53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment was a Royal Artillery (RA) unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) during World War II.

It was reformed in the postwar TA, and its successor unit continues as a battery in the present day Army Reserve The Bolton Artillery was formed as part of the Volunteer Force in 1889.

The personnel of 42nd Divisional Artillery including 53rd Fd Rgt were evacuated on 30 May[18][19][20] Units returning from France were rapidly reinforced, re-equipped with whatever was available, and deployed for home defence.

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.

[23] 53rd Field Rgt accordingly formed 438 Fd Bty on 29 March 1941 while the regiment was stationed at Woodbridge, Suffolk, when 42nd (EL) Division was serving in XI Corps.

[26] 44th (HC) Division was to lead one of XIII Corps' thrusts through the enemy minefields on the first night, 23/24 October (Operation Lightfoot), following a massive artillery barrage.

44th (HC) Division took some part in the pursuit to El Agheila, collecting prisoners, but XIII Corps was short of transport and was left behind as Eighth Army drove westwards.

[31] The division was in Tenth Army, forming part of Paiforce defending the vital oilfields of Iraq and Persia and the line of communications with the Soviet Union.

[32][33] By the spring of 1943 the victories in North Africa and on the Eastern Front had removed the threat to the oilfields, and troops could be released from Paiforce for other theatres.

Operations were slowed by rain and mud, but on the night of 1/2 November 8 Indian Division began attacking across the River Trigno, part of the Barbara Line.

The following night 1st Bn 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles and 1/12th FFR captured the dominating ground beyond Mozzagrogna, completing the rupture of the Bernhardt Line.

[36] The division continued to advance with short, powerfully supported attacks against stubborn resistance, where artillery ammunition supply became the limiting factor.

[37] During the fighting on the Sangro the former footballer Harry Goslin, by then a lieutenant with a Military Cross, was killed by mortar fire on 18 December while acting as a forward observation officer for his battery.

First XIII Corps carried out a setpiece assault crossing of the Rapido or Gari River (part of the German Gustav line), with an artillery programme starting at 23.00 on 11 May.

At 00.45 on 12 May 8th Indian Division launched its assault boats and the field guns switched to providing a Creeping barrage, followed by timed concentrations on selected targets.

Next day 1/5th Gurkha Rifles, supported by tanks and seven field artillery regiments, took the village of San Angelo at the third attempt, and on 14 and 15 May the division cleared the tongue of land between the Liri and the Gari and pressed on westwards as the Germans fell back to the Hitler Line.

[41] For the pursuit to Lake Trasimeno, 8th Indian Division came under X Corps, leading its advance on minor roads through the hill country east of Rome.

Perugia was captured without much opposition on 19/20 June, then X Corps struck north up the Tiber Valley, with 8th Indian Division making for Sansepolcro.

Afterwards it advanced down the Faenza road, opening the routes into the Lamone Valley for heavy equipment and supplies, but further progress through the mountains was slow.

[43][44] On 26 December the Germans launched a counter-attack (the Battle of Garfagnana) between Lucca and Pistoia towards Livorno, but 8th Indian Division had already been rushed west to bolster the US sector concerned.

It was given the task of an assault crossing of the River Senio, with massive artillery support added to its own guns, and ample ammunition stocks built up during the winter.

The German positions, dug into the floodbank of the river, presented a challenging linear target, so many of the guns fired in enfilade from the flanks.

Opposition remained strong on 8th Indian Division's front, but after bitter fighting through the night it secured its objectives by midday on 10 April.

As Eighth Army advanced towards the River Po, 8th Indian Division came back into the widening line, attacking up the Via Adriatica until it ran into opposition at the airfield south-west of Ferrara on 22 April.

Back in the UK it was reorganised as 53rd (Field) Holding Regiment (with four batteries designated A to D) to handle gunners being reposted and awaiting demobilisation.

[60][61] Also at the Army Reserve Centre having been at the Silverwell Street drill hall is a framed roll of honour listing the 15 members of the Bolton Artillery's Sergeants' Mess who died in World War II.