The enthusiasm for the Volunteer Movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.

[4][6][7] When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,[10][11] the 2nd Cinque Ports RGA merged with the 2nd Sussex RGA and transferred to the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) to form the II (or 2nd) Home Counties Brigade in October 1908 with the following organisation:[7][4][5][12][13][14][15][a] II Home Counties Brigade, RFA The three batteries were each equipped with four 15-pounder guns.

[32][29][33][34] The two new divisions constituted the bulk of I Indian Corps Lt-Gen Sir Alexander Cobbe, VC, which concentrated at Tikrit on the Tigris Front in October 1918.

[41][42] The commander of 18th Indian Division, Maj-Gen Hew Fanshawe, was immediately sent on with a mobile column including C/336 Bty to destroy the remaining Turkish forces and capture Mosul.

The column forded the Tigris, with artillery horses assisting the mule carts, and pushed on to the city which fell without a fight after news arrived of the signing of the Armistice of Mudros and the end of hostilities on 31 October.

[62][63] 44th (HC) Division got away in pretty good order aboard boats on 30–31 May, but 58th Fd Rgt lost a number of officers and men in the process.

58th (Sussex) Field Rgt sailed from Liverpool on 31 May aboard the Laconia, landing at Port Tewfik in Egypt on 26 July, where it was equipped with 24 x 25-pounder guns.

[50][66][71] At the time of its arrival the British forces in Egypt were facing a crisis against Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika, and the division was lucky not to be thrown straight into action without any desert experience.

During the resulting Battle of Alam el Halfa on 31 August the German Afrika Korps was drawn into attacking dug-in British tanks, supported by 44th Divisional artillery.

[83] The regiment served briefly in the campaign on the Italian mainland but in November was withdrawn to the UK with 5 AGRA and other XXX Corps units to prepare for the Allied invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord).

That night, while supporting 69th Brigade of 50th (Northumbrian) Division the FOO (Major Groom) called down fire on a group of Tiger tanks trying to penetrate the position, although he had already been wounded by them.

[88][92] On 27 June, RHQ moved to Loucelles, where I Trp of 399 LAA Bty took over AA defence, and the regiment was assigned to support 15th (Scottish) Division during Operation Epsom.

[88] 84th Medium Rgt carried out numerous fire missions over the coming weeks, RHQ moving frequently as 5 AGRA supported different formations during the campaign.

[66] Once the breakout from the Normandy beachhead was accomplished 84th Med Rgt moved to the area of Vernon and then while the rest of 5 AGRA remained behind the regiment was attached to Guards Armoured Division during the rapid advance that culminated in the liberation of Brussels.

[88][89][95][96] All the troops were crammed in a narrow corridor and in danger of being cut off: Guards Armoured's Commander, Royal Artillery, ordered 84th Medium Rgt into action immediately on arrival, with one battery facing east and one west.

In the evening a section was ordered over the river to try to give long-range fire support to 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem, while the remainder of the regiment deploying at Nijmegen sports park, with a Troop of 275 HAA Bty under command with its 3.7-inch guns in a ground role.

[88][95][96] At 00.15 on 21 September the regiment's advanced section opened fire – the first such support the beleaguered paratroops at Arnhem had received; only the radios of 64th (London) Medium Rgt in 5 AGRA could make contact with them.

While the HAA troop left to take up an anti-shipping role on the river, the regiment was rejoined by 6 Bofors guns of E Trp, 326 LAA Bty for AA defence of the vital Nijmegen bridges.

[88][89][96] During the next few days of the battle the regiment was called on for fire missions in several different directions, supporting 82nd Airborne, 50th (Northumbrian) and 43rd (Wessex) Divisions as well as Guards Armoured.

[88][89][96] On 5 October, 84th Med Rgt bolstered 59 AGRA supporting US 101st Airborne Division in repelling German attacks from the direction of Wageningen and Renkum.

[88] When Lt-Gen Brian Horrocks, commander of XXX Corps, was given the newly arrived US 84th Division to carry out a difficult attack at Geilenkirchen on 18 November (Operation Clipper), 'I was determined that they should have every possible assistance ... so ...

When the German attack in the Ardennes (the Battle of the Bulge) threatened to break through US forces, 84th Med Rgt was assigned to Guards Armoured Division on 15 December and moved south via Tilburg to take up blocking positions.

[66][88] On 4 January 84th Med Rgt was assigned to support an attack on the northern side of the German 'bulge' by 53rd (Welsh) Division ('Operation Smash III') and generally to assist VII US Corps.

[100] At the beginning of February, XXX Corps began preparing for a major offensive in the Reichswald (Operation Veritable), and the regiment moved back from the Ardennes on bad roads to the Eindhoven and Malden area.

Around 150 German guns had been identified on the corps' frontage, and the medium regiments of 5 AGRA began firing CB tasks ('DROOP I' and 'DROOP II') at 17.00, four hours before H-hour.

[104] At the beginning of May the regiment was still carrying out CB, CM and harassing fire tasks for 51st (H) Division attacking towards Bremervörde, even though ammunition was running short as the RASC had to bring it long distances from across the Weser.

[114][117][119] On 19 July 1943 the 20th Indian Division returned to India and proceeded to Ranchi, the base for the Central Front in the Burma Campaign, where 114th Fd Rgt was converted into a jungle field regiment.

[47][114][117][118][120] In November, 144th Jungle Fd Rgt moved up to the Manipur road on the Burma–Assam border with the division, where it remained in reserve during the early part of the 1943–44 campaign.

[114][117][121][122] On 12 April, 114th Jungle Fd Rgt and the rest of 20th Divisional artillery supported 80th Indian Brigade's successful attack on 'Nippon Hill' and then defeated the inevitable counter-attack.

[7][14][135][136][138][139] The full dress of the original artillery volunteers was based on that of the RA, but for ordinary parade the men wore a loose undress tunic and trousers of blue Baize.