5th Artillery Regiment (Great Britain)

WWII and the postwar years

The regiment was formed on November 25, 1939 as the 5th regiment of the Royal Equestrian Artillery in Wootton-under-Edge , county Gloucestershire . It consisted of batteriesK (recruited from the St. John's Wood barracks) G (from the 4th regiment of the Royal Equestrian Artillery ) ^[1] . The predecessor of the regiment was the 5th brigade of the Royal Equestrian Artillery . In 1940, the regiment became part of the British Expeditionary Force in France , and after the Dunkirk operation he moved to North Africa, where he became part of the 7th Panzer Division . In its composition, he fought at the North African theater of operations and participated in the Italian campaign . At the beginning of 1944, he returned to Britain and continued fighting in continental Europe after landing in Normandy . In 1946, the battery CC shelf has been converted to battery C.

Reorganization

Due to the reorganization of the Royal Equestrian Artillery in 1958, the 5th Regiment of Equestrian Artillery was transformed into the 5th Field Artillery Regiment ( English 5th Field Regiment Royal Artillery ). On February 1, 1958, Battery C was transferred to the 3rd Regiment of the Royal Equestrian Artillery, and Battery G to the 4th Regiment. Battery P left the 4th regiment, and the battery Q was withdrawn from the 10th Field Regiment on February 5, 1958 , joining Battery K and forming a new field artillery unit. After a short period of adaptation conducted by Cricwell, the regiment left Great Britain in September 1958 and went on courses for three years in Hong Kong . There he was re-equipped with 25 pound guns and returned to the Salisbury Plain in South England in October 1961 already as the 5th light artillery regiment ( 5th Light Regiment Royal Artillery ) ^[2] .

1960s

Staying in Perem Down, the regiment survived the era of rearmament. In 1961 in battery K had 5.5-inch guns , while P and Q batteries were 25-pound . In 1962, all batteries were equipped with 4.2-inch mortars and a number of other artillery pieces. In 1963, the regiment received 105-mm howitzers and began to conduct exercises in Libya, Canada and Norway with new guns. In August-September 1964, the regiment arrived at the location of the British military group on the Rhine, restored its name to the 5th Field Artillery Regiment, and was stationed in Gutersloh as a Near Support Regiment. The K battery contained 5.5-inch guns, while the P and Q batteries contained 25-pound guns, but since 1966 they were replaced by Abbot self-propelled guns ^[2] . In 1969, the regiment returned to Southern England and established its headquarters in Balford ^[2] .

1970s

Over the next three years, a large part of the regiment was in Northern Ireland, where the open armed struggle of the Irish rebels began . In Londonderry , where part of the regiment was located, three people died at the hands of Irish terrorists. At this time, the regiment was equipped with 105 mm howitzers and was responsible for the light artillery support of the airborne assault units. In 1972, the regiment moved to Hildesheim , where it began to adopt the American 175-mm self-propelled howitzers M107 and received the new name 5th Heavy Artillery Regiment ( English 5th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery ). After the disbandment of the 42nd artillery regiment, the 18th battery was transferred to the 5th regiment ^[2] .

1980s

After spending 12 years in the Tofrek barracks, the 5th regiment moved to Dortmund , the West Riding barracks in 1984 . The 18th and 74th (formerly Q) batteries were transferred to the 32nd Heavy Artillery Regiment. The 73rd tracking battery was transferred from the 94th tracking regiment to the 5th regiment in January 1985 and was named Q. At that time, artillery batteries were again stationed in Northern Ireland ^[2] .

1990s

After Operation Granby, the American M270 MLRS entered service with the 5th Heavy Artillery Regiment. On April 1, 1993 , the 4th / 73rd special artillery observation battery appeared in the regiment converted from the 73rd observation battery ^[2] . At the end of 1993, the regiment completely transferred all of its equipment from Dortmund to Katterik and settled in the barracks at the former Russian airbase ^[2] .

In October 1994, the regiment was again thrown into Northern Ireland, in Southern Armagh as the Dramadd Mobile Battalion ( Eng. Drumadd Roulement Battalion ) ^[3] . On June 10, 1997 he was sent (with the exception of the 4th / 73rd battery) to Cyprus as part of the British contingent ^[2] .

Our days

Battery K and the 4th / 73rd battery participated in the Iraq war , and the 1st battery participated in battles in Afghanistan ^[2] . In 2009, the regiment was retrained into reconnaissance and target acquisition regiments, receiving radar devices ^[2] .

The composition of the regiment as of 2014 ^[4] :

• 53rd artillery battery formed in 1740 ; support for airborne units, reconnaissance and target detection.
• Battery P formed in 1805 ; reconnaissance and target detection.
• Battery K formed in 1809 ; reconnaissance and target detection.
• 93rd artillery battery transformed in 2011 ; reconnaissance and target detection.
• Battery Q , formed in 1824 .
• 4 / 73rd special artillery surveillance battery ^[5] , formed in 1982 .
• Field Workshop of the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and parts of the Royal Logistics Corps, formed in 1942 .

• Frederick JBM Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660-1978. - Wakefield, Yorkshire: Microform Academic Publishers, 1984. - ISBN 1-85117-009-X .

• UK Armed Forces Website
• Army Rumour Service Website
• The Royal Artillery Association
• Royal Artillery Today
• Ubique Collection
• Great Fire Museum of Great Britain