page_title: 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers
section_title: Later War
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers / World War II / Later War
caption_attribution_description: English: Gun at Half Moon Battery Pendennis Castle
context_page_description: The 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. They served as a Coast Artillery unit and continued in existence until the dissolution of Coast Artillery in the UK in 1956.
context_section_description: On 31 January 1942, HQ Fixed Defences, Falmouth, was disbanded, and the regiment came under the control of the Commander, VIII Corps Coast Artillery (later, HQ Coastal Artillery, South West District). On 11 March 1942 Lt-Col Cowan relinquished command, and Lt-Col W.A. Murley, MC, took over 
  On 27 March 1942, a detachment of 400 Coast Bty arrived at Toll Point to assist in preparing a site for two mobile French 75mm field guns to protect the Helford River, and a month later the battery was incorporated into 523rd Rgt. During April the two 4-inch guns at St Ives were removed  and replaced by two of the 138mm guns removed from the French battleships Courbet and Paris. In June, surface watching radar became operational, under No 14 Army Plotting Room (APR). By the end of that month the regiment was disposed as follows:
  HQ – Pendennis Castle
  108 Coast Bty – St Anthony Battery
  173 Coast Bty – St Mawes
  216 Coast Bty – Half Moon Battery
  390 Coast Bty – St Ives
  394 Coast Bty – Penzance
  400 Coast Bty – Toll Point
  14 APR – Falmouth
  During April 1943 the APR plotted up a number of 'unknown' and 'hostile' craft out to sea as German E-boats raided convoys, and gunfire could be heard. Usually these were out of range, but on 14 April the Royal Navy refused permission for the guns to fire, because the targets were in amongst the convoy.
  As the war progressed, the defences continued to be improved. Two further batteries (392 at Penzance and 442 at Pendennis Point) joined the regiment and in June 1943 they received projectors for naval 2-inch rockets, while 108, 216 and 400 Btys each received Bofors guns (40mm light anti-aircraft guns that were also useful against light naval craft). In September, 216 Bty's two World War I-era Mk VII* 6-inch guns at the Half Moon Battery were replaced by new Mk XXIV guns, and in November 442 Bty handed over its old 12-pdrs and received Bofors.
  As the invasion threat receded, the coast defences were seen as absorbing excessive manpower and were scaled back, the gunners being redeployed. During November 1943 the regiment lost a large number of men to other RA branches, to the infantry, to the navy and to coal mining, reducing its strength from around 600 to around 425 by the end of the year, and 108 Bty became non-operational. By March 1944 the old 75mm mobile guns were withdrawn, but on two occasions that month 216 Bty engaged hostile surface vessels using radar for range finding. Despite this E-boat activity the coastal artillery branch continued to shrink, a number of officers and other ranks being transferred in from disbanded units, and on 1 April three further batteries (212, 379 and 393) were regimented with 523rd Coast Rgt. Later that month, 18, 79 and 83 CODs were disbanded and a few of their men posted to the regiment, though the overall strength of the regiment remained roughly constant.
  In September the Home Guard was stood down, and its men ceased to do duty with the regiment, while a number of guns and searchlights became non-operational. St Anthony Battery had become an RA Training Centre where 200 men were being trained in light anti-aircraft and field gunnery. In November 390 and 392 Btys became non-operational, then in January 1945 most of the gun positions were reduced to 'care and maintenance' and 130 other ranks were posted to 618th (Dorsetshire) Infantry Regiment, RA, formed for garrison duties. In February another 98 ORs went to 566th Coast Rgt, and the 138mm guns were removed from St Ives to Pendennis for storage. By VE Day, the strength of the regiment had dwindled to about 130 all ranks.
caption: 6-inch Mk XXIV gun in the Half Moon Battery at Pendennis Castle.
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