Formation The
Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old
Volunteer Force, the
Honourable Artillery Company and the
Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14
infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry
brigades. Each yeomanry brigade included a
horse artillery battery and an
ammunition column. On 18 March 1908,
Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force) was proposed to be raised from the Shropshire Battery of the
1st Shropshire and Staffordshire Artillery Volunteers,
RGA. This was the only one of the new horse artillery batteries (other than those of the
Honourable Artillery Company) that pre-existed the establishment of the Territorial Force in 1908. The unit was equipped with four guns and allocated as artillery support to the
Welsh Border Mounted Brigade.
1/1st Shropshire The 1st Line battery was embodied with the Welsh Border Mounted Brigade on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the
First World War and moved to
East Anglia. It joined the
1st Mounted Division in September 1914, replacing
2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade which moved to
2nd Mounted Division. The battery was re-equipped with four
18-pounders on 30 December 1915 at
Beccles. In March 1916, the Welsh Border Mounted Brigade (without the battery) was dismounted and left for Egypt. The brigade was replaced in the 1st Mounted Division by its 2nd line
2/1st Welsh Border Mounted Brigade and the battery remained with the division until August 1916. (that is, before the field artillery brigades of the Territorial Force divisions were numbered in a single sequence). The brigade was reformed for 58th Division in August 1916 as
CCXCIII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (T.F.) with two gun batteries provided by 1/1st Shropshire RHA (
A/CCXCIII Battery) and
1/1st Glamorganshire RHA (B/CCXCIII Battery) and two howitzer batteries (C(H) and D(H) of four
4.5" howitzers each). The Brigade Ammunition Column had been redundant since the Welsh Border Mounted Brigade had left, so the men were transferred to the
58th Divisional Trench Mortar Brigade. CCXCIII Brigade landed at
Le Havre on 22 January 1917. On 6 February 1917, D(H) Battery was split between D(H)/CCXC Battery and D(H)/CCXCI Battery; the remainder of the brigade became CCXCIII Army Field Artillery Brigade, RFA, now with two batteries of six 18-pounders and one of four 4.5" howitzers. serving as Army Troops with the
First Army.
2/1st Shropshire Shropshire RHA formed a 2nd line in 1914, initially designated as the
Shropshire (Reserve) Battery RHA and later given a fractional designation as
2/1st Shropshire Battery, RHA. In March 1916, the brigade joined the 1st Mounted Division to replace the 1st Line Welsh Border Mounted Brigade which was dismounted for service in Egypt. At this point, the battery had been rearmed with
18-pounders. The brigade disembarked at
Boulogne on 24 May 1917 and became an Army Field Brigade. On 6 July 1917, the battery was redesignated as
A/CLVIII Battery At the Armistice, the battery (by now made up to six 18-pounders) was still with CLVIII Army Brigade, RFA serving as Army Troops with the
Fifth Army.
Interwar Shropshire RHA was reconstituted in the Territorial Force on 7 February 1920 when it formed a battery (later numbered 240th) in
6th (Cheshire and Shropshire) Medium Brigade,
Royal Garrison Artillery and ceased to be a Royal Horse Artillery battery. The rest of the brigade was formed from the 6th Battalion,
Cheshire Regiment (T.F.) and the
Cheshire Brigade,
RFA (T.F.). The unit was later redesignated as 60th (6th Cheshire and Shropshire) Medium Brigade,
RA, (
TA). In January 1927, 240th Battery regained its sub-title as
240th (Shropshire RHA) Medium Battery, RA (TA).
Second World War of 240 Bty, 51st Medium Rgt, at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, 7 July 1941. In 1938, 240th (Shropshire RHA) Battery transferred from the 60th Medium Regiment to
51st (Midland) Medium Regiment, and fought with it throughout the Second World War, in '
Arkforce' during the
Battle of France, in the
Tunisian and
Italian campaigns, and finally in Germany at the end of the war.
Postwar 51st (Midland) Medium Rgt was placed in suspended animation in 1946. ==See also==