Formed on 31 January 1900, the Elswick Battery, as it was then known, set off for South Africa to take part in the Second Boer War.

[1] The guns had been paid for by Lady Meux, an eccentric brewery heiress.

[1] Following the defence cuts implemented in 1967,[2] the Territorial Army was reorganised as the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) and three batteries of the Royal Artillery in Blyth and Seaton Delaval were merged to form 203 Battery based in Blyth, part of 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery.

One of the 12-pounder guns which had been used by the original unit was restored and preserved in the drill hall in Cowpen Road in Blyth.

[5][6] Representatives of the battery attended the unveiling of a statue of a Boer War soldier sculpted by Ray Lonsdale at Ward Jackson Park in Hartlepool in September 2020.