The 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army from 1860 to 1956. During World War I, it was the only coastal defence unit to engage the enemy, and it also trained siege gunners for service on the Western Front. It continued its coast defence role in World War II, after which it was converted into air defence and engineer units.
Volunteer Force An invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Volunteer units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. Four Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) were raised in County Durham, with their officers' commissions being issued on 14 March 1860:Beckett, Appendix VIII.Frederick, pp. 655–6.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 59–61.Maurice-Jones, p. 164. 1st Durham AVC at Durham with two batteries, later moved to Sunderland 2nd (Seaham) Durham AVC at Seaham 3rd Durham AVC at South Shields 4th Durham AVC at Hartlepool
The first Captain Commandant of the 1st Durham AVC at Sunderland was the local politician Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt (1827–1900). He commanded it for 28 years and was appointed its Honorary Colonel in 1888 after command of the unit passed to Lt-Col Edwin Vaux.Army ListsCol C.W.P. Barker, 'Early History of the Battery', in Marr (ed).
The 2nd (Seaham) Corps was initially the largest of the four Durham AVCs, and the other three were attached to it for administrative purposes from August 1863. However, the attachment of the 1st Durham AVC was changed to the 1st Administrative Brigade of Northumberland Artillery Volunteers in November 1873. When that brigade was consolidated on 23 July 1880 to form the 1st Northumberland and Durham AVs (renamed the 1st Northumberland (Northumberland and Sunderland) from April 1882), the 1st Durham AVC provided Nos 13–15 Btys, later renumbered as Nos 7–9 Btys when another corps left the brigade.Frederick, p. 667.Litchfield & Westlake, p. 138.
The 1st Northumberland Brigade became part of the Northern Division of the Royal Artillery, on 1 April 1882. A reorganisation of the divisions on 1 July 1887 saw the 1st Durham AVC regain its independence, with HQ at Sunderland and eight batteries, attached to the Western Division, with the subtitle '(Western Division Royal Artillery)' added to its designation.
As well as manning fixed coast defence artillery, some of the early Artillery Volunteers manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. But the War Office (WO) refused to pay for the upkeep of field guns for Volunteers and they had largely died out in the 1870s. In 1888, the 'position artillery' concept was revived and some Volunteer artillery companies were reorganised as position batteries to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades.Beckett, pp. 178–9.Litchfield & Westlake, p. 6. The 1st Durham AVC was supplied by the WO with four obsolete 16-pounder rifled muzzleloading guns and two wagons, but without horse harness. The volunteers purchased a lot of condemned government harness and patched it up to make sets for their horse teams. Two of the unit's eight companies were amalgamated to man this battery. The battery was instructed to move at walking pace, but it covered 32 miles in one day to attend its first annual training at Newbiggin. In 1890 it came second in the National Artillery Association's Queen's Prize competition at Shoeburyness. On 14 July 1892, the 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery were reorganised as one position battery and six companies (seven companies by 1894). The HQ was in Sunderland, except No 6 Company at Southwick. Litchfield & Westlake, pp. 187–9.
On 1 June 1899, all the Volunteer artillery units became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and with the abolition of the RA's divisional organisation on 1 January 1902, the unit became the 1st Durham RGA (Volunteers). On the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899 the position battery volunteered for service in South Africa, but the offer was declined, apparently because of its obsolete guns. 'Position batteries' were redesignated 'heavy batteries' in May 1902 and in 1906 the 16-pdrs were replaced by more modern 4.7-inch guns.
The Vaux connection Edwin Vaux (1844–1908), who commanded the 1st Durham AVC from 1888, and was Hon Col from 1906, was a member of the prominent Vaux brewing family of Sunderland, and the family name frequently appears among the lists of Durham Volunteer Artillery officers. Among them was Major Ernest Vaux, who volunteered for the Imperial Yeomanry during the 2nd Boer War and commanded the Maxim gun detachment of the 5th Imperial Yeomanry, winning a Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The family brewery introduced Double Maxim brown ale in 1901 to celebrate the detachment's return and the beer is still brewed in Sunderland. Ernest Vaux later commanded the 7th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (TF) (known as 'Vaux's Own') from 1911 and throughout World War I.Times Obituary of Ernest Vaux
Territorial Force Under the Haldane Reforms, the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force. In the original 1908 plans for the TF, the 1st Durham RGA was to combine with the Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery to form a Northumberland and Durham RGA (and spin off a battery and ammunition column for the local Royal Field Artillery (RFA) brigade), while the 4th Durham RGA in West Hartlepool was to combine with the 1st East Riding of Yorkshire RGA to form a Durham and Yorkshire RGA, the two new units covering the whole NE coast of England. These plans were radically changed, so that by 1910 the Tynemouth and East Riding elements had formed their own units, while the 1st and 4th Durham merged to form a new Durham RGA as a 'defended ports unit' (the 4th had also spun off a battery and ammunition column to the III Northumbrian Brigade RFA).London Gazette, 20 March 1908London Gazette 14 October 1910
The organisation of the Durham RGA was as follows:Frederick, pp. 697–707.Litchfield, pp. 58–60.Maurice-Jones, p. 166.RGA at Regimental Warpath HQ at The Armoury, West Hartlepool No 1 Heavy Battery at Sunderland Nos 2–4 Companies at West Hartlepool No 5 Company at Hartlepool
The companies were responsible for manning the batteries of fixed coastal guns of the Tees (4 × 6-inch guns, 2 × 4.7-inch guns) and at Hartlepool (3 × 6-inch), while the heavy battery was mobile and responsible for the landward defence of the batteries with its obsolescent 4.7-inch guns.Litchfield, p. 3.Maurice-Jones, p. 186. The commanding officer was Lt-Col Lancelot Robson, a doctor and former mayor of Hartlepool, who had first been commissioned into the 4th Durham RGA in 1893.
World War I Mobilisation World War I broke out on 4 August 1914 and the TF was mobilised. Immediately after mobilisation the heavy battery went to its war station at Cleadon, while the men of the coast batteries manned their guns.'August 1914 to June 1917', in Marr (ed). On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and on 15 August 1914, the War Office (WO) issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way, duplicate brigades, companies and batteries were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.WO Instructions Nos 108 & 310 of August 1914. The heavy battery began recruiting its 2nd Line in November 1914 and completed it within a week.
By the autumn of 1914, the campaign on the Western Front was bogging down into Trench warfare and there was an urgent need for batteries of heavy and siege artillery to be sent to France. The WO decided that the TF coastal gunners were well enough trained to take over many of the duties in the coastal defences, releasing Regular RGA gunners for service in the field, and 1st line TF RGA companies that had volunteered for overseas service had been authorised to increase their strength by 50 per cent.WO Instructions No 41 of September 1914 and No 248 of October 1914. Although complete defended ports units never went overseas, they did supply trained gunners to RGA units serving overseas. They also provided cadres to form complete units for front line service. The Durham RGA is known to have provided half the personnel of 41st Siege Bty and then to have raised 142nd Heavy Bty and provided personnel to 94th and 149th Siege Btys in 1915–16.
Raid on Hartlepool
On the morning of 16 December 1914, a German naval force under Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper approached the coast of North East England to mount a Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby. The battle cruisers SMS Seydlitz and SMS Moltke, with the armoured cruiser SMS Blücher, concentrated on Hartlepool, which was a base for light Royal Navy warships. The port was defended by two batteries. On the day in question, 11 officers and 155 other ranks of the Durham RGA were manning Heugh Battery (two 6-inch guns manned by No 4 Company) and Lighthouse Battery (one 6-inch gun).Litchfield, Appendix 1.Farndale, Forgotten Fronts, pp. 368–9.Maurice-Jones, pp, 196–9.Kelly's Directory of Durham and Northumberland 1921.
As was normal practice, the gunners 'stood to' at 06.30 and so were ready for action when the German warships approached. The Germans planned to bombard the batteries for 15 minutes to suppress them before turning the attention to the town. The Seydlitz opened fire at 08.10 and Lt-Col Robson rushed from his home to take up his post as Fire Commander and Battery Medical Officer at Heugh Battery. The first shell cut the Fire Commander's telephone lines, so the whole action was fought by the Battery Commanders on their own under standing orders. At ranges of 4000 to 5000 yards the German shells fell round the batteries without scoring a direct hit. Heugh Battery engaged first the Seydlitz and then the Moltke until they passed out of its arc of fire, and then concentrated on the stationary Blucher which was firing at Lighthouse Battery. Lighthouse Battery scored a direct hit on Blucher's forebridge, disabling two guns of the secondary armament, but suffered a number of misfires due to an electrical fault.Robson photo in Flickr
The action ended at 08.52 when the batteries fired their last rounds at 9200 yards' range at the withdrawing warships. The Germans had fired 1150 shells, killing 112 and wounding over 200 civilians and doing extensive damage to the town and docks. The Durham RGA suffered two killed, and in firing a total of 123 rounds had inflicted at least seven direct hits, killing eight German seamen and wounding four.
The bombardment of civilian targets caused great outrage among the British public at the time. The commanding officer and three gun captains of the Durham RGA were later decorated, Lt-Col Robson receiving a Distinguished Service Order, Sgt T. Douthwaite a Distinguished Conduct Medal for extracting a live cartridge from the breech of the Lighthouse Battery gun after a misfire, and Acting Bombardier J.J. Hope and Bombardier F.W. Mallin each received the Military Medal. These were the first two MMs to be gazetted after the institution of the award in April 1916. Hope's medal was the first MM minted, and the first to be presented.London Gazette 7 April 1916 In 1920, all members of the Durham RGA in action that day were made eligible for the British War Medal, normally only awarded to those who saw active service overseas.