Mobilisation and organisation Annual training for 1st London Division had just started when war was declared on 4 August 1914, and the City of London Brigade promptly mustered at Bloomsbury for mobilisation. The infantry of the division were soon posted away to relieve Regular Army garrisons in the Mediterranean or to supplement the
British Expeditionary Force on the
Western Front. By January 1915, only the artillery and other support elements of the division remained in England, and these were attached to the Second Line TF division (
58th (2/1st London) Division) that was being formed. The City of London Brigade became 1/I City of London Bde and formed 2/I City of London Bde, which served with the 58th Division throughout the war. Colonel J. Stollery, who commanded I City of London Brigade, had been with the unit since 1874 and was too old for overseas service, so he remained behind to train the 2/I Brigade. So many recruits came forward, including many who had previously served with the brigade and whose training could be quickly refreshed, that the 2/I Brigade was soon completed, and a 3rd Line Brigade was also formed to supply reinforcements to the other two. In December, the Ulster Division's artillery arrived from England, and the London Divisional Artillery was transferred to the
38th (Welsh) Division, which had also arrived in France minus its own artillery. 1/I City of London Bde served with the Welsh Division from 11 December 1915 to 1 February 1916. It was next attached to
16th (Irish) Division until 25 February 1916, when the 16th Divisional Artillery arrived. By now, 1st London Division (now numbered
56th (London) Division) was being reformed in France and its divisional artillery was finally able to rejoin.
1916 In April 1916 a Regular battery (93 Battery, from
XVIII Brigade Royal Field Artillery, which had been serving with Indian and Canadian formations) joined 1/I City of London Bde. In May, TF artillery brigades were numbered in sequence with the Royal Field Artillery: 1/I City of London became
CCLXXX Brigade (280 Brigade), and the batteries became A–D. Shortly afterwards D (93rd) Battery was exchanged with a battery (formerly 11th County of London Battery) from the divisional howitzer brigade, equipped with
4.5-inch howitzers. Brigade Ammunition Columns were also abolished at this time, and the men distributed between the batteries and the Divisional Ammunition Column. By mid-May the division had formed its three medium trench mortar batteries: 1/I City of London Bde provided the manpower for X Battery. In the winter of 1916–17, TF field artillery batteries were reorganised from a four-gun to a six-gun establishment, so B Battery was split between A and C Batteries, and to make up the numbers 93rd Battery rejoined together with a section from 500 Battery (a New Army howitzer unit). For the remainder of the war, therefore, 1/I City of London had the following organisation:
CCLXXX Brigade RFA • 93rd Battery • A Battery • C Battery • D (Howitzer) Battery
Gommecourt . The first major action for CCLXXX (280) Bde came at the
Battle of the Somme, and there are detailed accounts of its actions. 56th Division's task for the
opening day of the
Somme Offensive (the 'Big Push') was to attack the south side of the
Gommecourt Salient as a diversion to support the main attack further south. The divisional artillery was disposed in three groups. Lt-Col L.A.C Southam of 280 Bde commanded the Northern Group (called 'Southart') with B/280 and C/280 Btys (together with D (H)/282 and A/283 Btys), while A/280 and D (H)/280 Btys were in the Wire Cutting Group under Lt-Col A.F Prechtel of 282 Bde ('Peltart'), though A/280 Bty reverted to 'Southart' at Zero Hour. During the preliminary bombardment Southart was under
VII Corps control, but from Zero Hour it was assigned to support the assaulting infantry of
169th (3rd London) Brigade. The batteries began moving into position in late May 1916, A/280 and B/280 being the last to arrive on 3 June. The batteries then began to register their targets during June. B/280 and C/280 Batteries were positioned west of Gommecourt to take the German lines in
enfilade at ranges of 2000 and 3000 yards respectively. Their role was to 'search' the enemy trenches, villages, woods and hollows. In the wire cutting group A/280 Bty was in a fold of ground about 1500 yards west of the British-held village of
Hébuterne and about 2500 yards from the German lines while the howitzers of D (H)/280 Bty were dug into the gardens and orchards behind Hébuterne where they could range into the German rear areas. One section (two howitzers) was on call to assist the heavy
counter-battery guns in addition to their wire-cutting task. Five days of intense bombardment were planned leading up to the attack, designated U,V, W, X and Y days, but the whole attack was delayed by two days, so there was seven days of bombardment culminating in Z Day on 1 July. The two additional days were used for
Interdiction of enemy movement and repairs, to complete the wire-cutting and counter-battery tasks, and to deceive the enemy. The Southart Group found that by Y Day (28 June) the guns were showing signs of strain, with recoil springs having to be frequently replaced, and the extension to Y2 Day (30 June) made the situation worse. The division's batteries and observation posts (OPs) also suffered from German counter-battery fire. Each afternoon the bombardment paused between 16.00 and 16.30 to allow a
BE2c aircraft of
No. 8 Squadron,
Royal Flying Corps, to photograph the German positions. Analysis of these pictures on 30 June revealed large areas of uncut wire, especially in the centre of the area to be attacked by 56th Division. Night patrols confirmed these reports. Each day of the firing programme had included an intense bombardment starting at 06.25, reaching a crescendo at 07.20 and lifting at 07.45; on Z Day (1 July) this lifted 15 minutes earlier than usual, in an attempt to deceive the enemy. 56th Divisional artillery was allocated 11,600 rounds for this final 65 minutes, amounting to three rounds per minute for each 18-pounder gun and 4.5-inch howitzer. A smoke screen was laid at 07.25, and under its cover the infantry went 'over the top' and assembled in
No man's land. Then at Zero Hour, 07.30, the guns lifted to pre-arranged targets in the German support and reserve lines while the infantry began their assault. Having reverted to divisional control at Zero Hour, the 18-pounders had a series of very short lifts, almost amounting to a
creeping barrage. The first lift was onto the German reserve trench, on which they fired for four minutes, then they fired for six minutes just beyond it, and then swept the communication trenches for 12 minutes. Next they shifted to the infantry's second objective for eight minutes. This programme was intended to conform to the infantry's plan of attack. At first this went well for 56th Division. Despite casualties from the German counter-bombardment on their jumping-off trenches, the smoke and morning mist helped the infantry, and they reached the German front line with little loss and moved on towards the second and reserve lines. The artillery OPs reported the signboards erected by the leading waves to mark their progress. On 169 Bde's front, the
London Rifle Brigade found the wire well cut, except at Point 94 where the shelling had piled it into mounds that still presented an obstacle, and the battalion reached Gommecourt Park and began to consolidate. But the
Queen Victoria's Rifles struggled to get through narrow gaps in uncut wire and met fierce resistance at the Cemetery, so that the following battalion, the
Queen's Westminsters, got mixed up with them while trying to push through to the second objective, the Quadrilateral. The Germans began counter-attacking about an hour after Zero, and their heavy barrage on No man's land and their own front trenches made it almost impossible for reinforcements and supplies to be got forward to the assaulting battalions, who were now cut off. On the other side of the Gommecourt Salient, the assault of the
46th (North Midland) Division was a disaster, bogged down in mud and uncut wire, and the defenders could turn all their attention to the 56th Division. Although VII Corps' heavy guns and 56th Division's howitzers tried to suppress the German artillery, and the Southart guns dealt with some counter-attacks coming down communication trenches, the situation was too confused for the OPs and spotter aircraft to allow the divisional artillery to provide close support for the infantry. Several of the field guns were also out of action with broken springs: at 12.05 Southart reported only 13 out of 20 18-pounders were firing. By 15.45 the group only had three guns from A/280 firing from near Hébuterne and one of C/280 firing at Gommecourt Park, and only four guns from the other three batteries were in action. Even when repaired, the guns had to conserve ammunition later in the day. At about 13.00 the isolated battalions in the German lines began to crumble, and by 16.00 169 Bde only held the German front line trench. The Southart Group now had 14 serviceable guns and was firing just over the heads of the men. By nightfall, all of the 56th Division's gains had been reduced to a single stretch of trench, and this had to be abandoned after dark. The attack at Gommecourt had only been a diversion, so it was not continued after the first day., and 56th Division remained in position, holding its original line. On 13 July the divisional artillery made a demonstration to help the continuing Somme Offensive, and on 17 July all the brigades made raids in the enemy line, but otherwise the period was quiet. On 20 August it was relieved and move south to rejoin the Somme Offensive. Thereafter CCLXXX Bde supported 56th Division in the following actions: The artillery were presented with 'many excellent targets'. 280 Brigade was covering the infantry holding
Gavrelle on the slope of
Vimy Ridge, with a section of 93 Battery well forward in position to fire at the attackers in
enfilade. As the defenders of Gavrelle were forced back, Lt G.J. Palfrey, commanding this forward section of two 18-pounders, was ordered to fire off all his ammunition, destroy his guns and withdraw his men. He poured shells into the advancing German infantry until they were close enough to throw grenades and the British defensive barrage was falling on his position. He then destroyed his guns, and he and his crews, taking the
breech blocks and sights, and carrying their wounded, fought their way back through the scattered Germans who had already passed the position. Palfrey was awarded the
Military Cross for his actions that morning. The German attack was completely stopped, having suffered extraordinarily heavy casualties.
1918 In November CCXC Bde got its first rest for eight months, then it was back in the line in the
Ypres Salient in December. In January 1918 58th Division was moved to the area of
Villers-Bretonneux in
Fifth Army. It was in the front line when the
German spring offensive opened on 21 March, and over the next few days was forced back wit heavy casualties. When XXCX Bde was forced to withdraw, it could bring away only eight of its 24 guns, half of them howitzers from D Bty. In the 'Great Retreat' that followed the battery came into action 18 times. The brigade was then transferred to
Amiens where it supported Australian and US troops as well as 58th Division in the
Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. A sudden attack on 28 April saw D Bty's position overrun by German troop, but a counter-attack recaptured the guns. There followed a quiet period for the brigade, then in August it was warned for a two-day 'stunt', travelling light, without the men's blankets. This became a continuous two-month series of actions and advances during the Allied
Hundred Days Offensive, from Chipilly Wood at the
Battle of Amiens (8–11 August) up the Somme Valley via
Vaux-sur-Somme, Malard Wood, Clery,
Saulcourt, St Emilie and Govy. Even though the infantry of 58th Division were close to exhaustion, the artillery were kept in action. At the
Battle of Bapaume (2 September), CCXC Bde fired a creeping barrage for the attack of
47th (2nd London) Division, and at the
Battle of Épehy (18 September) it did the same for
18th (Eastern) Division. At 01.00 on 8 October the brigade fired a barrage for a night attack by 1st Battalion
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry of
49th (West Riding) Division to break through the Beaurevoir Line. In October the brigade was transferred by train to rejoin 58th Division in the
Lens area, where it fired its last shots shortly before the Armistice. After the Armistice came into force, skilled men began to return home. Full demobilisation got under way in March 1919 and 58th Division's artillery left for England on 4 April. ==Interwar==