The 1st Monmouthshire Artillery Volunteer Corps was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force raised in 1860 from Monmouthshire in the Welsh borders. After transfer to the Territorial Force it served with the 53rd (Welsh) Division in Palestine in World War I and in North West Europe in World War II. Its successors serve with today's Army Reserve.

Volunteer Force The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.Beckett.Spiers, pp. 163–168. An Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVC) of two batteries was formed at Newport in Monmouthshire on 4 October 1860. Two additional batteries were raised by 1863: C at Abercarn and Crumlin, Caerphilly, and D at Blackwood, Caerphilly.Beckett, Appendix VIII.Frederick, p. 666.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 131–132. Charles Lyne was appointed Major in command.Army List, various dates.

In 1864 the unit was included in the 1st Administrative Brigade of Glamorganshire Artillery Volunteers, but it raised two more batteries at Newport in 1866 and became an independent unit, with Lyne promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1873 the 1st Worcestershire AVC was attached to it, and the following year the 1st Administrative Brigade, Monmouthshire Artillery Volunteers was formed, comprising the two units, with its headquarters (HQ) at Newport and Lyne in command.Litchfield & Westlake, p. 81.Litchfield & Westlake, p.172.

However, by 1878, the 1st Monmouths were down to a strength of two batteries, and the admin brigade was renamed the 1st Administrative Brigade, Worcestershire Artillery Volunteers, with HQ moving to Worcester. Charles Lyne retired and became Honorary Colonel of the brigade. His son, Lt-Col C.R. Lyne, became commanding officer in 1883.Lyne Obituary, Evening Express, 8 July 1901 at Welsh Newspapers Online. When the artillery volunteers were consolidated in 1880, the brigade became the 1st Worcester (Worcester and Monmouth) AVC, with the former 1st Monmouthshire reduced to Nos 7 and 8 Batteries at Griffithstown. Recruitment picked up in Monmouthshire during the 1880s, and by the end of the decade it was large enough to be an independent corps once more, with six batteries, and the HQ returned to Newport.

The AVCs were intended to serve as garrison artillery manning fixed defences, but a number of the early units manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. However, the War Office (WO) refused to pay for the upkeep of field guns and the concept died out in the 1870s. It was revived in 1888 when some Volunteer batteries were reorganised as 'position artillery' with 16-pounder Rifled Muzzle-Loading guns to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades. The six garrison batteries of the revived 1st Monmouthshire AVC were organised into three position batteries, named heavy batteries from 1903.Beckett, pp. 178–179.Litchfield and Westlake, pp. 3–6.

The 1st Worcesters had formed part of the Welsh Division of the Royal Artillery (RA) from 1882 to 1889, and the Western Division thereafter. The 1st Monmouthshire was placed in the Western Division on being reformed. In 1899 the Artillery Volunteers were transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), the 1st Monmouths becoming the 1st Monmouthshire Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers) when the divisional organisation was abolished on 1 January 1902.

Territorial Force When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. the 1st Monmouthshire transferred to the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) as the IV (or 4th) Welsh Brigade, with the following organisation:Frederick, p. 682.Litchfield, pp. 181–182.London Gazette 20 March 1908.

IV Welsh Brigade, Royal Field Artillery HQ at Drill Hall, Lime Street, Monmouth 1st Monmouth Battery at Newport 2nd Monmouth Battery at RiscaRisca at Drill Hall Project. 3rd Monmouth Battery at GriffithstownGriffithstown at Drill Hall Project. IV Welsh Brigade Ammunition Column at Newport

The Newport Cadet Corps, RFA, was also affiliated to the brigade.

The new brigade was part of the Territorial Force's Welsh Division and the batteries were each issued with four 15-pounder guns.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 117–123.53 (W) Division at Long, Long Trail.Conrad, British Army, 1914.Ward, pp. 9-10.

World War I Mobilisation The units of the Welsh Division had just departed for their annual summer camp when the order to mobilise was received on 4 August 1914. They then returned home and assembled at their drill halls to mobilise. The 4th Welsh Brigade mobilised at Newport under the command of Lt-Col D.E. Williams, VD, who had been CO since 1911.

By 11 August the units had completed their concentration and Territorial Force 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, and 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 Territorial Force formations being sent overseas.Frederick, p. 694.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.

1/IV Welsh 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 unit, which had just arrived at Bedford.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 83–90.Ward, p. 13.

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.

Meanwhile, after suffering appalling casualties at Gallipoli, 53rd (Welsh) Division had been withdrawn to Egypt to refit. On 30 January 1916 the divisional artillery was ordered to rejoin the rest of the division. The batteries entrained at Pont-Remy, embarked at Marseille on 3 February and disembarked at Alexandria on 11 February. By 22 February the artillery had rejoined the division at Beni Salama. For the rest of the year the recuperating division was stationed in the Suez Canal defences.Ward, pp. 56–57.

In May 1916 the Territorial Force field brigades were numbered, the 1/IV Welsh being designated CCLXVIII (268) Bde, RFA, and the batteries became A, B and C. Then on 25 December 1916 the divisional artillery was reorganised: A Bty was broken up between B and C Btys (to make them up to six guns each) and they were redesignated A and B, while B Battery (the former 2nd Glamorgan Bty) joined from the old CCLXV (I Welsh) Bde and became C (Howitzer) Bty, equipped with 4.5-inch howitzers. The brigade itself was redesignated CCLXVI (266) Bde. 53rd (W) Divisional Ammunition Column had remained in France, and was reformed in Egypt by abolishing the Brigade Ammunition Columns.Ward, p. 66.

Gaza

Early in 1917 the Egyptian Expeditionary Force launched the Sinai and Palestine Campaign by crossing the Sinai desert and advancing against Turkish forces at Gaza City. The First Battle of Gaza began during the night of 25/26 March when 53rd (W) Division advanced to cross the Wadi Ghuzzeh, with CCLXVI Bde following 158th (North Wales) Infantry Brigade. Despite the darkness and morning fog – 158th Brigade lost its way and arrived late – the infantry were in position by 8:30 and at 10:10 CCLXVI Bde opened fire on Ali Muntar. However, the attack orders were late reaching the infantry, and the main bombardment did not begin until 12:00. The division's attack went well, with 158th Bde establishing a lodgement at Ali Muntar, but the artillery was too weak to suppress the Turkish fire – CCLXVI Brigade had to support the frontage of two infantry brigades, and there were not enough forward observation officers (FOOs) or signal cable – and casualties were heavy. By 18:30 the division had taken all its objectives and its troops were in the eastern streets of Gaza when the attack was stopped for lack of water. Although 53rd (W) Division consolidated its position, it was very congested by next morning, with the guns of 53rd (W) and 54th (East Anglian) Divisions firing back to back. The infantry were withdrawn to Wadi Guzzeh the following day.Farndale, Forgotten Fronts, pp. 81–84.MacMunn & Falls, Vol I, pp. 286–297, 301–303, 310–315.Ward, pp. 83–97.

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, CCLXVI Bde firing at Samson's Ridge. The infantry attacked punctually at 7:30 and 53rd (W) Division got onto Samson's Ridge. However, it could not push straight on to the redoubt on the ridge because the artillery support was too weak (the gas shelling was ineffectual) and the neighbouring division was badly held up. 160th Brigade carried the redoubt later in the day, but were still short of the main Turkish defence position. Casualties had been high and gains minimal, and the EEF dug in for a summer of trench warfare. The artillery batteries were regularly ordered to fire test rounds at specified map coordinates to prove their readiness for defensive fireFarndale, Forgotten Fronts, pp. 87–89.MacMunn & Falls, Vol I, pp. 335–337, 343, 348.Ward, pp. 101–109, 116.