Forth Royal Garrison Artillery


The Forth Royal Garrison Artillery and its successors were Scottish part-time coast defence units of the British Army from 1908 to 1956. Although they saw no active service, they supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I.

Origin

When the Territorial Force was created from the old Volunteer Force under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, a new 'Defended Ports' unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery was formed from two Dumbartonshire companies of the 1st Renfrew and Dumbarton RGA, part of the 1st Argyll & Bute RGA, and personnel from the 1st Edinburgh City RGA. The new unit, named the Forth & Clyde Royal Garrison Artillery, totalled eight companies with its headquarters at Edinburgh, but in 1910 it was split up, the Clyde elements being detached to form independent unit, the Clyde RGA, while the remainder became the Forth Royal Garrison Artillery at Edinburgh, with two detached companies on the north bank of the Firth of Forth.
The Forth RGA had the following organisation:
It was designated as a Defended Ports Unit in Scottish Coast Defences, which was also based at Edinburgh and included the Regulars of No 21 Company RGA at Fort Leith.

World War I

Mobilisation

On the outbreak of war the Forth RGA mobilised under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel H. O'Connor, VD. Shortly afterwards TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and on 15 August 1914, the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate companies and batteries were created, releasing the 1st Line units to be sent overseas.
By October 1914, the campaign on the Western Front was bogging down into Trench warfare and there was an urgent need for batteries of Siege artillery to be sent to France. The WO decided that the TF coastal gunners were well enough trained to take over many of the duties in the coastal defences, releasing Regular RGA gunners for service in the field, and 1st line RGA companies had been authorised to increase their strength by 50 per cent.
Although complete defended ports units never left the UK, they did supply drafts of trained gunners to RGA units serving overseas. They also provided cadres as the basis on which to form complete new units for front line service. The 70th Siege Battery formed in October 1915 was based on a company from the Forth RGA, and 108th Siege Battery formed in the Forth Defences in February 1916 also drew its cadre from the unit. A number of other siege batteries formed in the Forth Defences in 1915–16 may also have included trained men from the Forth RGA among the recruits, although the Army Council Instructions did not specifically order this.
Under Army Council Instruction 686 of April 1917, the coastal defence companies of the RGA were reorganised. The RGA companies serving in the Forth garrison were reduced from 12 companies to 10, and were to be kept up to strength with non-TF recruits:
2/6th Company Forth RGA and 2/1st Company North Scottish RGA were disbanded
In April 1918 the Forth Garrison comprised the following batteries:
These defences never saw action during the war. The Forth RGA was placed in suspended animation in 1919.

70th Siege Battery, RGA

70th Siege Battery was formed under War Office Instruction No 144 of 9 October 1915 from one company of the Forth RGA. It went out to the Western Front on 26 March 1916 armed with four 8-inch howitzers and joined the Northern Heavy Group in X Corps. This Corps was part of Fourth Army preparing for that summer's 'Big Push'.

Somme

The role of the northern division of X Corps, the 36th Division, was to attack astride the River Ancre and capture the Schwaben Redoubt on the edge of the Thiepval Ridge. The bombardment programme was to extend over five days, U, V, W, X and Y, before the assault was launched on Z day. The bombardment began on 24 June, but on several days the weather was too bad for good air or ground observation and the programme was extended by two days. When the infantry launched their assault at 07.30 on Z Day the heavy guns lifted to successive targets, repeating the process six times. On 36th Division's front the initial assault was entirely successful, except for the area immediately adjacent to the Ancre. The Ulstermen overran the German front line trenches and dugouts, and by 08.00 they had captured the front face of the Schwaben Redoubt. Although some parties got into the German 2nd Position, the divisions on either flank had met with disaster, allowing the defenders to get into their rear. Most of the 36th Division was pinned down in the open and had to be withdrawn after dark. The gunners helped to evacuate the wounded, a process that was not completed until 3 July.
By now massive quantities of artillery were employed for each phase of the continuing offensive as Fourth Army and later Reserve Army attacked again and again:
On 3 October 70th Siege Bty transferred to 16th HAG with Reserve Army, which continued to attack on the Ancre Heights until mid-November, and carried out minor operations on the Ancre through the winter.

Vimy

On 22 March 1917, 70th Siege Bty transferred to north to join 31st HAG with First Army, which was preparing for the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The artillery plan for the heavy guns emphasised counter-battery fire. At Zero hour, while the field guns laid down a Creeping barrage to protect the advancing infantry, the heavy howitzers fired further ahead to hit the rear areas on the reverse slope of the ridge, especially known gun positions. The attack went in on 9 April with I Corps and Canadian Corps successfully capturing Vimy Ridge. Fighting in the southern sector continued into May.
On 29 May 70th Siege Bty was joined by a section from the newly-arrived 310th Siege Bty, bringing it up to a strength of six 8-inch howitzers. It came under the command of a number of different HAGs, finally joining 12th HAG with Third Army on 7 September.

Cambrai

In October, Third Army began preparing for its surprise attack with tanks at the Battle of Cambrai. There was to be no preliminary bombardment or registration: when the battle began with a crash of artillery at 06.20 on 20 November the German defenders were stunned, and the massed tanks completed their overcome. In most areas the attack was an outstanding success. Exploitation over succeeding days was less spectacular.
By now HAG allocations were becoming more fixed, and on 1 February 1918 they were converted into permanent RGA brigades. Because of the inclusion of 70th Siege Bty the 12th Brigade was defined as an 8-inch Howitzer Brigade, though the other three batteries were all equipped with 6-inch howitzers. 70th Siege Bty remained with this brigade until the Armistice.

1918

12th Brigade was part of IX Corps' Heavy Artillery in the fighting at Mont Kemmel, during the Battle of the Lys in April 1918. It then moved to Fourth Amy on 18 August 1918 in time for the Battle of Amiens and to participate in the victorious Hundred Days Offensive.
By the end of September Fourth Army had closed up to the Hindenburg Line. 12th Brigade came under the command of IX Corps once more for the assault crossing of the St Quentin Canal on 29 September. The canal defences were largely destroyed by the heavy guns, which continued firing on the canal banks until the last possible moment as 137th Brigade stormed the outpost line and then scrambled across the canal in the morning mist. 70th Siege Bty crossed the canal on 1 October to support 32nd Division's attack on the Beaurevoir Line.
For the next attack, the Battle of the Selle, IX Corps HQ selected important localities to be bombarded by 70th Siege Bty's heavy howitzers, for which 200 rounds of ammunition per gun were accumulated. The corps attacked on 17 October, 'lifted forward' by two great belts of intense artillery fire, and a German counter-attack was hit by every gun within range. IX Corps renewed its advance on 23 October, with 12th Bde part of a massive corps artillery reserve. The attack went in at 01.20 in moonlight, after the heavy guns had done the usual CB and harassing fire bombardments, and the results were extremely satisfactory. After a pause to regroup and reconnoitre, IX Corps stormed across the Sambre–Oise Canal on 4 November. After that the campaign became a pursuit of a beaten enemy, in which the slow-moving siege guns could play no part. The war ended with the Armistice with Germany on 11 November. 70th Siege Battery was disbanded in 1919.

108th Siege Battery, RGA

108th Siege Battery was formed in the Forth Defences under Army Council Instruction No 397 of 21 February 1916 with a cadre of three officers and 78 men from the Forth RGA. It went out to the Western Front on 7 June armed with four 6-inch howitzers and also joined 40th HAG in X Corps' Heavy Artillery. It had a similar experience to 70th Siege Bty in the Somme Offensive, although it transferred to 45th HAG on 21 July. For the Capture of Pozières on 23 July, 45th HAG was directly attached to 1st Australian Division. A methodical bombardment of the village began on 19 July, the volume of fire increasing after dark on 22 July. Just before Zero hour the heavy artillery provided five minutes of intense bombardment of the western part of the village between the Bapaume road and the cemetery. The Australian battalions attacking the village encountered little resistance and reached their objective before daybreak, though there was bitter fighting elsewhere.
108th Siege Bty moved to 59th HAG on 29 September, then began a series of rapid changes in command, to 76th HAG with First Army on 23 December, to 50th HAG with Third Army on 26 January 1917, 31st HAG with First Army two days later, then to 53rd HAG on 5 February and 79th HAG on 18 February, joining 87th HAG with Third Army on 26 March before the Battle of Arras. Then it was with 76th HAG, First Army, from 30 April, and back to 50th HAG, Third Army, on 14 May. It remained with 50th HAG during the summer, being rested from 23 August to 7 September. On 25 September 1917, 108th Siege Bty was made up to six howitzers when it was joined by a section from the newly arrived 441st Siege Bty.
The battery was briefly assigned to 16th HAG, First Army, on 6 November, but two days later it left to return to 50th HAG with Third Army for the Battle of Cambrai. The group fired in support of III Corps' attack. The attack on this front was a complete success, and the German artillery was largely neutralised by the bombardment. However, further exploitation was slow, and the fighting bogged down round Bourlon Wood. On 30 November the Germans launched a heavy counter-attack. 108th Siege Bty's guns were sited at Sonnet Farm, alongside 110th Siege Bty. The German barrage on the battery positions lasted half an hour and although 110th Siege Bty managed to get two howitzers into action, the retreating British infantry had passed the batteries' position, and about noon the Germans came over the crest of Gonnelieu Ridge. The gunners removed the dial sights before abandoning their howitzers and those armed with rifles took up a position about 300 yards back. Here they were joined by troops from 60th Infantry Brigade who held the German advance.108th Siege Bty had lost five of its howitzers.
After this action the battery moved to 86th HAG and was re-equipped, but reduced to an establishment of four guns; a section of gunners left on 24 December to join 288th Siege Bty, an 8-inch howitzer unit that had been broken up and was being reconstituted with 6-inch howitzers. 108th Siege Bty was attached to 17th HAG on 27 December, then moved to 78th HAG two days later. This was its final transfer, and it served with 78th HAG until the Armistice.
78th Brigade served with Third Army during the German Spring Offensive, then transferred to Second Army on 7 July. Second Army joined in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive on 18 August, advancing in Flanders. On 26 and 30 August, during the Battle of the Scarpe, 78th Bde supported the Canadian Corps, with the heavy guns firing ahead of the creeping barrage. For the Canadian attack on the Drocourt-Quéant Switch Line, the brigade directly supported the attacking divisions while other RGA brigades handled CB tasks.
On 2 October 78th Bde transferred to First Army, supporting XXII Corps at the Battle of the Selle, after which the pursuit was too fast for most of the heavy artillery to keep up.
The fighting was ended by the Armistice of 11 November 1918 and 108th Siege Battery was disbanded in 1919.

Interwar

The Forth RGA was reformed on 1 July 1920. When the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army in 1921 the title was changed to Forth Coast Brigade, RGA, and when the RGA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery in 1924 it became the Forth Heavy Brigade, RA. It formed part of the coast defence troops in 52nd Divisional Area and had the following organisation:
A 1927 report on coastal defences by the Committee of Imperial Defence made recommendations for defence schemes at 15 'Class A' home ports, including the Forth, but little was done to modernise them before the outbreak of World War II.
On 1 April 1934, 160 Hvy Bty converted to the medium artillery role and transferred to 62nd Medium Brigade, which had been converted from the North Scottish RGA at Broughty Ferry. The battery rejoined Forth Heavy Regiment on 1 November 1938 and reconverted to the coast artillery role.

World War II

Mobilisation

The TA was doubled in size following the Munich Crisis, and in May 1939 163 Batty transferred to join a new Fife Heavy Regiment on the north bank of the Forth, formed from 62nd Medium Rgt. The Forth Heavy Rgt mobilised in the Lowland Area of Scottish Command on the outbreak of war in September 1939. The coastal artillery regiments underwent a major reorganisation in 1940, and on 14 July the regiment expanded to form five new regiments:
At their height in September 1941, the East Coast defences of Scotland contained the following guns:
There were also emergency batteries of 6-inch guns of various marks installed in 1940 at Montrose, Peterhead, Stannergate, Girdleness and Nigg.
Unlike the anti-aircraft defences of the Forth, these units and batteries saw no action. As the invasion threat receded, the coast defences were seen as absorbing excessive manpower and were scaled back, the gunners being redeployed. The surplus TA coast regiments were placed in suspended animation.

Postwar

When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the following units were reformed in 105th Coast Artillery Brigade based in Edinburgh:
On 1 October 1953 413rd and 414th Rgts amalgamated to form 413th Coast Rgt at Kirkcaldy.
The Coast Artillery branch of the RA was abolished in 1956. 412th Coast Rgt was absorbed into 540th Light Anti-Aircraft Rgt, to which 412th contributed part of Q Bty at Alness and Tain; 413th Coast Rgt was absorbed into the Edinburgh-based 433rd Light Anti-Aircraft Rgt, to which it contributed a battery. When the TA was further reduced in 1961, B Troop of 540th LAA Rgt at Alness and Tain amalgamated with 11th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, and 433rd LAA Rgt was transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps.

Honorary Colonels

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit:

External sources