At the time of WW1, the RHA and RFA tended to be referred to as one unit and the RGA was separate. As you will have seen from some of the men you list, they are shown as members of Royal Horse and Field Artillery. There was always some "confusion," and prior to the war some RFA units were temporarily brought under the aegis of the RGA. Both RHA and RFA were basically field gun brigades, the former being possibly more mobile and certainly considering themselves the elite. Originally they were intended to back up the cavalry, but of course there was not a great deal of cavalry action in WW1! They often had 13 pdr guns whilst the RFA started the war with 15 pdrs, upgrading in 1916 to 18 pdrs. The RFA Territorial Force also changed the composition of their brigades in 1916. Over the course of the year they changed first from three batteries of four guns to four batteries each of six guns. These were named A, B, C and D. D Battery was then turned into a howitzer battery, equipped with 4.5" howitzers. In the case of the Worcestershire brigade with which I am associated, three batteries (A to C) stayed put, whilst the new D Battery was exchanged for one of the Warwickshire heavy brigade batteries. A similar exchange was effected with the Gloucestershire and Birmingham brigades, at the end of which the Warwickshire heavy brigade had also been converted into a standard brigade of three field gun and one howitzer brigade. Field guns, if you were not aware, had a low trajectory and fired directly upon a target. Howitzers lobbed their shells into the air so that they would fall on the (possibly out of sight) target more vertically having possibly skirted over the tops of objects such as hills, towns, woods etc. The Royal Garrison Artillery operated the heavy artillery, howitzers of 6" calibre and above, (9.2", 12", 15") as well as heavy guns mounted on railway vehicles. Generally a Siege Battery operated the largest weapons. I am not sure where the division in terms of calibre came between the RGA and the Siege Battery RGA units, because I know some Siege Batteries had guns as small as 6". Perhaps another lister will be able to clarify that for you. Surviving war diaries, organised generally by brigade, are held in WO95 at the National Archives. You have to visit in person to see them. My experience is that some are very good, some are very light on information, and some are a mixture. They will, however, regularly give you map references to show precisely where the units were located. If you are looking for names of soldiers, particularly other ranks, you will generally be disappointed. In the case of my grandfather, he had been in the artillery a couple of times before the war. In late 1914 he just went along to the local depot and rejoined. My understanding is that most men did just this, chose which they wished to join, infantry or artillery locally, and turned up. Later when conscription came in it is more likely they were told where to go and which unit to join. Both gunners and drivers seemed to be used quite flexibly. Bear in mind that you had twenty four guns in a brigade and the total strength was just under 800 officers and men. Each battery had 85 Gunners and 70 Drivers whilst only ten gunners were actually on each gun when in action. They were drawn by six horses with three drivers. Certainly in the RFA most of the drivers would have been horsemen either on the guns or on general service wagons. Motor vehicles were unusual at this time (the RGA had priority on them for the "big guns"! I have not particularly looked at ages of officers and do not have massive records on the subject. However, of the nine 2/Lts for whom I have ages in my database, four were 20, three were 21 and two were 24 on joining. Bear in mind that officer cadet forces were a major source of young officers. What is perhaps more surprising to me is that I have a sergeant who was 21 in 1914. He must have been good! For the men you list: 106th Bde was a New Army brigade in 24th Division which was put together around Shoreham, Sussex in September 1914. 53rd Brigade was a New Army brigade in 9th Division which again was formed in 1914. It was a howitzer brigade and was broken up in September 1916, almost certainly to make up the mixed field gun/howitzer brigades referred to above. At the same time, 50, 51 and 52 became Army Field Artillery brigades and I suspect they were also involved in this transfer. I believe 9th Div was Scottish but cannot find the notes. There is no mention of the two siege batteries in the History of the Royal Regiment of Atillery Western Front but both 53rd and 106th appear. If you want to go further into the history of the artillery have a look at http://www.1914-1918.net/cra.htm, it is very helpful. regards Dennis Corbett Historian 2nd South Midland (241st) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Website http://www.denniscorbett.com on 22/9/07 11:50 AM, Derrick Parsons at derrick.parsons@btinternet.com wrote: > > > Dear list, > > I wonder if anyone can shed some light on artillery matters. I am > interested in the following: > > * Driver W R Conibeare, 18966, 'D'Battery, 106th Brigade RFA (died > 04/06/17: F & F). > * Gunner J Jordan, 107471, 238th Siege Battery, RGA (died 16/09/17: F > & F). > * Saddler E Rowland, 966507, 53rd Brigade, RHA, RFA (died 28/10/18: > Gaza) > * 2nd Lt A J Wills, 182nd Siege Battery, RGA (died 18/10/18: F & F) > > The questions I have highlight my ignorance of artillery matters! > > * What is the difference between RHA, RFA and RGA? > * What does a 'D' Battery signify? > * Presumably a siege battery fires the really heavy stuff? > * From the letters, can their locations be identified or anything > about their history be deduced? > * How does one get into these units? At the time of enlistment or > just posted as needed? > * What would a gunner actually do? > * What would a driver actually do? Drive horses or a vehicle? > * 2nd Lt A J Wills, at 23, seems a bit young to have this rank to me. > Or is this usual? > > Lots of questions from me (again and again!) but, with the lists > forbearance, I hope that someone can provide me with some answers. > > Many thanks, as ever, > > Derrick Parsons > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GREATWAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message