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Royal Artillery

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The Royal Regiment of Artillery, generally known as the Royal Artillery (RA), is, despite its name, a corps of the British Army. It is made up of a number of regiments.






Contents





History


Before the 18th century, artillery 'traynes' were raised by Royal Warrant for specific campaigns and disbanded again when they were over. On 26 May 1716, however, by Royal Warrant of George I two regular companies of field artillery, each 100 men strong, were raised at Woolwich. On 1 April 1722 these companies were grouped with independent artillery companies at Gibraltar and Minorca to form the Royal Regiment of Artillery, commanded by Colonel Albert Bogard. The regiment expanded rapidly and by 1757 had 24 companies divided into two battalions, as well as a Cadet Company formed in 1741. By 1771 there were 32 companies in four battalions, as well as two Invalid Companies comprising older and unfit men employed in garrison duties. In January 1793, two troops of Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) were raised to provide fire support for the cavalry, joined by two more in November 1793. All RHA personnel were mounted. The Royal Irish Artillery was absorbed in 1801.


The regiment was under the control of the Board of Ordnance until the Board was abolished in 1855. Thereafter the regiment came under the War Office along with the rest of the army. In 1861 the regiment absorbed the artillery of the British East India Company – 21 horse batteries and 48 field batteries – which brought its strength up to 29 horse batteries, 73 field batteries and 88 heavy batteries. On 1 July 1899, the Royal Artillery was divided into three groups: the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery comprised one group, while the coastal defence, mountain, siege and heavy batteries were split off into another group named the Royal Garrison Artillery. The third group continued to be titled simply Royal Artillery, and was responsible for ammunition storage and supply. Which section a gunner belonged to was indicated by collar badges (R.A., R.F.A., R.H.A., or R.G.A.). The RFA and RHA also dressed as mounted men, whereas the RGA dressed like foot soldiers. The three sections effectively functioned as separate corps. This arrangement lasted until 1924, when the three amalgamated once more. The Royal Horse Artillery, which has always had separate traditions, uniforms and insignia, still retains a separate identity within the regiment, however, and is considered (by its members at least) to be an élite.



The Royal Artillery Today


The Royal Artillery is equipped with a variety of equipment and fulfils a wide range of roles, including:



Long range observation, Unmanned air vehicle surveillance, Amphibious / Airborne artillery, Armoured Artillery, Long Range Missile Systems, Air defence.



The Captain General of the regiment is Queen Elizabeth II. The post was previously known as Colonel-in-Chief until King George VI expressed the desire to be known as Captain General. The head of the regiment is the Master Gunner, St. James's Park.


The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises both regular (full-time) and volunteer (part-time) units.  The current regiments of the Royal Artillery are:



Regular Army




Camp flag of the RA: "Everywhere" - "Where Right and Glory Lead"

Enlarge

Camp flag of the RA: "Everywhere" - "Where Right and Glory Lead"


























Territorial Army









The Royal Artillery's traditional home is Woolwich, in south east London but much of their training activity takes place on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.



Equipment


Air Defence

The Royal Artillery is equipped with two main weapons in the air defence mission;

Close Support

In the support mission, the Royal Artillery has three types of weapon;


Surveillance and Target Acquisition



Miscellaneous Facts



Order of Precedence


|- style="text-align: center;"
| width="30%" |Preceded by:
Royal Armoured Corps
| width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Order of Precedence
| width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Corps of Royal Engineers



See also



External links







 




From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.















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