page_title: 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers
section_title: Mobilisation
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers / World War II / 139th (4th London) Field Regiment / Mobilisation
caption_attribution_description: English: THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE 1940. An 18-pdr gun being inspected by General Georges and senior officers of the French and British armies at Orchies. Comment&#160;: This is a Mk II gun on Mk I* or II carriage of World War I vintage. It has the bronze reservoir fitted to the end of the recuperator (above the barrel) as part of the upgrade to hydro-pneumatic recuperator.
context_page_description: The 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers, later 4th London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, popularly known as the Lewisham Gunners, was a volunteer unit of the British Army from 1860 until 1967. Initially raised in suburban West Kent, its recruiting area was later incorporated within the County of London. It provided two active service units in each of the World Wars, operating as far afield as Sicily, Burma and Madagascar, and later provided an airborne unit in the Territorial Army of the 1950s.
context_section_description: 139th Field Regiment mobilised at Lewisham on 1 September 1939 and after a week moved to Mill Hill where the men were billetted in private houses with clubs and church halls use as messes and cookhouses. Training began with the equipment available: two 4.5-inch howitzers per Troop and a few requisitioned civilian vehicles. In November the regiment moved to requisitioned buildings in Gloucestershire, with RHQ and 362nd Bty at Tetbury and 364th Bty at Westonbirt House. World War I-vintage 18-pounder Mk II guns on pneumatic wheels replaced the 4.5-inch howitzers, a few Bedford 15-cwt trucks and Morris Quad gun-tractors arrived, and the regiment trained to a standard of efficiency to join the BEF in France, one of the few 2nd Line TA units to do so. It embarked at Southampton on 9 April 1940.
caption: 18-Pounder being inspected in France, April 1940.
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