V 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 served with

8th Division 8th Division, 8th Infantry Division or 8th Armored Division may refer to: Infantry divisions * 8th Division (Australia) * 8th Canadian Infantry Division * 8th Air Division (People's Republic of China) * 8th Division (1st Formation) (People's Repu ...

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 ...

before becoming V Army Brigade, RHA in January 1917. It was reformed after the war but was disbanded in October 1928. The successor unit, 5th Regiment, RHA, was formed in 1939 and still exists as

5th Regiment Royal Artillery 5th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It was formed in 1939 as 5th Regiment Royal Horse Artillery before being redesignated in 1958. It currently serves in the Surveillance and Target Acquisitio ...

. The brigade had an earlier incarnation as E Brigade, RHA, formed from the Horse Artillery Brigade of the

Honourable 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 Southea ...

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all presidencies to the d ...

in 1862 before being broken up in 1877.

History

E Brigade, RHA

The

of the

was the last of 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 ...

to form Horse Artillery, only forming the ''1st Troop, Bombay Horse Artillery'' on 11 November 1811 (still in existence as N Battery, RHA). By the time 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 ...

broke out, the Bombay Horse Artillery had grown to four batteries, organized as the ''Horse Brigade, Bombay Artillery''. Although the Bombay Army was almost completely unaffected by the Rebellion, 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

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 Bombay Horse Artillery transferred to 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 ...

as its 4th Horse Brigade. On transfer, 4th Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery comprised: *A Battery, 4th Horse Brigade (A/4) - formerly 1st Troop, Bombay Horse Artillery at

Deesa Deesa is a city and a municipality in the Banaskantha district in the state of Gujarat, India. History Deesa is situated on the east banks of the river Banas. Deesa was an estate and thana ( faujdari/thanedari ) ruled by the Mandori (Jhalori) ...

*B Battery, 4th Horse Brigade (B/4) - formerly 2nd Troop, Bombay Horse Artillery at

Kirkee Khadki is a cantonment in the city of Pune, India. It has now flourished as a quasi-metropolis & centered in the northern region of the city. Description Khadki could be considered an Indian Army base, along with an ordnance factory consisting ...

*C Battery, 4th Horse Brigade (C/4) - formerly 3rd Troop, Bombay Horse Artillery at

Nusserabad Nasirabad is a cantonment town in Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. History Nasirabad is named for English officer Sir David Ochterlony, who was honoured with the title ''Nasir-ud-Daula'' ("Defender of the State") by Mughal emp ...

*D Battery, 4th Horse Brigade (D/4) - formerly 4th Troop, Bombay Horse Artillery at Ahmednagar 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 and B Brigades, 2nd Brigade become C Brigade, 3rd become D Brigade, 4th become E Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery, and 5th become F Brigade. As battery designations were tied to the brigade the battery was assigned to, the batteries were also redesignated, the first of a bewildering series of redesignations. E Horse Brigade, RA now comprised: *A Battery, E Horse Brigade (A/E) - formerly A/4 Battery at

*B Battery, E Horse Brigade (B/E) - formerly B/4 Battery at

*C Battery, E Horse Brigade (C/E) - formerly C/4 Battery at

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

*D Battery, E Horse Brigade (D/E) - formerly D/4 Battery at Ahmednagar From 1866, the term "

" appeared in Army List hence the brigade was designated E Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery from about this time. The brigade was broken up on 1 February 1871 and the batteries were transferred to C and D Brigades. It was reformed on 31 March 1875 with five batteries. Another reorganization on 14 April 1877 saw the number of brigades reduced to three (of 10 batteries each) and E Brigade was broken up again. Its batteries were transferred to C Brigade and redesignated again, for example, A/E Battery becoming A Battery, C Brigade. The number of brigades was further reduced to two (of 13 batteries each) in 1882. 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.

V Brigade, RHA

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). V Brigade, RHA was formed on 1 March 1901 as the XI Brigade-Division, RHA with G Battery and O Battery. In 1903 it was redesignated as XI Brigade, RHA and was stationed at

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 ...

. On 1 October 1906, it was redesignated as V Brigade, RHA.

World War I

At the outbreak of

, the brigade was at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

attached to 5th Cavalry Brigade, still commanding G and O Batteries. On 9 October 1914, the newly reformed Z Battery, RHA joined the brigade. It joined

at Winchester on formation. With 8th Division, it crossed to France on 4 and 5 November 1914 (landing at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

on 6 and 7 November) and served with the division on the Western Front until January 1917. While with the division, it saw action at the battles of Neuve-Chapelle (Moated Grange Attack, 18 December 1914), Neuve Chapelle again (10–13 March 1915),

Aubers Ridge The Battle of Aubers (Battle of Aubers Ridge) was a British offensive on the Western Front on 9 May 1915 during the First World War. The battle was part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois, a Franco-British offensive int ...

(9 May 1915),

Bois-Grenier Bois-Grenier () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Located south of Armentières and bordering with the department of Pas-de-Calais. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a li ...

(25 September 1915), and of the Somme ( Battle of Albert on 1 July 1916 and

Battle of Le Transloy The Battle of Le Transloy was the last big attack by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. The battle was fought in conjunction with attacks by the Frenc ...

on 23–30 October). On 24 November 1914, G Battery was transferred to XV (later IV) Brigade, RHA in 3rd Cavalry Division. O and Z batteries exchanged their

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 for

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 on 8 June 1915. It remained as a two-battery brigade until 8 May 1916 when D( H) Battery joined (designated D(H)/V Battery and armed with four 4.5" howitzers). This was formed from one section of 55th (H) Battery and one section of 57th (H) Battery, both of CXXVIII (H) Brigade, RFA. D(H)/V Battery was broken up on 13 January 1917 and the sections returned to their parent batteries.

Army brigade

On 13 January 1917, the brigade left 8th Division and became V Army Brigade, RHA. On the same day, B Battery of CLXXXVIII Brigade, RFA (B/CLXXXVIII Battery) joined and was renamed as A/V Battery. A/V Battery was redesignated as 402nd Battery on 1 June. On 9 April 1918, G and N Batteries, RHA joined from XVII Army Brigade, RHA and 402nd Battery transferred to XIV Brigade, RFA as 141st Battery, RFA. 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 ...

, the brigade was serving as Army Troops with the Fourth Army with G, N, O and Z Batteries RHA (twenty four

s).

Post-war reorganisation

The brigade took part in the Victory Parade in Paris in July 1919. It returned to

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 ...

from Germany in October 1919. At this point, N Battery was then transferred to IX Brigade, RHA and Z Battery to VIII Brigade, RHA; E Battery, RHA joined from III Brigade, RHA. The brigade survived the immediate post-war reductions in the strength of the RHA, serving on as the junior-most brigade, but was broken up at

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 ...

in October 1928.

5th Regiment, RHA

The successor unit, 5th Regiment, RHA, was formed on 25 November 1939 at

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

with G Battery, RHA and K Battery, RHA.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

''The Royal Horse Artillery'' on The Long, Long Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:5 Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery Royal Horse Artillery brigades Artillery units and formations of World War I Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1871 Military units and formations established in 1875 Military units and formations disestablished in 1877 Military units and formations established in 1901 Military units and formations disestablished in 1928 1862 establishments in the United Kingdom