A proposal to mount a heavy battery for the RGAM on the salient angle of Swansea Pier was abandoned when it was found that the structure would not support its weight.

In the late 1870s at least two of the 68-pdrs were replaced by 80-pdr rifled muzzle-loaders[a] on traversing slide carriages, but financial stringency prevented any further modernisation and the battery's armament remained unchanged to the end of the 19th Century.

[6][12][17] When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,[18][19] the 1st Glamorganshire RGA (V) transferred to the Royal Field Artillery with the following organisation:[5][6][12][20][21][22][23] 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade RFA The unit was the senior field artillery brigade in the TF's Welsh Division, and was equipped with 5-inch breechloading howitzers.

Four days later the War Office (WO) issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units.

[6][21][23][29][30][32][37] Both batteries fought with their new brigades throughout the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of 1917–18, including the Battles of Gaza, the Fall of Jerusalem, and the final victory at Megiddo.

Partial mechanisation was carried out from 1927, at first with tractors, then with Fordson lorries, but the guns retained iron-tyred wheels until pneumatic tyres began to be introduced just before World War II.

However, this arrangement was short-lived, because the TA was doubled in size after the Munich Crisis of 1938, and most regiments split to form duplicates in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II.

Parts of 53rd (Welsh) Division were sent to Northern Ireland from October 1939, and 81st Fd Rgt joined it there in March 1940, being quartered first at Ballymoney and later at Kilkeel.

[40][49][51][52][53] One of the lessons learned from the Battle of France was that the two-battery organisation did not work: field regiments were intended to support an infantry brigade of three battalions.

The regiment was to support 71 Bde in the forthcoming campaign, with the batteries allotted as follows:[40][49][56] 53rd (Welsh) Division was among the follow-up troops landing after D-Day (6 June).

Next day the division had its Observation Posts (OPs) overlooking Ronai and Habloville and the killing ground 'Serpent' where German forces were fleeing through the narrowing Falaise Gap.

The situation was chaotic: three gunners of 81st Fd Rgt driving back to collect ammunition were misdirected into an apparently deserted village where they found and captured three Germans.

The attack on s'Hertogenbosch (Operation Alan) began at 06.30 on 22 October, the infantry of 71 Bde advancing behind a timed programme fired by the guns.

On the night of 4/5 February the regiment moved its guns into concealed positions near Groesbeek, while the rest of the men were confined to barracks in Nijmegen and the divisional signs on vehicles were painted over.

[73] The Battle of the Reichswald (Operation Veritable) opened at 05.00 on 8 February with the heaviest concentration of artillery employed by the British Army so far in the war.

After a pause and dummy attack at 07.40 to induce the Germans to man their guns, the Counter-battery fire was resumed and a barrage was laid down to protect the assaulting columns.

81st Field Rgt reported that the second-in-command's OP tank had to be used to tow out bogged guns and tractors ('its only use; in all other respects it was an infernal nuisance').

[79] 81st Field Rgt entered Hamburg early on 4 May, the day that the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath, ending the fighting on 21st Army Group's front.

Parham, developed techniques for concentrating large numbers of guns onto a single target in a very short time, and demonstrated them on the artillery ranges at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain.

Forward Observation Officers from the artillery accompanied the two assault battalions as they landed on 'Apples Green' and 'Apples White' beaches near Algiers.

The group's attack on Medjez el Bab on 25 November failed, but other forces bypassed it and the brigade occupied it the next day and pushed on for Tebourba, only about 20 miles (32 km) from Tunis.

Early on 27 November, 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment was widely extended in front of Tebourba when it was attacked by the hastily-formed German Kampfgruppe Lüder.

[91] 78th Division had been selected for the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) as early as January 1943,[92] and after the end of the Tunisian campaign went into training at Hammamet.

78th Division's task was first to relieve 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade across the Dittaino river at Catenanuova and expand the bridgehead, then to capture the hill town of Centuripe.

On the afternoon of 2 August the division's reserve, 38 (Irish) Bde was sent in, supported by 132nd Fd Rgt and the rest of the divisional and corps artillery.

German resistance then stiffened, and 78th Division had to put in a full-scale attack at Bronte and Maletto before capturing the key point of Randazzo on 13 August.

When the weather abated the 6th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers of 38 Bde broke out of the bridgehead and captured Santa Maria on 29 November, supported by all the divisional artillery and a number of other regiments.

The Allies' spring campaign in 1944 began with a renewed attempt to take Monte Cassino, and 78th Division had been moved across Italy to be in XIII Corps' reserve for this.

[99][100] 78th Division returned to the line for the Battle of Lake Trasimene, working its way up the west bank of the Tiber against strong opposition, 10–24 June, securing Pescia and its river but suffering heavy casualties.

[105] Fighting on the Italian Front ended on 2 May after the Surrender of Caserta, and 78th Division entered Austria as part of the occupation force on 8 May 1945, advancing towards Villach and Klagenfurt.