The 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. They served as a Coast Artillery unit during both World Wars, and also manned batteries serving overseas. The unit continued in existence until the dissolution of Coast Artillery in the UK in 1956.

Artillery Volunteers 1859–1908 The Volunteer Force came into existence in 1859 as a result of an invasion scare and the consequent enthusiasm for joining local Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps.Beckett.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 1–4.Spiers, pp. 163–8. By 24 May 1860, there were enough Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) in Cornwall to form an Administrative Brigade with its Headquarters (HQ) at Bodmin to include all the AVCs in the county. From July 1861 the 1st Admin Brigade of Cornwall Artillery Volunteers appeared in the Army List under the title of The Duke of Cornwall's Artillery Volunteers, for which Queen Victoria gave special permission.London Gazette, 6 September 1861. The brigade had the following composition:Beckett, Appendix VIII.Frederick, p. 653.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 47–9.Maurice-Jones, pp. 164–6.Cornwall Volunteer Artillery at Regiments.org.Army Lists. 1st (Padstow) Cornwall AVC, raised 27 September 1859 2nd (Looe) Cornwall AVC, raised 17 October 1859 3rd (Fowey) Cornwall AVC, raised 25 November 1859 4th (Charlestown) Cornwall AVC, raised 30 October 1859 5th (Par) Cornwall AVC, raised 23 December 1859 as the '1st Section of Cornwall Artillery Volunteers'; became 5th Corps in March 1860 – Consols Mine 6th (Par Harbour) Cornwall AVC, raised 4 February 1860 as the '2nd Section of Cornwall Artillery Volunteers'; became 6th Corps in June 1860, absorbed by 5th Corps in July 1860 7th (Polruan) Cornwall AVC, raised 27 February 1860 8th (Hayle Foundry) Cornwall AVC, raised from foundry workers 2 April 1860Beckett, p. 58. 9th (West Fowey Consols Mine) Cornwall AVC, raised from mineworkers on 2 April 1860; disbanded in late 1863 10th (St Buryan) Cornwall AVC, raised 5 November 1860; moved to Newlyn 1868, and to Penzance 1877 11th (St Ives) Cornwall AVC, raised 8 November 1860; disbanded 1878 12th (Marazion) Cornwall AVC, raised 3 April 1860 13th (St Just) Cornwall AVC, raised 26 September 1862

Lieutenant-Colonel W.R. Gilbert, a half-pay officer in the Royal Artillery (RA), was appointed to command the brigade on 24 May 1860. His second in command, Brevet Major Shadwell M. Grylls, was also a half-pay RA officer, while the adjutant, Captain Robert Edyvean, had previously been in the Royal Cornwall and Devon Miners Artillery Militia. Gilbert held the command for over 30 years. In May 1880, the Corps were consolidated as the 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers, with ten batteries distributed as follows:London Gazette, 11 May 1880. No 1 Battery at Padstow No 2 Battery at Looe No 3 Battery at Fowey No 4 Battery at Charlestown No 5 Battery at Par No 6 Battery at Polruan No 7 Battery at Hayle No 8 Battery at Penzance No 9 Battery at Marazion No 10 Battery at St Just

On 1 April 1882, all the AVCs were affiliated to one of the territorial garrison divisions of the RA and the 1st Cornwall AV became part of the Western Division. On 1 September 1886, it officially became the 3rd Volunteer (Duke of Cornwall's) Brigade, Western Division, RA, but resumed its former title three years later. In 1888, HQ moved to Falmouth. By 1893, the War Office Mobilisation Scheme had allocated the 1st Cornwall Artillery Volunteers to the Plymouth fixed defences.Mobilization Tables for Home Defence, List of Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Units, HMSO, London, 1893

In the 1890s, the battery at Polruan was disbanded, a new No 6 Battery was raised at Hayle in 1894 and the higher numbered batteries were renumbered 7–9. Thereafter, a new No 10 Battery was raised at Falmouth and Truro and No 11 Battery at Buryan and Newbridge. No 10 Battery had a drill shed at High Street, Falmouth.Falmouth at Drill Hall Project.

Royal Garrison Artillery In 1899, the RA was divided into separate field and garrison branches, and the artillery volunteers were all assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). On 1 January 1902, the RA's divisional organisation was abolished and the titles were changed, the unit becoming the 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers). Two further batteries were raised in the 1900s.

Territorial Force

When the Territorial Force (TF) was created from the old Volunteer Force under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Beckett, pp. 247–53.Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. the 1st Cornwall RGA (V) was to join with the Devonshire RGA (V) to become the Cornwall & Devon RGA, and also to provide a Cornwall Battery for the 3rd Wessex Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (RFA), but this was changed in 1910 to separate Cornwall and Devon units without the RFA battery. The Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) RGA had the following organisation:Frederick, p. 696.Litchfield, p. 34.London Gazette, 20 March 1908.London Gazette, 14 October 1910. HQ at Bank Place, Falmouth No 1 Heavy Battery at PadstowCornwall Drill Stations at Drill Hall Project. No 2 Heavy Battery at PenzancePenzance at Drill Hall Project. No 3 Company at LooeLooe at Drill Hall Project. No 4 Company at MarazionMarazion at Drill Hall Project. and HayleHayle at Drill Hall Project. No 5 Company at St IvesSt Ives at Drill Hall Project. No 6 Company at Falmouth No 7 Company at TruroTruro at Drill Hall Project.

The companies were responsible for manning the batteries of fixed coastal guns, while the heavy batteries were mobile and responsible for the landward defences (TF heavy batteries were usually armed with obsolescent 4.7-inch guns).Litchfield, p. 3. In 1914, the Falmouth defences consisted of four 6-inch guns.Maurice-Jones, p. 187.

World War I

Mobilisation On the outbreak of war, the Cornwall RGA mobilised under the command of Lt-Col H. Shapcott, VD and deployed to its war stations guarding the major ports of Cornwall under No 1 Coastal Fire Command.Artillery at Long, Long Trail.RGA (TF) at Warpath No 1 Heavy Battery was commanded by Maj J.A. Cumberledge and No 2 Hvy Bty by Maj Francis Freathy Oats, son of the mining magnate Francis Oats, who had recruited many miners from his family's St Just mines into his battery. The group of smaller garrison companies were commanded by another major and the individual companies by captains.134th Hvy Bty at Great War Forum.

Shortly afterwards, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and, on 15 August 1914, the War Office (WO) 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 companies and batteries were created, releasing the 1st Line units to be sent overseas.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6. Recruitment for the Cornwall RGA went well: by January 1915, Maj Oats had recruited two additional batteries. A new 1/8th Company later served in the Plymouth defences.Army Council Instructions April 1917.

By October 1914, the campaign on the Western Front was bogging down into Trench warfare and there was an urgent need for batteries of Heavy and Siege artillery to be sent to France. The WO decided that the TF coastal gunners were well enough trained to take over many of the duties in the coastal defences, releasing Regular RGA gunners for service in the field, and 1st line RGA companies that had volunteered for overseas service had been authorised to increase their strength by 50 per cent.WO Instruction No 248 of October 1914. In July 1915 1/1st and 1/2nd Heavy Btys of the Cornwall RGA manned 134th (Cornwall) Heavy Bty, RGA, officially formed at Woolwich on 17 August. The battery saw active service in the East African Campaign.Frederick, pp. 699–706.

Although coast defence companies never left the UK, they did supply drafts of trained gunners to RGA units serving overseas. They also provided cadres as the basis on which to form complete new units for front line service. The cadres of the 46th, 93rd and 173rd Siege Batteries formed in 1915–16 were provided by the Cornwall RGA, while a number of other siege batteries formed later in the Falmouth Defences (211th, 246th, 266th, 296th) may have included trained men from the unit among the recruits, although the Army Council Instructions did not specifically order this.Army Council Instructions, 1915–1916.

Home defence

Under Army Council Instruction 686 of April 1917, the coast defence companies of the RGA (TF) were reorganised. The Cornwall RGA serving in the Falmouth garrison was reduced from eight companies (1/3rd, 1/4th, 1/5th, 1/6th, 1/7th, 2/4th, 2/6th and 2/7th) to just two (numbered 1 and 2), which were to be kept up to strength with Regular recruits. 1/8th Company disappeared into the reduced Devon RGA.

By April 1918, the Falmouth defences comprised the following batteries under the control of No 1 Coastal Fire Command:Frederick, p. 647.Farndale, Forgotten Fronts, Annexes 4 and 7. Pendennis Castle – 2 × 6-inch Mk VII guns St Anthony Battery – 2 × 6-inch Mk VII Hayle Powder Factory – 2 × 12-pdr QF guns These defences never saw action during the war.

134th (Cornwall) Heavy Battery

134th (Cornwall) Heavy Bty was formed in July 1915 by 1/1st and 1/2nd Heavy Btys of the Cornwall RGA. It embarked for the East African Campaign on 26 December 1915, arriving at Mombasa on 1 February 1916. It was equipped with four Indian Army pattern 5.4-inch howitzers,'Allocation of Heavy Batteries RGA', The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/5494/2.Farndale, Forgotten Fronts, p. 318.134th Hvy Bty War Diary December 1915–December 1917, TNA file WO 95/5314/14.Drake, p. 173. which were drawn by oxen, but it had a motor transport company (No 633, Army Service Corps) as its ammunition column.'Allocation of Mechanical Transport Companies ASC', TNA file WO 95/5494.Young, Annex Q.

In March, the battery took part in the Battle of Latema Nek,Anderson, pp. 114–6. and later in a long march along the Pangani River, reaching Morogoro by late August. Here, the offensive was halted by rain, exhaustion and German defences, so the force paused and reorganised.Anderson, pp. 143–8.Drake, pp. 165–73.Farndale, Forgotten Fronts, pp. 323–6, 330.Sibley, pp. 109–13. On 1 January 1917 the battery opened fire from prepared positions to support the attack on the Mgeta river, suppressing the fire of enemy machine guns commanding the bridge but losing one of its howitzers to a premature shell burst.Farndale, Forgotten Fronts, pp. 338–40.Drake, p. 191.

In February 1917, the battery sent a howitzer and its detachment by sea to join the defences of Lindi while the rest of the battery returned to Morogoro for training. At the end of May, the battery handed its two remaining 5.4-inch howitzers over to 11th (Hull) Heavy Bty and took over a 5-inch howitzer from that battery. It then joined the detachment at Lindi, where it adapted Flat wagons so that a howitzer and its limber could be moved along the German light railway, hauled by local porters.Drake, p. 210.