Royal Artillery Batteries

Current Royal Artillery Batteries which have an honour title relating to India, Burma or China, or which have a connection with the East India Company . Information current at October 2014.

Also see

• Bengal Artillery
• Madras Artillery
• Bombay Artillery

Royal Horse Artillery

B Battery, 1 RHA

The battery does not have an official battle honour, but the title 'The Dragon Troop' is used after the battery was given the military order of the Dragon during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Each gun sub has a different Chinese Dragon painted on the shield of his gun.

Currently part of 1 RHA

F (Sphinx) Parachute Battery RHA

In 1800 a troop of the Bengal Horse Artillery was first formed to accompany the expedition to Egypt that year.
After fighting in the first Burma War from 1824-26, the troop found itself involved in the famous retreat from Kabul (1842) during the Afghan Campaign and it was during this retreat that all the guns were lost. One of these guns was recaptured during the Second Afghan War (1878-1880).

Currently part of 7 Para RHA

J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery

Officially formed on 4th April 1805 as The Troop Madras Horse Artillery, the battery can trace its origins back to 1756 as the Madres Galloper Guns.

Currently part of 3 RHA

L (Nery) Battery

As 1st Troop, of the Bengal Horse Artillery, the Troop was used as quick-fire support to the armies of the East India Company. The Troop was later to become 'L' Battery. Based in Agra, India until the outbreak of the Nepal War in 1814, the battery saw action during the siege of the great fortress of Bhurtpore, and open warfare in both Sikh Wars.

Currently part of 1 RHA

M (The Headquarter) Battery

Formed as B Troop, Madras Horse Artillery on 23 January 1809.

Currently part of 3 RHA

N (The Eagle Troop) Battery

The battery was formed in India as the 1st Troop Bombay Horse Artillery in the early part of the eighteenth century, and served with distinction on the Indian Sub-continent for over 100 years.

Currently part of 3 RHA

Royal Artillery

T Headquarters Battery (Shah Sujah's Troop)

T Headquarter Battery (Shah Sujah’s Troop) Royal Artillery was raised on 13 September 1838 at Delhi and Meerut. The troop was part of a 6000 strong force which invaded Afghanistan in support of the deposed Shah Sujah of Mook. The horse artillery of the Shah’s Army was a double battery of ten 6-pounder Guns and two 12-pounder Howitzers – virtually two batteries; Captain W Anderson of the Bengal Artillery commanded it at this time.

Currently part of 12 Regiment

There is a 174-page mimeographed history of T Battery, RHA titled The Battery: A History of 150 Years of T Battery (Shah Sujah's Troop) Royal Artillery 1838-1988. It was written by 'K.T.L.R.' in 1991 on the Battery's 150th Anniversary of its formation.

7 (Sphinx) Commando Battery

7 (Sphinx) Commando Battery Royal Artillery was formed in India on 17th June 1748 as Number 1 Company Bombay Artillery. The ‘Sphinx’ honour title came from fighting the French in Egypt in the early 19th Century and Sphinx Day is celebrated by the Battery on 17th June each year.

Currently part of 29 Commando Regiment

9 (Plassey) Battery

The battery won its honorary title at the Battle of Plassey, 23 June 1759. Led by General Robert Clive, the British victory laid the foundations for the empire in India. The battle was almost entirely an artillery engagement, and the victory went some way to avenge the 45 members of the battery that had been killed at the Black Hole of Calcutta some months previously. 9 (Plassey) Battery take time each year to mark the anniversary of this famous victory.

Currently part of 12 Regiment

10 (Assaye) Battery

The Battle of Assaye took place on 23 September 1803. Wellesley pursued the Mahratta army to the North East. Reaching Naulniah, the Mahratta army was just six miles away. The Mahratta army far from withdrawing, were in position behind the Kaitna, a steep-banked river. Clearly ready to do battle; 30,000 horsemen, 12,000 infantry in 16 battalions trained and led by French officers, in lines interspersed with 100 guns. Without hesitation Wellesley resolved to attack.

Currently part of 47 Regiment

11 (Sphinx) Battery

The battery went to Egypt in 1801 as part of the Indian contingent in the campaign against Napoleon. Because of this the battery can bear ‘Egypt’ and the Sphinx on its appointments. This award is now commemorated in the honour title ‘Sphinx’.

Currently part of 16 Regiment

28/143 Battery (Tombs's Troop)

The battery has a rich history, with Major Tombs and Lieutenant Hills winning the Victoria Cross on 9 July 1857 at the Siege of Delhi, Lieutenant Proudlock winning a Military Cross in Aden on 18 March 1965 and Bombardier Frew winning a Military Cross in Afghanistan in 2007.

28 Battery’s guns were the first to fire in the Second World War on 6 May 1940.

Currently part of 19 Regiment RA

31 (Headquarters) Battery

Formed at Woolwich on the 1st March 1755 as Captain John Farquharson’s Company on the authority of a Royal Warrant dated 12th Feb the same year. Three weeks later the battery set sail for India with Colonel Robert Clive to fight against the French.

Currently part of 47 Regiment

34 (Seringapatam) Battery

Currently part of 14 Regiment

38 (Seringapatam) Battery

The first recorded action of the battery was in the Mysore War of 1799 in Southern India. During the Battle of Seringapatam the battery battered the defences of the besieged and heavily fortified island settlement. The honour title of ‘Seringapatam’ was awarded and the symbol of the Bengal Tiger came to represent the ferocious ethos of the battery.

Currently part of 19 Regiment RA

51 (Kabul 1842) Battery

In 1838 the Company joined the Army of India. In Kabul, General George Pollock assembled an Army of Retribution; a punitive expedition that fought its way back to the Afghan capital where it was instrumental in the destruction of the bazaar. The Company provided the Artillery support for the expedition and was awarded the honour title 'Kabul' for its part in the first ever successful forcing of the Khyber Pass.

Currently part of 39 Regiment

56 (Olphert's) HQ Battery

During the first relief of Lucknow, Captain Olpherts or 'Hellfire Jack' as he was known won the Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry; he charged the enemy on horseback and captured two rebel guns which were pouring fire onto the flanks of the advancing forces. The honour title 'Olpherts' was awarded to the direct descendants of Captain Olpherts Battery.

Currently part of 39 Regiment

57 Bhurtpore Battery

The battery marched on the city of Bhurtpore breaching the city walls and storming the inner citadel. They fought in the action at Maharajpore, in the Gwalior campaign and were present at the Battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshah and Sobraon during the campaign in Sutlej in the First Sikh War. In 1876, the battery was posted back to the UK and awarded the title of 'Bhurtpore' to commemorate the battle and 150 years of service

Currently part of 32 Regiment

58 (Eyre's) Battery

The battery was formed in 1786 as No 4 Company of the 3rd Bengal Artillery, in the Honourable East India Company. It did not form part of the British Army until 1861, when the East India Company was dissolved and its Artillery transferred to the Royal Artillery. In 1857, when the Indian Mutiny broke out, the battery bore the title of No 1 Company of the 4th Bengal Foot Artillery and was commanded by Major Vincent Eyre.

Currently part of 12 Regiment

79 (Kirkee) Commando Battery

Raised on 13th October 1797 as the 6th Company of the Bombay Artillery in the Honourable East India Company. The battery's battle honour dates from the Mahratta-Pindari wars, when four 12 pounder guns from the battery supported a column against a Mahattra Confederacy force of 35,000 at Kirkee near Poona. The accurate fire of the guns was critical to the outcome and the battery was awarded the honour title 'Kirkee'.

Currently part of 29 Commando Regiment

88 (Arracan) Battery

Currently part of 4 Regiment

127 (Dragon) Battery

In 1841 the battery was part of a force sent to quell the mutinous Chinese; At Chin-Kiang-Fu, artillery joined infantry and stormed the walls of the city and fought the position until all resistance was silenced. The governor of India published an order of the day entitling the batteries of the Madras Artillery to wear the insignia of a dragon, an imperial crown and the word China on their appointments.

Currently part of 19 Regiment RA

129 (Dragon) Battery

Currently part of 4 Regiment

132 (The Bengal Rocket Troop) Battery

Currently part of 39 Regiment

137 (Java) Battery

The honour title is taken as a result of the action in 1811, during the capture of Java. At the time the British were suffering trade losses as a result of French and Dutch hostilities being mounted from occupied islands in the Indian Ocean.

Currently part of 26 Regiment

148 (Meiktila) Commando

Currently part of 29 Commando Regiment

Disbanded Batteries

111 (Dragon) Battery

111 Dragon Battery was founded as G Company, the Madras Foot Artillery in 1806 and disbanded 1984. Refer External links below.

External links

• 10 (Assaye) Battery RA 36reg.com.
• 111 (Dragon) Battery RA 36reg.com.