page_title: 2nd Army Group Royal Artillery
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Army Group Royal Artillery / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: A 5.5 Inch Gun Crew on the Italian Front, 10 January 1944 The crew of the 5.5 inch gun await the order to commence firing, near Sessa Aurunca, Garigliano River Valley, Italy.
context_page_description: 2nd Army Group Royal Artillery was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign and throughout the Italian Campaign. It reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1950s to command air defence units.
context_section_description: The Headquarters (HQ) of 2nd AGRA was formed at the Scotch Corner Hotel, Darlington, on 24 August 1942 from elements of Headquarters RA, First Army. It was assigned to First Army for the landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), and first went into action in March 1943, supporting IX Corps in Tunisia. It was with V Corps by the end of the campaign in May 1943, and then prepared for the Allied invasion of Italy.
  The make-up of an AGRA during the Italian Campaign was extremely flexible: it could include army field regiments (25-pounders), medium regiments (4.5-inch or 5.5-inch guns) and heavy regiments (7.2-inch howitzers). It might also be augmented with 3.7-inch  heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) guns loaned by the AA brigades for additional ground support fire. 2nd AGRA landed at Salerno in Italy with X Corps soon after the assault landings (Operation Avalanche) on 9 September 1943. 12th AA Brigade was responsible for the AA defence of the beachhead, and its HAA guns had also been firing in support of the infantry divisions during the first few days before 2nd AGRA arrived. When the break-out from the beachhead got under way on 18 September, 12th AA Bde provided a Light AA battery to protect 2nd AGRA's medium gun areas around Mango. 2nd AGRA then supported X Corps in its advance to Naples and the crossing of the River Volturno. In the advance beyond the Voluturno it was reinforced by 214 (Southsea) Battery from 57th (Wessex) HAA Regiment, to fire in the medium role and the followed the advance in the HAA role.
  The  utility of the 3.7-inch gun for medium artillery work, and the declining threat from the Luftwaffe, meant that HAA units were increasingly used in the ground fire role. Despite the confusion in titles, 2nd AA Brigade actually operated as '2nd AGRA (AA)' in the later stages of the campaign.
  In December 1943 2nd AGRA fired in support of 201st Guards Brigade's attack up 'Bare Arse Ridge' on 6 November during the during the Battle of Monte Camino, with the following line-up of guns:
  23rd Field Regiment
  146th (Pembroke & Cardiganshire) Field Regiment
  74th Medium Regiment
  56th Heavy Regiment
  It supported 56th (London) Infantry Division of X Corps during the assault crossing of the Garigliano in January 1944, with the following units:
  78th (Lowland) Field Regiment
  69th (Caernarvon & Denbigh Yeomanry) Medium Regiment
  74th Medium Regiment
  140th (5th London) Medium Regiment
  56th Heavy Regiment
  In February 1944, 2nd AGRA was sent with three field and five medium regiments to support the New Zealand Corps in operations against Monte Cassino. By late May, 2nd AGRA was supporting X Corps' advance after Operation Diadem had broken through the German Winter Line, and in the subsequent pursuit to Lake Trasimeno and advance to Florence, with the following order of battle: 
  5th Medium Regiment
  74th Medium Regiment
  102nd (Pembroke Yeomanry) Medium Regiment
  140th (5th London) Medium Regiment
  56th Heavy Regiment
  One battery, 32nd Heavy Regiment
  It continued with X Corps during Operation Olive to breach the Gothic Line in August,  and was with II Polish Corps in October. For the Allied Spring 1945 offensive in Italy (Operation Grapeshot), 2nd AGRA supported V Corps with five medium regiments (56th Heavy Rgt having been transferred to 21st Army Group in Belgium by that stage.) 
  At the end of the war HQ 2nd AGRA appears to have been redesignated HQ 180th Infantry Brigade in the Central Mediterranean Force.
caption: A 5.5-inch crew awaiting the order to fire on the Garigliano, January 1944.
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