101 (Northumbrian) Medium Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

and has sub units throughout the north east as well as one sub unit in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is equipped with

M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. The U.S. Army variant of the MLRS vehicle is based on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The first M270s wer ...

(MLRS).

History

The origins of the Regiment can be traced back to 1860 when Artillery Volunteer units were raised in the United Kingdom, as a result of threats of a French invasion. This continued through the formation of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

in 1908, and the re-forming of the Territorial Army in 1947. The Regiment was formed on the restructuring of the Territorial Army in April 1967. It was formed from 272 Field Regiment RA (Northumbrian) TA (formed in 1916, known as 72 Field Regiment until 1947 and based at the Barrack Road drill hall in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

), 274 Field Regiment (Northumbrian) RA (TA) (formed in 1938, known as 74 Field Regiment until 1947 and based at South Shields), 324 Heavy Air Defence Regiment RA (TA) (raised in 1947 and based in

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populati ...

) and 439 Light Air Defence Regiment (formed in 1955 and based in Tynemouth). The new regiment was equipped with BL 5.5-inch Medium Guns and had its headquarters at the

centre at Barrack Road in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1976, it was redesignated as a Field Regiment and re-equipped with the

105mm 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 ...

. Around 1990, the regimental headquarters moved to Gateshead. In 2006, 269 (West Riding) Battery Royal Artillery was transferred from

106th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery 106 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery is part of the Army Reserve and has sub-units throughout the South of England. The Regiment's role is Close Air Defence and it was part of the Joint Ground Based Air Defence (Jt GBAD) formation, later 7 Ai ...

to this regiment. 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 ...

, its role is more specific. All batteries were re-roled to the

. It was paired with 39 Regiment until the end of March 2015, and with 3 RHA afterwards. It will also support 1 RHA, 19 and 26 RA.

Current structure

The current structure of the regiment is as follows: * Regimental Headquarters, at Napier Armoury, Gateshead * 203 (Elswick) Battery, in Blyth * 204 (Tyneside Scottish) Battery, in

Kingston Park Kingston Park is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, about north west of the city centre. It is home to several large retailers, the largest being one of Tesco's flagship stores—at 11,055 square metres (119,000 sq ft) which was also t ...

** Hexham Troop, at

Dare Wilson Barracks Dare Wilson Barracks, is a military installation in Hexham, Northumberland. The building is named after Major General Dare Wilson who was commissioned into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and commanded 22 Special Air Service Regiment in the ea ...

, Hexham * 205 (3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery) Battery, at Northfield Gardens, South Shields ** Catterick Troop, at Marne Barracks,

Catterick Garrison Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 13,000 in 2017 and covering over 2,400 acres (about 10 ...

* 269 (West Riding) Battery, at Carlton Gate,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Freedoms

The Regiment has received the Freedom of several locations throughout its history; these include: * January 1980:

. * 30 April 2016:

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

Notes

Sources

* * Litchfield, Norman E H, 1992. ''The Territorial Artillery 1908-1988'', The Sherwood Press, Nottingham. * Osborne, Mike, 2006. ''Always Ready: The Drill Halls of Britain's Volunteer Forces'', Partizan Press, Essex.

External links

Official site
{{British Army Artillery Regiments Royal Artillery regiments Military units and formations established in 1967 Military units and formations in County Durham