Editing Royal Artillery (section)

==History==
[[File:Royal Artillery Dislodging French Cavalry, 1813.jpg|thumb|Royal Artillery troops attacking French cavalry in 1813]]

===Formation to 1799===

Artillery was used by English troops as early as the [[Battle of Crécy]] in 1346, while [[Henry VIII]] established it as a semi-permanent function in the 16th century.<ref name=garrison>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegarrison.website/|title=Home page|website=The Garrison Artillery Volunteers|access-date=9 January 2021|archive-date=1 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101053952/http://www.thegarrison.org.uk/history/index.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Until the [[British Civil Wars]], the majority of military units in Britain were raised for specific campaigns and disbanded when they were over.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chandler David |first1=Beckett Ian |title=The Oxford History Of The British Army |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280311-5 |page=52 |edition=2002}}</ref> An exception were gunners based at the [[Tower of London]], [[Portsmouth]] and other forts around Britain, who were controlled by the [[Ordnance Office]] and stored and maintained equipment and provided personnel for field [[artillery]] 'traynes' that were organised as needed.<ref name="Hogg63">{{cite book|last1=Hogg|first1=Brigadier O.F.G.|title=The Royal Arsenal|date=1963|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=302–344}}</ref>

These personnel, responsible in peacetime for maintaining the forts with their ''garrison artillery'' (or [[coastal artillery]]), were the first regular artillerymen, organised in 1540 under the Master-General and Board of Ordnance, but paid directly by the [[Exchequer]]. The regular artillerymen of the District Establishments were responsible for upkeep of the fort and maintenance of equipment, and would be brought up to strength in wartime with untrained personnel drafted in from the British Army or the Militia. The post of ''Captain of Fort'' was replaced (at least in England, if not in its colonies) with that of ''Governor'' following the [[Stuart Restoration|Restoration]]. When [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Marlborough]] was restored as [[Master-General of the Ordnance]] in 1714, he initiated a series of reforms, which included splitting the existing Ordnance Service into artillery and [[Sapper|sappers or engineers]].<ref>{{cite ODNB |last1=Latcham |first1=Paul |title=Armstrong, John |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/659 |year=2004 }}</ref> The artillery were formed into two marching [[Company (military unit)|companies]], each of 100 men, in 1716.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/royal-artillery|title=Royal Artillery|publisher=National Army Museum|access-date=21 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://royalartillerymuseum.com/|title=Royal Artillery Museum|access-date=21 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/speech-queen-royal-artillery-tercentenary-parade-26th-may-2016|title=A speech by The Queen at the Royal Artillery Tercentenary Parade on 26 May 2016|date=26 May 2016|publisher=Royal UK|access-date=21 September 2023|archive-date=23 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923182342/https://www.royal.uk/speech-queen-royal-artillery-tercentenary-parade-26th-may-2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

These marching companies were renamed the "Royal Artillery" in 1720.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theraalewes.co.uk/history|title=History|publisher=RA Association, Lewes Branch|access-date=21 September 2023|archive-date=9 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009170416/https://www.theraalewes.co.uk/history|url-status=live}}</ref> These were increased to four companies and on 1 April 1722 grouped with independent artillery units at [[Gibraltar]] and [[Menorca]] to form the Royal Regiment of Artillery; the first commander was Colonel [[Albert Borgard]], a Dane who served in the British army since 1698.<ref name=garrison/>

Aside from the Master Gunner of England, the detachments in each fort formed a ''District Establishment'' that included a ''Captain of Fort'', a Master-Gunner or Chief-Gunner, and a number of other ranks, including Gunners, Gunner's Mates, Quarter-Gunners, and Matroses. Their numbers were extremely small; as late as 1720, the total establishment for the whole of Britain was 41 [[Master gunner#Historical usage|master gunners]] and 178 gunner assistants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Francis |title=History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Volume I |url=https://archive.org/details/historyroyalreg05duncgoog |date=1872 |publisher=John Murray |page=435 |edition=1879}}</ref> Although the Royal Artillery increasingly involved itself with the coastal artillery in Britain, also, the District Establishments remained independent until February 1771, when the Royal Artillery formed eight Invalid Companies (made up of personnel no longer fit for expeditionary service) into which they were absorbed (although the District Establishments would still rely on drafts of sailors, British Army soldiers, Militia infantrymen, or Volunteers to bring the batteries up to wartime strength until the formation of [[Militia Artillery units of the United Kingdom and Colonies|Militia Artillery]] and Volunteer Artillery in the 1850s).<ref>{{cite book |last=Maurice-Jones |first=Colonel K. W. |author-link= |date=1959 |title=History of Coast Artillery in the British Army |url= |location=London |publisher=Royal Artillery Institution |page= |isbn=}}</ref>

During the 18th century, the British regular military forces, including the Board of Ordnance's military corps (the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and later the Royal Sappers and Miners) and the British Army (composed mostly of infantry and cavalry) became increasingly professional (various reserve, or ''local'', forces also existed, including: the Militia, or old Constitutional Force, normally made up of infantry units; the mounted Yeomanry; and Volunteer units of various types, normally raised only during wartime), particularly in the fields of artillery and engineering; Britain lagged behind others in this area, with [[Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban|Vauban]] establishing the French ''Corps royal des ingénieurs militaires'' as far back as 1690.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mousnier |first1=Roland |title=The Institutions of France Under the Absolute Monarchy, 1598-1789 |url=https://archive.org/details/institutionsoffr0000mous |url-access=registration |date=1979 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226543277 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/institutionsoffr0000mous/page/577 577–578]}}</ref>

[[File:A Review of the London Volunteer Cavalry and Flying Artillery in Hyde Park in 1804.tif|thumb|left|[[Royal Horse Artillery]] units, Hyde Park, 1804]]
A cadet company was formed at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich|Royal Military Academy or RMA Woolwich]] in 1741; this trained artillery and engineering officers for the regiment, the [[East India Company's Army|East India Company]] and the [[Royal Irish Artillery]].<ref name=garrison/> In 1757, it split into two [[battalion]]s, each of twelve companies; by 1780, it contained 32 companies in four battalions, two "invalid companies" used solely for garrison duties and the [[Royal Artillery Band]], with a total strength of 5,241 men and officers.<ref>{{cite book |title=Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 37; November 1778 to August 1780 |date=1803 |publisher=HMSO |page=487}}</ref>

Originally based in the Royal Arsenal, beginning in 1770 the regiment was rehoused in the [[Royal Artillery Barracks]] on Woolwich Common.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Saint, Andrew |first1=Guillery, Peter |title=Survey of London; Woolwich Volume 48 |date=2012 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300187229 |pages=26–28 |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.3_the_royal_arsenal.pdf |access-date=26 March 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326111833/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/48.3_the_royal_arsenal.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A major innovation in 1793 was the establishment of the [[Royal Horse Artillery]], designed to provide mobile fire support for cavalry units.<ref name=garrison/>  The same year saw the foundation of the [[Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers]] to provide transport for the artillery.<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Artillery Drivers, 1812 |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1950-11-33-25 |website=National Army Museum |access-date=10 October 2019 |archive-date=6 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006185613/https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1950-11-33-25 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Fixed [[Coastal Artillery]] batteries were generally manned in peacetime by a handful of Royal Artillery personnel primarily responsible for maintenance, who were reinforced in wartime by drafts of infantrymen from the British Army or the Militia, or by temporarily-raised Volunteer Artillery corps. This was to remain the case through the Naploeonic Wars.<ref>''History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army'', by Colonel KW Maurice-Jones, DSO, RA. Royal Artillery Institution. 1959</ref>

===1800–1899===
[[File:RAUniform1825.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Royal Artillery Officers uniform, 1825]]
[[File:British 64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle-Loaded (RML) Gun on Moncrieff disappearing mount, at Scaur Hill Fort, Bermuda.jpg|thumb|64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle-Loader (RML) [[Disappearing gun|gun on Moncrieff disappearing mount]], at [[Scaur Hill Fort, Bermuda|Scaur Hill Fort]], [[Bermuda]]]]
The regiment was involved in all major campaigns of the [[Napoleonic Wars]]; in 1804, naval artillery was transferred to the [[History of the Royal Marines|Royal Marine Artillery]], while the [[Royal Irish Artillery]] lost its separate status in 1810 after the [[Acts of Union 1800|1800 Union]]. This period also saw development of the [[Congreve rocket]]; based on an existing Indian design, these were the first solid-fuel projectiles used by the British army and two rocket troops were established in 1814. Their use in the [[War of 1812]] is referenced in the line "rocket's red glare" which appears in [[the Star-Spangled Banner]].<ref>{{cite ODNB |last1=Stearn |first1=Roger |title=Congreve, Sir William, second baronet |date=2008 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/6070 }}</ref>

[[File:Christ Church Mhow Plaque Royal Artillery Major General Wiliam Heape Kay.jpg|thumb|This brass plaque installed inside [[Christ Church, Mhow]] is in memory of Major General William Heape Kay of the Royal Artillery who began his Indian service at Mhow in 1896 and subsequently died in an accident there in 1929]]
The Militia, which had been a [[paper tiger]] since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, was re-organised under the [[Militia Act 1852]] in response to the threat of invasion by France, changing it from a conscripted force to one made up of volunteers who engaged for terms of service. The force continued to be a reserve tasked with home defence, embodied for annual training, and for the duration of wars or emergencies.<ref name="litchfield">''The Militia Artillery 1852-1909'', by Norman EH Litchfield. The Sherwood Press (Nottingham) Ltd. 1987</ref><ref>''Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Forces of The East Riding 1689 - 1908'', by RWS Norfolk, OBE, TD, DL. EY Local History Series : No. 19. East Yorkshire Local Historical Society, 1965</ref> The Militia had been principally an infantry force to this date,<ref name="litchfield"/> but [[Militia Artillery units of the United Kingdom and Colonies|Militia Artillery]] units were added from this point, and some existing Militia Infantry regiments were converted to coastal artillery.<ref name="litchfield"/> The role of the Militia Artillery was to man coastal defences and fortifications in wartime, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service.<ref>{{cite book|first=Colonel John K. |last=Dunlop|title=The Development of the British Army 1899–1914|location=London|publisher=Methuen|year=1938|pages=42–45}}</ref>

The Royal Artillery (and also of the Royal Engineers, Royal Sappers and Miners, the Commissariat Department, and various barracks, ordnance stores, and transport departments) was transferred to the [[British Army]] when the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855 (the administrative branches of the Board were absorbed by the [[War Office]])<ref>{{cite book|title = History of The Corps of Royal Engineers|volume = II|first = Whitworth|last = Porter|publisher = Longmans, Green, and Co.|location = London|date = 1889|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8mMFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP1|access-date = 19 September 2022|archive-date = 20 September 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220920182653/https://books.google.com/books?id=8mMFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP1|url-status = live}}</ref> and the [[MoD Shoeburyness|War Office School of Gunnery]] established in [[Shoeburyness]] in 1859.<ref name=garrison/> When the [[British East India Company]] was dissolved in 1862, its artillery function was absorbed by the Royal Artillery, giving it a total strength of 29 horse batteries, 73 field batteries and 88 heavy batteries.<ref name=garrison/> Military expenditure estimates for 1872 list the regimental strength as a total of 34,943 men and officers, including those in India.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Francis |title=History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Volume I |url=https://archive.org/details/historyroyalreg05duncgoog |date=1872 |publisher=John Murray |page=2 |edition=1879}}</ref>

Although the Militia and the Volunteer Force remained separate forces,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/civilian-soldiers|title=Civilian soldiers &#124; National Army Museum|website=www.nam.ac.uk|access-date=9 January 2021|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228034722/https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/civilian-soldiers|url-status=live}}</ref> during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century they were re-organised through a succession of reforms, and increasingly integrated with the British Army.<ref>''Militia Lists and Musters 1757 1876: A Directory of holdings in the British Isles'', by Jeremy Gibson and Mervyn Medlycott. Fourth Edition. Federation of Family Historical Societies (Publications) Ltd, Bury, Lancashire. 2000. First published 1989. {{ISBN|1 86006 123 0}}</ref> In 1882, the Militia Artillery units lost their individual identities, becoming numbered brigades organised within Royal Artillery territorial divisions (two brigades of horse artillery, four brigades of field artillery and eleven territorial divisions of garrison artillery).<ref name="litchfield"/><ref name=stoneman>{{cite web|last=Stoneman|first=Robert James|year=2014|title=The Reformed British Militia, c.1852-1908. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis|publisher=University of Kent|page=59|url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/48735/1/157Robert%20Stoneman%20Thesis.pdf|access-date=6 January 2021|archive-date=31 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531104238/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/48735/1/157Robert%20Stoneman%20Thesis.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A description of the 1 April 1882 reorganisation of the Royal Artillery and Artillery Militia, including changes of names of batteries, brigades and divisions, etc|publisher=Naval and Military Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of the United Service|date=12 April 1882|pages=286–288}}</ref> In 1889 the number of divisions was reduced to three, and the Militia Artillery brigades were renamed again, mostly regaining some variation of their original territorial names.<ref name="litchfield"/><ref name=stoneman/><ref>{{cite book|title=A description of the 1 July 1889 reorganisation and full list of the battery, brigade, division, etc name changes |publisher=The Army and Navy Gazette|date= 3 August 1889|page= 610}}</ref>

Post 1881, militia artillery officers wore for a brief time five button serge foreign service frocks with ball buttons and silver lace. Post 1890, officers transitioned to pocketed examples, again with ball buttons but the frocks varying from pure blue serge to other examples with scarlet facings.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=g55DAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA167   |title=History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery|volume= 1|first=Francis|last= Duncan|year=1872|publisher=J. Murray|page=167}}</ref>

Prior to 1882, each Militia Artillery unit in the United Kingdom wore a unique badge. Between 1882 and 1889, Militia Artillery brigades wore a divisional badge based on that of the Royal Artillery, except that the lower scroll and upper scroll, which on the Royal Artillery badge were inscribed "Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt" and "Ubique" (which indicated the regular Royal Artillery, like the Royal Engineers, served everywhere), were respectively inscribed with the name of the territorial division name (by example, North Irish Division) and left blank or covered in a spray of laurel (as the Militia and Volunteer Force were both home defence forces, the members of which could not be sent abroad on expedition without their consents).<ref name="litchfield"/> From 1889 to 1902, the lower scroll was inscribed with the name of the unit (by example, Antrim Artillery) and the upper scroll left blank or covered in a spray of laurel. Grenade badges, whether worn as a collar badge or elsewhere, lacked the scroll inscribed "Ubique" that was part of the regular Royal Artillery version.<ref name="litchfield"/> Militia Artillery units were made up of Militia officers and other ranks, with a Permanent Staff made up of seconded Royal Artillery officers and senior other ranks, including a single officer acting as both Commandant and Adjutant (where a suitably qualified Militia officer was unavailable to serve as Commandant), or only as Adjutant where the Commandant was a Militia officer.<ref name="litchfield"/>

Units from the Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery were in Australia, even after Federation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.army.gov.au/our-heritage/history/how-research-family-history|title=Our history|publisher=Australian Army|access-date=6 September 2021|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802181809/https://www.army.gov.au/our-heritage/history/how-research-family-history|url-status=live}}</ref>

===1900 to present day===
[[File:Royal Artillery Repository Exercises, 1844.jpg|thumb|left|Royal Artillery repository exercises, 1844]]
[[File:Soldiers of the Bermuda Contingent of the Royal Garrison Artillery in a CCS in July 1916.jpg|thumb|left|Soldiers of the [[Bermuda Militia Artillery|Bermuda Contingent]] of the Royal Garrison Artillery in a Casualty Clearing Station in July, 1916]]
{{see also|List of regiments of the Royal Artillery 1938–47}}
On 1 July 1899, the Royal Artillery was divided into three groups: the Royal Horse Artillery of 21 batteries and the [[Royal Field Artillery]] of 95 batteries composed one group, while the coastal defence, mountain, siege and heavy batteries were split off into another group named the [[Royal Garrison Artillery]] of 91 companies.<ref name=garrison/> The third group continued to be titled simply ''Royal Artillery'', and was responsible for ammunition storage and supply. Which branch a gunner belonged to was indicated by metal shoulder titles (R.A., R.F.A., R.H.A., or R.G.A.). The RFA and RHA also dressed as mounted men, whereas the RGA dressed like foot soldiers. In 1920 the rank of Bombardier was instituted in the Royal Artillery.<ref name=garrison/>

Following the separation of the regular garrison companies into the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1899, the Militia Artillery units were re-titled accordingly in 1902 (by example, ''The Antrim Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia)'', which would usually be rendered ''Antrim R.G.A (M)''). The badge adopted was the same as that of the regular Royal Regiment of Artillery, from that point including the "ubique" and "Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt" scrolls, with a letter "M" fixed at the bottom of the gun badge, and on the body of the grenade on the grenade badge (also with the "ubique" scroll), whether worn on the collar or on a cap. Alternately, Ubique was replaced on scrolls with the name of the city, county or colony for which the unit was named.<ref name=litchfield/>

When the Volunteer Force and the Yeomanry in the United Kingdom (including the Volunteer Artillery) were merged to create the [[Territorial Force]] in 1908, the Militia was re-designated the [[Special Reserve]].<ref name="litchfield"/> At the same time, plans were made to convert all of the Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) units to Special Reserve Royal Field Artillery, but all Home units other than [[Antrim Artillery|The Antrim Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia)]] (converted in 1956 to ''74 (Antrim Artillery) Engineer Regiment (V)'') were instead disbanded in 1909<ref name="litchfield"/> (although Militia Artillery units remained in some of the colonies, and these were not re-designated as Special Reserve; The most notable of these was the [[Bermuda Militia Artillery]], which, like the [[Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps]], formed part of the [[Bermuda Garrison|garrison]] of the important [[Imperial fortress]] colony of [[Bermuda]] where the regular Royal Artillery had first posted a company in 1794, following the [[French Revolution]]).<ref>''Royal Bermuda Regiment: 50 Years Strong'', an official history of the [[Royal Bermuda Regiment]] by Tony McWilliam. National Museum of Bermuda Press, {{ISBN|9781927750971}}</ref><ref>''History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army'', by Colonel KW Maurice-Jones, DSO, RA. Royal Artillery Institution, 1959.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bermudaregiment.bm/about/history|title=History|website=Royal Bermuda Regiment|access-date=9 January 2021|archive-date=11 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111020303/https://bermudaregiment.bm/about/history|url-status=live}}</ref> The remainder of the Special Reserve was re-designated as the Militia again after the First World War and permanently suspended. The Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1921/aug/10/territorial-army-and-militia-bill|title=Debate on the bill in the House of Lords|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=10 August 1921|access-date=6 January 2020|archive-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121075435/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1921/aug/10/territorial-army-and-militia-bill|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Christ Church Mhow Plaque 27th Field Brigade Royal Artillery.jpg|left|thumb|upright|The 27th Field Brigade of the Royal Artillery was stationed at Mhow and created a memorial to their men, installed inside [[Christ Church, Mhow]]]]
The division of the Royal Regiment of Artillery lasted until 1924, when the RFA, RHA, and RGA amalgamated once more to become one regiment.<ref name=garrison/> In 1938, RA Brigades were renamed regiments. During the [[World War II]] there were over 1 million men serving in 960 gunner regiments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/royal-artillery/|title=Royal Artillery|website=www.army.mod.uk|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223032048/http://www.army.mod.uk/artillery/23532.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1947 the Riding Troop RHA was renamed the [[King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery]]<ref>Obituary of Brigadier J. A. Norman, ''[[The Times]]'', March 1994; [http://www.paramountmagazine.co.uk/north-west-london-property-news/local-news-and-events/Trooping-The-Colour-For-The-King%E2%80%99s-Troop-Royal-Horse-Artillery.html?nwNewsArticleId=55 Trooping The Colour For The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030923/http://www.paramountmagazine.co.uk/north-west-london-property-news/local-news-and-events/Trooping-The-Colour-For-The-King%E2%80%99s-Troop-Royal-Horse-Artillery.html?nwNewsArticleId=55 |date=4 March 2016 }} Paramount Magazine, 20 September 2011</ref> and, in 1951, the title of the regiment's colonel-in-chief became Captain General.<ref name=garrison/> When The Queen first visited the Troop after her accession, it was expected that it would become "The Queen's Troop", but Her Majesty announced that in honour of her father's decision it would remain "The King's Troop".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/heritage/king_s_troop_a_modern_history_of_1945_to_2012_1_1205418|title=King's Troop: A modern history of 1945 to 2012|publisher=Ham & High|access-date=13 October 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042244/http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/heritage/king_s_troop_a_modern_history_of_1945_to_2012_1_1205418|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:British 39th Siege Battery RGA Somme 1916.jpg|thumb|right|BL 8-inch Howitzer Mk 1 – 5 {{convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on}} howitzers of the 39th Siege Battery, [[Royal Garrison Artillery]], in action near [[Sausage Valley|Fricourt]] in [[World War I]].]]
The [[Royal Horse Artillery]], which has separate traditions, uniforms and insignia, still retains a distinct identity within the regiment.<ref name=garrison/>

Before World War II, Royal Artillery recruits were required to be at least {{convert|5|ft|4|in|m}} tall. Men in mechanised units had to be at least {{convert|5|ft|8|in|m}} tall. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve or four years and eight years. They trained at the Royal Artillery Depot in Woolwich.<ref>[[War Office]], ''His Majesty's Army'', 1938</ref>

From its beginnings, the Royal Artillery has been based at [[Woolwich]], in south-east London. In 2003 it was decided to move the headquarters to [[Larkhill]] in the [[Salisbury Plain Training Area]] in Wiltshire (the RA's training ground, where the [[Royal School of Artillery]] has been based since 1915). In 2012, however, the [[King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery]] was relocated to Woolwich from their former headquarters in [[St John's Wood Barracks|St John's Wood]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16929473 King's Troop moves to its 'spiritual home' in Woolwich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626031833/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16929473 |date=26 June 2018 }} at [[BBC]] News, 7 February 2012. Accessed 8 February 2012</ref>