57th (Home Counties) Field Regiment Battle of France Orders to mobilise were received on 1 September ahead of the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939. Mobilisation went smoothly and on 14 September 57th Fd Rgt moved to
Forest Row for intensive training. On 24 October the division concentrated in
Somerset and the regiment moved to
Stoke under Ham. However, the shortage of tools and equipment hampered training. The regiment carried out live firing exercises at
Larkhill with 18-pounders and
18/25-pounders. 44th (HC) Division began moving to France to join the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on 1 April 1940, and 57th Fd Rgt moved up to the St Pol area. When the
German offensive in the west opened on 10 May, the BEF advanced into Belgium in accordance with
'Plan D', with 44th (HC) Division moving up to the
Escaut, where it was in reserve. However, the
German Army broke through the
Ardennes to the east, forcing the BEF to withdraw again, and by 19 May the whole force was back across the Escaut, with 57th Fd Rgt deployed at Jammel Hoek covering the canal line. This was the most threatened part of the British line, and there was severe fighting after the enemy established bridgeheads across the Escaut at dawn on 20 May. However, it was the deep German penetration further east that forced the BEF to withdraw to the next canal line on the Belgian frontier by 23 May. 44th (HC) Division withdrew into GHQ Reserve, and then took up positions immediately south of
Hazebrouck. On the morning of 27 May this line came under attack. By now the decision had been made to withdraw the BEF to
Dunkirk for evacuation (
Operation Dynamo). 44th Divisional artillery covered the division's retreat until close to Dunkirk, where all routes were completely blocked by abandoned French vehicles. The gunners destroyed their guns and vehicles before marching to the evacuation beaches on foot. 44th (HC) Division got away in pretty good order aboard boats on 30–31 May, but 57th Fd Rgt lost a number of officers and men in the process.
Home Defence After evacuation, the artillery of 44th (HC) Division re-formed in the
Oxford area before moving to Northern England to be re-equipped. 57th Field Rgt moved to
Pontefract in July and some
25-pounder guns began to arrive later in the month. 44th (HC) Division then moved to Sussex to man a key part of the anti-invasion defences in
South East England under
I Corps. One of the lessons learned from the Battle of France was that the two-battery organisation did not work: field regiments were intended to support an infantry brigade of three battalions. As a result, they were reorganised into three 8-gun batteries, but it was not until late 1940 that the RA had enough trained battery staffs to carry out the reorganisation. 57th Field Rgt accordingly formed 440 Fd Bty on 28 February 1941 while the regiment was stationed at
Sittingbourne.
North Africa At the time of its arrival the British forces in Egypt were facing a crisis against
Rommel's
Panzerarmee Afrika, and the division was lucky not to be thrown straight into action without any desert experience. Instead it got a bare month to train and was positioned on the key south-facing Alam el Halfa ridge when Rommel resumed his offensive with a right hook round the British
Eighth Army's defences at El Alamein. During the resulting
Battle of Alam el Halfa on 31 August the German
Afrika Korps was drawn into attacking dug-in British tanks, supported by 44th Divisional artillery. During the
Second Battle of El Alamein, 44th (HC) Division supported
7th Armoured Division, which itself was tasked with carrying out a subsidiary attack on the first day (23 October). Much of this support was with artillery fire. 57th Field Rgt contributed to the famous '1000 gun' barrage that opened the battle. In the later stages of the battle elements of the division were switched north to assist the main breakthrough. 44th (HC) Division was broken up after Alamein and 57th Fd Rgt became an Army Field Regiment under Eighth Army. In January 1943 it joined 5th
Army Group Royal Artillery (5 AGRA) forming at
Medenine in
Tunisia. 5 AGRA usually supported
XXX Corps. The regiment participated in the battles of
Medenine,
Mareth,
Wadi Akarit, and the
capture of Tunis. 5 AGRA and the rest of XXX Corps artillery then provided crushing support for
XIII Corps in its assault crossing of the
Straits of Messina (
Operation Baytown) on 3 September 1943. Against this force, the landings were not seriously disputed, and Eighth Army began advancing up the
Calabria coast. In November, XXX Corps including HQ 5 AGRA were withdrawn to the UK to prepare for the Allied invasion of Europe (
Operation Overlord), and 57th Fd Rgt transferred to
6 AGRA, which remained under Eighth Army in Italy. 6 AGRA supported
V Corps at the crossing on the
Sangro in November 1943, when 57th Fd Rgt was detached to work directly under
78th Division. The field regiments fired over 600 rounds per gun in the three days of this engagement. 6 AGRA was involved in other operations by Eighth Army and
US Fifth Army, including the
Battle of Monte Cassino in April 1944, the fighting on the
Gothic Line (August) and at
Castel del Rio (December 1944), and the crossing of the
River Po (April 1945) that effectively ended the
Italian Campaign. 57th (Home Counties) Field Regiment was placed in suspended animation on 15 February 1946. Post-Dunkirk, this formation was part of XII Corps in the south-east corner of England, the most-threatened area in the country, moving to
XI Corps in November. This involved a move from
Kirkuk via
Palestine and Egypt to join
X Corps of Eighth Army in
Tunisia, covering approximately 3200 miles between 19 March and 19 April 1943. As soon as it arrived it was thrown into the last stages of the
Tunisian Campaign, because
Gen Montgomery did not want an untried division in Husky. Given the task of capturing
Tarhuna during the night of 28/29 April, it succeeded but was driven off the position the following morning. Montgomery realised that the division needed time to learn battlecraft. It went into action again during the final advance on
Tunis (
Operation Vulcan), moving north to meet
6th Armoured Division of
First Army coming south, whose leading troops were able to spot for X Corps' guns via 56th Division's wireless net.
Salerno to Anzio Because of Montgomery's doubts, 56th Division was not in fact used in Operation Husky. Instead it moved back to
Tripoli in
Libya for further training, and then put to sea on 1 September for the invasion of mainland Italy, landing at
Salerno on 9 September (
Operation Avalanche). H-Hour was at 03.30, the division's leading infantry landing craft touched down at 03.35 covered by naval gunfire, and 113th Fd Rgt's guns began landing at 05.35. The whole regiment was ashore and ready for action at 16.15. Over the next few days the division fought its way forward to extend the beachhead against strong German counter-attacks, and the divisional artillery was heavily engaged in defensive fire (DF) tasks. X Corps began its advance out of the beachhead on the night of 22/23 September with massive artillery support and reached
Naples on 30 September. By 11 October, the division was on the
Volturno Line but failed to cross the river the following day and had to wait until 16 October before it could cross and begin the pursuit through rough country beyond. This brought the division to the
Bernhardt Line, where 113th Fd Rgt lent support to the attack of
201st Guards Brigade up 'Bare Arse Ridge' on 6 November during the
Battle of Monte Camino. Attacks at Monte Camino continued in early December, with large numbers of guns in support, until the division seized the heights on 6 December. 56th Division was next tasked with capturing a bridgehead across the
Garigliano using strong artillery support (400 rounds per gun were supplied for the division's 25-pounders). The attack on the night of 17/18 January 1944 was successful and by morning the leading battalions were across and attacking with plenty of artillery support. The division began its breakout from the bridgehead on 23 January, but at the end of the month was ordered to pull out and go by sea to reinforce the
Anzio beachhead. By 15 February the whole division had arrived and taken over part of the line under
US VI Corps, in time to beat off the
German counter-attack (
Operation Fischfang or 'Catching Fish'). Trench warfare in the Anzio bridgehead continued for months. On 28 February the German
I Parachute Corps began an offensive against 56th Division that produced no change in the line. When the attack was widened to the front of
3rd US Division the following day, accompanied by unusually heavy support from field artillery, the whole artillery in VI Corps brought down a pre-emptive counter-preparation programme. Although this was too late to catch the German troops as they formed up, the attack made no real impression on the Allied defences. 56th Division was by now so weak that it was relieved and on 28 March went by sea to Egypt for recuperation.
Italy again 56th Division returned to Italy on 17 July 1944 and was assigned to
V Corps for the attack on the
Gothic Line (Operation Olive). When the offensive opened on 25 August 1944, V Corps was still moving up, and 56th Division was its reserve, but its artillery was sent on ahead to strengthen the Corps artillery. Once the Corps had broken into the German positions, 56th Division was used to widen the breach on 1 September, and then on 3 September to lead the pursuit, taking Monte Maggiore before opposition increased at the
Gemmano–
Coriano high ground. There followed hard methodical fighting to clear the Germans off successive ridge lines (the
Battle of San Marino). On the night of 27/28 September the 56th Division attacked
Savignano sul Rubicone on the Fiumicino river, supported by a 90-minute barrage fired by the heavily reinforced divisional artillery. Nevertheless, the attack failed, as did attempts to renew it on 29/30 September and 1 October. Later in October, the badly weakened 56th Division was relieved in the line. While the infantry were recuperating, 56th Division's artillery was brought up to reinforce V Corps' fire-plan for the capture of
Forlì and the attempted crossings of the
Montone on 8 November. 56th Division returned to the fighting in December to cover the
Lamone crossing (2–13 December) and then to clear the ground between the Lamone and the
Senio, forcing its way into Sant'Andrea on 31 December. However, ammunition shortages limited the use of the artillery. For Eighth Army's Spring offensive in 1945 (
Operation Grapeshot), 56th Division was responsible for the operations on Lake Comacchio to outflank the Senio line (5/6, 10/11 and 13 April) allowing it to
breach the Argenta Gap (15–19 April) despite the shortage of artillery ammunition. Once through the gap, 56th Division drove on through German rearguards to the Po, arriving on 25 April and crossing immediately. The division reached
Venice on 29 April. Here it was halted due to shortage of fuel. The
Surrender of Caserta came into force on 2 May, ending hostilities in the Italian theatre. 56th Division was made responsible for protecting lines of communication to the disputed city of
Trieste in the immediate aftermath of the fighting. 113th (Home Counties) Field Regiment was placed in suspended animation on 10 November 1945. ==Postwar==