The Siege Battery Ammunition Column, often given in men’s army service records as SBAC, can be one of the most difficult of units to research. It was manned by soldiers of the Army Service Corps but associated with a unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery.
The typical place of the SBAC in the army’s command hierarchy. It was attached to a Siege Battery, which was usually under command of a Heavy Artillery Group (later called RGA Brigade), which in turn was usually under command of a Corps. The Corps also had a unit called a Siege Park, which provided workshop facilities, vehicles and personnel for the SBAC.
There are very few war diaries or histories of the SBACs. In most cases, their story can be rebuilt by reference to the war diaries of the Siege Parks with which they were associated, but it can be hard work as the Siege Batteries and Heavy Artillery Groups tended to be moved from Corps to Corps as operational needs dictated.
Composition
The following figures are for the Ammunition Column of Siege Battery equipped with 12-inch howitzers. Many Siege Batteries were differently equipped and as such the numbers shown for the SBAC would also have differed, but the principal and overall size would be similar.
The Ammunition Column would, when at full strength, have
• 4 officers (one of which was a Captain in command)
• 2 Warrant Officers (Mechanist Sergeant-Major and Company Sergeant-Major)
• 1 Sergeant or Staff-Sergeant (in the role of Company Quartermaster)
• 24 skilled artificers (including 4 Sergeants and 4 Corporals) organised into four Sections
• 146 rank and file (142 vehicle drivers and 4 batmen).
The Column would be equipped with the following vehicles and a repair/maintenance workshop.
• 4 motor cars
• 9 motorcycles
• 24 three-ton lorries
• 4 30-hundredweight lorries
• 12 Holt caterpillar tractors and 1 for spares.