I Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

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 ...

which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It was dissolved at the outbreak of

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 ...

as its constituent batteries were posted to other formations. Post-war, the brigade was reformed, serving in the UK, Egypt and India before being redesignated as 1st Regiment, RHA in May 1938 at Aldershot. The brigade had an earlier incarnation as A Brigade, RHA, formed from the Horse Brigade,

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 ...

in 1864 before being broken up in 1889.

History

A Brigade, RHA

brigades did not exist as an organizational or operational grouping of batteries until 1 July 1859 when the Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery was formed. It commanded all the existing horse artillery batteries of the

: *A Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery 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 ...

*B Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery 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 ...

*C Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery at

Cahir Cahir (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Iffa and Offa West. Location and access For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dubli ...

*D Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery in

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 ...

*E Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery in

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 ...

*F Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery in Bengal *G Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery at Portobello Barracks,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

*H Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery in Madras *I Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery at

*K Battery, Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery at Aldershot As a result of 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 ...

, the British Crown took direct control of India from the East India Company 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 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 ...

. 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 Bengal, Bombay and Madras Horse Artilleries transferred to the

as its 2nd to 5th Horse Brigades. The 1st Brigade with 10 batteries was much larger than the other four (with four to seven batteries each). A reorganization of the Horse Artillery on 13 April 1864 saw 1st Brigade split as A Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery and B Brigade, 2nd Brigade become C Brigade, 3rd become D Brigade, 4th become E Brigade, and 5th become F Brigade. As battery designations were tied to the brigade the battery was assigned to, the batteries were also redesignated. A Horse Brigade, RA comprised: *A Battery, A Horse Brigade (A/A) - formerly A Battery at

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...

*B Battery, A Horse Brigade (B/A) - formerly B Battery at Dorchester *C Battery, A Horse Brigade (C/A) - formerly C Battery at

*D Battery, A Horse Brigade (D/A) - formerly G Battery at Woolwich *E Battery, A Horse Brigade (E/A) - formerly K Battery at

From 1866, the term "

" appeared in Army List hence the brigade was designated A 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). A Brigade absorbed the batteries of the old B Brigade (which was reformed with the batteries of the old C and D Brigades). The number of brigades was further reduced to two (of 13 batteries each) in 1882. C Brigade was broken up on 1 April 1882 and its batteries transferred to A and B Brigades. The brigade system was finally abolished in 1889. Henceforth, batteries were designated in a single alphabetical sequence in order of seniority from date of formation.

I Brigade, RHA

First formation

The brigade system was revived in 1901. Each brigade now commanded just two batteries and a small staff (a

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 colo ...

in command, an adjutant and a brigade

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

). Initially, batteries were not assigned to brigades in any particular order, but in 1906, at the insistence of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, brigades were redesignated so that batteries were roughly in order of seniority (hence I Brigade commanded

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), ...

and B Battery). I Brigade, RHA was formed on 1 March 1901 as the V Brigade-Division, RHA with

and BB Battery. In 1903 it was redesignated as V Brigade, RHA and was stationed at Dorchester. On 1 October 1906, it was redesignated as I Brigade, RHA. On 8 May 1913, BB Battery was disbanded. It was replaced on 1 August with

Z Battery A Z Battery was a short range anti-aircraft weapon system, launching diameter rockets from ground-based single and multiple launchers, for the air defence of Great Britain in the Second World War. The rocket motors were later adapted with a ...

(from XIV Brigade, RHA) but was in turn disbanded on 24 December. It was replaced by B Battery (from II Brigade, RHA). By the time

broke out, the brigade was in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...

, India assigned to

3rd (Lahore) Division The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops ...

. On mobilization, A Battery was assigned to the newly formed I Indian Brigade, RHA with

1st Indian Cavalry Division The 1st Indian Cavalry Division was a division of the British Indian Army which was formed at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front, and was renamed the 4th Cavalry Division on 26 November 1916. In March 1918, the ...

(attached to 3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade) and sailed for the Western Front in October 1914. B Battery also sailed for 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1914. In January 1915, it joined XV Brigade, RHA at Leamington and was assigned to 29th Division. With the departure of its batteries, the brigade HQ was dissolved.

Second formation

Early in 1919, I Brigade, RHA was reformed at

and

Bordon Bordon is a town in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies in the interior of the royal Woolmer Forest, about southeast of Alton. The town forms a part of the civil parish of Whitehill which is one of two contiguous villag ...

with * A Battery, RHA from XVI Brigade, RHA in Germany in May 1919 * B Battery, RHA from XV Brigade, RHA in Germany in April 1919 * M Battery, RHA from

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 ...

, India in March 1919 On 20 November 1919 A Battery absorbed Y Battery, on 7 January 1920 B Battery absorbed

and on 11 February 1920 M Battery absorbed AA Battery, all of VIII Brigade, RHA. Finally, on 14 February 1920 the Headquarters of VIII Brigade was absorbed into the HQ of I Brigade. By March 1920, the brigade was overseas again: A Battery was in Mesopotamia, B Battery in Palestine and M Battery (with the brigade HQ) was in Egypt. In October 1923 it returned to Exeter (A Battery at

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southeas ...

) and in November 1926 was at Aldershot where O Battery, RHA replaced M Battery. In November 1929 it was at Newport (B Battery at Trowbridge) before moving to

Abbassia Abbassia ( ar, العباسية ) is a neighbourhood in Cairo, Egypt. The Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo is located in Abbassia. The medical faculty of Ain Shams University and its affiliate hospital units are located in Ab ...

, Egypt in October 1931. A Battery was the first Royal Horse Artillery battery to be mechanized. In 1934 it replaced its horses and

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 with 3.7" Howitzers towed by Light Dragon gun tractors. By October 1937, the whole brigade was mechanized, and stationed at Aldershot.

1st Regiment, RHA

In 1938, field artillery brigades were reorganized as two 12-gun batteries. As a result, the existing 6-gun batteries were linked in pairs. On 11 May, A Battery and E Battery (from

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 ...

, India) were linked as A/E Battery, RHA and B Battery and O Battery were linked as B/O Battery, RHA. With effect from May 1938, brigades were redesignated as regiments. On 11 May, I Brigade became 1st Regiment, RHA.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

''The Royal Horse Artillery'' on The Long, Long Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:1 Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery Royal Horse Artillery brigades Artillery units and formations of World War I Military units and formations established in 1859 Military units and formations disestablished in 1889 Military units and formations established in 1901 Military units and formations disestablished in 1914 Military units and formations established in 1919 Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 1859 establishments in the United Kingdom