104th Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery
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The 104 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery was formed in the town of Moascar in
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 Mediter ...
during March 1916 during 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 ...
, as the 104th Field Artillery (Howitzer) Battery, part of 4th Field Artillery Brigade. The battery was disbanded in 1919, but the name was used for a new battery raised in 1965, which later formed part of the Auustralian military involvement in the Vietnam War. It is now one of three gun batteries in 1 Regt RAA.


History


World War I

The 104th Field Battery, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, had its beginnings in Egypt, in March 1916. At this time the Battery was raised as a part of the general expansion of divisional artillery prior to the AIF being dispatched to France. In mid-March 1916 the battery sailed for France, and upon their arrival were issued with new 4.5 inch howitzers, reunited with their horses and commenced training. On 21 April 1916, 104th Howitzer Battery relieved C Battery of 176 Brigade
Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...
(RFA) on the line south east of
Armentières Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud). Geogra ...
, exchanging guns in the process. Shortly after this, they were deployed to the
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...
and saw their first real action on the
Western front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
. After the Third Battle of Ypres, the battery fired in support of the
British 30th Division The British 30th Division was a New Army division that was originally made up of battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the British War Office in August 1915 and moved to France in December. ...
and the British 7th Brigade in the
Battle of the Hindenburg Line 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 ...
. Over the next two years, the 104th Field Battery, as part of the 2nd Division Artillery, saw intense and unrelenting action on the Western Front, with almost 58% of the total gunners deployed from Australia being killed. After victory was declared the battery returned to Australia and was disbanded. In the Second World War, the previous practice of having independent artillery batteries was abandoned in favour of allocating batteries to artillery regiments, and so the 104th title was not used in that conflict.


Vietnam War

The 104 Battery name was revived in September 1965 as a medium battery equipped with BL 5.5-inch medium guns, but in 1967, these were replaced by
M2A2 howitzer The M101A1 (previously designated M2A1) howitzer is an artillery piece developed and used by the United States. It was the standard U.S. light field howitzer in World War II and saw action in both the European and Pacific theaters and during the ...
s, changing its designation to a field battery. The unit served two tours of
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
; the first was from May 1968 to May 1969 as part of 12 Field Regiment, supporting 4 RAR. On returning to Australia, the battery regrouped in Holsworthy, and moved up to Townsville in preparation for its second tour of Vietnam. The battery's second tour was from May 1971 to December 1971, again supporting 4 RAR. 104th Field Battery was the last Australian Field Artillery unit to leave Vietnam. On returning to Australia the Battery was located at Coral Lines Ingleburn with 12th Field Regiment.


Post-Vietnam

For a short period time the battery participated in peacetime training and support activities, but with the formation of 8th/12th Medium Regiment, the Battery was disbanded in December 1973. In November 1977 the Battery was re-raised as part of the 8th /12th Medium regiment with M2A2 (105mm) guns. Soon after the re-raising, the battery took part in its most important peacetime action. In February 1978, following a bomb blast at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, the decision was made to call in the Army to secure Bowral, the venue for the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; or) is a biennial summit meeting of the governmental leaders from all Commonwealth nations. Despite the name, the head of state may be present in the meeting instead of the head of gov ...
. However, on 15 June 1979 the battery was once again formally disbanded.


Recent history

In October 1985 the battery was re-raised as an Army Reserve Unit, as part of 1st Field Regiment in Brisbane, and again issued with the 105mm
M2A2 Howitzer The M101A1 (previously designated M2A1) howitzer is an artillery piece developed and used by the United States. It was the standard U.S. light field howitzer in World War II and saw action in both the European and Pacific theaters and during the ...
. The M2A2 was replaced in October 1990, with the 105mm L118/
L119 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 howitzer, M119 are variants that us ...
Hamel Gun. In January 1992 the Regiment converted to the Ready Reserve Scheme, attracting a large increase in numbers to the battery and Regiment. The scheme involved members undertaking a contract to work full-time for 12 months, then work 50 days a year for the next four years. In December 1996, the Ready Reserve Scheme was completed, however the Battery continued to foster 'Ready Reserve Soldiers' until 2000, when the Battery assumed the composition of a general reserve unit. 104 Field Battery was disbanded on 1 July 2005 during a parade held by 1st Field Regiment to retask 105 Field Battery to a Medium Battery role. Personnel were transferred to the reserve element of 105 Medium Battery and to other batteries within the regiment. As part of an Army wide restructuring of Artillery units, the Battery was re- raised in 2011 as an observation battery. In 2014 it was again restructured as a conventional battery with Observers, CP and M777 Gun line. It is currently building its manning to be a full sized battery in the coming years.


References


External links


Official Battery Website
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1 Military units and formations established in 1916 Military units and formations disestablished in 2005 1916 establishments in Australia