Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 953

BERKS ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY.

FINE RECORD OF WAR SERVICE.

Among the many units, Regular or Territorials, sent forth by the County of Berkshire to play their parts in the great war, there is one whose light has been hidden under a bushel, so to speak, and whose doings have been less chronicled tha n those of any other. That unit is the Berkshire Battery of Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.). The County Regiment, its Territorial Battalion, and the gallant Yeomanry, have all received their mead o f praise, but perhaps only those who had sons or brothers, or other near relatives serving with Berkshire's guns, were cognisant of the many journeyings, the troubles and trials, and the pleasures and pains, of a body of men that was recruited almost solely from the town of Reading and its neighbourhood. It is possible, even probable, that many inhabitants of the county did not even know in which theatre of war the 1/1st Berkshire Battery was doing its little bit. There has not been an official homecoming for the gunners. In twos and threes, and by sixes and sevens, they straggled back from the East to their native town, and settled down to their civil occupations without any questions being asked as to "what they did in the great war". It will therefore be the object of the present writer to tell, by narrative or anecdote, the travellings and doings of the Battery, and so perhaps help to complete the history of Berkshire and her warriors in the greatest war of all time.

Those First Days.

The story shall start with those first days of hustle and bustle, after the great trumpet-call had sounded, and when the war was more or less an amusing diversion that was to be finished within quite a few months. On August 5th, 1914, officers and men of the Berks Battery received an urgent call to their headquarters at Yeomanry House, where they found scenes of excitement and animation. Parties were hurried off down country in quest of horses and vehicles, while those left without any sort of job kicked their heels and waited with what patience they could muster. On the following day the Battery moved en bloc to take up its quarters in the Wokingham Road Council Schools. Such experiences were strange and wonderful in those days, and it was a laughing, happy throng that settled down that night to sleep on straw in the big hall of the school. Within a few days the horses began to arrive, mostly from the neighbourhood of Wantage, and with them came the transport. And such transport! Big-wheeled farm wagons, and the most motley collection of carts and vans that ever rejoiced in the name of "military transport". There were no others to be obtained, however, and anything had to be good enough in those days. Those were busy times. Riding and driving drills, cleaning and fitting of harness, issuing of equipment, and the general hurly-burly of mobilisation passed the days along until a move was announced. Troops were being rushed with all possible speed to the East Coast, to allay fears of invasion, and the Berks Battery en trained early one morning for Bury St. Edmunds. Only a few people came so early to see them off, but the Germans were going to be smashed within a few weeks, and everybody back home again, so what mattered? After the disentrainment at Bury St. Edmunds began a series of happy days that will live long in the memories of those who took part in that march through Suffolk and Norfolk. The good folk of the Eastern Counties showered many kindnesses on the men, and had it not been for the thoughts of what was happening to the "contemptible little army" across the water, this would have been nothing but a glorious summer holiday. The Battery trekked from Bury St. Edmunds to Horringer, Elvedon, East Dereham, Marsham and finally to Cromer, where there was a surprise in store. Greatly to everyone's consternation they were loaded on to the train again and despatched back to Berkshire, where they landed in the cold early hours at Churn Downs. Here a great concentration was taking place and the 2nd Mounted Division, of which the Battery formed part, became reality instead of imagination. The gunners were allotted to the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade, which consisted of the Berks Yeomanry, Bucks Hussars and Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars. Before long, however, the Oxford Hussars were drafted to France and their place taken by the Dorset Yeomanry.

Times of Strict Training.

These were times of strict training in horsemanship, gunnery and battery staff work, while there were numerous field days in conjunction with the remainder of the division. Then there was the historic occasion of the inspection by H.M. the King on the Fair Mile, at which the Berks Battery held pride of place as right of the line. Some brief evolutions were carried out and his Majesty expressed his pleasure at what the Territorials had managed to accomplish in so short a period of training.

Meanwhile the glorious summer weather of 1914 was over, and with the cold weather it became necessary to get the troops into billets, and the battery eventually found itself snugly ensconced in the old-world village of East Hendred, on the edge of the Downs, and near to Wantage. A very pleasant three weeks was spent here, interrupted only by two trial night alarms and the reception of immediate orders for France, which were cancelled, after everyone had been on 24 hours last leave. When the move came it was back to Norfolk. Entraining at Wantage Road, the battery experienced an exceedingly cold, uncomfortable railway journey to Mundesley-on-Sea, where an icy wind was blowing, but still worse was to follow. After spending all day in a field close to the station the unit marched out at twilight in a drizzling rain and with no notion of its destination. Eight or nine dreary miles were covered before Gunton Hall was reached, a deserted house where the night was spent. There were no grumblings when another move was made the next day, this time to the twin villages of Saxthorpe and Corpusty, where a pleasant fortnight was spent, disturbed only by a particularly exciting alarm, when the battery dashed out in the early hours, through Melton Constable, towards Weyburn Bay, where a German landing was supposed to have taken place.

The battery was now becoming highly efficient, and up-to-date equipment had taken the place of the farm wagons, etc., with which they had first been provided. The next move was to Walsingham, and the stay here extended until the battery's departure from England, a period of 4 months. They were days of busy training, but will always be remembered as very happy times, and it is not likely that the m en will ever forget the many kindnesses of the people of Walsingham. In this Norfolk town the Berks Battery is still fondly described as "Our Battery"€ and in the church hangs a complete list of names of its officers and men, on which every casualty has been faithfully marked. These Norfolk people vied with one another in their treatment of the soldiers billeted on them and were indefatigable in their efforts to provide amusement for the men. At Christmas time there was an excellent dinner and entertainment provided, largely by the townsfolk. That Christmas will also be remembered by reason of the fact that the Battery was ordered to "stand to" each morning from three o'clock onwards in a blizzard of snow and were kept waiting at their posts until nearly mid-day before dispersal. New Year's celebrations were also memorable, and a Union Jack, which was planted on the roof of a shelter over the town pump, to this day flies proudly in the wind, it was at Walsingham that the Battery, to its sorrow, lost Captain Leslie Wilson, D.S.O., who went to take over the command of his old battalion of the Royal Naval Division.

Departure for Egypt.

After what seemed an interminable time of waiting, orders for abroad were received early in April of 1915, but not for France, after all. The Battery learned that its destination was Egypt, and on April 8th en trained for Avonmouth to embark on the S.S. Nitonian. The ship was shared with the Notts Battery R.H.A., also of the 2nd Mounted Division. As it steamed down the Bristol Channel a thick fog came down and the Nitonian became separated from the remainder of her convoy and for two days had to remain at anchor off Barry Roads. It was with somewhat mixed feelings that the men heard that the S.S. Wayfarer, only two or three hours in front of them, had been torpedoed and eventually beached near Queenstown.

England's shores were left behind at last, and it was without incident that the Nitonian proceeded through the danger zone, protected by a fussy torpedo boat. On this journey the battery's hardships began, and it can safely be said that they had their full share of them afterwards. The food provided on that boat was a veritable scandal, and the general conditions were but little better. The stable decks were like furnaces, and to work below for an hour at a time was an experience few will forget. Many horses were lost on the voyage and those that survived were finally landed in very poor condition.

When passing Gibraltar the ship was ordered to report at Malta for orders, and a rumour was started that Gallipoli was the ultimate destination. On April 23rd, however, Alexandria was reached and proved to be the place of disembarkation. First impressions of Egypt varied considerably. One man, studying the crowd of men on the quay dressed in E astern fashion, exclaimed, "What a lot of women!"
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