The 115th (North Midland) Field Regiment was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery (RA), raised as part of the Territorial Army (TA) just before the outbreak of World War II. It served in the Battle of France and the Burma Campaign, and in the postwar TA.

Origin The TA was doubled in size after the Munich Crisis in 1938, with many existing units forming duplicates of themselves. The 60th (North Midland) Field Regiment, RA, achieved this by separating its 239th (Leicestershire) and 240th (Nottinghamshire RHA) Batteries to form a new 115th Field Regiment, RA. Prior to joining the 60th in 1921, these batteries had been the Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery and Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery respectively. The new unit established its Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Leicester on 5 May 1939 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Maurice Simpson, who had previously been the commander of 239 Fd Bty. It took on the role of an Army Field Regiment in Northern Command.Litchfield, p. 139.Litchfield, pp. 138, 142, 197.115 Fd Rgt at RA 1939–45. (For some reason the new regiment initially took the battery numbers 238 and 240, even though the original 238 had been a Lincolnshire battery based at Grimsby. The logical numbering was only restored by an order of the Adjutant-General's office on 11 August 1941.115 Fd Rgt RA War Diary 1939–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/1527.)

The establishment of a field regiment at this time was two batteries each of three troops of four guns, giving a total of 24 guns. These were still World War I 18-pounders re-equipped with pneumatic tyres and towed by motor tractors.Farndale, Years of Defeat, p. 14; Annex A.Sainsbury, pp. 60–1; Appendix 2.Ellis, Appendix I.

Second World War Battle of France

When the TA was mobilised in late August 1939, 115th Army Field Regiment was at its annual training camp at Bridlington; it returned to Leicester to mobilise, 238 Bty at the Brazil Street Garage and 240 Bty at Avenue Road School, shortly afterwards moving to the Leicestershire County Cricket Club ground at Aylestone Road. After six weeks, the regiment had grown to a strength of 31 officers and around 620 other ranks (ORs), and on 13 October it moved to Quebec Barracks at Bordon Camp.

On 2 March 1940, the regiment, with its Light Aid Detachment (LAD) of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) and Signal Section of the Royal Corps of Signals, began moving by road to Southampton to embark for France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The guns and vehicles were loaded into the SS Clan MacAlister, which sailed on 4 March while the advance party of personnel boarded the SS Ben-my-Chree. The rear party went by train to Southampton to embark on the SS Ulster Prince on 8 March, and by 10 March the whole regiment was concentrated in billets at Yvetot. It then moved by stages to Mesnil-Martinsart, where it joined the BEF and began intensive training, moving to Bapaume in mid-April.115 Fd Rgt RA War Diary France 1940, TNA file WO 167/505.

As an army regiment, 115th Fd Rgt was part of the General Headquarters (GHQ) Reserve, attached to 2nd Division in I Corps from 24 April. When the 'Phoney War' ended with the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May, the regiment had just moved up to the Belgian frontier and been given an anti-tank (A/T) role, for which it was digging defences.Joslen, p. 462.Monthly Army List, May 1939.

The BEF abandoned the frontier defences and followed the pre-arranged Plan D, advancing into Belgium to take up positions along the Dyle. 115th Army Fd Rgt crossed into Belgium on 15 May with 48th (South Midland) Division, the reserve formation for I Corps, via Waterloo and Denderwindeke. By dawn on 18 May, it was deployed alongside 18th Fd Rgt of 2nd Division to cover Enghien. However the collapse of the Dutch forces and the German Army's rapid breakthrough in the Ardennes soon threatened the BEF's positions and it began to withdraw to the Escaut. Early on 19 May, the regiment crossed back across the Escaut and the guns were dug in near St Maur to support 48th (SM) Division, which had been working on the Escaut defences.Ellis, pp. 39, 49, 59–60, 70.Farndale, Years of Defeat, pp. 34, 43, 45, Map 9.

The German Army Group B began its attacks on this position on 20 May. 115th Army Fd Rgt came under fire from 07.00, one gun position of A Troop quickly receiving a direct hit and suffering casualties, 240th Fd Bty replying in support of 7th and 8th Battalions Royal Warwickshire Regiment of 143 Bde from 11.00. The regiment established a joint Observation Post (OP) with 1st Heavy Regiment in the church steeple of St Maur. The guns of 48th Division and its neighbour, 2nd Division, were heavily engaged, breaking up several attempts to cross the river, though by nightfall the enemy had driven the Royal Warwicks out of Calonne. Enemy firing went on all day, by the end of which B and C Troops had each lost two guns, and F Trp one. During the night the area was taken over by troops of 2nd Division, though 8th Royal Warwicks remained in the line. 2nd Division grouped 115th Army Fd Rgt with its own 10th Fd Rgt.

Next morning, the full German attack began as they established small bridgeheads near Calonne. Lieutenant-Colonel Simpson gathered stragglers from the Royal Warwicks and sent them to join a company of 2nd Dorsetshire Regiment, the support battalion positioned next to his D Troop. The regiment received urgent messages from the infantry that all possible fire was needed to suppress the German mortars and machine guns. Despite the church tower coming under fire, the OP successfully picked out specific targets: one machine gun position was destroyed by just four rounds, while an enemy OP in a chimney was engaged with Shrapnel shell by D Troop. The bridges between Calonne and Antoing were targeted, and enemy infantry concentrating for an attack were dispersed by shellfire. One infantry unit sent back a message to the gunners, 'Thank God for you', and the Commanding Officer (CO) was congratulated on the regiment's shooting by the CO of the 1st Royal Scots. However, by the end of the day, the ammunition position was very bad, many vehicles had been put out of action by enemy fire, and F Troop had lost all its guns. The regiment was ordered to withdraw in the dark to previously chosen positions in the rear.Farndale, Years of Defeat, pp. 53–4.

By now, the German forces to the south had reached the coast and the BEF was cut off from the rest of France. On 22 May, 2nd Division and 115th Army Fd Rgt were switched to the 'Canal Line' facing southwest. All the regiment's remaining vehicles were packed, many of the men riding on the roofs and trailers. Next day, the regiment was established in A/T positions, with 238 Bty (6 serviceable guns) covering the La Bassée Canal and 240 Bty (seven serviceable guns, including two borrowed from 238 Bty) defending I Corps HQ at Armentières. On 24 May, 238 Bty was switched to Mont Kemmel, but two guns went missing in the confusion. The four remaining guns were deployed facing north and west to hold off enemy tanks; there were no infantry present, but that day and the next were quiet. The gunners dug their guns in, established motor patrols, manned infantry posts and prepared Molotov cocktails to use against enemy tanks, while the retreating BEF streamed past its positions.Ellis, p. 121.

By now, the decision had been made to evacuate the BEF through Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo), where a bridgehead was being organised, and the 'pocket' began to shrink as units were pulled back to the port. On 28 May, RHQ and 238 Bty were ordered to abandon their guns after removing the sights and breech blocks and make their way to Dunkirk. Not being formally part of any formation, the army field regiments largely had to fend for themselves during the retreat. Once within the perimeter, the men of 115th Fd Rgt immobilised their vehicles and joined the throngs awaiting evacuation. They were taken off the Dunkirk Mole early on 29 May on various ships that landed at different ports in Southern England, one party even being taken to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin before crossing safely to England. On arrival in Dover, Lt-Col Simpson volunteered to return to Dunkirk to help organise the evacuation, but permission was refused.Ellis, pp. 171, .Farndale, Years of Defeat, pp. 84–5, Map, 18.

Meanwhile, the detached 240 Bty had taken over positions at Armentières from 115th Fd Rgt's parent 60th (NM) Fd Rgt. The town was being bombed and on 26 May the battery pulled back with I Corps HQ, reaching Uxem by the end of 27 May, where it took up A/T positions. On 29 May, it was ordered to join 1st Division at Bray-Dunes. It drove through enormous traffic jams, having to leave two guns bogged down by floodwater at the Canal de Bergues. The remaining guns were dug in to defend the Dunkirk perimeter and all personnel not required at the guns were sent to the beach for embarkation. The battery positions were heavily shelled on 31 May. As the pocket shrank, three guns were ordered back to new positions, the other three were destroyed and the crews evacuated. Early on 1 June it was reported that 1st Division had withdrawn past the gun positions towards Dunkirk and the remaining men of 240 Bty were evacuated that morning, reaching Dover at 09.50.

The two missing guns from C Trp, under 2nd Lieutenants E.B. Loveluck and John Caven, had found themselves at Merville bridge, north of Béthune, with 6th King's Own (a GHQ pioneer battalion). Cavan emplaced his 18-pounder in a garden covering the approach to the village. A column of tanks appeared, with crews dressed in French uniforms. But they were Germans who opened fire on the gun positions, setting fire to the gun tractors. However, the first shot from the 18-pounder in the garden destroyed the leading Panzer. When two more appeared, the gunners blew the turret off one and the second crashed into it and caught fire. In the smoke and confusion, another two Panzers appeared, but the gun crew set the first of these on fire and achieved a hit on the second. Three men of the 18-pounder crew were wounded in the engagement and one died; Cavan was captured while evacuating them to a Casualty Clearing Station. Meanwhile, Loveluck's gun was in a nearby woodyard, where he organised some of the King's Own to cover the guns. This gun prevented anyone crossing the canal. The Commander, RA, of 2nd Division believed that this section's action with the King's Own had saved the situation.Cowper, p. 319.Ellis, p. 175.Farndale, Years of Defeat, p. 59. Loveluck and Caven were awarded the Military Cross (MC).2/Lt Caven's MC citation, TNA file WO 373/15/383.2/Lt Loveluck's MC citation, TNA file WO 373/15/385.London Gazette, 20 August 1940.

Home Defence