[2] On 18 March 1908, Berkshire Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force) was proposed as a new unit and it was recognized by the Army Council on 21 July 1908 (and the ammunition column on 11 August 1908).

[3] The unit consisted of:[4][5][6][7][8] The battery was equipped with four[1] Ehrhardt 15-pounder[11] guns and allocated as artillery support to the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade.

In early April, the division starting leaving Avonmouth and the last elements landed at Alexandria before the end of the month.

[20] They fought a sharp action at Sheikh Othman on 20 July that removed the Turkish threat to Aden for the rest of the war, before returning to Egypt.

[13] On 10 December 1915, Berkshire RHA briefly rejoined the division from Ismailia, Suez Canal Defences; on 17 January 1916 it was transferred with 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade to the Western Frontier Force.

[26] Once the division was restructured and renamed, it served with the DMC for the rest of the war, taking part in the Second Transjordan Raid (30 April to 4 May 1918) and the Final Offensive, in particular the Battle of Megiddo (19 to 25 September) and the Capture of Damascus (1 October).

In the late 1930s, particularly at the time of the Munich Crisis in September–October 1938, the need for improved anti-aircraft (AA) defences became apparent, and a programme of converting existing TA units was pushed forward.

[49][51][52] The Battle of Britain was now under way, and during late July and throughout August the batteries had fleeting engagements with small numbers of raiders along the South Coast.

[66] An advanced party of 249 (Berkshire RHA) HAA Bty arrived in Iceland in March 1941, followed by the main body with four 3.7-inch guns.

[69] On 4 September the battery joined 131st (Mixed) HAA Rgt to convert to a 'Mixed' establishment in which two-thirds of the posts were filled by women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).

The HAA batteries were equipped with the older 3-inch gun on a modernised trailer, rather than the newer 3.7-inch, because the lighter 3-inch was easier and quicker to deploy in the rough country anticipated for the campaign.

A team from 80th HAA Rgt and the Royal Engineers spent a month unsuccessfully trying to recover 3-inch guns from sunken merchant ships in Bougie harbour.

Crum, with regimental Signals and REME and the assault echelons of 252 HAA Bty, moved to Liverpool for embarkation on HM Transport P-29 (RMS Orion) to join a convoy that sailed from the Clyde on 14 November.

RHQ, with 252/80 and 264/58 Btys, followed them to Bône on a two-day rail journey, arriving on 4 December, with 252 HAA Bty in action the same night against a heavy air raid.

On 6 January 1943, the regiment went forward to Souk-el-Khemis Airfield to join 22 AA Bde, leaving behind its signals and REME, together with 207 and 217 HAA Btys.

250 HAA Bty was already at Souk-el-Khemis, but in early February it moved forward again to Testour, where it was later joined by the regiment's advanced HQ, camouflaged in an olive grove.

[81][83] The regiment was stationed close behind the Allied front line, and 250 HAA Battery's gun-laying radar was the first set sited in the forward areas.

When guns of 250 HAA Bty were moved up to support 1 (Guards) Bde on 17 February, they were tasked with anti-tank (A/Tk) as well as AA defence until specialist A/Tk units arrived.

These formations were involved in Operation Vulcan, the final advance on Tunis, and while liaising with them on 6 May Lt-Col Crum and one of his officers were captured by German troops.

Devised by 62 AA Bde, this had its transmitter, receiver, aerial array and operating display all carried in a two-wheeled trailer towed by a 3-ton truck.

However, it joined in the AA defence of Pachino airfield, which had been captured without difficulty and was being repaired for RAF use despite frequent day and night raids.

252 HAA Battery joined in the defence of XXX Corps' beaches, although the 'Baby Maggies' had failed to stand up to the rough handling of the landings.

More importantly, radio communications with the AA HQ ship broke down for the first 48 hours after landing, and defensive fire was reduced to crude 'barrage' methods.

62 AA Brigade HQ arrived in Syracuse on 17 July, bringing the rest of 80th HAA Rgt, and took responsibility for Pachino and Cassibile Airfields.

[90][91] Once Naples had been captured, 12 AA Bde's units were brought in by road and landing craft and defended the port from 1 October until relieved three weeks later, during which time it faced one serious air raid.

[92][93] In January 1944, 12 AA Bde was sent forward to cover the preparations for X Corps' crossing of the Garigliano, protecting assembly areas and ferry sites as well as routes and airfields.

Once Fifth Army had captured Rome in June 1944 12 AA Bde deployed its units to defend the bridges over the Tiber and the port of Piombino.

Although the Luftwaffe's losses meant the air threat was lowered, HAA batteries of 62 AA Bde also employed their versatile long-range 3.7-inch guns in a medium artillery role against ground targets.

On 26 December the German forces put in a major counterattack, Unternehmen Wintergewitter (Operation Winter Storm), between Lucca and Pistoia aimed at retaking the port of Livorno (Leghorn).

[93][94] However, the Allied forces in Italy were suffering an acute manpower shortage, and surplus AA units were being disbanded in increasing numbers.