Army Group Royal Artillery

An Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA) was a British Commonwealth military formation during the Second World War and shortly thereafter. Generally assigned to Army corps, an AGRA provided the medium and heavy artillery to higher formations within the British Army.

Background

The First World War had been the first artillery war, in which the British Royal Artillery (RA) advanced enormously in technological and tactical sophistication. Independent Heavy and Siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) were grouped into Heavy Artillery Groups, later termed brigades, under the command of a lieutenant-colonel, at the disposal of Army Corps. Despite much debate, no higher organisational command structure was evolved.[1]

By the time of the Second World War, the RGA had been integrated into RA and brigades of heavy and siege guns had become regiments of medium and heavy artillery, with more modern equipment. There was still an absence of a higher command structure and a need for one, for the central control of artillery above the division, had become apparent to the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France in 1940 and in the early part of the Western Desert Campaign.

Concept

The AGRA concept was developed during Exercise Bumper held in the UK in 1941, organised by General Alan Brooke (a gunner), the commander of Home Forces, with Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery as chief umpire.[2][3] This large anti-invasion exercise tested many of the tactical concepts that would be used by the British Army in the latter stages of the war. The RA developed what became the AGRA, a powerful artillery brigade, usually comprising three medium regiments and one field regiment, which could dominate the battlefield and have the fire power for counter-battery bombardments.[4]

AGRAs were improvised until 26 November 1942, when they were officially sanctioned, to consist of a commander and staff to control non-divisional artillery.[5]

Service

AGRAs made their debut with First Army in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and the concept was adopted during the North West Europe and Far East campaigns.[6][7]

An AGRA usually had three medium artillery regiments, one heavy artillery regiment and one field artillery regiment. It was commanded by a brigadier and was transferred at need from corps to corps within an army.[8] Each corps in the line usually had an AGRA and when especially heavy fire support was needed, one AGRA coul be used to reinforce another, as in Operation Baytown, the initial attack on the Italian mainland, when two AGRAs fired across the Straits of Messina from Sicily or in Operation Undergo, the battle for Calais in 1944. As the British Army manpower shortage developed, the weight of fire that an AGRA could add to an attack became increasingly important.[9]

AGRAs were not originally provided with their own Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshops, and experience proved that this was a mistake in theatres with limited support services, such as the Italian Front. Switching large groupings of artillery from one corps to another put immense strain on the corps' own REME, and later the AGRAs in Italy were provided with their own workshops, though not specifically attached to any particular AGRA.[10]

Commonwealth AGRAs

Canadian corps artillery was also referred to as an AGRA and was composed of units of the Royal Canadian Artillery as well as the Royal Artillery.[11] Canada had two AGRAs in the Second World War, one in Italy as part of I Canadian Corps and North West Europe from March 1945 and the other only in North West Europe with II Canadian Corps.[12]

After the war, 59th AGRA appears to have been transferred to the British Indian Army in 1946, becoming 59 Army Group Royal Indian Artillery, retitled 2 Army Group RIA the following year. At Independence in 1947, the order of battle of the RIA included 1 AGRIA, 2 AGRIA and 11 AGRIA (AA).[13]

List of AGRAs during the Second World War

Where known, with area of operation and dates formed and disbanded.

  • 1st AGRA – formed 29 August 1942 at Hamilton Park, Glasgow; Tunisia and Italy; redesigated 3 AGRA (Field) 1 January 1947, disbanded in Central Mediterranean Forces (CMF) 29 October 1947[14][15]
  • 2nd AGRA – formed 28 August 1942 at Scotch Corner Hotel, Darlington; Tunisia and Italy; redesignated postwar as HQ 180 Infantry Brigade[14][16]
  • 3rd AGRA – formed at 49 Frant Road, Tunbridge Wells, 11 February 1943; North-West Europe, usually attached to XII Corps; disbanded in British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) 15 August 1946[14][17][18]
  • 4th AGRA – formed at Clyde Hotel, Bothwell, Lanarkshire, 22 February 1943; North-West Europe, usually attached to I Corps; disbanded in BAOR 18 February 1946[14][17][19]
  • 5th AGRA – formed in Italy 11 February 1943 as HQ AGRA; numbered 17 March 1943; North-West Europe, usually attached to XXX Corps; disbanded in BAOR 15 April 1946[14][17][20]
  • 6th AGRA – formed in Middle East 15 March 1943 as 'B' HQ AGRA, numbered 17 March 1943; Italy; disbanded in CMF 1 November 1945[14][21]
  • 7th AGRA – formed in Paiforce as 'P' HQ AGRA 13 January 1943, numbered 22 March 1943; Italy; redesignated postwar as HQ 181 Infantry Brigade in CMF[14][22]
  • 8th AGRA – formed at Brandeston Hall, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1 May 1943 from HQ RA 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division; North-West Europe, usually attached to VIII Corps; disbanded 20 November 1945[17][23]
  • 9th AGRA – formed at Brodsworth Hall, Doncaster, 1 May 1943 from HQ RA 79th Armoured Division; North-West Europe attached to 21st Army Group; disbanded in BAOR 15 April 1946[14][17][24]
  • 10th AGRA – formed in Middle East as 'C' AGRA 1 June 1943, numbered 10 July 1943; Italy; units absorbed by 7th AGRA March 1945; HQ disbanded in UK 3 October 1945[14][25]
  • 11th AGRA – formed 1944; Far East[26]
  • 15th AGRA – formed 1944; Middle East[27]
  • 16th AGRA – formed at Harrogate 23 August 1943 from HQ Northumbrian District (Artillery) 28 August 1943; Far East; disbanded 1 January 1947[14][7]
  • 17th AGRA – formed from HQ Super Heavy Group RA, 7 March 1945; North West Europe; disbanded in BAOR 9 January 1946[17][28]
  • 18th AGRA – formed at Sefton Park, Buckinghamshire, 28 March 1945; disbanded 27 September 1945[14]
  • 59th AGRA – formed 25 August 1944 from HQ RA 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division; North-West Europe and Far East[14][7][17][29]
  • 60th AGRA – formed in India 20 August 1945 from 9th Anti-Aircraft (AA) Brigade; Far East[14][7][30]
  • 61st AGRA – formed in India 20 August 1945 from 24th AA Brigade; Far East[14][7][30]
  • 107th AA Brigade – acted as an AGRA during the Siege of Dunkirk in 1944–45, controlling field and medium artillery as well as AA units firing in both the AA and medium roles[31]
  • 1st Canadian AGRA – Italy, North-West Europe (from March 1945)
  • 2nd Canadian AGRA – North-West Europe usually attached to II Canadian Corps[32]

List of postwar AGRAs

After the Second World War, AGRAs were mainly used to control Territorial Army (TA) units, particularly AA units that did not form part of Anti-Aircraft Command. Later, a few were created in the regular Army for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).

Notes
  1. Farndale, Western Front, Annex E.
  2. Bryant, pp. 256–258.
  3. Doherty, p. 35.
  4. Farndale, Years of Defeat, p. 99.
  5. Molony, Vol V, p. 451.
  6. Fraser, pp. 251, 322.
  7. Farndale, Far East.
  8. Jones.
  9. Fraser, p. 322.
  10. Molony, Vol VI, Pt I, p. 456.
  11. Falconer.
  12. Dickers.
  13. Kempton, p. 49.
  14. Frederick, pp. 965–6.
  15. 1st AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  16. 2nd AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 13 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Ellis, Appendix IV.
  18. 3rd AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 4 September 2015
  19. 4th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 4 September 2015
  20. 5th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 4 September 2015 Archived 13 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  21. 6th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 24 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  22. 7th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  23. 8th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 4 September 2015
  24. 9th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 4 September 2015
  25. 10th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  26. 11th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  27. 17th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  28. 17th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016 Archived 7 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  29. 59th AGRA at RA 39–45, accessed 30 March 2016
  30. Routledge, p. 249.
  31. Routledge, p. 323.
  32. 2nd Canadian Army Group RCA at RA 39–45, accessed 4 September 2015 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  33. AA Brigades at British Army 1945 on. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  34. Lord & Watson, p. s90.
  35. RA Formation badges at British Badge Forum.
  36. AGRAs at British Army 1945 on. Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  37. Routledge, Table LXXV, p. 442.
  38. Lord & Watson, p. 89.
  39. Routledge, p. 434.
  40. Routledge, p. 440.
  41. Lord & Watson, pp 197–201.
  42. Watson.
  43. Litchfield, Appendix 5.

References
  • Sir Arthur Bryant, The Turn of the Tide, 1939–1943, London: Collins, 1957.
  • Dickers, Robin (2012). The History of the 2nd Canadian Army Group Royal Artillery. London: Lonsdale. ISBN 978-0-9569969-9-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Richard Doherty, Hobart's 79th Armoured Division at War: Invention, Innovation and Inspiration, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84884-398-1.
  • Major L. F. Ellis, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West, Vol II: The Defeat of Germany, London: HM Stationery Office, 1968/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-59-9.
  • Falconer, D.W. (1985). Battery flashes of W.W. II: a thumb-nail sketch of Canadian artillery batteries during the 1939-1945 conflict. Madison: the University of Wisconsin - Madison. ISBN 0-9691865-0-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Western Front 1914–18, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986, ISBN 1-870114-00-0.
  • Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, ISBN 1-85753-080-2.
  • Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Far East Theatre 1939–1946, London: Brasseys, 2002, ISBN 1-85753-302-X.
  • Gen Sir David Fraser, And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in the Second World War, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1983, ISBN 0-340-27085-3.
  • J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
  • John Philip Jones, Battles of a gunner officer: Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy and the long road to Germany, Barnsley: Praetorian Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78337-606-3.
  • Chris Kempton, A Register of Titles of The Units of the H.E.I.C. and Indian Armies, 1666–1947', (British Empire & Commonwealth Museum Research Paper Number 1), Bristol: British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, 1997, ISBN 0-9530174-0-0.
  • Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
  • Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents, Solihull: Helion, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-92-2.
  • Brig C.J.C. Molony,History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East, Vol V: The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and the Campaign in Italy 3rd September 1943 to 31st March 1944, London: HM Stationery Office, 1973/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-69-6.
  • Brig C.J.C. Molony, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East, Vol VI: Victory in the Mediterranean, Part I: 1st April to 4th June 1944, London: HM Stationery Office, 1987/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-70-X.
  • Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 1-85753-099-3.
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