View source for 171st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=1st & 2nd Defence Regiments, RA<br>171st Field Regiment, RA<br>171st Heavy Regiment, RA
|image=Koning_Soldaat.,_item_60.jpg
|image_size=250px
|caption=Royal Artillery cap badge
|dates= 4 October 1940 – 25 January 1946
|country={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch=[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|type=
|role= [[Field artillery]]
|size=3 [[Artillery battery|Batteries]]
|command_structure=[[45th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|45th Infantry Division]]
|garrison=
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The '''171st Field Regiment''' was a unit of Britain's [[Royal Artillery]] (RA) during [[World War II]]. Originally formed to man beach defence batteries, it later became field artillery and briefly converted to heavy artillery. It served in Home Forces and supplied trained gunners to the fighting fronts, but saw no active service. It was disbanded after the war.
==1st and 2nd Defence Regiments==
After the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] was [[Dunkirk evacuation|evacuated from Dunkirk]] and the United Kingdom was threatened with invasion, a crash programme of installing coastal artillery batteries was implemented in the summer of 1940.<ref>Farndale, Annex B.</ref><ref>Maurice-Jones, pp. 227–32.</ref><ref name = CollierVIII>[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-Defence-UK/UK-DefenseOfUK-8.html Collier, Chapter VIII.]</ref>
Later, as the Home Defence strategy developed, the Royal Artillery formed a number of  'Defence Batteries' to deploy around the coastline for general beach defence. These were not part of the RA's Coast Artillery branch, nor were they included in the field forces under [[Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces]], but equipped with whatever old guns were available they freed up scarce field artillery from static beach defence for the mobile counter-attack forces. Most of these batteries were formed on 1 September 1940, and they were grouped into regiments from 4 October, including:<ref name = CollierVIII/><ref>Farndale, p. 103.</ref><ref name = FarnM>Farndale, Annex M.</ref><ref name = Frederick931>Frederick, pp. 931–3.</ref>
* '''1st Defence Regiment''' formed at [[Chelmsford]] in [[Essex]] with 903, 904 and 905 Defence Btys
* '''2nd Defence Regiment''' formed at [[Saxmundham]] in [[Norfolk]] with 907, 908 and 909 Defence Btys.
On 15 March 1941 the defence regiments were reorganised: 1st Defence Rgt was disbanded, except 905 Bty, which joined 2nd Defence Rgt replacing 909 Bty, which was disbanded about this time.<ref name = FarnM/><ref name = Frederick931/>
==171st Field Regiment==
[[File:IWM-H-8241-Morris-C8-19410320.jpg|right|thumb|A 25-pounder gun and [[Morris C8|Quad]] [[Artillery tractor|tractor]] on a training exercise in the UK.]]
By the beginning of 1942 the imminent threat of invasion had passed, the coast artillery batteries were fully established, and the RA required gunners for the field forces. The remaining Defence Regiments in the UK were disbanded or converted into field artillery. On 12 January 1942 2nd Defence Rgt was converted into '''171st Field Regiment''', and 905, 907 and 908 Defence Btys were designated A, B and C; they were redesignated P, Q and R on 11 March.<ref name = FarnM/><ref name = Frederick931/><ref name = Frederick538>Frederick, p. 538.</ref> At this period the establishment of a field regiment was three batteries, each of two troops of four [[Ordnance QF 25-pounder|25-pounder]] guns.<ref>Farndale, p. 99.</ref>
[[File:45 inf div -vector.svg|thumb|left|[[Divisional insignia of the British Army|Divisional insignia]] of 45th Infantry Division.]]
On 11 February 1942 the regiment was assigned to [[45th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|45th Infantry Division]], which had recently been placed on a lower establishment as a home defence formation with no immediate prospect of overseas service. At the time the division was in [[II Corps (United Kingdom)|II Corps]] District covering the Essex coast.<ref>Collier, Map 27.</ref><ref name = Joslen45>Joslen, pp. 73–4.</ref>
On 1 January 1943 the regiment's batteries were numbered as 150, 151 and 152 Field Btys,{{efn|Previous batteries numbered 150 and 151 had been formed in the [[Royal Field Artillery]] in 1901, but disbanded in 1913 and 1905 respectively.<ref name = Frederick486/>}} and immediately 152 Bty was exchanged with 571 Bty from 195th Field Rgt, a new unit in a newly formed [[80th Infantry (Reserve) Division (United Kingdom)|80th Infantry (Reserve) Division]]; however the batteries exchanged numbers, so that 171st Field Rgt continued to command 150, 151 and 152 Field Btys.<ref name = FarnM/><ref name = Frederick538/><ref name = Frederick486>Frederick, p. 486.</ref><ref>Frederick, p. 541.</ref><ref>Joslen, p. 103.</ref>
On 3 February 1943 the division was shipped to [[Northern Ireland]], where it continued training. It remained there until the end of the year, when it returned to the mainland on 21 December. The primary role of the lower-establishment divisions was now to provide trained reinforcements to units serving in active theatres. After [[D Day]] on 6 June 1944 this was mainly to [[21st Army Group]] fighting in [[Operation Overlord|Normandy]]. Having supplied most of its manpower in this way, 45th Division was broken up on 30 August 1944.<ref name = Joslen45/>
==171st Heavy Regiment==
171st Field Rgt remained in existence, and on 15 February 1945, while stationed at [[Bexhill-on-Sea]], [[East Sussex]], it was converted into '''171st Heavy Regiment'''; 150, 151 and 152 Field Btys were disbanded and replaced by three existing batteries that were now regimented:<ref name = FarnM/><ref name = Frederick538/><ref  name  = Frederick556>Frederick, pp. 556–61, 734.</ref>
* 7 Heavy Bty – joined from [[56th (Highland) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery|56th (Highland) Medium Rgt]]
* 35 Heavy Bty – formed 1 January 1945
* 36 Heavy Bty – converted from 16 Super Heavy Bty in 2nd Super Heavy Rgt (which was disbanding)
The regiment was assigned to [[47th (London) Infantry Division|47th Infantry (Reserve) Division]]. This was an agglomeration of reserve formations and units including (unusually for an infantry division) both a heavy (171st) and a medium (56th (Highland)) artillery regiment.<ref name = Joslen47>Joslen, pp. 41–2.</ref>
However, shortly after the end of the war in Europe, the regiment reverted to '''171st Field Rgt''' on 19 May 1945. It retained its heavy batteries (or what remained of them) and was joined at Bexhill by new 150 and 151 Field Btys reformed at [[Mundford]] in Norfolk on 12 May. It remained in 47th Division until the end of the war. The regiment and its batteries were finally disbanded on 25 January 1946.<ref name = FarnM/><ref name = Frederick538/><ref  name  = Frederick556/><ref name = Joslen47/>
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|3}}
==References==
* [[Basil Collier]], [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-Defence-UK/index.html ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1957/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004] {{ISBN|978-1-84574-055-9}}.
* Gen Sir [[Martin Farndale]], ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941'', Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, {{ISBN|1-85753-080-2}}.
* J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, {{ISBN|1-85117-009-X}}.
* Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, ''Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, {{ISBN|1-843424-74-6}}.
* Col K. W. Maurice-Jones, ''The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army'', London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1959/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1-845740-31-3}}.
[[Category:Field regiments of the Royal Artillery]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1942]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1946]]