Home Defence & Mobilisation 1939-1941
145 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment RA Regimental Headquarters staff in 1939
At the outbreak of war on 3rd September 1939, 145 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment RA TA, under command Lieutenant-Colonel WH Crosland, mobilized in its several drill halls and on 10th September moved to Newbury Racecourse as its base. The Regiment was assigned to 61st Infantry Division.
The Regiment consisted of two batteries each of three troops. 395 Battery comprised A, B, and C Troops, and 396 Battery comprised D, E, and F Troops. Each troop had a complement of four guns, giving a total of twenty-four guns. Most of the Regiment’s equipment had already gone to the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, who had been assigned to the BEF. Training was only achieved thanks to the assistance of regular gunner units based at Aldershot.
During this “phoney war” period Newbury was bombed and machine gunned as were the aerodromes at Wantage and Harwell. A number of buildings were destroyed and several civilians killed.
Newbury Racecourse in autumn 1939
Training for war: a Gunnery demonstration in Wantage in 1939
In February 1940 the Regiment moved out to local villages, including Kingston Bagpuize, and the surrounding countryside, where they undertook aerodrome defence duties, air sentry duties and anti-parachute patrols, particularly along the Berkshire Ridgeway. The invasion of Holland in May 1940 emphasized the importance of these activities as well as general training.
Following the evacuation of the BEF through Dunkirk in June 1940 there was a very real threat of invasion and the Regiment was deployed as part of the South Coast defence plan. A mobile battery group comprising one Troop from each Battery was formed, under command Major Sir William Mount Bt, and dispatched to Bognor. 395 Battery, less one Troop, was deployed to the Isle ofWight and 396 Battery, less one Troop, was deployed to the Dorset coast around Corfe Castle. This was a very tense time exacerbated by the shortage of equipment following the losses at Dunkirk. In July the Regiment was withdrawn from the South Coast to take part in the re-deployment of 61st Division to Northern Ireland, and on July 11th the Regiment duly embarked for its new location.
Guns deployed on a demonstration exercise at Buckland in April 1940
In February 1940 the Regiment moved out to local villages, including Kingston Bagpuize, and the surrounding countryside, where they undertook aerodrome defence duties, air sentry duties and anti-parachute patrols, particularly along the Berkshire Ridgeway. The invasion of Holland in May 1940 emphasized the importance of these activities as well as general training.
Following the evacuation of the BEF through Dunkirk in June 1940 there was a very real threat of invasion and the Regiment was deployed as part of the South Coast defence plan. A mobile battery group comprising one Troop from each Battery was formed, under command Major Sir William Mount Bt, and dispatched to Bognor. 395 Battery, less one Troop, was deployed to the Isle ofWight and 396 Battery, less one Troop, was deployed to the Dorset coast around Corfe Castle. This was a very tense time exacerbated by the shortage of equipment following the losses at Dunkirk. In July the Regiment was withdrawn from the South Coast to take part in the re-deployment of 61st Division to Northern Ireland, and on July 11th the Regiment duly embarked for its new location.
Members of A Troop, 395 Bty at Bangalore
61st Infantry Division
Gunner Day, an anonymous pickaxe wielder and Gunner Sines of Mobile Battery, diggin in at Bognor, June 1940
The Mobile Troop in early 1940 practising deployment drills under the watchful eye of BSM Tickle (Left). The vehicle is a brewer’s dray which could not tow the gun; instead it had to be mamhandled on an off the dray. To drop the guns in position the ramps were lowered, the trail dropped to the ground, and the dray driven off.
Royal Artillery Capbadge
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