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Before World War II, Royal Artillery recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) tall. Men in mechanised units had to be at least 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve or four years and eight years.
The First World War had been the first artillery war, in which the British Royal Artillery (RA) advanced enormously in technological and tactical sophistication. Independent Heavy and Siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) were grouped into Heavy Artillery Groups, later termed brigades, under the command of a lieutenant-colonel, at the disposal of Army Corps.
A British 4.5-inch gun firing in Tunisia, 1943. The Headquarters (HQ) of 1st AGRA was formed at Hamilton Park, Glasgow, on 24 August 1942. [8] [9] [10] It was assigned to First Army for the landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), and arrived in Tunisia in January 1943, together with 56th Heavy Regiment, equipped with 7.2-inch howitzers – the first heavy regiment of the RA to serve ...
The Ordnance QF 18-pounder, [note 3] or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War-era.It formed the backbone of the Royal Field Artillery during the war, and was produced in large numbers.
The artillery of World War I, improved over that used in previous wars, influenced the tactics, operations, and strategies that were used by the belligerents. This led to trench warfare and encouraged efforts to break the resulting stalemate at the front. World War I raised artillery to a new level of importance on the battlefield.
Now assigned to the 219th Independent Infantry Brigade, the battalion was transferred to the Royal Artillery and converted into the 11th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery on 1 December 1942, as were the rest of the battalions in the brigade. The regiment served in the Battle of Normandy as part of the 9th Army Group Royal Artillery. [63]
The heavy artillery was equipped with the 7.2-inch Howitzer, a modified First World War weapon that nevertheless remained effective. During the war, brigade–sized formations of artillery, referred to as Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA), were formed. [49] These allowed control of medium and heavy artillery to be centralised.
Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire. London: Arms and Armour Press. Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, ISBN 1-85753-080-2.