page_title: 2nd Wessex Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
section_title: 1/4th Hampshire (H) Battery
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Wessex Brigade, Royal Field Artillery / World War I / 1/II Wessex (H) Brigade / 1/4th Hampshire (H) Battery
caption_attribution_description: English: British 18-pounder mark II field gun at the Imperial War Museum, London. A stalwart of the British Army's artillery for forty years. The 18-pounder field gun was introduced into service in 1904 and, by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, 1226 had been manufactured in Britain. Thereafter production soared and a further 9244 guns were produced by British and American factories by 1918. The 18-pounder saw action with the British Expeditionary Force in the opening weeks of the war and remained in constant use on the Western Front for the duration. The importance of the gun can be measured by the fact that over 86 million 18-pounder shells were fired during the war. The gun remained in service throughtout the inter-war years and into the Second World War. This 18-pounder Mark II field gun saw considerable action on the Western Front during the First World War. Between September 1916 and November 1917 it fired 16,513 rounds before being sent back to Britain to have its barrel relined. When it returned to France in March 1918 it was issued to 53rd Battery, Royal Field Artillery and took part in opposing the German spring offensive of 1918 and in the subsequent British advance in the autumn. Technical specifications: Calibre: 3,3 inch (8,4 cm) Weight in action: 2,820 lb (1,279 kg) Range: 6,525 yards (5,966 m) Ammunition: 18 lb 8oz (8,4 kg) - 10 lb 3oz (4,6 kg) shrapnel, high explosive, star Magyar: Egy brit 18-pounder mark II tábori ágyú a londoni Imperial War Museum-ban.
context_page_description: The II Wessex Brigade was a howitzer unit of the Royal Field Artillery in Britain's Territorial Force that was formed on the Isle of Wight in 1908. It served in India and the Middle East during World War I, one of its batteries being captured at the Siege of Kut in Mesopotamia in 1916, and another seeing active service in the Third Afghan War of 1919. Although reformed after the war, the unit was broken up in 1927.
context_section_description: In September 1915 1/4th Hampshire (H) Battery was sent from India to Aden, where it landed and joined the Aden Expeditionary Force on 13 September. The port of Aden had been threatened by a Turkish force but after some action in June and July 1915 it simply watched the British garrison. No attempt to attack was made by either side for the rest of the war.
  1/4th Hampshire Bty returned to India on 14 August 1916. It left its 5-inch howitzers behind for 2/1st Devonshire Battery from 2/IV Wessex Brigade that relieved it, and on arrival in India it was rearmed with modern 18-pounder field guns and ceased to be a howitzer battery. In 1917 it was redesignated 1089 Battery RFA, and was brought up to an establishment of six guns when it was joined by a section from 2/2nd Devonshire Battery. 
  1/II Wessex Brigade was renumbered as CCXVI (216) Brigade during 1916, although it consisted only of the returned 1089 (1/4th Hampshire) Bty. However, by April 1917 it was joined by 1097 Bty from CCXXV Bde (the former 2/1st Hampshire Bty from 2/I Wessex Bde) and 1104 Bty from CCXXVII Bde (the former 2/1 Wiltshire Bty from 2/III Wessex Bde). By July 1918 1104 Bty had transferred on to CCXVIII Bde.
  After the end of World War I 1089 Battery was still serving in India when the Third Afghan War broke out. It accompanied the 47th Mobile Indian Brigade during the brief campaign.
caption: 18-pounder gun preserved at the Imperial War Museum.
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