The 115th (North Midland) Field Regiment was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery (RA), raised as part of the Territorial Army (TA) just before the outbreak of World War II.

[7][8][9] When the TA was mobilised in late August 1939, 115th Army Field Regiment was at its annual training camp at Bridlington; it returned to Leicester to mobilise, 238 Bty at the Brazil Street Garage and 240 Bty at Avenue Road School, shortly afterwards moving to the Leicestershire County Cricket Club ground at Aylestone Road.

After six weeks the regiment had grown to a strength of 31 officers and around 620 other ranks (ORs), and on 13 October it moved to Quebec Barracks at Bordon Camp.

[10] As an army regiment, 115th Fd Rgt was part of the General Headquarters (GHQ) Reserve, attached to 2nd Division in I Corps from 24 April.

When the 'Phoney War' ended with the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May, the regiment had just moved up to the Belgian frontier and been given an anti-tank (A/T) role, for which it was digging defences.

115th Army Fd Rgt crossed into Belgium on 15 May with 48th (South Midland) Division, the reserve formation for I Corps, via Waterloo and Denderwindeke.

However the collapse of the Dutch forces and the German Army's rapid breakthrough in the Ardennes soon threatened the BEF's positions and it began to withdraw to the Escaut.

Lieutenant-Colonel Simpson gathered stragglers from the Royal Warwicks and sent them to join a company of 2nd Dorsetshire Regiment, the support battalion positioned next to his D Troop.

One infantry unit sent back a message to the gunners, 'Thank God for you', and the Commanding Officer (CO) was congratulated on the regiment's shooting by the CO of the 1st Royal Scots.

However, by the end of the day the ammunition position was very bad, many vehicles had been put out of action by enemy fire, and F Troop had lost all its guns.

The four remaining guns were deployed facing north and west to hold off enemy tanks; there were no infantry present, but that day and the next were quiet.

The gunners dug their guns in, established motor patrols, manned infantry posts and prepared Molotov cocktails to use against enemy tanks, while the retreating BEF streamed past its positions.

[10][17] By now the decision had been made to evacuate the BEF through Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) where a bridgehead was being organised, and the 'pocket' began to shrink as units were pulled back to the port.

Early on 1 June it was reported that 1st Division had withdrawn past the gun positions towards Dunkirk and the remaining men of 240 Bty were evacuated that morning, reaching Dover at 09.50.

Equipment was very scarce, particularly field guns, so I Corps artillery was to be deployed as lorry-borne infantry to counter possible paratroop attacks, but the corps artillery was abolished shortly afterwards and 115th Fd Rgt was sent to North Cave in East Yorkshire to form an A/T battery and a static beach defence battery in Northern Command.

[5][10][26][27] RHQ with the Signal Section and LAD were established at Godington Park, where C4 and C6 mobile batteries were also based, and the regiment sent a detachment to take over X Static Bty at Whitstable, Pegwell Bay and Kingsdown on the Kent coast.

The regiment took over from 148th Fd Rgt in beach defences and positions covering Royal Air Force airfields at Horsham St Faith and Swanton Morley.

[5][30] It had been planned for some time that field regiments would adopt an organisation of three eight-gun batteries, but shortages meant that in most units this reorganisation was not completed for many months.

In February 1941, 115th Field Regiment organised itself into 238 (239 from August 1941), 240 and 480 Fd Btys, with 75 men drafted from 902 Defence Bty to make up the numbers required.

Then on 22 February 1942, 115th Fd Rgt mobilised with its Signal Section and LAD as part of the War Office Reserve, preparatory to proceeding overseas[5][34][35] It sailed for India shortly afterwards, and disembarked at Bombay on 19 May 1942.

[33][36][37] On 27 November 1943 the regiment returned to Bangalore in India, where it soon rejoined 19th Indian Division, which had been assigned to South East Asia Command (SEAC) for the forthcoming Burma Campaign 1944–45.

Nicholson had experience of jungle fighting in the Arakan Campaign 1942–43, and concentrated on training the regiment for close shooting at ranges of 150 yards (140 m) or so.

[39][42] It was not until 26 September 1944 that the regiment began the move to the Burma frontier, the vehicles and guns driving 2,400 miles (3,900 km) across India, with the remaining personnel going by train.

[33][39][42] Operation Capital to clear Japanese forces from Northern Burma began in November, and as 19th Indian Division marched towards Indaw it was supplied by air to reduce the reliance on inadequate lines of communication through the malarial jungles.

[42][43][44][45] The regiment then pushed on in support of 98th Indian Infantry Brigade, leapfrogging forward by batteries, constantly in action against Japanese rearguards, but having to conserve ammunition because it all had to be air-dropped.

Protected by an improvised armoured windscreen of teak and bricks, Nicholson and Driver Bennett returned fire with Sten guns (which both jammed) and grenades while Nicholson's batman, Gunner Francis Alderson, unhooked the trailer so that the jeep could reverse out of the ambush (for which Gnr Alderson was awarded the Military Medal (MM)).

Stiletto Force made rapid progress, scattering surprised Japanese troops, and by 06.15 on 8 March 240 Fd Bty opened fire on Mandalay Hill.

The Japanese on Mandalay Hill fought on until 13 March; the first British officer to reach the summit was Captain D. Hine of 480 Fd Bty.

[42][55] Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholson left on 14 April under the 'Python' scheme of home leave for personnel who had been in the theatre for long periods, he was succeeded in command by Maj Denham Foxon, one of the regiment's original officers who had been second-in-command since July 1942.

Later, BSM Leonard Hayes dragged a blazing limber full of ammunition away from the tightly packed gun position of 480 Bty.