B Brigade, RHA Royal Horse Artillery brigades did not exist as an organizational or operational grouping of batteries until 1 July 1859 when the Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery was formed. As a result of the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, the
British Crown took direct control of India from the East India Company on 1 November 1858 under the provisions of the
Government of India Act 1858. The
Presidency armies transferred to the direct authority of the British Crown and its European units were transferred to the
British Army. Henceforth artillery, the mutineers most effective arm, was to be the sole preserve of the British Army (with the exception of certain Mountain Artillery batteries). On 19 February 1862, the Bengal, Bombay and Madras Horse Artilleries transferred to the
Royal Artillery as its 2nd to 5th Horse Brigades. The 1st Brigade with 10 batteries was much larger than the other four (with four to seven batteries each). A reorganization of the Horse Artillery on 13 April 1864 saw 1st Brigade split as
A and
B Horse Brigade, Royal Artillery, 2nd Brigade become
C Brigade, 3rd become
D Brigade, 4th become
E Brigade, and 5th become
F Brigade. As battery designations were tied to the brigade the battery was assigned to, the batteries were also redesignated. B Horse Brigade, RA comprised: • A Battery, B Horse Brigade (A/B) - formerly D Battery at
Aldershot • B Battery, B Horse Brigade (B/B) - formerly E Battery at
Woolwich • C Battery, B Horse Brigade (C/B) - formerly F Battery at Woolwich • D Battery, B Horse Brigade (D/B) - formerly H Battery at Aldershot • E Battery, B Horse Brigade (E/B) - formerly I Battery at
Newbridge From 1866, the term "
Royal Horse Artillery" appeared in Army List hence the brigade was designated
B Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery from about this time. Another reorganization on 14 April 1877 saw the number of brigades reduced to three (of 10 batteries each). B Brigade was extensively reorganized: its batteries were transferred to the new A Brigade and it was reformed with the batteries of the old C and D Brigades. The number of brigades was further reduced to two (of 13 batteries each) in 1882. C Brigade was broken up on 1 April 1882 and it batteries transferred to A and B Brigades. The brigade system was finally abolished in 1889. Henceforth, batteries were designated in a single alphabetical sequence in order of seniority from date of formation.
II Brigade, RHA First formation The brigade system was revived in 1901. Each brigade now commanded just two batteries and a small staff (a
Lieutenant-Colonel in command, an
adjutant and a brigade
sergeant major). Initially, batteries were not assigned to brigades in any particular order, but in 1906, at the insistence of
Edward VII, brigades were redesignated so that batteries were roughly in order of seniority (hence
I Brigade commanded
A Battery and
B Battery). II Brigade, RHA was formed on 1 March 1901 as the
VI Brigade-Division, RHA with
B Battery and
C Battery. In 1903 it was redesignated as
VI Brigade, RHA and was stationed at
Ipswich. On 1 October 1906, it was redesignated as
II Brigade, RHA. In September 1914, C Battery transferred to
XIV Brigade which joined
7th Division at
Lyndhurst on formation. The brigade HQ was dissolved.
Second formation By October 1919,
II Brigade, RHA was reformed at
Bordon with •
C Battery, RHA from
IV Brigade, RHA in Belgium in July 1919 •
H Battery, RHA from
VII Brigade, RHA in Germany in early 1919 •
K Battery, RHA also from IV Brigade, RHA Between December 1919 and March 1920 it moved to India, By now the brigade commanded I, L and N batteries.
2nd Regiment, RHA Formed In 1938, field artillery brigades were reorganized as two 12-gun batteries. Rather than disband existing batteries, they were instead linked in pairs. On 11 May, H Battery (from 8th Field Brigade) and I Battery were linked as H/I Battery, RHA and L Battery and N were linked as L/N Battery, RHA. With effect from May 1938, brigades were redesignated as regiments and II Brigade became
2nd Regiment RHA on 21 May. The regiment was mechanized in August 1939 replacing its horses and
13 pounders with
3.7" Howitzers towed by
Vickers Light Dragon gun tractors.
Second World War At the outbreak of the
Second World War, 2nd RHA was assigned to
1st Support Group of the
1st Armoured Division. In October 1939, it moved to France where it was placed under direct command of General Headquarters,
BEF. It was still serving with the BEF when the
Battle of France broke out in May 1940. After evacuation from the continent, it was assigned to
2nd Support Group of
2nd Armoured Division, but did not join until July 1940. It was transferred to Egypt with the division. From January to May 1941, it was assigned to
1st Armoured Brigade and took part in the
Battle of Greece. On return to Egypt, it came under direct command of the Middle East Forces (MEF). At the end of January 1942 it rejoined 1st Support Group briefly. Surprisingly, it was not until April 1942 that its batteries were unlinked. H/I once again formed H and I batteries and L/N reformed as L and N batteries. N Battery returned to the UK to join
6th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery. From 21 April 1942, the regiment served with
22nd Guards Brigade under command of
2nd South African Division in the
Battle of Gazala. On 25 June it transferred to
22nd Armoured Brigade and took part in the
Battle of Mersa Matruh and the
Defence of the El Alamein Line. On 24 August 1942 it joined
1st Armoured Division. It served with this division throughout the rest of the
Western Desert campaign and the
Tunisia campaign, in particular, the battles of
El Alamein,
Tebaga Gap,
Akarit,
El Kourzia and
Tunis. It moved with the division to
Italy in May 1944, fighting at the
Battle of Coriano on the
Gothic Line. It left 1st Armoured Division on 26 September 1944 and came under direct command of Headquarters,
Allied Armies in Italy where it remained until May 1945.
Post-war In 1948, H Battery transferred to
6th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and
O Battery, RHA joined in its place. I Battery transferred to
4th Regiment, RHA just before conversion to a field artillery regiment, with N Battery replacing it.
N Field Battery and
O Field Battery and it saw active service later that year during the
Malayan Emergency. In November 1961 the regiment became
2nd (Airportable) Regiment, Royal Artillery and moved to
Colchester and in March 1964 it converted to
Ordnance QF 25-pounder as
2nd (Light) Regiment, Royal Artillery. Then in 1965 it moved to
Münster and became
2nd Field Regiment Royal Artillery. In 1971 it moved to
Hemer with
Abbot guns as part of
2nd Division and in 1977 it transferred to
Dortmund with Abbots as part of
3rd Armoured Division. It returned home to Roberts Barracks at
Larkhill as
2nd (Support) Regiment, Royal Artillery in September 1979. In March 1982 it became
2nd (Field) Regiment, Royal Artillery and in April 1982, as part of a move to
Münster with M109's, it joined
4th Armoured Division. It became part of 3rd Armoured Division in 1988 and it deployed to the
Persian Gulf as part of
Operation Granby between 1991 and 1992. The regiment was finally disbanded in 1993 as a result of the
Options for Change and the drawdown from
Germany. == Lineage ==