The artillery inventor Sir William Palliser was appointed Lieutenant-colonel in 1875, and was succeeded by the politician Lord Arthur Hill.

The divisional organisation was abandoned on 1 January 1902 and the unit was re-titled 2nd Middlesex Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers), ranking 60th in order of precedence.

[11] The infantry of the division were soon posted away to relieve Regular Army garrisons in the Mediterranean or to supplement the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.

Its infantry were largely drawn from the Ulster Volunteers and had already received weapons training before the war; the artillery however were newly raised Londoners, and the drivers were still being taught to mount and dismount from wooden horses.

[11][22][27][28] Throughout late June 1916, 56th Divisional Artillery was engaged in the preliminary bombardment for the division's attack on Gommecourt, an important diversion to the main British offensive (the Battle of the Somme) due to begin on 1 July.

The 4.5-inch howitzers were used for wire-cutting for two days before the attack, then at Zero hour (05.30) on 9 April, two thirds of the field guns laid down a Creeping barrage of shrapnel, smoke, and high explosive to protect the advancing infantry.

While the 4.5s concentrated on strongpoints, a standing barrage of the remaining 18-pdrs was fired on each objective, pinning the enemy and protecting the British infantry while they prepared for the next bound.

[40][41][42][43][44][45] By the evening of 11 April the Germans only retained one small foothold at the north end of the ridge, the Bois en Hache.

Next morning a pre-dawn attack was put in against the wood by two battalions of 24th Division, covered by a barrage fired by CCLXXXII and two other RFA brigades.

They were slowed by mud and blinding snow, but when the barrage lifted at 05.10 they entered the German front line trench, taking some prisoners.

Only some parties entered this trench where they repulsed some counter-attacks, but by now the first objective had been secured and the leading companies were withdrawn to this defence line.

While the infantry consolidated their gains, the field batteries moved forwards into No man's land to fire a new barrage which was closely followed by the supporting brigades onto the second objective.

Until 17 July the brigade was not actually in the line, but the gunners were engaged in building gun positions for the forthcoming Flanders Offensive, or Third Battle of Ypres.

The British artillery here had fewer advantages than at Messines: the Ypres Salient was cramped and overlooked from Pilckem Ridge in front, and the massed batteries suffered badly from German counter-battery (CB) fire during the 18-day preparatory bombardment.

When the infantry attacked on 31 July (the Battle of Pilckem Ridge) the field guns fired the usual creeping and standing barrages on a greater scale than ever before.

On XVIII Corps' front the infantry managed to get across the ridge and down to the Steenbeke stream beyond, while the artillery broke up a serious German counter-attack in the early afternoon.

But it began to rain, and soon proved almost impossible for the exhausted gunners to get their guns forward through the devastation and mud, and further progress was halted that evening.

[40][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Preparations for the continuation of the offensive were hampered by bad weather and the undiminished strength of the German artillery on the Gheluvelt plateau in front.

Artillery support was good, and the corps captured some ground, though 11th Division was held up by a group of fortified farms, but the attack was disastrous in other areas.

CCLXXXII Brigade itself went for much-needed rest[a] on 22 November, but on 3 December it was sent to reinforce VII Corps in Third Army, which was at the end of desperate fighting against German counter-attacks at Cambrai.

The artillery engaged the attackers with observed and barrage fire, but the right flank having been pushed back, some of the guns had to retire again, after inflicting considerable losses to the enemy over open sights.

This small offensive operation by XI Corps was carried out without a preliminary bombardment; the barrage started at Zero-hour, creeping at 100 yards (91 m) in four minutes, and the infantry followed closely behind with the bayonet.

The Canadian infantry advanced over the broken country behind the 'excellent' barrage, took their first objective, and then pushed on with little pause towards the second, including the valuable observation point of Monchy-le-Preux, by 07.30.

With the support of the barrage and tanks, all went well to begin with, but as soon as the attacking battalions reached the crest of the ridge beyond the first objective they were halted by German machine guns outside the range of the field artillery.

However, with the 'D–Q' line breached, the Germans were forced to retreat that night; the following morning's follow-up attack was cancelled and First Army began a pursuit towards the Canal du Nord.

On 11 October 56th Division found the Sensée Canal strongly held, but an attack by two companies of the 1/13th Bn Londons (Kensingtons), supported by a full three field artillery brigades, cleared Fressies, the last German holding on the southern bank.

The division crossed the river before dawn and 2nd Bn Seaforth Highlanders pushed through Saulzoir covered by a barrage from five field artillery brigades, including CCLXXXII; it reached the objective on the high ground beyond with little loss.

[40][88][95][103][104] After the 1st Line divisional artillery left for France, 2/III London Bde joined 58th (2/1st London) Division at Framlingham on 25 September with the following composition:[14] The division remained in East Anglia, digging trenches, manning coastal defences, and training, until July 1916, when it moved to Salisbury Plain for final battle training.

[109][110] This unit served in 5th Division during World War II, in France, the Middle East, Italy, and finally in North West Europe.

[114] The left-hand (northern) figure flanking this memorial depicts a Royal Artilleryman representative of the various London Artillery units.