Mobilisation After the order to mobilise was received on 4 August 1914, the units of the Welsh Division assembled at their drill halls. The Cheshire Brigade mobilised at Shiplake Street under the command of Lt-Col Frederick Bonnalie,
TD, who had been CO since 1906. By 11 August the units had completed their concentration and TF members were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. Four days later the
War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. Then 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 batteries, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.
1/1st Cheshire Brigade, RFA At the end of August the Welsh Division concentrated at
Northampton to continue its training. On 18 November the division was warned for garrison duty in
India, but this was cancelled and in December it moved to
Cambridge, then to
Bedford in May 1915. In July the infantry of the division (now renamed the 53rd (Welsh) Division) embarked for service at
Gallipoli, but the divisional artillery remained at Bedford. In October the batteries were re-armed with modern
18-pounder guns and on 8 November they handed over their obsolescent 15-pounders to the 2nd Line, which had just arrived at Bedford. 53rd (Welsh) Divisional Artillery was now ordered to France to join the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the
Western Front. It embarked on 20 November and had concentrated at
Pont-Remy by 25 November, from where parties were sent to various divisional artilleries for instruction in front line duties. As senior brigade commanding officer, Lt-Col Bonnalie frequently acted as Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA), for 53rd (W) Division in 1915–16. • A Bty (6 x 18-pounders) –
from 2nd Cheshire Bty + half 1st Cheshire Bty' • B Bty (6 x 18-pounders) –
from 3rd Cheshire Bty + half 1st Cheshire Bty' • C (H) Bty (4 x 4.5-inch howitzers) –
from 1st Glamorgan Bty • CCLXV BAC –
from Cheshire BAC + half 1st Welsh BAC However, 53rd (W) Divisional Ammunition Column had remained in France, and was reformed in Egypt by abolishing the BACs. For the
Second Battle of Gaza, beginning on 17 April, 53rd (W) Division's role was to advance up the coast across Wadi Ghuzzeh, and then attack Gaza after an artillery bombardment. The bombardment was begun by the heavy artillery and warships offshore, then the 4.5-inch howitzers began firing
gas shells against Turkish batteries. At 07.20, 10 minutes before Zero, the 18-pounders began engaging the objectives. The infantry attacked punctually at 07.30 and 53rd (W) Division captured Samson's Ridge. However, it could not push on because the neighbouring division was badly held up and the artillery fire was too weak. Casualties had been high and gains minimal, and the EEF dug in for a summer of trench warfare. Although the War Office was unable to provide more divisions for the EEF, it could send guns: 53rd (W) Division's batteries were temporarily brought up to a strength of eight rather than six guns, until further troops arrived. The reorganised EEF renewed its offensive (the
Third Battle of Gaza) on 27 October.
XX Corps, including 53rd (W) Divisional artillery, moved into position during the night of 30/31 October to capture
Beersheba, and the bombardment began at 05.55. After a pause at 07.00 to let the dust settle and determine the effect, the guns reopened. Infantry parties advanced to within of the barrage to finish cutting the
barbed wire. They then rushed Point 1069 and the 18-pounder batteries began to move up to more advanced positions.
Beersheba had fallen to the
Desert Column and XX Corps could
bivouack on the objective. On 3 November 53rd (W) Division was ordered to advance to the Tel es Sheria road. The left column consisted of
159th (Cheshire) Brigade and CCLXV Bde under Lt-Col James Walker. It was a difficult march over broken country in hot weather and there were several sharp actions with enemy detachments, though most casualties came from enemy shellfire. Over following days 53rd (W) Division kept up pressure on the enemy in the hills so that the EEF could roll up the main trench lines (the
Battle of Hareira and Sheria). Then on 6 November the division
assaulted the Khuweilfe position supported by an intense bombardment by all its own guns and a heavy battery. During the night CCLXV Bde (less one battery) had been brought round from the left of the division to the right to reinforce the artillery support for 158th Bde, which was all put under the command of Lt-Col Walker. The night move was extremely difficult, the rough country forcing each gun had to be double-teamed with horses and manhandled as well. There was no time to reconnoitre battery positions or register the guns: the guns were simply dragged up the hill and lined up alongside batteries that had already registered. After confused fighting the position was held, with the support of the divisional artillery breaking up Turkish counter-attacks. After the battle the gunners were allowed up Khuweife to see what they had achieved. After breaking through the Gaza positions, the EEF pressed on to
Jerusalem in appalling weather. The city was to be captured by XX Corps after a rapid advance by a flying column known as 'Mott's Detachment' that included 53rd (W) Division. The batteries of CCLXV and CCLXVI Bdes moved up in bounds, covering the flanks of the advance. At 07.00 on 7 December, as the preliminary attacks began, a few ranging shots by C Bty of CCLXV Bde scattered a body of enemy cavalry at Sherife, a position that would have been troublesome if the Turks had held it.
Jerusalem fell the following day, but there was still heavy fighting to the end of the year as the Turks threw in counter-attacks. On 21 December 160th Bde put in a full-scale attack on El Zamby and White Hill to improve its position, advancing behind a
lifting barrage put down by CCVXV and CCLXVI Bdes from 05.15. When the attack was held up the fireplan was rearranged with an 18-pounder concentration on El Zamby from 07.20 to 07.40, when
2/4th Battalion Queen's Regiment assaulted again. The position was held against several Turkish counter-attacks, with heavy ammunition expenditure by the gunners. XX Corps renewed its advance in March 1918, 53rd(W) Division pushing forward a little on 2 March, then again on 6 March against only slight opposition, before the whole Corps advanced on 8 March. 53rd (W) Division's main objective was the hill of
Tell 'Asur, and it was supported by plentiful artillery as well as its own brigades. The peak was taken, lost, and retaken, followed by four more Turkish counter-attacks. That night the division also took Chipp Hill, which had defied the neighbouring division during daylight, but on 10 March found the wadi in front too steep to climb, only passing over it during darkness on 12 March. The new line was held through the summer months. In the summer of 1918 the 53rd Division was 'Indianised', with three-quarters of the infantry battalions replaced by others drawn from the British Indian Army, but this did not affect the divisional artillery, which retained its composition to the end of the war. At the climactic
Battle of Megiddo 53rd (W) Division attacked late on the first day (18 September), after a 20-minute bombardment. The sound of the infantry's approach march had previously been drowned by slow shellfire on Keen's Hill. The gunners then fired smoke shells to guide the infantry's advance in the moonlight. One Turkish position held out, and a new attack was arranged for 19 November, with Lt-Col Walker of CCLXV Bde arranging the artillery support. During the afternoon a party of Turks was found eating lunch in the open, and every field gun in range was called in to destroy them. When the attack went in at 19.00 it was completely successful, the main enemy position was taken and the guns could move forward with A/CCLXV Bty in the lead. The pressure was kept up on 20 September, and when
158th Bde advanced at 23.00 it found the Turks had retired, and continued advancing through the night until 05.30 on 21 September when it found the road blocked. The roads were very bad, and the
Royal Engineers struggled to make a path for the guns, but the artillery closed up behind 158th Bde and watered their horses. At dawn a Turkish column was seen taking up position on the El Tuwanik ridge: this magnificent target was out of range of the guns, even if the horse teams could have been brought up to push further forward. The advance continued at 08.30 and by 15.00 the infantry had taken El Tuwanik. By the end of the next day the Turkish army was shattered, and a general advance was ordered. After the battle the division was withdrawn to Alexandria before the
Armistice of Mudros came into effect on 31 October.
Demobilisation began on 20 December and was completed in June 1919. CCLXV Brigade was placed in suspended animation.
2/1st Cheshire Brigade, RFA Although formation of the 2nd Line units began in September 1914, the 2nd Welsh Division (
68th (2nd Welsh) Division from August 1915) did not concentrate at Northampton until April 1915, moving in the summer to replace the 53rd (Welsh) Division at Bedford. Training of the units was made difficult by the lack of arms and equipment, and the requirement to provide drafts to the 1st Line overseas. At the end of May 2/1st Cheshire Brigade sent two officers and 106 other ranks to help form the 53rd Divisional Ammunition Column. In June the first saddlery and horses began to arrive, but no guns until August, when the brigade received four
French De Bange 90 mm guns. Some ammunition wagons arrived in September, and eight more 90 mm guns in October. Training began to speed up, with the 90 mm guns standing in for 15-pounders. In November they were handed in, and the brigade moved to Bedford to take over the 15-pounders from the 1st Line. In December 1915 these, in turn, were replaced by modern 18-pounders. 68th (2nd Welsh) Division had been assigned a role in Home Defence in November when it joined
First Army (Home Forces) in
Central Force, with its units quartered across Eastern England. In May 1916 the brigade was numbered
CCCXLII (342nd) Brigade and the batteries became A, B and C. Later, A (H) Bty from CCCXL (2/I Welsh) (Howitzer) Bde joined and became D (H) Bty. In May 1917 the division transferred to
Northern Army (Home Forces), and remained in
Norfolk and
Suffolk until the end of the war. CCCXLII Brigade was disbanded in 1919. ==Interwar==