This was a unit of Britain’s pre-war regular army. It is also sometimes shown as 23 Brigade RFA. The brigade was initially armed with 18-pounder field guns.
History
- Comprising a brigade headquarters, numbers 107, 108 and 109 Batteries and an ammunition column, this brigade was placed under command of 3rd Division before it sailed for France in August 1914.
- It was mobilised at Bulford Camp and sailed from Southampton on 18 August 1914, on board the ships “Saturnia” and “Minneapolis”. The brigade landed at Le Havre next day.
- The brigade first came into action in the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, during which two sections of 109 Battery were placed in position within the town, “assisting in the defence of the barricades”.
- The brigade underwent a number of structural and organisational changes during the war:
- 15 April 1916: 109 Battery left (to join 283 Brigade)
- 11 May 1916: ‘D’ (Howitzer) Battery (formerly two sections of 4.5-inch howitzers from 30 (Howitzer) Brigade) joined [in other words, the brigade’s batteries were now 107, 108 and ‘D’ (Howitzer) Battery]
- Between 9 and 16 May 1916: the Brigade Ammunition Columm left to be merged into an enlarged 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column
- 23 November 1916: 534 (Howitzer) Battery joined and was renamed as ‘C’ (Howitzer) Battery [in other words, the brigade’s batteries were now 107, 108 and ‘C’ and ‘D’ (Howitzer) Batteries]
- 21 January 1917: the brigade left 3rd Division and became an Army Field Artillery Brigade
- Same date: ‘D’ (Howitzer) Battery returned to 30 (Howitzer) Brigade
- 24 January 1917 ‘A’ Battery of six guns joined from 169 Brigade
- Same date: a section of two guns joined C Battery to bring it up to six
- Same date: a new Brigade Ammunition Column joined, formed from men who had been with 3rd and 31st Divisional Ammunition Columns
- 29 January 1917: ‘C’ (Howitzer) Battery was renamed as ‘D’ (Howitzer) Battery and the former ‘A’ Battery from 169 Brigade then became this brigade’s C Battery. [in other words, the brigade’s batteries were now 107, 108, C Battery and ‘D’ (Howitzer) Battery]