Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Royal Artillery

3,404 bytes added, 05:42, 4 December 2022
no edit summary
See [[Royal Artillery#Other|External links]], below for "17 Pack Battery RGA in India". Albert Bakewell was later stationed in India with Royal Artillery 17th Light Battery, between 1929 and 1936, a lot of the time in the tribal territories.<ref> No longer available article "Son tells us of gunner's service in 1930s India" by Dan Shaw. <nowiki>http://www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/News/Son-tells-us-of-gunners-service-in-1930s-India-24052012.htm</nowiki></ref>
A regimental account for the 6th Pack Battery is ''A Norfolkman in the Raj : the Royal Artillery 1920-1933'' by Alan W. Roper, published 2010. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01015383558 .  
==Recommended reading==
*''Tales of the Mountain Gunners: an Anthology compiled by those who served with them'' and edited by C. H. T. MacFetridge and J. P. Warren. Edinburgh : Blackwood, 1973. Second edition, with amendments 1974, which may be the preferred edition.
The most accessible soldiers’ records, including for soldiers of the Royal Artillery, are the WO 97 series [[British Army#Service and pension records|Royal Hospital Chelsea pension records]], many of which are available online.
Muster rolls (effectively a pay list register of soldiers in a company) can provide excellent information, however it must be noted that there are almost no muster rolls for the Royal Artillery in India, except a few in very early years.<ref>[https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14221 WO 10 TNA Catalogue description]</ref> However, checking the rolls for the period before and after an artilleryman is in India can be very useful. The National Archives has an online guide covering [https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-muster-rolls-pay-lists-1730-1898/ British Army muster rolls and pay lists]. Be sure to know the brigade and battery of your man before you attempt to find the muster roll and be aware that name changes did occur. The books known as [[Stations_of_the_Royal_Artillery_in_India#Law.27s_Tables|Law's Tables]] can be useful for sorting out the correct titles.
Also refer to the There was previously a guide booklet produced by Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum called "Is There A Gunner In Your Family Tree?", see and there is a online guide available on Facebook, refer below.
The main record series, with catalogue entries, are:
Firepower Museum at Woolwich closed on 8 July 2016.
It had a Library and Archive with extensive holdings including battery records. A research service was available. Firepower produced a guide booklet for family history researchers called "Is There A Gunner In Your Family Tree?" The sixteen page guide outlined how the Museum's extensive archives could help researchers. It also detailed the other main UK sources and archives to explore when researching army service.
A new Royal Artillery Museum is planned.
Previously it was advised access was now possible on Tuesdays and Thursdays and stated "We're happy to answer brief enquiries, and we've started a paid service for more detailed historical research", and that the email for the enquiry service was <nowiki>enquiries@royalartillerymuseum.com</nowiki>. This information does not currently appear on the website (March 2020) but there is an online enquiry form on the website (located under Archive/Overview)
Information may also be found on the Facebook pages Royal Artillery Museum Archive- The Collection, and Royal Artillery Museum - The CollectionArchive, the latter has information to 26 January 2021.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/RoyalArtilleryArchive TheRAMCollection Royal Artillery Museum Archive- The Collection] @RoyalArtilleryArchive TheRAMCollection, and [https://www.facebook.com/TheRAMCollection RoyalArtilleryArchive Royal Artillery Museum - The CollectionArchive] @TheRAMCollectionRoyalArtilleryArchive. The latter has information as a separate page to 26 January 2021, and will be eventually closed (but is still in existence at 5 July 2022). Facebook</ref>
Royal Artillery Museum Archive published on Facebook in June 2018, a three part guide "Gunner Family History".<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/RoyalArtilleryArchive/posts/2496231060702846 Gunner Family History – Part 1 – Service Records] 14 June 2018; [https://www.facebook.com/RoyalArtilleryArchive/posts/2501113800214572 Gunner Family History – Part 2 – Other Military Records] 19 June 2018; [https://www.facebook.com/RoyalArtilleryArchive/posts/2511169332542352 Gunner Family History – Part 3 – Civilian Sources] 28th June 2018. Royal Artillery Museum Archive on Facebook. These direct links are only available if you are a Facebook member. Otherwise scroll down the posts to 14 June 2018 on [https://www.facebook.com/RoyalArtilleryArchive Royal Artillery Museum Archive] which contains information to 26 January 2021, and will be eventually closed.</ref>
===British Library===
Published histories in the catalogue include [also see Historical books online, below]:
*''The History of the Royal and Indian Artillery in the Mutiny of 1857'' by Julian RJ Jocelyn (1915). British Library reference UIN: BLL01006796503. Also available on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, refer Historical books online, below. Note: Limited geographic (USA etc) online availability on [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_the_Royal_and_Indian_Arti.html?id=KE9FAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y Google Books], (2 versions) and [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008884125 HathiTrust Digital Library].
*''The History of the Royal Artillery : from the Indian Mutiny to the Great War'' by Sir Charles Callwell and Sir John Headlam (1931, 1940). ''Volume 1, 1860-1899'', ''Volume 2, 1899-1914'', ''Volume 3, Campaigns 1860-1914''. Vol. 3 has separate case of maps. UIN: BLL01006810121. Also available on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, refer Historical books online, below.
*''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery : Western Front 1914-18'' by Sir Martin Farndale (1986). UIN: BLL01008145795
*''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-aircraft artillery, 1914-55'' by N.W. Routledge (c 1994). UIN: BLL01012703891
*''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The years of defeat Europe and North Africa, 1939-41'' by Sir Martin Farndale 1996. UIN: BLL01012703884
*''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The Far East Theatre, 1941-1946'' by Sir Martin Farndale (2000). UIN: BLL01012703977; revised edition ''The Far East Theatre, 1939-1946'', Farndale (2002). The 2002 edition is available online, refer below.*''Honour Titles of the Royal Artillery'' by B P Hughes. [nd], but from elsewhere, first published 1975, 2nd edition 1988. UIN: BLL01012703981BLL01008449724, UIN: BLL01011497298
*''A Norfolkman in the Raj : the Royal Artillery 1920-1933'' by Alan W. Roper 2010. About the 6th Pack Battery, Mountain Artillery. UIN: BLL01015383558
*Indian Army
Other books in the catalogue:
*''Battery Records of the Royal Artillery'' compiled by M. E. S. Laws. ''Volume 1, 1716-1859'' and ''Volume 2, 1859-1877'' published in 1950 1952 and 1970 . Also known as [[Stations of the Royal Artillery in India# Law's Tables|‘Laws Tables’]].
*''Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution''. Volume 1 (1858) -Volume 32, no. 3 (June 1905). Volume 12 is missing. The name then changed to
*''The Journal of the Royal Artillery'', Vol 32, no. 4 (July 1905). This was published monthly, 1905-July 1924; quarterly Oct 1924-1958; 3 times a year, 1959-1961; half-yearly, 1962-.
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170714232553/http://www.army.mod.uk/artillery/31589.aspxThe Royal Artillery: Life and Heritage]. Scroll down to The Gunner Magazine and The Royal Artillery Journal. Archived British Army website with details current at 14 July 2017. Also [https://web.archive.org/web/20170629005310/http://www.army.mod.uk/artillery/23539.aspx Gunner Magazine] Archived British Army website which contains some sample editions of The Gunner c 2013.</ref>
Originally published from 1858 as ''Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution'', the name was changed in 1905. Both series of journals are available at the British Library.
==Boy Trumpeters in the Royal Artillery==
''The Regulations for Recruiting for the Regular Army'' published in 1903 laid out the criteria under which boys aged between fourteen and seventeen years could be recruited. In prior years the recruitment was from even earlier ages. Many such Boys in the Royal Artillery trained as Trumpeters.
 
A regimental history is ''Trumpeters- The Story of the Royal Artillery's Boy Trumpeters''
by Brian Cloughley 2008. Boy trumpeters, known as 'badgies', were a fixture of the British Army for centuries, right up until the 1940s. The majority of trumpeters went to or stayed in India. ‘Badgie’ is derived from the Hindi baju, meaning ‘music’. Badgie wallahs were the music men and timekeepers in days when there were no other means of notifying large numbers of soldiers that they were required for various duties.<ref>[http://www.woodfieldpublishing.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p275_boy-trumpeters-Royal-artillery-1920s-1940s-British-army.html ''Trumpeters- The Story of the Royal Artillery's Boy Trumpeters''] woodfieldpublishing.co.uk</ref>
 
An individual account is found in ''Pick Up Your Parrots and Monkeys: The Life of a Boy Soldier in India'' by William Pennington 2003, who commenced his training in 1934 as a Boy Trumpeter at age 14 in England, and was posted to India at age 15. This book is available on online, see [[Royal Artillery#Historical books online|Historical books online]] below.
==Anglo Indians in the Royal Artillery==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_(rank) Bombardier] Wikipedia<br>
*[https://royalartillerymuseum.com Royal Artillery Museum] (planned).
**[https://royalartillerymuseum.com/archive-3/overview-4 The Archive] is in new storage facility near Larkhill, and most records are now available for research purposes, and visits are possible subject to prior arrangement. There is a paid research service now available.**[https://royalartillerymuseum.com/news/new-first-world-war-digital-archive-launches New First World War Digital Archive launches] 3 November 2021. royalartillerymuseum.com. Many digital items for the period 1900-1929 from the collection of the Royal Artillery Museum are now available through [https://www.theogilbymuster.com The Ogilby Muster], or TOM, developed by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust. Registration is required, and although free to search, payment is required for any downloads made.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://7fd-regt-raa-association.com/Documents/UK%20Artlillery%20terms%20and%20abbreviations.doc Glossary of Royal Artillery. Terms and Abbreviations (Historical and Modern) by Philip Jobson]. 7fd-regt-raa-association.com, now an archived website. This is a (Word document) download to your computer, to a downloads folder, which must then be opened. Appear to be extracts from the book [http://op-ack.tripod.com/royalartilleryglossaryoftermsandabbreviations/index.html ''Royal Artillery Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations''] by Philip Jobson 2008
*Victorian Wars Forum is now no longer operating, and parts only of the Forum are still available in an archived form: if you have a previously saved URL, check in the [https://archive.org/web/web.php#forum Internet Archive Wayback Machine] whether that particular URL has been archived. (Archive.org). Alternatively scroll through [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.victorianwars.com/* URLs which have been captured for this domain [victorianwars.com<nowiki>]</nowiki>]. Note results can be reordered for dates etc. Scroll through and select URLs which contain viewtopic as part of the URL. Archive.org. Unfortunately the entire site was never archived.
*[http://www.raga.com/generalsirjohnwilton/generalsirjohnwilton.pdf "The Diary and Journal of General Sir John Wilton"] (born 1910) He was an officer in India and Burma from December 1931, initially with the 69 Fd Bty Royal Artillery (page 3) and left in May 1939 (page 12) www.raga.com
*Listen to the [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80014873 1995 interview with Ronald William Swann] British NCO with 238 Bty, 115th Field Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, France and Belgium and India 1939-1942; served with 160th Jungle Field Regt, Royal Artillery in Bengal, India, 1943; officer served with artillery unit during Second Chindit Expedition in Burma, 1944 Imperial War Museums
*[http://www.42regt.com/documents/binney/page1.html 42 Regiment Royal Artillery: History 1939 to 1947] 16 Field Regiment RA includes from 15 April 1942 sailing for India and from April 1944 front line service at Kohima (northeast India) and then Burma. 42regt.com*[http://www.anti-aircraft.co.uk/human_interest_JC.html The father of John Cooper] A Searchlight Unit was formed from 41st Battalion 5th North Staffs (Originally TA Volunteers). They then were drafted to 126 Light Anti Aircraft Regiment which supposedly never left the UK and then to the 60 Field Artillery Regiment . They were in fact transported out to India under the Command of General Wingate and Brigadier Mike Calvert as part of the Chindits Special Forces 77th Brigade. ([[Second World War|WW2]]) www.anti-aircraft.co.uk*[https://web.archive.org/web/20211025024557/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10367891/Ron-Burton.html Obituary: Ron Burton] 09 October 2013 ''The Telegraph''. He was Sergeant, 125 Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery (125 ATR), taken prisoner after the fall of Singapore.
*[http://victor-morgan.com/2012/09/19/razmak-north-west-frontier-circa-1946-47/ Razmak North West Frontier. Circa 1946-47]. victor-morgan.com. Alternative views, some photographs may be better. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509135715/http://homepages.tesco.net/~victor.morgan/soldier1a.htm 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513114312/http://homepages.tesco.net/~victor.morgan/razmak2a.htm 2], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513114207/http://homepages.tesco.net/~victor.morgan/ongun3a.htm 3], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080706154551/http://homepages.tesco.net/~victor.morgan/razmak.htm 4]. Victor Morgan was a member of 56 Heavy Regiment at [[Razmak]] and was subsequently with 123 Field Regt.
*Account by Nigel Buxton who was in the Royal Artillery during WW2 who spent six months from April 1946 as an assistant adjutant in India during the last days of the Raj, then was ADC to the general commanding Special Force 401 in Iraq, before demobilisation in 1947.<ref>''The Fading Margin'' by Nigel Buxton. The following cover his time in India and Iraq: [https://web.archive.org/web/20200907070734/https://baaaddad.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-fading-margin-serial-15/ Serial 15], [https://web.archive.org/web/20200907070534/https://baaaddad.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/the-fading-margin-serial-16/ Serial 16], [https://web.archive.org/web/20200907070625/https://baaaddad.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/the-fading-margin-serial-17/ Serial 17],
*[http://www.archive.org/stream/historyroyalreg00himegoog#page/n9/mode/1up ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery 1815-1853''] by Henry W.L. Hime 1908 Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284332 ''The History of the Royal Artillery (Crimean Period)''] by Colonel Julian R J Jocelyn 1911 Archive.org, Digital Library Of India Collection.
*''The History of the Royal and Indian Artillery in the Mutiny of 1857'' by Julian R J Jocelyn 1915 is available in a reprint edition,<ref>[https://wwwarchive.naval-military-press.comorg/productdetails/history-of-the-royal-and-indian-artillery-in-the-mutiny-of-1857/ page/n13/mode/2up ''The History of the Royal and Indian Artillery in the Mutiny of 1857''] by Julian R J Jocelyn1915. Naval & Military Press reprint editionArchive.</ref> which in turn is available [https://www.fold3org.com/browse/251/hTGb85NZ8EamDdOvsqtlyCuUX online on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3] (located in Military Books/India). Also limited geographic (USA etc) online availability on [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_the_Royal_and_Indian_Arti.html?id=KE9FAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y Google Books], (2 versions) and [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008884125 HathiTrust Digital Library]same digital file.
*''The History of the Royal Artillery : from the Indian Mutiny to the Great War'' by Sir Charles Callwell and Sir John Headlam (1931, 1940) ''Volume 1, 1860-1899'', ''Volume 2, 1899-1914'', Volume 3, ''Campaigns 1860-1914'', are available in three reprint editions,<ref> ''History of the Royal Artillery from The Indian Mutiny to The Great War:'' [https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/history-of-the-royal-artillery-from-the-indian-mutiny-to-the-great-war-volume-i-1860-1899/ ''Volume I 1860-1899''], [https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/history-of-the-royal-artillery-from-the-indian-mutiny-to-the-great-war-volume-ii-1899-1914/ ''Volume II 1899-1914''] and [https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/history-of-the-royal-artillery-from-the-indian-mutiny-to-the-great-war-volume-iii-campaigns-1860-1914/ ''Volume III Campaigns 1860-1914''] Naval & Military Press reprint editions.</ref> which in turn are available as one digital file [https://www.fold3.com/browse/251/hTGb85NZ8EamDdOvshEvTYzOb on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3] (located in Military Books/India).
*[https://archive.org/details/fareasttheatre190000farn/mode/2up ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Far East Theatre, 1939-1946''] by General Sir Martin Farndale 2002. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library.
*''A Sketch of the History of ‘F’ Battery Royal Horse Artillery'' by Major-General F. W. Stubbs and Major A. S. Tyndale-Biscoe, R.H.A. c 1905 is available in a reprint edition,<ref>[https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/sketch-of-the-history-of-f-battery-royal-horse-artillery/ ''Sketch of the History of ‘F’ Battery Royal Horse Artillery''] by Major-General F. W. Stubbs and Major A. S. Tyndale-Biscoe, R.H.A. c 1905 Naval & Military Press reprint edition.</ref> which in turn is available [https://www.fold3.com/browse/251/hTGb85NZ8wIfXXI19VM1Ej-5w online on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3] (located in Military Books/Britain). Previously 1st Troop in the 1st Brigade of the [[Bengal Horse Artillery]].
*[https://archive.org/details/history-jbattery-royal-horse-art/page/n11/mode/2up ''History of “J” Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (Formerly A Troop, [[Madras Horse Artillery]])'' ] by Major Guilbert E. Wyndham Malet, Captain of the Battery, 1875-79, 2nd edition 1898, first published c 1877. A later edition published 1904, is available in a reprint edition,<ref>[https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/history-of-j-battery-royal-horse-artillery-formerly-a-troop-madras-horse-artillery/ ''History of “J” Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (Formerly A Troop, Madras Horse Artillery)''] Naval & Military Press reprint edition.</ref> which in turn is available [https://www.fold3.com/browse/251/hTGb85NZ8wIfXXI19ivTki8tX online on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3] (located in Military Books/Britain). History The 1904 edition includes the history from establishment to the Boer War.
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=-lcBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR1 ''Remarks on the Organization of the British Royal Artillery''] by Charles James B. Riddell 1852 Google Books
*[http://rspl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/7/316 "Extract of a Letter, dated January 6, 1855, from J. Mitchell, Esq., Quartermaster of Artillery, Bangalore, on the Influence of Local Altitude on the Burning of the Fuses of Shells"] from ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 7, 1854'' pages 316-318
*[https://archive.org/details/gunnerjingosjubi00stra ''Gunner Jingo's Jubilee''] by Major-General T Bland Strange. Late Royal Artillery 1893 Archive.org. Born 1831 in [[Meerut]] he subsequently came to India when the Indian Mutiny broke out (page 129) and remained, including leave in 1861, when he went on on a six months hunting trek in Kashmir and Ladak, until c 1862 (page 337). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bland_Strange Thomas Bland Strange] Wikipedia. [http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=7974 “Strange, Thomas Bland”] by Roderick C. Macleod in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003.
*[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028000101 ''Recollections of a Military Life''] by General Sir John Adye , RA 1895 Archive.org. He arrived when the Indian Mutiny broke out, and was in India nearly nine years.
*[https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.1610/page/n1/mode/2up ''Leaves from the Diaries of a Soldier and Sportsman during twenty years’ service in India Afghanistan Egypt and other countries 1865-1885''] by Lt.-General Sir Montagu Gilbert Gerard 1903 Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1912_supplement/Gerard,_Montagu_Gilbert Biographical details from Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement] wikisource. Born 1842, he had a varied Army career, including Royal Artillery, Bengal Staff Corps, various missions and commissions, and took part in many military campaigns.
*[http://jramc.bmj.com/content/21/1/111.full.pdf "An Episode of the Second Afghan War, 1878–79"] by Colonel J. M. Beamish ''Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps'' 1913;21:1 111-116. The author was Medical Officer for the Battery of Garrison Artillery-13/8 R.A.
*[https://archive.org/details/soldiersindia00keat ''A Soldier's India''] by Clifford Keates. Large print edition 1988, first published 1986. Archive.org Book to Borrow/Lending Library. Edited from a manuscript ''Flashes of Light from the Storm of Life'' by Keates, Driver No 6278 (born 1864), of the 26th Field Battery, Royal Artillery in India who arrived at [[Neemuch]], 160 miles north of [[Mhow]] in November 1888. The account describes a march by a Reconnaissance Party between Neemuch and [[Ahmednagar]] in 1890.
*[https://archive.org/details/royalairobservationcorps19351955book/page/n1/mode/2up ''Royal Air Observation Post. Auster Era 1936-1956. Evolution and Campaigns''] by Major Aamir Mushtaq Cheema 2012. Archive.org. AOP Air Observation Post, a light unarmed aircraft flown exclusively by Royal Artillery Officers. Air OP Squadron, a Royal Air Force Unit consisting of Squadron Headquarters and three Flights A, B and C attached to the Royal Artillery of a Corps. Includes a chapter on WW2 Burma.
*[https://archive.org/details/raschoolofequita00rasc ''R. A. School of Equitation, India''] 1922 Archive.org. Printed at Allahabad.
*[https://archive.org/details/1937-jusii-v67/page/297/mode/2up "The Passing of the R A Horse Driver"] by Major M E S Laws R A page 297 ''Journal of the United Service Institution of India'' Volume 67, 1937. Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/details/memoirsroyalart00farmgoog ''Memoirs of the Royal Artillery Band: its Origin, History and Progress: an Account of the Rise of Military Music in England''] by Henry George Farmer 1904 Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Journal+of+the+United+States+Artillery%22&sort=date ''Journal of the United States Artillery''] by Artillery School, Fort Monroe, Virginia USA. Archive.org. Multiple volumes from 1892 to 1922. The title then changed to
:[https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22The+Coast+Artillery+Journal%22&sort=date ''The Coast Artillery Journal''] Archive.org. Multiple volumes from 1922 to 1949.
*Volumes, from 1911, of ''The Field Artillery Journal'' published by The United States Field Artillery Association, are available on the webpage [https://sill-www.army.mil/fires-bulletin-archive/ Fires Bulletin Archive] published by the US Army Field Artillery. sill-www.army.mil Fort Sill, Oklahoma USA.
:[https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28%22Field+Artillery+Journal%22%29&sort=date ''Field Artillery Journal''] Collection of digitised microfilm from 1911 at Archive.org.
== References ==
<references />
 
{{#widget:Google PlusOne
|size=small
|count=true
}}
[[Category:British Army]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery| ]]
29,512
edits

Navigation menu