1st Mountain Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 1st Mountain Regiment, Royal Artillery, incorporating four Mountain Batteries - 451, 452, 453 and 454 - served alongside the 70th Infantry Brigade for part of 1942, during the time that the Brigade was training in Mountain Warfare.
The War Diary for the Regiment is set out below and has been confined, in the case of this Website, to 1942, towards the end of which period the Regiment was separated, on the basis of a new War Establishment, into two Regiments - the 1st and 3rd Mountain Regiments.
Readers interested in the history of these Units can search a number of Internet sources which will describe their later service.
The Regiment was armed and equipped with the 3.7 Howitzer, essentially a Pack-Howitzer carried in sections on Mules, and a range of specialist Internet sources are referenced below, so that those interested can learn more of this versatile and long-lived piece of artillery. A series of photographs of 452 Battery in training exercises in Aviemore in Scotland in 1942 are included in an additional page below.
To read the Wikipedia page on the 3.7 Howitzer, please click [here].
To read the detailed data sheet on this artillery piece, please click[here].
To see an illustrated piece on the gun, please click[here].
To read an account of 1st Mountain Regiment in the Netherlands in 1944 please click[here].
Photographs of 452 Battery in Training.
Regimental War Diary
War Diary of the 1st Mountain Regiment, Royal Artillery, 1942.
Those known to have served in the 1st Mountain Regiment, Royal Artillery.
Bailey Clifford
Bailey J D Lieutenant
Berry M F Captain
Betteley J A Captain
Braithwaite A W Major
Bridges William Victor Gunner 1144825
Cohen Vincent Oswald Captain 177343
Dickson Second Lieutenant
Evans Humphrey ap Second Lieutenant
Fairclough J Major
Hancock F S W Captain
Hollingsworth W L Lieutenant
House J H Captain
Hulbert J H Major
Lloyd William Henry Gunner 327939
Loveys L G Captain
Lyman Captain
Martin James Gunner 115743
Peyton H R Lieutenant
Pyne W P S Second Lieutenant
Radford J V D Lieutenant Colonel
Ruston Edward Walter Major 451 Battery
Salmon Second Lieutenant
Tremesheere J S W Major
Young M T Major
Photographs of the Regiment on parade, and on what appears to be a mountain warfare exercise.
Thanks to the family of Clifford Bailey, a series of postcard-sized photographs of the Regiment are set out below. Other than one image featuring Clifford himself, there is no information on the individuals featured, and any user who can identify any of the men featured is invited to get in touch, using the link below.
The photographs are, however, of particular value in showing the weapons and equipment of the unit, and especially the mule-pack configuration, the images of which may well have been taken during the time the Regiment was training with 70th Brigade, and the Indian Mule Companies, in Wales and Scotland, and which show clearly some of the specialist kit - such as the metal framed "Alpine Rucksack" - one example of which was used by the author on a school visit to Germany and Belgium in 1958, having been purchased as Army Surplus. The method of carrying the parts of the guns can also be seen - requiring specialist harness for the mules.
Two further sets of photographs, understood to have been taken by Captain Cohen of 452 Battery, are set out above under the heading of [452 Battery in Training]. These were kindly forwarded to the author by Captain Cohen's niece, and are, perhaps, even more specific on the appearance of the Mules and their specialist harness, together with exercise images of the 3.7 Howitzers in action.
For detailed and reliable information on British Artillery in World War Two, the interested reader is advised to consult Nigel Evans' Website at http://nigelef.tripod.com/
Sincere thanks are due to Nigel for his agreement to allowing this hyperlink to be put in place.
To contact the author by e-mail with any queries, or to send information - click here.
