140th Siege Battery RGA.

A little back ground to the battery my Grandfather joined.

Battery History.

140^th Siege Battery, R.G.A. was formed on 22/5/1916.

140 SB was formed at Sheerness, one of ten new siege batteries formed in May 1916. This was a modern, mechanised battery [not horse drawn] and went out to the western front in August 1916, one of 25 new Siege Batteries sent out that month.  Its armament was 4 x 6” Howitzers of the new 26 cwt type.

140 SB was sent to the Somme to join 15 Heavy Artillery Group [HAG] 7-8-16, was moved to 36 [Australian] HAG 10-9-16 under the command of 2nd Corps and joined 14 HAG 21-3-17 under the command of 1^st ANZAC Corps.

The battery commander was Maj A.G.C.Smythe who was also the OC of 36 HAG at one point.

Battery Equipment.

4 x 6” Howitzers of the new 26 cwt type.

Rapidly developed at the beginning of the war, its combination of firepower, range and mobility (for its day) made it one of the British Empire's most important weapons in the war.

Over 3,600 were made and they were still in use at the end of WW2.

Crewed by 10 men, it could fire two, 100 lb shells, per minute, up to 5½ miles.  They fired over 22 million shells on the Western Front alone.

The 106E percussion fuse was introduced in 1917 - its sensitive 'graze' action allowed it to explode on the surface and clear wire entanglements effectively.

Transport for a mechanised 6” How battery consisted of:-

4 x quadruple driven lorries [gun tractors]
13 x 3-ton lorries
1 x motor car
7 x motorcycles

This was broken down as follows:-
For the Guns and their equipment….4 quadruple driven lorries….8 drivers
For ammunition….8 x 3-ton lorries…..16 drivers
For baggage and stores….3 x 3-ton lorries….6 drivers
For personnel….1 x car….1 x driver
For personnel….7 x motorcycles
For supplies….1 x 3-ton lorry….2 drivers
Spare…. 1 x 3-ton lorry….2 drivers
Each battery was also supplied with one water tank.

Battery Personnel.

Major 1
Captain 1
Subalterns 4
BSM 1
BQMS 1
Sergeants 5
Smiths 2
Wheeler 1
Trumpeter 2
Corporals 6
Bombardiers 6
Gunners 100.  This includes 8 acting Bombardiers and 21 Signallers and Telephonists
Batman 6 [for the 6 Officers].

Total 136

Attached personnel

Army Ordnance Corps [A.O.C.] Armament Artificer 1

A.S.C. Motor Transport [M.T.]
Subalterns 2
Sergeants 3
Batmen 2
Drivers - lorries 34
Motor car 1
Spare 15% 6

Total attached 49

Battery Grand Total [including attached] - 185

Gun Detachments.

The 4 guns each had 30 men split into 3 shift rotas (10 men per gun per shift) of 24 hour working plus signallers.
A sub section comprised of about ten men and the functions of each man in the sub section was identified by a number from 1 to 10. The list below explains the basic functions for each member of the gun detachment. 

No.1 The gun commander responsible for supervising the actions of all other members of the detachment and gives the order to fire.
No.2 Opens and closes the breech, puts the gun in and out of firing position, operates the right brake once gun is laid and fires the gun.
No.3 With number 5 rams home the round. Uncaps fuses. Operates the left brake once the gun is laid.
No.4 Acts as gun layer with number 1.
No.5 With number 3 rams home the round and assists number 10 with cleaning and preparing fuses.
No.6 Prepares, fetches and loads shells
No.7 Carries shells to the gun. Assists number 10.
No.8 An NCO, prepares charges and keeps records of charges.
No.9 Carries shells to the gun. Assists number 10.
No.10 Issues shells and ensures shells are clean and fused.  

No.1 was a Sergeant, and commanded the sub-section.

A Subaltern commanded a section of two guns.

 6” Howitzers

 A quadruple driven lorry [gun tractor]

3-ton lorries

My Granddad goes to the front.

30th October 1916.

My Granddad leaves Le Havre to join his unit at the front.

He goes to join 140 Siege Battery RGA on the Somme.
A battery of 4, 6" Howitzers.

The battery position was at Authuille Wood, near Aveluy, just north of Albert.
The Battle of the Somme was in its fourth month.
Reginald Groves had been killed near Le Sars on the first of the month.

This shows the exact location of the battery on a WW1 trench map.

The battery was part of 36 [Australian] HAG [Heavy Artillery Group] and contained the following siege batteries: 14 SB, 23 SB, 33 SB, 80 SB, 129 SB, 140 SB and 177 SB.

My Granddad goes to war. 1916.

Gunner John Leeson RGA [96749].

He volunteered on the 10th December 1915, [age 27].  Conscription was introduced by law on 27/1/16.  But such was the flood of volunteers that he was not called up immediately.

He was not mobilised until 12-16th June 1916 at Fort Burgoyne, Dover, which was No.1 Depot Royal Garrison Artillery [RGA].  This depot processed about 1000 recruits per month.  He underwent four months training [16/6/16 to 21/10/16] drill, gunnery and fitness.

He had vaccinations on 28^th July 1916 and 29^th August at Fort Grain in Thames estuary.

This was the base for 18 Company RGA under Major R. Keogh.

There is also a note in his pay book, ‘3 [B] Siege Depot Bexhill’, which is near Hastings, so he may also have been posted there during his training.

Prior to going to France he was at No:2 Depot, RGA, at Fort Brockhurst, Gosport.

 On 21^st October 1916 he was moved overseas to B. S/Bty (Base Depot, Siege Batteries) RGA at Le Havre, France and was placed on active service in the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force), the next day he was issued with his pay book and he wrote and signed his will which was a section of that book.

Le Havre was a massive base for supplies, reinforcements and remounts (horses).

The RGA’s No:1 General Base Depot was located at Camp 12, approximately a quarter of a mile to the west of Harfleur station.

There he was processed for the front and only now allocated to his unit.  He was there for 8 days till 29/10/16.  He was posted to 140 Siege Battery RGA on 30/10/16.

140 SB was then part of 36 [Australian] Heavy Artillery Group (HAG), in the II Corps, of the 5^th Army, positioned at that time on the Somme, supporting the final phases of the battle that had started on 1^st July.

Reginald Groves. 1916.

The Life of Reginald Groves.

(1896 – 1/10/1916)

Reginald Groves was my Great Uncle.  My Grandmother Doris was his younger sister.

He was born in April, May or June 1896 in Woolwich.

1901 census age 5, he is in hospital.

1911census age 15, he is a shop assistant, in a picture framing shop.

At that age he probably joins the local Territorials [TF].

20^th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Blackheath and Woolwich) T.F.

Before the war the family lived at 25 Lethbridge Road, Lewisham, SE13. 

The HQ of the 20^th was at Holly Hedge House just a few streets away.

At that time he would have been given a regimental number in the 900-1000 region.

He would have signed up for 4 years [say 1911 to 1915].

In 1913, age 17, he is in the 20^th London TF and is at the 5th London Brigade, summer training camp in August at Arundel Park [see group photo].

5/3/1915, the 1/20^th is deployed to France as part of the 141st Brigade in the 47th [2nd London] Division.

June 1915, he is age 19, but was not sent to the front as he was not awarded the 1915 Star [medal] and may by then have finished his first 4 year term.  He may have been allowed to leave, for a short time [or not at all] and then re-joined or was recalled as his number [when he went to France] was 4880.  This is the number on his medal card and that block of numbers was not issued until around February 1916.

From his medal roll we know he was in France from 15/6/16 until 1/10/16 and that he had the rank of Private [Pte].  So he must have gone out as part of a draft of reinforcements.  His younger brother Cyril went out to France 9 days later.  This must have been very hard on the family.

He must have joined the battalion at Vimy Ridge – the units of 47th Division were involved in frequent crater-fighting in this sector from April to July 1916, including the major German attack on 21 May.

The trenches at Vimy Ridge today.

His brother Cyril, in the 2/20th moved into this area at the end of July and the 2 battalions were very close to each other for a few days.

In August the 47th division marched south to take part in the Somme offensive. Its first operation was the capture of High Wood on the opening day of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15 September). 141 Brigade was given the task of seizing the wood itself, the 1/20th being in the second wave, joining a confused and desperate fight. Casualties were very heavy but, after a renewed bombardment, German troops began to surrender. By the afternoon, 141 Bde held the wood, but was so disorganised by the high number of casualties it had sustained, that it had been formed into a single, composite battalion. Work on establishing a new line beyond the wood was started by a mixed party under Capt H.S. Read of the 1/20th Bn.

From the document recording his affects [he left after he was killed], he was in ‘C’ coy.

Whilst in France he was promoted to Lance Corporal [L/Cpl] as by then he was quite an experienced soldier.  This may have also been a result of the high number of casualties sustained at the battle of High Wood.

He spent just over 15 weeks in France.

1^st October 1916, age 20, he was killed in action during the attack on Eaucourt L’Abbaye, part of the latter stages of the Battle of the Somme.

The Somme 1/10/1916.

He is remembered at the Thiepval War Memorial, Somme, France.

Memorial reference.  Pier and Face 13C.

And the memorial at The Ascension Church, Dartmouth Row, Lewisham.

The Church memorial.

Their Regimental badge.

Their 141st Brigade flash.

 Their 47th Division Badge.

 The battlefield today.

Thiepval Memorial.

 His name on the Thiepval War Memorial.

 His medal card.

His medal roll.

List of his effects after he was killed.

The Groves Family.

Poppies at the Tower of London 2014.

I applied for and had his name added to the Roll of Honour.  His and his brother Cyril's names were read out on November 8th 2014, by  Miss Diana Lees, Director of the Imperial War Museum.  The Last Post was sounded by WO2 [Band Srgt Maj] Ralph Brill, Scots Guards.

To see the video.

His is remembered at the Tower, Roll of Honour 8/11/2014

To see the full list.

Roll of Honour list

They are numbers 52 and 54.