[1][2][4] The Norfolk Artillery Militia was formed under a Royal Warrant dated 2 May 1853 and comprised two companies with a total establishment of 183 all ranks.

[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Headquarters was established at Great Yarmouth, where it took over the old Southtown Naval Barracks in 1855 after a long dispute between the County of Norfolk, the War Office and the Admiralty.

[8][11][12][13][a] An expeditionary force of the Regular Army having been sent to the Crimean War in 1854, militia units were embodied for full-time service to man the home defences.

[1][4][8][5][7][13][26][27] The Great Yarmouth Assembly Rooms were frequently used as the Officer's Mess whilst artillery practice was conducted on South Denes.

[29] On 23 April that year No 1 Battery of the corps had provided a guard of honour when Queen Victoria visited the Prince of Wales at Sandringham House.

[8] Colonel Viscount Coke, retired from the Scots Guards, was appointed Lt-Col Commandant of the PoW Own Norfolk Artillery on 21 February 1894.

This detachment took over the famous Long Cecil gun, which had been built in the workshops of the De Beers diamond mine during the recently ended Siege of Kimberley.

Two non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and six gunners were detached from here to man the two quick-firing (QF) guns on the armoured trains Wasp and Challenger.

[7][8] After peace was declared in May 1902, the company left Cape Town aboard the RMS Walmer Castle in late June and arrived at Southampton the following month.

[1][8][13] Sir Savile Crossley, 2nd Baronet, (later created Lord Somerleyton), who first been commissioned as lieutenant on 1 July 1881, granted the honorary rank of major on 17 April 1895[32] and lt-col on 15 June 1901, became commanding officer on 11 August 1906.

There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War.

[1][34][35] Under the sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the Special Reserve (SR), a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for Regular units serving overseas in wartime.

Although the majority of the officers and men accepted transfer to the PoW Own Norfolk Royal Field Reserve Artillery on 28 April 1908, all these units were disbanded in March 1909.

The ornate badge on the officers' full dress helmet ca 1853–60 incorporated the Coat of arms of the City of Norwich.

When the busbies were withdrawn from the Regular RA in 1878, the militia artillery were not issued with the replacement blue cloth Home Service helmet.

[7][8][42][43][44] The West and East Norfolk Militia may have provided men to serve guns in 1799,[5] and there was a corps of Volunteer Artillery at Yarmouth by 1805.