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.

[1][2] One of the first and largest such units was the 4th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers, raised by the Liverpool shipowner James Walter and drawing its recruits from clerks and office personnel of firms in that city.

[20][21][22][23] When war broke out on 4 August 1914 the IV West Lancashire Bde was at its annual practice camp at Larkhill under Lt-Col S.Heywood Melly, the fourth member of his family to command it.

Casualties in the artillery brigade during August had been predominantly due to accidents such as premature explosions of faulty ammunition, and in September had been concentrated in the waggon lines, which were bombed nightly.

In July 1916 the divisional artillery was reorganised on the same lines as those already in France: 2/IV West Lancs Bde was broken up before it had time to adopt its assigned number (CCLXXXVIII or 288) and 2/7th and 2/8th Lancashire batteries were dispersed among the other brigades.

[18][28][44] In the autumn of 1919, not long after the demobilised men had returned home, Maj Edward Hemelryk (one of the brigade's prewar officers) advertised for former members of the 'Old 4th' to attend a concert where their former CO, Lt-Col S. Heywood Melly, urged them to join the new Territorial Army (TA) when it was launched to replace the TF.

[48] The WO had decided on horse-traction only for TA medium artillery in peacetime, but Lt-Col Hemelryk had other ideas, and by the annual camp at Larkhill in 1923 the batteries were all towed by Fordson agricultural tractors.

An advance party set out for France on 24 September, and two days later the transport and equipment went to Newport to embark on the Isle of Man packet boat SS Ben-my-Chree.

[62][63] However, the Panzers of the Wehrmacht's Army Group A had broken through the Ardennes and threatened the BEF's flank, so on 16 May it began to withdraw to the River Escaut, before the regiment had the chance to occupy the Berthem positions.

Here it came under the command of 1st Division (Maj-Gen Harold Alexander) and was ordered to destroy unwanted vehicles, and to spike the guns if they could not be got across the canal into the BEF's perimeter round Dunkirk.

[66][67] The men returning from Dunkirk were scattered all over England, but 59th Med Rgt soon concentrated at Larkhill and then moved to Wimborne Minster to dig defences and prepare to defend the town with just 40 rifles and three hired trucks.

On 24 July Lt-Col Servaes was promoted to Brigadier to command the medium artillery in VIII Corps, and on 24 September the regiment provided a cadre to train 902 Home Defence Battery.

As well as training, it also acted as a demonstration regiment: in Exercise Breachmine it showed that accurate intensive fire by medium artillery could clear safe lanes through minefields.

It stayed for a month in these positions, before moving on 5 August to support the Canadian advance up the River Orne, then firing into the Falaise Pocket as the break-out from the Normandy beachhead began.

It stayed there until 8 October, then crossed Nijmegen Bridge and spent 10 days in 'the island' on the far bank under 3 AGRA supporting 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, and driving off a counter-attack launched against nearby US troops.

Near Venlo a single gun was ordered on a 'roving' mission, but took a wrong turning into enemy territory and the whole detachment was killed or captured; the regiment also suffered casualties from incoming fire.

[85] On 24 February the regiment crossed the Meuse (Dutch: Maas) and moved to Bedburg to come under command of 2 Canadian AGRA for Operation Blockbuster, for which 500 rounds per gun had been stockpiled.

[88] The regiment was then used for occupation duties in the Harburg, Hamburg, area, later at Bochum, mounting guards, supervising German working parties engaged on reconstruction, and distributing aid to the displaced persons camps.

On mobilisation it moved to Tattenhall in Cheshire for advanced training with 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, but transport was scarce, and the guns had to be towed by steam lorries belonging to a flour mill.

The long-range 4.5-inch guns were designed for CB fire and an Australian gunnery officer described the barrage: 'Then well to the rear came the frightening sound of the British 4.5-inch Long Toms and the 6-inch howitzers ... on counter-battery tasks'.

7th Medium Rgt and 234 Bty suffered a number of casualties from Italian return fire, but 6th Australian Division launched its attack and secured all its objectives and thousands of prisoners by 08.30.

Once the German invasion began, the Greek forces blew up the road at Kozani and withdrew, so 234 Bty rejoined 64th Med Rgt covering the Florina gap at Vevi, where C Trp was firing effectively on the advancing Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler motorised infantry regiment.

The force advanced by way of Teseney, Keru and Aicota to Barentu, which took from 30 January to 4 February to capture, then via Agordat until it reached the strong Keren position where the Italians made a stand.

212 Battery's 60-pdrs were the most powerful and longest-ranged guns in the battle, but their flat trajectory was a disadvantage in hill country, where the 6-inch howitzers of 233 Bty were needed to reach targets behind crests.

At 07.00 on 15 March an artillery concentration on the Sanchil massif preceded a renewed attack, in which 11th Indian Infantry Brigade managed to seize Hog's Back and gain the first OP on the high ground.

Operation Crusader began on 21 November and the division advanced to Fort Capuzzo and Sidi Omar, where it established itself among the 'Omars', a series of mounds that had previously been entrenched by the Italians.

[55][54][132][133][134] Lieutenants Kelly and Williams with their OP parties escaped with 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards which broke out of the Axis encirclement and reached Egypt, where they joined D Trp.

[18][55][54][77][136] In April 1944 the regiment moved into its Overlord concentration area at Colchester and at the beginning of June loaded the vehicles and guns onto two Liberty ships at Tilbury Docks.

[18][140] The regiment was formed with a large cadre from 68th (4th West Lancs) Med Rgt in January 1940,[90][91][92] and by the autumn it was serving with its signal section in III Corps in Home Forces.

By 3 May the brigade was covering the withdrawal towards Yeu, and finally the remains of Burcorps crossed the Chindwin to safety at Shwegyin during the night of 11/12 May after the rearguard artillery had fired off all their ammunition and destroyed their guns.