23rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery
XXIII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery was a brigade[a] of the Royal Field Artillery which served in the First World War.
It was originally formed with 107th, 108th and 109th Batteries, and attached to 3rd Division. In August 1914 it mobilised and was sent to the Continent with the British Expeditionary Force, where it saw service with 3rd Division until 1917.[3] 109th Battery left the brigade in mid-1916 to join CCLXXXI Brigade in 56th (London) Division.[4]
In 1917 it was withdrawn from 3rd Division, to operate under higher unit control, and served out the rest of the war in this role.
Notes[edit]
- ^ The basic organic unit of the Royal Artillery was, and is, the Battery.[1] When grouped together they formed brigades, in the same way that infantry battalions or cavalry regiments were grouped together in brigades. At the outbreak of World War I, a field artillery brigade of headquarters (4 officers, 37 other ranks), three batteries (5 and 193 each), and a brigade ammunition column (4 and 154)[2] had a total strength just under 800 so was broadly comparable to an infantry battalion (just over 1,000) or a cavalry regiment (about 550). Like an infantry battalion, an artillery brigade was usually commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel. Artillery brigades were redesignated as regiments in 1938.
References[edit]
- ^ "The Royal Artillery". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ Baker, Chris. "What was an artillery brigade?". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ Becke Pt 1, pp. 49–55.
- ^ Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 141–7.
Sources[edit]
- Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-84734-738-X.
- Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-84734-739-8.