The 7th Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery is a Reserve

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

unit of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. Located in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, it is the artillery component of the 13th Brigade.

History

The 7th Field Battery has its origins in the Union Troop of Western Australian Mounted Volunteers which was formed on 19 July 1870. The unit subsequently acquired two 12 pounder field artillery pieces and on 1 July 1872 became the W.A. Troop of Volunteer Horse Artillery. With the commencement of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

volunteers from Western Australia's artillery militia units were grouped together as the 8th Battery, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade as part of the 1st Australian Division. Armed with 18 pounders the battery served at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

even though the terrain was not suitable for the guns. After the withdrawal from Gallipoli the battery, together with the 14th Field Battery (another West Australian battery), took part in actions on the Western Front. The last round of artillery fired at Gallipoli was from a gun belonging to the 8th Battery. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Western Australia provided a single battery composed mainly of militia volunteers, designated the 6th Battery, 2/3rd Field Regiment. The battery was initially issued with, and trained on, 18 pounders. 6th Battery was transported to England where they were re-armed with the new 25 Pounder guns. The battery was sent to the Middle East then participated in the

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

campaigns usually in support of fellow West Australians in the 2/11th Battalion. In 1942, the battery returned to Australia then served in action throughout the

South West Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

. At the end of World War II the battery was disbanded, however in 1948, P and Q Batteries of the 3rd Field Regiment were raised. In 1965, the two were renamed the 7th and 8th Batteries. In 1975 the unit was reduced to a single field battery as the 7th Field Battery, 3rd Regiment. In 2003, the Battery consisted of a headquarters element, a command post, four 105 mm M2A2 Howitzer detachments and was part of the 13th Brigade. Following the reorganisation of the Australian Army Reserve's artillery units as part of Plan Beersheba, the battery is now armed with the F2 81mm mortar as its primary weapon platform. It retained a number of M2A2s for ceremonial duties firing blank cartridges. On 15 January 2018, to provide a regimental headquarters for all

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the military reserve force, reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citize ...

mortar-equipped light batteries assigned to the 2nd Division, the 9th Regiment RAA was re-raised and all Army Reserve Artillery units were transferred to it.

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=https://www.army.gov.au/our-people/units/forces-command/2nd-division/13th-brigade/7th-field-battery-3rd-regiment-royal , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320224236/https://www.army.gov.au/our-people/units/forces-command/2nd-division/13th-brigade/7th-field-battery-3rd-regiment-royal , title=7th Field Battery, 3rd Regiment, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery , publisher=Australian Army , archive-date=20 March 2020 , access-date=11 December 2021 Artillery units and formations of Australia Military units and formations established in 1965 Military Units in Western Australia