Mobilisation On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, the Kent RGA went to its war stations manning the coast artillery and the Heavy Battery mobilised at Faversham. After mobilisation, units of the TF were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service, and on 15 August the
War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way, duplicate companies, batteries and divisions were formed, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Thus were formed the 2/1st, 2/2nd and 2/3rd Companies of the Kent RGA and the 1/1st and 2/1st Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Btys. The Home Counties Division accepted the liability for service in
India to release the regular units of the garrison there for active service on the
Western Front. However, heavy artillery was not required for India, so when the division departed on 30 October, the 1/1st Bty stayed behind with the
2nd Home Counties Division that was being formed. .
1/1st Kent Heavy Battery The Home Counties Division accepted the liability for service in
India to release the regular units of the garrison there for active service on the
Western Front. However, heavy artillery was not required for India, so when the division departed on 30 October, the 1/1st Home Counties (Kent) Bty – usually referred to as the 1/1st Kent Bty – stayed behind with the
2nd Home Counties Division that was being formed. The battery supported
56th (1/1st London) Division in the
Attack on the Gommecourt Salient on 1 July, the
first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Gommecourt attack was a disaster but it had only been a diversion from
Fourth Army's main
Somme offensive, and Third Army closed it down at the end of the first day. In August, the battery transferred to support Fourth Army in the continuing Somme offensive. Lack of ammunition and the worn state of the old 4.7-inch guns reduced its effectiveness. Over the next two years, the 1/1st Kent Bty was moved from one Heavy Artillery Group (HAG) to another as circumstances demanded. On 12 February 1917, the battery was joined by a section of 118th Heavy Bty RGA to make it up to a strength of six guns. This was a regular unit formed at
Woolwich shortly after the outbreak of war and had been in France with 4.7-inch guns since 6 November 1914. By now, the heavy batteries on the Western Front were adopting the modern
60-pounder in place of the obsolete 4.7-inch. Fourth Army followed the German retreat to the
Hindenburg Line in March 1917, then 1/1st Kent Bty transferred to
Fifth Army for the Third Ypres Offensive, which culminated in the mud of the
Battle of Passchendaele in October–November 1917. In late 1917, the HAGs became permanent brigades. 1/1st Kent Bty joined 92nd (Mobile) Brigade on 13 January 1918 and remained with it until the end of the war. On 1 February 1918, the HAGs became Brigades once more, and 92nd became 92nd (Mobile) Brigade, RGA, composed of four six-gun batteries of 60-pounders. During the
German Spring Offensive of March 1918, 92nd (M) Bde was sent from GHQ Reserve to reinforce the hard-pressed Third Army. 1/1st Kent Bty was caught up in the 'Great Retreat', saving its guns but losing the rest of its equipment. After refitting, the brigade remained with Third Army until the
Armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918, having supported it in the
Allies' victorious
Hundred Days Offensive, including the battles of
Albert,
Bapaume,
Cambrai and the
Selle. After the Armistice, the battery went to the
Rhine with the
Army of Occupation until it was
demobilised in May 1919. At the time of the Armistice, 2/1st Battery was still at Mundesley as part of 224th Mixed Bde. Nos 1 and 2 Companies of the Kent RGA, together with Regular RGA companies, manned the Kent side of the
Thames and
Medway Defences (No 12 Fire Command at
Sheerness and No 13 Fire Command at
Grain, while No 3 Company, Kent RGA, along with Nos 40 and 46 Companies, RGA, manned the Dover Defences (No 11 Fire Command). These were developed as the war progressed, until by April 1918 they comprised: .
Dover Defences •
Dover Turret: 2 ×
6-inch Mk VII guns •
Admiralty Pier Battery: 2 ×
12-pounder QF guns • South Breakwater Battery: 2 × 6-inch Mk VII guns • Knuckle Battery: 3 ×
4-inch QF guns • Citadel Battery: 2 ×
9.2-inch Mk X guns •
Langdon Battery: 3 × 9.2-inch Mk X, 2 × 6-inch Mk VII
Ramsgate Defences • Harbour Battery: 2 ×
12-pounder field guns Meanwhile, although TF defended ports units never served overseas, those that had volunteered were supplying trained gunners to RGA units that were, and providing
cadres to form complete new units for front line service.
62nd and
134th Siege Batteries formed at Sheerness in 1915 and Dover in 1916 are known to have had nuclei of men from the Kent RGA (and Sussex RGA in the case of the 134th). This may also have been the case for some of the numerous other siege batteries formed in the two garrisons during the war. Nos 1 and 2 Kent Companies remained at
Grain Fort and
Grain Battery respectively. It saw active service on the
Western Front at the
Somme and on the
Ancre, at
Bullecourt,
Messines and
Passchendaele. The battery was overrun and lost its guns during the
German Spring Offensive, but was re-equipped and took part in the final
Allied Hundred Days Offensive. 62nd Siege Battery was disbanded in 1919. The battery was equipped with four modern
6-inch 26 cwt howitzers and was sent to the
Macedonian front, arriving at
Salonika on 20 August 1916. It served with
XII Corps in the
Vardar and
Struma valleys. In 1917 it fought in the
Second Battle of Doiran, but was then moved to the
Palestine Front, where it fought with
XXI Corps in the
Third Battle of Gaza, the
capture of Jerusalem and the victorious
Battle of Megiddo. 134th Siege Battery was disbanded in 1919. ==Interwar==