A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery

A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery
Active	1 February 1793 – present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Artillery
Size	Battery
Part of	1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Anniversaries	Formation Day (1793) 1st February
Equipment	AS-90
Battle honours	Ubique
Commanders
Notable commanders	Hew Dalrymple Ross

A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery is the senior Battery in the British Army's Royal Artillery and is part of 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. The Chestnut Troop is currently based in Assaye Barracks in Tidworth Camp.

Current Role

The unit is currently equipped as a Close Support Artillery Battery, with the AS-90 Self-propelled gun.

History

Formation

1793 - A Troop Royal Horse Artillery was raised as The Chestnut Troop at Woolwich on 1 February 1793. Equipped with Chestnut horses from the start, Lord Wellington asked of the whereabouts of “The Chestnut Troop” during the Battle of Waterloo. This unofficial title stuck until Edward VII sanctioned, in Army Order 135, that the Battery be designated A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery. This honour title is unique as it is not associated with one particular incident, and affords "The Chestnut Troop" the privilege to be known as such outside the Royal Regiment of Artillery. As the senior Battery within the whole of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, it takes position at the Right of the Line on the parade.

A Troop was raised as the first fully self-contained and fully mounted unit equipped with six, six-pounder guns.

19th century

1798 – The Troop first saw action in the Irish Rebellion
1799 – Saw action in the Netherlands
1806 – Captain Hew Ross assumed command of the Troop, which lasted for an unrivalled period of 19 years, through campaigns in Spain, Portugal, France and at Waterloo. Captain Ross went on to be knighted and become the first ever Gunner Field Marshal.
1809 onwards – The Troop fought in the Peninsula War. Following its exploits in Portugal was a protracted period of peace
1855 to 1856 – Crimean War.

Until the turn of the 20th century the Troop served in both the UK and India, before serving in the South African War.

World War One

1914 – The outbreak of the First World War saw the Troop deployed to France. It served throughout the War, firing its last round at Orrs on 4 November 1918.

Interwar

Training with a 3.7 inch Mountain Howitzer c. 1938

In 1919 the Chestnut Troop was deployed in North West Persia as part of the Norperforce.^[1] They were later deployment to Basra in 1921. In 1938 the Chestnut Troop became part of 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery which involved, at the outset, the formation of a Battery as a 12 gun composite Battery.

World War Two

1939 – World War Two saw the Troop deployed to France, serving until the evacuation from Dunkirk.
1940 – Thereafter the Battery was sent to Egypt as part of the Desert Rats.
1941 – Involved in the siege of Tobruck. The Battery was then reorganised to become The Chestnut Troop once again and served continuously in the Western Desert in
1942 – El Alamein.
1942 onwards – The Regiment was then re-equipped with 105mm SP guns before fighting in Italy for the rest of the war.

Cold War

After the War the Troop served in Egypt, the UK and Germany. 1965 to 1967 – Aden

Recent and Current Conflicts

Northern Ireland

It completed four tours of Northern Ireland throughout the 1970s.

Persian Gulf War

1990 – Members of the Chestnut Troop deployed on Operation GRANBY to Iraq as A/B/E Battery.
1992 – Battery moved to Assaye Barracks in Tidworth.

Balkan Wars

1996 – The Battery served in Bosnia as a part of IFOR.
1998 – The Battery served again in Bosnia as a part of IFOR.
2000 – The Battery served in Bosnia as a part of KFOR.

Operation TELIC in Iraq

2004 – In April The Chestnut Troop deployed to Basra as part of the 1 CHESHIRE Battle Group, and was tasked with developing the Iraqi Police Service within the City. Changes after the transition of authority in late June saw the Battery consolidate in a single location as part of the 1 RHA Battle Group and tackle Provincial Police Departments.
2007 – The Battery deployed to Basra on Operation Telic 10.

Cyprus

2005 – The Chestnut Troop deployed, as a Battery, to serve as United Nations Peacekeepers in the last divided capital City in the world, Nicosia in Cyprus.

Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan

2009 – The Battery served in Sangin as part of 3 Rifles Battlegroup

References

↑ Cecil John Edmonds (2009), East and West of Zagros, Brill Academic Publishers, OCLC 593346009

Bibliography

Clarke, W.G. (1993). Horse Gunners: The Royal Horse Artillery, 200 Years of Panache and Professionalism. Woolwich: The Royal Artillery Institution. ISBN 09520762-0-9.

External links

"1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Retrieved 18 November 2015.

Units of the Royal Horse Artillery

Batteries

Regular	King's Troop A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA BB CC DD

Territorial Force	A HAC B HAC Ayrshire Berkshire Essex Glamorganshire Hampshire Inverness-shire Leicestershire Nottinghamshire Shropshire Somerset Warwickshire West Riding

Brigades
(1859–1938)

Regular	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI (I Indian) XVII (II Indian)

Territorial Force	I II III IV XVIII XIX XX

Regiments
(1938 onwards)

Regular	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 7th Parachute 8th

Territorial Army	11th (HAC) 12th (HAC) 13th (HAC) 14th 104th (Essex Yeomanry) 106th (Lancashire Hussars) 107th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) 147th (Essex Yeomanry) 149th (Lancashire Hussars) 150th (South Nottinghamshire Hussars) 289th Parachute

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