[3][4][6][10] When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) as part of the Haldane reforms of 1908, the bulk of the 1st Volunteer Bn became the 4th Bn Northamptonshire Regiment, but the two Peterborough companies were converted to form the Northamptonshire Battery of the Royal Field Artillery and the East Midland Brigade Company of the Army Service Corps.

In January 1914 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and appointed CO of the whole IV East Anglian Brigade of which his Cecil kinsman, the Marquess of Salisbury, was honorary colonel.

[20][21][25] Meanwhile, the formation of duplicate or 2nd Line TF units from Home Service men and recruits had been authorised on 1 September,[26] and towards the end of 1914 the 2nd East Anglian Division came into existence at Peterborough.

[20][21][27][29] In October 1915, the 1/1st Northamptonshre Battery carried out a march through its recruiting area, visiting Peterborough, Oundle, Kettering, Stamford and Huntingdon.

The divisional artillery rejoined 54th Division at Mena Camp near Cairo and in April moved into No 1 (Southern) Section of the Suez Canal defences.

On 19 April it joined in the barrage 10 minutes before H-Hour but the preliminary bombardment had failed to neutralise Turkish artillery and machine guns, and 54th Division's infantry suffered heavy casualties.

[39] A six-day preliminary bombardment for the Third Battle of Gaza began on 27 October, with B/270 Bty attached to 271 (II East Anglian) Bde in No 3 Group supporting 161st (Essex) Brigade.

[41] During the Battle of Jaffa (21–22 December), B/270 Bty carried out a pre-dawn bombardment of 'Bald Hill' supporting the attack of 2/11th Battalion, the London Regiment, and then followed up 'galloping in best R.H.A.

On 1 August, B/270 Bty was detached to join an ad hoc group from 54th Divisional Artillery sent to relieve the RHA of the Desert Mounted Corps in the British occupation of the Jordan ValleyJordan Valley.

On return to 54th Division the battery was struck with a fever and had another 58 men in hospital, reducing it to less than half strength when it rejoined 270th Bde on 11 September.

B/270 Battery's task was to fire smoke shells for an hour to create a screen in front of 54th Division's assault battalions, and then switch to High Explosive and shrapnel.

Once the timed barrage was complete, the battery had to advance in the open under enemy shellfire to a new position from which it was able to shell two tepes holding up the attack.

Early in 1915 the 2nd East Anglian Division (which was numbered 69th in August 1915) concentrated round Thetford, where it formed part of First Army in Central Force.

[27][48] In May 1916, the 2/IV East Anglian Brigade was numbered CCCXLVIII Bde RFA, in which 2/1st Northampton became C Battery, and the following month he division was transferred to Northern Command and moved to Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

By the end of 1917 the 2nd Line infantry battalions had been replaced by training units, and from 1 January 1918 the division lost its 'East Anglian' title.

During March 1940, parties were temporarily sent to man Lewis guns for AA defence on coastal shipping, and volunteers left to join No.

When the Battle of France began, the battery was sent with its four obsolete 4.5-inch howitzers to guard the coast at Weybourne and at Cley next the Sea, while those not required to man the guns became part of 18th Divisional Artillery Rifle Regiment on anti-paratroop duties.

Battle training in North Wales and the Welsh Borders continued during the summer, and the regiment embarked on the SS Sobieski at Gourock on the Firth of Clyde on 31 October.

[63] The Sobieski took the regiment to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where 135th Fd Rgt and 53rd Brigade transshipped to the USS Mount Vernon and CT5 sailed on via Port of Spain to Cape Town.

The two sections of B Troop were ordered to advance by leap-frog bounds so that they could provide continuous fire support for the scratch force of Norfolks and armoured cars of the Federated Malay States Volunteers.

The commander of 15th Indian Brigade decided to retire to Benut through the mangrove swamps along the shoreline, so A Troop's remaining howitzer was put out of action by dropping the breech-block into the river.

[66][67] 53rd Brigade HQ at Benut was now effectively the front line, defended by 3rd Bn 16th Punjab Regiment and the two remaining howitzers of B Troop of 336th Bty under Captain Neal.

On the night of 30/31 January all the troops in Johor withdrew across the causeway onto Singapore Island, Lt-Col Philip Toosey of 135th Fd Rgt withdrawing his guns by leap-frog bounds to ensure continuous fire support.

On 12 February the regiment was moved again, changing front to go into action at Sembawang airfield, with 336th Bty in a rearguard position covering the Mandai Road.

One of its Quad gun tractors broke down, so it was overturned into a monsoon drain and the battery's Bedford 15 cwt wireless truck successfully towed out two limbers and a 25-pounder.

On 14 February the battery was warned of Japanese tanks attacking, and Sergeant Hughes's gun of B Troop was detached and placed in an anti-tank role facing north on Balstier Road.

336th Battery did this by putting a shell in the breech, another in the barrel, and then pulling the firing lever from a safe distance using Trolleybus wire.

In June 1942, 500 men of 135th Fd Rgt were sent to Sime Road Camp to work as labourers on a Japanese war memorial, some of the others remaining at Selarang during the notorious incident.

The men of 135th Fd Rgt were progressively split up as the work on the railway was completed in 1943 and parties of PoWs were moved to other labouring jobs in Thailand, Formosa and Japan.

[59][75] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) design for headstones for members of the regiment includes both the Royal Artillery and Hertfordshire Yeomanry badges.