Mobilisation The East Anglian Division began its annual training on 27 July 1914, with the divisional artillery travelling to
Redesdale Training Area in
Northumberland. When the order to
mobilise was given on 4 August, the units had to return to their headquarters by train and then move to their war stations. By 10 August the division had concentrated around
Brentwood, Essex, and on 20 August it moved to
Chelmsford and formed part of the coast defences of the UK until the following May. On the outbreak of war, units of the
Territorial Force were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. On 15 August 1914, 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 battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.
1/II East Anglian Brigade The 1st East Anglian Division was employed on coast defence until May 1915, when it was concentrated at St Albans preparatory to going overseas as the
54th (1st East Anglian) Division. However, when the infantry departed for the
Gallipoli Campaign, the divisional artillery was left behind. In August it joined the
2nd East Anglian Division at
Thetford and
Brandon, Suffolk, rearmed with modern
18-pounder guns and handed over its obsolete 15-pounders to the 2nd Line batteries. On 17 November 1915 the 54th Divisional Artillery embarked for France, where it joined
33rd Division, a '
Kitchener's Army' division whose artillery were still under training. After a month on the
Western Front, during which parties of officers and men had been attached for training to other divisions in the Front Line, 54th Divisional Artillery was warned that it was to be transferred to
Egypt to rejoin its parent division, which had been withdrawn from Gallipoli. Embarkation began at
Marseille on 30 January 1916 and disembarkation was completed at
Alexandria by 14 February. The divisional artillery rejoined 54th (EA) Division at Mena Camp near
Cairo and in April moved into No 1 (Southern) Section of the
Suez Canal defences, where it began training for
desert warfare. On 26 May 1916 1/II East Anglian Brigade was renumbered
CCLXXI (271) Brigade, RFA, and its batteries became A, B and C. On 20 December it was reorganised into two six-gun batteries, with C Battery split up between A and B, and was joined by A Bty from 272 (H) Bde (the old 1/1st Suffolk Bty in 1/III East Anglian Howitzer Bde), which became C (H)/271 Bty equipped with four
4.5-inch howitzers and with its share of 272's Brigade Ammunition Column. CCLXXI Brigade then took part in the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign, including the
First (26–7 March),
Second (17–9 April) and
Third Battles of Gaza (27 October–7 November) and the final capture of
Gaza (1–7 November). At the end of the year the division was engaged in the
Battle of Jaffa (21–22 December). 54th (EA) Division was next engaged in the action at
Berukin (9–10 April 1918). Finally it took part in the opening stage of
Allenby's final offensive (the
Battle of Megiddo), known as the
Battle of Sharon (19–23 September).
2/II East Anglian Brigade The volunteers pouring into the depots manned the 2nd Line TF units. Training for the 2nd Line artillery was hindered by the shortage of equipment, and several months passed before guns, horses and harness were received. Even then, only obsolete French
De Bange 90 mm cannon were available for training. Early in 1915 the 2nd East Anglian Division (which was numbered 69th in August 1915) concentrated round Thetford, where it formed part of
First Army in
Central Force. The divisional artillery was distributed around Brandon,
Cambridge and
Tuddenham. In November the divisional artillery took over the 15-pounder guns released by its 1st Line (
see above). The following month the division was transferred to
Northern Command and moved to
Harrogate in North Yorkshire. • A Bty – former 2/1st Essex + half 2/2nd Essex • 384 Bty • B Bty – former 2/3rd Norfolk + half 2/2nd Norfolk • 385 Bty • C Bty – former 2/3rd Essex + half 2/2nd Essex • D (H) Bty – former 2/2nd Suffolk (H) After training alongside CCCXLVI Bde, 384 and 385 Batteries joined CLXVI Bde and went with it in September 1917 to join
14th Indian Division in
Mesopotamia. At the beginning of May 1917 69th (2nd EA) Division moved to
Nottinghamshire, remaining in Northern Command, with the artillery at
Welbeck Camp. The following winter it went into winter quarters in Doncaster. By now many of the original infantry units had left the division, which lost its territorial designation, becoming simply 69th Division. It never went overseas, spending the whole war providing reinforcement drafts for units serving overseas.
Demobilisation began after the
Armistice with Germany, and the divisional artillery had virtually disappeared by 27 January 1919. ==Interwar==