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The '''Volunteer Artillery Battery''' took part in the [[Mesopotamia Campaign]] during the [[First World War]], as part of the British Army R. F. A. (Royal Field Artillery). This unit may '''possibly''' also have been known as the '''Mobile Battery'''.
Detachments of the Volunteer Artillery Battery were captured at Kut.
The majority of the men were from Burma. They were known as the Volunteer Artillery Battery (Rangoon Contingent) and probably had a connection to the [[Rangoon Port Defence Volunteer Corps]] , which had an Artillery section.
They sailed from Bombay 16 July 1915, arriving in Basra 24th July.<ref>''En-Dor Unveiled : The Story behind The Road to En-dor'' by Tony Craven Walker, refer External links, above</ref>
The Volunteer Artillery Battery included several men of the Bombay Volunteer Artillery, "some of whom made the great sacrifice".<ref name=TOI>"Volunteers At Kut: How the Gunners Fought" ''The Times of India'' 16 Oct 1919: page 12 </ref><ref> 'Searle of the Bombay Artillery' (with a footnote specifying Bombay Volunteer Artillery ) is mentioned as a POW following the fall of Kut in "Trumpeter Inwood, an Anglo-Indian hero of the Kut Garrison" by Rosemary Reardon page 25, ''[[FIBIS Journal]]'' No 32, Autumn 2014, quoting TNA WO 157/1059. However, his name does not appear on a list of Volunteer Artillery Battery members.(see following Reference). Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the Bombay Volunteer Artillery men may have been part of the [[First World War#Anglo-Indians|Anglo Indian Battery]].</ref> There is also at least one member of the Madras Artillery Volunteers, C Rollins, whose CWGC entry for his death at Amara also records him as a member of the Volunteer Artillery Battery, RFA.<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/630052/ROLLINS,%20C ROLLINS, C.] Rank:Gunner Service No:5 Amara War Cemetery. Commonwealth War Graves Commission</ref>
The Battery, soon after arrival from India, was divided into two sections, one preceding up the Euphrates and the other up the Tigris river. <ref name=TOI/>
The total strength of the Battery was 67, of whom 50 were from Burma. Of the total Battery of 67, 38 became casualties. 45 of the men were taken POW with 18 of them dying during captivity.<ref>Flory, Dick [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=219723&p=2175374 Bombardier A N Christison Indian Volunteer Artillery] ''Great War Forum'' 26 October 2014 et al., quoting Major A J Anderson. Retrieved 27 October 2014</ref> Appendix II of Major Sandes' book ''In Kut and Captivity'', see below, advises 5 British Officers, 53 British Other Ranks and 10 Followers, total 68.
The nominal roll of the Voluntary Artillery Battery at Kut indicates that the residences of the 62 other ranks were<ref>Flory, Dick. [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=239024&p=2397492 Indian "Volunteer Artillery Battery" Mesopotamia] ''Great War Forum'' 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016</ref>:
:42 - Burma (mostly Rangoon)
:6 - Madras
:5 - Calcutta
:3 - Bombay
:6 - other locations or unknown.
==Records==
