Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery
The Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Leicestershire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in Egypt and Palestine from 1916 to 1918, initially with ANZAC Mounted Division before joining the Yeomanry Mounted Division and 1st Mounted / 4th Cavalry Division. A second line battery, 2/1st Leicestershire RHA, served on the Western Front with the 63rd Division from 1916 to 1918. Post-war, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.
History
Formation
The Territorial Force was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades. Each yeomanry brigade included a horse artillery battery and an ammunition column.On 18 March 1908, Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery was proposed as a new unit and it was recognized by the Army Council on 21 July 1908. The unit consisted of
The battery was equipped with four Ehrhardt 15-pounder guns and allocated as artillery support to the North Midland Mounted Brigade.
First World War
In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line and 2nd Line units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course.1/1st Leicestershire
The battery was embodied with the North Midland Mounted Brigade and assigned to Third Army of the Central Force. It moved to Norfolk and joined 1st Mounted Division in September 1914 replacing the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade. The brigade remained with 1st Mounted Division until October 1915 when it departed for the Mediterranean. The battery remained in the United Kingdom attached to 2/1st North Midland Mounted Brigade, still with 1st Mounted Division. In February 1916 the battery departed Southampton and disembarked at Alexandria in Egypt on 25 February.;Service with III Brigade
III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was formed in April 1916 in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force with the Somerset and Leicestershire Batteries, RHA. It was assigned to the ANZAC Mounted Division to provide artillery support. In practice, the batteries were permanently attached to the mounted brigades of the division and Leicestershire RHA joined the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade.
The battery initially served with the ANZAC Mounted Division in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. With the division, it saw action at the Battle of Romani as part of No. 3 Section, Suez Canal Defences. This saw the repulse of the final Turkish attempt to cut the Suez Canal.
The division then joined the Desert Column and with it took part in the advance across the Sinai. It fought at the Battle of Magdhaba and the Battle of Rafah. The batteries were then re-equipped with four 18 pounders each before taking part in the First and Second Battles of Gaza.
In June 1917, the Desert Column was reorganised from two mounted divisions of four brigades each to three mounted divisions of three brigades each. Consequently, the 22nd Mounted Brigade was transferred from the ANZAC to the Yeomanry Mounted Division on 6 July 1917. With a reduction to three brigades, there was a corresponding reduction in the artillery to three batteries. The Leicestershire Battery departed on 20 June to join XX Brigade, RHA in the Yeomanry Mounted Division.
;Service with XX Brigade
Leicestershire, RHA transferred from ANZAC Mounted Division on 20 June 1916 and joined XX Brigade RHA on 5 July 1917 where it joined the Hampshire and Berkshire Batteries. The battery remained with the division when it was restructured and indianized as the 1st Mounted Division and later renamed as 4th Cavalry Division.
During its time with the Yeomanry Mounted Division, the division served as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine. From 31 October it took part in the Third Battle of Gaza, including the Battle of Beersheba and the Capture of the Sheria Position under the Desert Mounted Corps. Still with the DMC, it took part in the Battle of Mughar Ridge on 13 and 14 November and the Battle of Nebi Samwil from 17 to 24 November. From 27 to 29 November, it withstood the Turkish counter-attacks during the Capture of Jerusalem.
Once the division was restructured and renamed, it served with the Desert Mounted Corps for the rest of the war, taking part in the Second Transjordan Raid and the Final Offensive, in particular the Battle of Megiddo and the Capture of Damascus.
The 4th Cavalry Division remained in Palestine on occupation duties after the end of the war. However, demobilization began immediately and most of the British war time units had left by May 1919. The Leicestershire Battery were reduced to cadre in Egypt on 14 October 1919.
2/1st Leicestershire
Leicestershire RHA formed a 2nd line in 1915 and given a fractional designation as 2/1st Leicestershire Battery, RHA. It joined the 2/1st North Midland Mounted Brigade and with the brigade, joined 1st Mounted Division in October 1915 to replace the 1st line North Midland Mounted Brigade.The pre-war Territorial Force infantry divisions were generally supported by four field artillery brigades. These were numbered I, II, III and IV within each division and consisted of three gun brigades and a howitzer brigade. Artillery for 2nd Line divisions were formed in a similar manner, with a fractional designation, for example the artillery for the 63rd Division consisted of 2/I Northumberland Brigade, RFA, 2/II Northumberland Brigade, RFA, 2/III Northumberland Brigade, RFA and 2/IV Northumberland Brigade, RFA.
Between 8 and 22 May 1916, the artillery of 63rd Division was reorganized. The brigades were numbered and the batteries lettered. The howitzer batteries of CCCXVIII Brigade were transferred to CCCXV and CCCXVI brigades and the brigade was reformed with three gun batteries. 2/1st Leicestershire RHA joined as A Battery and 2/1st Somerset RHA as B Battery. The batteries each consisted of four 18 pounders.
On 2 July 1916, the 63rd Division's artillery left for France where it joined the Royal Naval Division. On 18 July, A Battery of XXCCIII Brigade Battery of 1/IV Home Counties joined the brigade as D Battery. With the breakup of XXCCIII Brigade, CCCXVIII Brigade was redesignated XXCCIII Brigade on 31 July. On 31 August, the batteries of the brigade were made up to 6 guns apiece and the battery now consisted of six 18 pounders.
The battery, and the brigade, served with 63rd Division for the rest of the war on the Western Front. With the division, it took part in the Battle of the Ancre, Operations on the Ancre and Battle of Miraumont. It then took part in the Battles of Arras, notably the Second Battle of the Scarpe and the Battle of Arleux. At the end of 1917, it took part in the Third Battle of Ypres notably the Second Battle of Passchendaele and Welch Ridge.
In 1918, the division faced the German offensive in the First Battles of the Somme: Battle of St. Quentin, First Battle of Bapaume, and the Battle of the Ancre. Then followed the advance to victory: the Battle of Albert, Battle of Drocourt-Quéant Line, Battle of the Canal du Nord, Battle of Cambrai and Capture of Niergnies and the Passage of the Grande Honnelle.
At the Armistice, the battery was still with CCXXIII Brigade, RFA serving with 63rd Division. The division was not selected to form part of the Army of Occupation and by April 1919 it had been disbanded.