royal Horse Artillery at the outbreak of World War I. History The QF 13-pounder was developed as a response to combat experience gained ...

s and was stationed at

, still assigned to VII Brigade with L Battery and attached to the 1st Cavalry Brigade. On mobilization, it joined The Cavalry Division and served with it on the Western Front for the rest of the war. In practice, the batteries were permanently assigned to the cavalry brigades from September 1914 onwards and the battery was attached to 1st Cavalry Brigade on 17 September. It crossed to

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 ...

between 15 and 18 August 1914, concentrated with the division around Maubeuge between 18 and 20 August, and moved forward towards Mons on 21 August. Its first action was the Battle of Mons on 23 and 24 August where the division formed the left flank. It took part in the subsequent retreat, notably the

Battle of Le Cateau The Battle of Le Cateau was fought on the Western Front during the First World War on 26 August 1914. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army had retreated after their defeats at the Battle of Charleroi (21–23 Aug ...

, the action at Néry and the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

, before advancing again to the

First Battle of the Aisne The First Battle of the Aisne (french: 1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated a ...

and the

Race to the Sea The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from about 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was followed by the ...

( Battle of Messines). In 1915 it took part in the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

( Battle of Frezenberg, 9–13 May, and Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge, 24 May). The only action in 1916 was at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15 September) when it was in reserve to

XIV Corps 14 Corps, 14th Corps, Fourteenth Corps, or XIV Corps may refer to: * XIV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XIV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World ...

of Fourth Army. In 1917, it supported the division in a number of major actions including the Battle of Arras (April,

First Battle of the Scarpe The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the Wes ...

) and the Battle of Cambrai (November and December, including the Tank Attack, the Capture of Bourlon Wood and the German Counter-attacks). At other times, the battery served in the trenches as infantry. 1918 saw greater action as the war of movement resumed, including the German

Operation Michael Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was t ...

(March, the Battle of St. Quentin, the

First Battle of Bapaume Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was ...

and the

Battle of Rosières A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

), the Advance to Victory (August, Battle of Amiens), the Second Battle of the Somme (August, Battle of Albert) and the battles of the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 1916 ...

(October, Battle of Cambrai and the Pursuit to the Selle). At the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

, it was still serving with 1st Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.

Inter-war period

Still with the 1st Cavalry Division, it took part in the advance of the Second Army into

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 ...

. E Subsection was the first British gun to enter Germany, crossing the frontier at Poteau (between St. Vith and

Malmedy Malmedy (; german: Malmünd, ; wa, Måmdiy) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a populati ...

and now in the Belgian province of Liège) at 9am on 1 December 1918. It crossed the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

by 13 December. It transferred from Germany to IV Brigade, RHA at Newbridge and Kilkenny in May 1919. IV Brigade survived the immediate post-war reductions in the strength of the RHA, but was dissolved in October 1921 and the batteries became independent: I Battery was posted to India.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the battery served as a separate unit, rotating through the five remaining battery stations of the RHA at

Risalpur Risalpur (Pashto/ ur, رسالپور) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 18 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin so ...

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, and

Trimulgherry Tirumalagiri, previously spelt as Trimulgherry, is a locality and a Mandal in the city of Secunderabad also it falls under Secunderabad Revenue Division, Earlier is a major suburb of Secunderabad, India. The name is an anglicization of Tirumalag ...

in India and St John's Wood Barracks in London. Mechanisation of the RHA began in 1934 and by 1936 the batterynow at Risalpurhad been given a mix of equipment: two sections had

18 pounder The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War ...

s and one had 3.7" Howitzers towed by Light Dragon gun tractors. In October 1936, the battery returned to the United Kingdom where it joined II Brigade, RHA at Newport. In 1938, field artillery brigades were reorganized from three six-gun batteries to two 12-gun batteries. Rather than disband existing batteries, they were instead linked in pairs. As a result, on 11 May, H Battery (from 8th Field Brigade) and I Battery were linked as H/I Battery, RHA. With effect from May 1938, brigades were redesignated as regiments and II Brigade became 2nd Regiment, RHA on 21 May. By August 1939 the battery had been fully mechanized and equipped with 18/25 pounders.

Second World War

At the outbreak of the

, the battery was still linked with H Battery as H/I Battery in 2nd Regiment, RHA. It remained with the 2nd RHA throughout the war. Initially part of The Armoured Division in the United Kingdom, in October 1939 it moved to France, where the regiment was placed under direct command of General Headquarters, BEF. It was still serving with the BEF when the Battle of France broke out in May 1940. After evacuation from the continent, it joined the 2nd Armoured Division and was transferred to Egypt with the division in November and December 1940. From January to May 1941 it took part in the Battle of Greece with the 1st Armoured Brigade. The experience of the BEF in 1940 showed the limitations of having artillery regiments formed with two 12-gun batteries: field regiments were intended to support an infantry brigade of three battalions (or armoured brigade of three regiments). This could not be managed without severe disruption to the regiment. As a result, field regiments were reorganised into three 8-gun batteries. Surprisingly, it was not until April 1942 that H/I was unlinked. At this point the battery was armed with eight

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, comb ...

s. From 21 April 1942, it served with 22nd Guards Brigade under command of 2nd South African Division in the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the ( Erwin Rommel) consisting of German an ...

. On 25 June it transferred to

22nd Armoured Brigade The 22nd Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army that saw service during and after the Second World War. The brigade was formed on the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 from Territorial Army (TA) armoured regiments. ...

and took part in the

Battle of Mersa Matruh The Battle of Mersa Matruh was fought from 26 to 29 June 1942, following the defeat of the Eighth Army (General Sir Claude Auchinleck) at the Battle of Gazala and was part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The combatant ...

and the Defence of the El Alamein Line. On 24 August 1942 it rejoined the 1st Armoured Division. It served with this division throughout the rest of the Western Desert Campaign and the

Tunisia Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

, in particular, the battles of El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, Akarit, El Kourzia and

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. It moved with the division to

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 ...

in May 1944, fighting at the

Battle of Coriano The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

on the Gothic Line. The regiment left 1st Armoured Division on 26 September 1944 and came under direct command of Headquarters,

Allied Armies in Italy The Allied Armies in Italy (AAI) was the title of the highest Allied field headquarters in Italy, during the middle part of the Italian campaign of World War II. In the early and later stages of the campaign the headquarters was known as the ...

where it remained until the end of the war.

Post-war

Post-war, the battery remained part of the 2nd RHA, equipped with Sexton

self-propelled guns. Initially stationed in Palestine, by 1950 it was at

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

in Germany as part of 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 ...

. In February 1958, 2nd RHA reverted to the

as 2nd Field Regiment, RA and the battery was transferred to 4th RHA in exchange for

N Battery An N battery (or N cell) is a standard size of dry-cell battery. An N battery is cylindrical with electrical contacts on each end; the positive end has a bump on the top. The battery has a length of 30.2 mm and a diameter of 12.0 mm, ...

. It was now equipped with Cardinal 155mm self-propelled guns and stationed at

Hohne Hohne is a municipality in the state of Lower Saxony in Germany, east of the county town of Celle. It includes the three former parishes of Hohne, Helmerkamp and Spechtshorn. It should not be confused with the British Army camp of Hohne (German: ' ...

ISAF Soldiers Fire a 105mm Light Gun MOD 45149844

In 1961, it was decided to convert 33rd Parachute Light Regiment RA into a RHA regiment. As a result, 4th RHA reverted to the Royal Artillery as 4th Regiment Royal Artillery and its three batteries F, G and I were transferred to 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery on 27 June 1961. Initially equipped with the 105mm Pack Howitzer, in 1974 the battery (and regiment) was re-armed with the

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 ...

. Other than a period from 1977 to 1984 when the battery (and the regiment) was rerolled as a field artillery unit and posted to the

in Germany, it has been based in England, initially at

but latterly at

. Since 1961, it has been posted 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 ...

in 1961, Aden in 1964, a number of

roulement Roulement is a term used by the British Army to signify major combat units (usually battalion strength) that are deployed on short tours of duty, normally for six months. It is also used in the wider British Military to mean the deployment of a s ...

tours to Northern Ireland (

) in the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

role,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

in 1992,

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 part of UNFICYP (June to December 1994), Macedonia and

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 ...

( Operation Agricola) in June 1999,

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

(

Operation Silkman Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

) in May 2000,

( Operation Jacana) in 2001 and 2002, 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, ...

( Operation Telic) from March 2003, and Afghanistan again (

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Ass ...

) in 2008.

Current status

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 ...

plans, 7 PARA RHA was reduced from five to three batteries; V Battery was placed in suspended animation in May 2013 and the headquarters batteryH Battery was transferred to 1st RHA in August of the same year. As a consequence, I Battery was redesignated as the headquarters battery of the regiment as I Parachute HQ Battery (Bull's Troop). It provides command and control for the regiment.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

* * * {{Royal Horse Artillery Royal Horse Artillery batteries Royal Artillery batteries Air-portable batteries of the Royal Artillery 1805 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1805 British military units and formations of the Napoleonic Wars

History

Napoleonic Wars

Victorian era

First World War

Inter-war period

Second World War

Post-war

Current status

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links