4th Regiment Royal Artillery The 4th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army . It is currently based at Topcliffe and serves in the armoured field artillery role , equipped with AS - 90 self - propelled guns . The Regiment moved from Roberts Barracks in Osnabruck , Germany at the end of 2008 where it had previously been stationed for over 20 years . The Regiment ' s main recruiting area is in the North East of England , and so significant effort has been put into re - establishing links , especially to the city of Sunderland where the Regiment holds the Freedom of the City . These strong links to the local area gives the Regiment its name " The North East Gunners " . Under Army 2020 , it is likely to provide force support to the Adaptable Force and might lose its AS - 90s in return for light guns . The 103rd Regiment Royal Artillery will be paired with this regiment . History . 4th Regiment , Royal Horse Artillery . The Regiment was formed as 4th Regiment Royal Horse Artillery ( RHA ) at Helmieh , Egypt on 28 May 1939 . The original Batteries were C Battery , F ( Sphinx ) Battery , and G Battery ( Mercers Troop ) , drawn from independent commands in India and equipped with the Ordnance QF 25 pounder . Shortly after the outbreak of war in September 1939 the Regiment moved to Mersa Matruh in early 1940 . 4th RHA fired the opening rounds of the campaign in North Africa against the Italians at Sidi Barrani on 8 December 1940 . As part of the newly formed 7th Armoured Division , 4th RHA advanced westwards across the desert , seeing action again in January 1941 at Bardia , the capture of Tobruk , and at Beda Fomm . 16 October 1941 saw the formation of DD ( Jerboa ) Battery and the men of G ( Mercers Troop ) returned to England to join 5th RHA . During the battle of Sidi Rezegh on 23 November 1941 , Bombardier William Bradley of F ( Sphinx ) Battery was immediately awarded the Military Medal for one of many acts of utmost bravery . In the same battle , Brigadier John Charles Campbell , who only a few months earlier had been commanding 4th RHA , won the Victoria Cross . Following the breakout from El Alamein , the Regiment joined the rest of the 8th Army in its pursuit of the Germans to the west , fighting at Tabega Gap , Akarit , El Kourzia and at Tunis . In July 1943 , with the Axis forces in North Africa defeated , 4th Regiment returned to England to train for the invasion of Europe . The Regiment saw action again during the Rhine Crossings between 25 March and 1 April 1945 . At the end of the war , the Regiment was at Wismar , Germany and remained there until returning to England in 1948 . 4th Regiment , Royal Artillery . By the time the Regiment redeployed to Germany in 1951 it had gone through many changes ; consisting of F ( Sphinx ) , G ( Mercers Troop ) and I Battery ( Bulls Troop ) equipped with M44 self - propelled guns . In 1961 4th RHA became 4th Regiment Royal Artillery ( RA ) , losing all 3 batteries to 33rd Parachute Light Regiment Royal Artillery , which immediately became 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery . 4th Regiment RA gained 29 ( Corunna ) , 88 ( Arracan ) and 97 ( Lawson ’ s Company ) as gun batteries and was posted to Hong Kong . The Regiment then deployed on operations to the Malayan Peninsula in 1965 . It saw active service from February to April and during the confrontation with Indonesia in Borneo until November . The Regiment then resumed service in West Germany , moving to Munsterlager in support of 1st Armoured Division . In more recent times , the Regiment served three emergency tours of Northern Ireland in 1972 , 1974 , and 1976 . During which , five members of the Regiment were awarded medals for gallantry . Ten soldiers were seriously wounded and eight were killed , including two killed in a terrorist attack on a civilian coach . The Regiment returned to Catterick Garrison in 1972 and retrained on the 105 pack howitzer . In March 1977 the Regiment replaced 7th RHA in Aldershot in support of 6 Field Force and equipped with the 105mm Light Gun adopted the parachute role . Members of the Regiment were deployed in Rhodesia in the autumn of 1979 to monitor the ceasefire . In 1981 29 ( Corunna ) Battery deployed to Long Kesh ( HMP Maze ) in Northern Ireland . In 1982 two batteries deployed to the South Atlantic as part of the task force to retake the Falkand Islands , 29 ( Corunna ) Bty with 2 Para aboard MV Norland and 97 ( Lawsons Company ) Bty aboard the QE2 with the Welsh and Scots Guards and the Gurkhas . 88 ( Arracan ) Bty were on an operational tour in Belize at the time . In 1984 the Regiment moved to Osnabruck equipped with the M109 155mm SP gun , remaining in support of the 1st Armoured Division . In 1991 the Regiment undertook an emergency tour of Northern Ireland as the Tyrone Roulement Battalion , with batteries in Aughnacloy , Middleton , Armagh and Bessbrook . 52 ( Niagara ) Battery joined 4th Regiment due to 45th Regiment being placed in suspended animation . The regiment then converted to AS90 . A period of conversion training culminated in Regimental live firing at the end of 1994 . Shortly after , the AS90s deployed for the first time to the Former Yugoslavia as part of SFOR . In 1999 the Regiment returned to the Balkans , the guns were based in Macedonia and provided a very effective deterrent when NATO troops moved into Kosovo . After a packed training period throughout 2001 / 02 , The Regiment took part in Operation Fresco during the firemen ' s strike in the autumn of 2002 . In 2003 the Regiment deployed to Northern Ireland from June to December , whilst simultaneously providing two Forward Observation Officer parties on Operation Telic to assist in the capture of Basra . In 2004 the Regiment returned to Iraq and the batteries were split up to fulfil a number of roles , including 3 / 29 Battery ’ s task to act as Escort for the Provincial Civ / Mil Operations Centre involved in the reconstruction of Basra . Two years later the Regiment deployed on Operation Tosca on peacekeeping duties as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus ( UNFICYP ) . In 2007 the Regiment began its conversion to the 105mm Light Gun and pre - deployment training for Op HERRICK 7 in Afghanistan . A challenging tour that saw members of the Regiment receiving awards and commendations for bravery , including the Military Cross awarded to Captain Paul Britton of 88 ( Arracan ) Battery . The Regiment returned from a successful tour in April 2008 and was welcomed home by the city of Sunderland . The close bond between 4th Regiment Royal Artillery and the city of Sunderland was made official in March 1974 , when the Regiment was granted the Honorary Freedom of the County Borough of Sunderland . This honour was reconfirmed in 2000 by the City and in July 2008 the Regiment exercised its freedom by marching through the streets in desert uniform to large crowds . With roughly 60 % of the Regiment hailing from the north east of England , they are proud to be ‘ The North East Gunners ’ . 2008 was the end of an era as the Regiment departed Germany for the final time . They are now based in Alanbrooke Barracks , Topcliffe , formerly RAF Topcliffe , North Yorkshire , and about to deploy once again to Afghanistan for Op HERRICK 12 . The recently launched charity aims to gather a substantial amount of money for special needs personnel and has already collected a considerable sum ; where support was shown en - masse by the city of Sunderland at the Remembrance Day Parade . As always , the charity requires your continued support to ensure that it has the capability to help those members of our Regimental family when they need it most . 88 Arracan Battery has a very active Veterans association ran by Taff Fitgerald , Taff can be contacted via the 88 Bty Veterans website at http : / / www . 88bty . com Current sub - units . The regiment commands the following batteries : Forever Fourth . Forever Fourth is the new Regimental charity for 4th Regiment Royal Artillery . The charity charter is : " " To provide immediate and short term financial assistance to 4 Regt RA personnel and their families in the event of serious injury or fatality sustained on or training for operations . " "