Can anyone confirm the batteries within this Regiment in the latter half of 1942 as being, 68th, 224th, 262nd & 265th? 12 or 16x 6Pdrs? Porteed? Thanks, David W.
83rd Anti-Tank Regiment, R.A. RHQ, 68th, 222nd, 262nd, 265th Raised: 23 September 1941 at East Grinstead, Sussex 224th Battery replaced 222nd Battery on 1 October 1941. The regiment arrived in Basra, Iraq from the United Kingdom on 1 February 1942 and came under 10th Army. It joined 8th Indian Infantry Division on 13 February. On 8 April 1942, 68th Anti-Tank Battery came under command of 18th Indian Infantry Brigade. On 14 April, 262nd Anti-Tank Battery came under 17th Indian Infantry Brigade, while 265th Anti-Tank Battery came under command of 19th Indian Infantry Brigade. RHQ with 224th Anti-Tank Battery and 486th Field Battery of 121st Field Regiment moved to Persia. On 25 May 1942, 68th, 224th, 262nd and 265th Batteries joined 121st, ‘Y’ (later 165th), 32nd and 11th Field Regiments, respectively. On 2 June 1942 (25 May), the RHQ became RHQ ‘Y’ (later 165th) Field Regiment, R.A. 486th and 463rd Field Batteries joined along with 224th Anti-Tank Battery. 165th Field Regiment was stationed in Persia under command of 26th Indian Infantry Brigade Group of 6th Indian Infantry Division. It arrived in Egypt on 13 July 1942. 224th Anti-Tank Battery rejoined the newly reformed 83rd Anti-Tank Regiment on 9 July 1942 and 463rd Battery left for 104th Regiment, R.H.A. on 14 September 1942. The regiment joined British Troops in Egypt on 23 August 1942 and ceased to be under command of Indian formations. It remained under GHQ Troops in Egypt until it joined 231st Infantry Brigade on 1 May. I am not sure of equipment.
Does anyone else have any idea of the number of guns per battery, and if they were porteed or not? Thanks.
I am assuming that they were ported, and that it would have been 4x 16 gun batteries, but was this correct?
ATk organisation was varied, see nigeief.tripod.com/anti-tank.htm this site also has some anti-tank unit establishment tables
Hello Fellow Investigators, My name is Richard Thompson and I've just received my father's war service records. He embarked overseas in December 1942 landing at Basrah in February 1942. He seemed to be posted between the 83rd A/T and 32 Field Regiment and also part of the PAIFORCE. I'm trying to find out if his regiment took part in the Italian Campaign. For he did not discussion the war with me and he past away nearly 50 years ago. But from relations they mentioned Monte Cassino and Austria. Thank you for any help and would there be any war diaries? Richard
Hi Richard To answer your question regarding war diaries - Yes there will be. What date range are you looking at for both units? Regards Andy
Hi Andy, Thank you very much for your quick reply. On entering Egypt from Iraq in August 1942 he was posted from 32nd Field to 83rd A/T. Until Nov 1944 it appears by his service record that he remained in North Africa, but not sure. In Nov 1944 posted from 83rd to TOS XL(IV) BDRA, then S.O.S MEF to CMF in Jan 1945. So to answer your question August 1942 to Nov 1944 would be the most interesting. Do the war diaries go into alot of detail - daily, monthly accounts? I thank you again for your prompt reply. Regards Richard
Here you go, there's a fair few months missing from the 1942 diary which would suggest they were having a tough time. WO 169/4727 83 Anti-Tank Regiment 1941 Dec-1942 May, Aug, Dec WO 169/9629 83 Anti-Tank Regiment 1943 Jan-Dec WO 169/16001 83 Anti-Tank Regiment 1944 Jan-Nov Diaries vary greatly, it all depends on the officer writing them. It's unlikely to find an individual named in them unless they were an officer but they should give you an idea on what the regiment was doing on a day to day basis and where they were doing it. Regards Andy
Hello Andy, Thank you very much again for providing the information. Is the next stage to order the photocopying of the diaries? Or can you view them online first? Regards Richard
Here is the history of the 83rd Anti-Tank Regiment, RA: 83rd Anti-Tank Regiment, R.A. RHQ, 68th, 222nd, 262nd, 265th Raised: 23 September 1941 at East Grinstead, Sussex 224th Battery replaced 222nd Battery on 1 October 1941. The regiment arrived in Basra, Iraq from the United Kingdom on 1 February 1942 and came under 10th Army. It joined 8th Indian Infantry Division on 13 February. On 8 April 1942, 68th Anti-Tank Battery came under command of 18th Indian Infantry Brigade. On 14 April, 262nd Anti-Tank Battery came under 17th Indian Infantry Brigade, while 265th Anti-Tank Battery came under command of 19th Indian Infantry Brigade. RHQ with 224th Anti-Tank Battery and 486th Field Battery of 121st Field Regiment moved to Persia. On 25 May 1942, 68th, 224th, 262nd and 265th Batteries joined 121st, ‘Y’ (later 165th), 32nd and 11th Field Regiments, respectively. On 2 June 1942 (25 May), the RHQ became RHQ ‘Y’ (later 165th) Field Regiment, R.A. 486th and 463rd Field Batteries joined along with 224th Anti-Tank Battery. 165th Field Regiment was stationed in Persia under command of 26th Indian Infantry Brigade Group of 6th Indian Infantry Division. It arrived in Egypt on 13 July 1942. 224th Anti-Tank Battery rejoined the newly reformed 83rd Anti-Tank Regiment on 9 July 1942 and 463rd Battery left for 104th Regiment, R.H.A. on 14 September 1942. The regiment joined British Troops in Egypt on 23 August 1942 and ceased to be under command of Indian formations. It remained under GHQ Troops in Egypt until it joined 231st Infantry Brigade on 1 May. On 14 April 1943, 64th Field Battery was reformed and added along with 188th Field Battery of 184th Field Regiment. The regiment then served under 231st Infantry Brigade from 1 May 1943 until 24 September 1943. It was located in Egypt until 29 June 1943, at sea until 10 July 1943, in Sicily until 7 September 1943, then in Italy. The regiment then served under 8th Army in Italy until disbanded. 64th Field Battery left on 4 December 1944. The regiment and all batteries were disbanded on 29 December 1944. A new RHQ for 83rd Anti-Tank Regiment was formed on 14 July 1942 in Egypt under British Troops Egypt and took back the former batteries. The regiment became part of the British establishment on 7 August 1942. It moved to 9th Army in Palestine and remained there and in the Middle East until disbanded. The RHQ and all batteries except 68th were disbanded on 18 December 1944. 68th Battery joined 14th Anti-Tank Regiment. And here is the history of the 32nd Field Regiment, RA: 32nd Field Regiment, RA Station: Brighton Batteries: 107th/121st, 115th/120th The regiment was an army field regiment and mobilized at Brighton. It concentrated at Bondue, France by 24 September 1939. It moved to Lommes on 28 October 1939. It joined III Corps in January 1940. During the advance into Belgium on 18 May it formed part of the screen on the flank of 4th Infantry Division. It was evacuated from Dunkirk and served under Eastern Command on its return from France. It was reorganized with 107th, 115th, and 120th/121st Batteries in December 1940 in the United Kingdom and was again reorganized with 107th/121st and 115th/120th Batteries on 11 March 1941. The regiment was sent to India in March 1941 and arrived on 5 May 1941, when it came under command of RA Southern Army. It embarked for Iraq on 7 June 1941 and arrived on 17 June. It came under command of 8th Indian Infantry Division on 24 June 1941 in Iraq. The regiment was ordered to Syria and fought at Tel Kotchek, which surrendered to the regiment. After the campaign, the regiment moved to Mosul, Iraq and then to the Persian border for operations there. It fought in Persia under 8th Indian Division from 25-28 August 1941 and remained on occupation until 29 September 1941, when it returned to Iraq with the division. 262nd Anti-Tank Battery joined the regiment on 25 May 1942. It left the division on 11 June 1942 and arrived in Egypt on 15 June 1942, where it became 8th Army Troops. It came under command of 5th Indian Infantry Division in Egypt on 3 September 1942, but transferred to 4th Indian Infantry Division on 8 September 1942. It left the division on 23 March 1943 and came under 8th Army. It was converted to 32nd Heavy Regiment on 18 September 1943 with 107th, 115th, 120th, 121st Heavy Batteries. It moved to 9th Army in Palestine and Syria by the end of 1943. It served under 1st Candian Army Group RA from October 1943 until February 1945 in Italy. It then moved to North-West Europe with the formation and served there until 27 May 1945. On 27 May 1945 it was reconverted to 32nd Field Regiment with 107th, 115th, and 120th/121st Batteries.
Thank you for the information. It appears complicated with all the different batteries. I assume a battery is a section in anti-tank regiment? Does the information above form part of the diaries?
An artillery regiment was broken down in to Batteries, generally 2 to 4, much as an infantry battalion was broken down into companies. Unlike an infantry battalion, the Batteries would often change due to reorganization or detachment. The information above was gleaned from a variety of sources such as Frederick's Lineage books, Joslen's Orders of Battle, and the Royal Artillery official history. Also divisional and regimental histories were used.
