101st ( Northumbrian ) Regiment Royal Artillery ( Volunteers ) 101st ( Northumbrian ) Regiment Royal Artillery ( Volunteers ) is part of the Territorial Army ( TA ) and has sub units throughout Northumbria . It is equipped with M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ( MLRS ) and Surveillance and Target Acquisition ( STA ) . It is the only TA unit equipped with MLRS . The Regiment ' s role is to provide reinforcements to the Regular Army for operations . Currently the Regiment is supporting Operation Herrick in Afghanistan . Under Army 2020 , its role will be more specific . All batteries will re - role to the GMLRS . It will pair with 39 RA until the end of March 2015 , and then with 3 RHA afterwards . It also will support 1 RHA , 19 and 26 RA . Sub units . 203 Elswick Battery . 203 Bty is based in Blyth , Northumberland and is equipped with the MLRS system . History Formed on 31 January 1900 , the Elswick Battery , as it was then known , marched to the Newcastle upon Tyne Town Hall , headed by the band , to be sworn in before the Lord Mayor of Newcastle . The Battery was armed with 12 pounder guns manufactured by Armstrongs at Elswick . The guns had been paid for by Lady Meux , the eccentric brewery heiress . Later that year , the unit embarked for South Africa for service in the Second Boer War . In June 1901 , the Battery returned to England with only 175 men of the original 246 that had embarked . When the Territorial Army was reorganised in April 1967 , three TA Batteries of the Royal Artillery in Blyth and Seaton Delaval were merged into a Battery to be based in Blyth , Northumberland . During this period , the Battery was equipped with the BL 5 . 5 inch Medium Gun , converting to the 105mm Light Gun in 1980 . In April 1992 , the Battery was again reequipped , this time with FH - 70 howitzers . In 1998 , the Battery became one of only two Territorial Army Batteries to be equipped with the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ( MLRS ) . 204 ( Tyneside Scottish ) Battery . 204 ( Tyneside Scottish ) Battery currently acts as a Surveillance and Target Acquisition ( STA ) Battery and uses some of the most modern equipment issued to a TA Unit . It also supplies a Troop to augment the Headquarters of HQ 1 Artillery Brigade . 204 Battery has supplied personnel for Operations in Iraq , Bosnia , Kosovo , Cyprus and Afghanistan . Tyneside Scottish History The origins of the Tyneside Scottish are in the " New Army " ( Kitchener ' s Army ) and the call to arms in World War 1 . The Recruitment to the British Army during World War I saw the raising of the Pals battalion s . The Tyneside Scottish Committee was formed and raised the Tyneside Scottish Brigade of four service Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers . The Brigade ' s first major action was the Battle of the Somme , where it sustained a large number of casualties . The Brigade was subsequently brought up to strength and served at Armentiers , Battle of Arras ( 1917 ) and the final battles of 1918 . The Brigade was disbanded in 1919 . In 1939 , the TA expanded and the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry ( DLI ) duplicated to form the 12th Battalion ( 12 DLI ) ; this was authorised to be raised as the Tyneside Scottish . The Battalion immediately sought affiliation with a Scottish unit and became the 1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish , Black Watch ( Royal Highland Regiment ) ( 1TS ) . The Battalion deployed to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation . Following a period of Home Defence , 1TS joined the 49th ( West Riding ) Division and was sent to Iceland . Returning to England in 1942 , another period of Home Defence preceded the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 . The Battalion were engaged in Operation Martlet , gaining the Battle Honour " Defence of Rauray " . Following the battle , and subsequent actions in the Caen area , the Battalion was reduced to cadre strength and subsequently placed in suspended animation . In 1947 , on the reconstitution of the TA , the honour title passed to the Royal Artillery . Initially the title was held by 670th Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment , RA ( Tyneside Scottish ) . In March 1955 , the title passed to a battery in 439th Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment , RA ; this battery was formed by the reduction of the 670th . Then , in April 1967 , the battery was reduced to the Tyneside Scottish Troop of the 204th Medium Battery , 101st ( Northumbrian ) Regiment RA ( Volunteers ) . In 1974 , the title was adopted by the whole of 204 Battery . 205 ( 3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery ) Battery . 205 Bty is based in South Shields and is equipped with the MLRS system . History In 1859 , the Volunteer Force was created as a result of rising tensions on the European continent . An appeal was made to citizens to form Artillery Corps and Companies in maritime towns . This appeal resulted in the formation of the 3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery in South Shields in 1860 . When the Royal Artillery divided in 1899 , the unit became the 3rd Durham Royal Garrison Artillery ( Volunteers ) . On the formation of the Territorial Force ( TF ) in 1908 , the 3rd Durham RGA transferred to the Royal Field Artillery and was designated as the 4th Durham Battery of the 4th Northumbrian Howitzer Brigade RFA ( TF ) ; and subtitled ( County of Durham ) in the following year . The Brigade mobilised in August 1914 and deployed to France in April 1915 . In early May , the Brigade were the first territorial field gunners to engage in the Second Battle of Ypres . A reorganisation of Field artillery in 1916 saw the Brigade broken up ; the 4th Durham Battery was transferred as D Battery , 250 ( Northumbrian ) Brigade [ the former 1st Northumbrian Brigade ] - the 5th Battery transferred as D Battery , 251 Brigade [ the former 2nd Northumbrian Brigade ] . The units would go on to take part in the Battle of the Somme , the Battle of Arras ( 1917 ) , the Battle of Passchendaele and the final battles in 1918 . On the reforming of the territorials ( now known as the TA ) in 1920 , the brigade became the 3rd ( Northumbrian ) Field Brigade RA ( TA ) , which , in the following year , was redesignated as the 74th ( Northumbrian ) Field Brigade RA ( TA ) . A reorganisation of Artillery Field Brigades in 1938 resulted in the formation of the 74th ( Northumbrian ) Field Regiment RA ( TA ) , which was duplicated in 1939 to form the 125th ( Northumbrian ) Field Regiment RA ( TA ) . The 74th Regiment mobilised as part of the divisional Artillery for the 50th ( Northumbrian ) Infantry Division , supporting the 151st Infantry Brigade ( United Kingdom ) ( The Durham Light Infantry Brigade ) , with whom they served from 1939 to 1944 . The Regiment deployed to France in 1940 as part of the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) and returned to the UK during the Dunkirk evacuation . In 1941 , they embarked with the 8th Army for the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre . Initially they took part in the Jock column actions to harass the enemy . Supporting 151 ( DLI ) Brigade they were engaged in the Battle of Gazala , breaking out to avoid capture through Mersa Matruh , though suffering many casualties . Following a refit , the Regiment was engaged in the Second Battle of El Alamein and followed by the assault on the Mareth Line . Joining the Italian Campaign ( World War II ) , they landed in the Allied invasion of Sicily where they were engaged in the battle of Primosole Bridge ( Operation Fustian ) and the barrage across the Straits of Messina for the invasion of Italy . The Regiment ' s next major action was D - Day and the Invasion of Normandy , where it landed on Gold Beach with the rest of 50th Northumbrian ( Infantry ) Division . They were subsequently involved in the battle for Caen ( Operation Perch ) . Later service through North West Europe saw the Regiment involved in the liberation of Brussels and the battle of the Gheil bridgehead on the Albert Canal . In September 1944 , the Regiment took part in Operation Market Garden . When the rest of the 50th Division returned to England in November 1944 , 74 Regiment was attached to 49th ( West Riding Division ) , which was engaged on the Grebbe line . Following the German surrender in May 1945 , the Regiment remained in the Army of Occupation until 1946 , when it returned to South Shields . The 74th ( Northumbrian ) Field Regiment fought with distinction in some of the most decisive battles of the Second World and was awarded 3 DSOs , 7 MCs and 8 MMs . In the summer of 1940 , the 125th ( Northumbrian ) Field Regiment converted to the 125th ( Northumbrian ) Anti - Tank Regiment . It deployed to the Far East and was captured in the fall of Singapore in February 1942 . With the reconstitution of the TA in 1947 , 74 Regiment reformed as 274 ( Northumbrian ) Field Regiment RA ( TA ) and 125 Regiment reformed as 325 ( Durham ) L . A . A . Regiment RA ( TA ) . Following subsequent amalgamations , 325 Regiment became part of 463 ( Durham Light Infantry ) Light Air Defence Regiment RA ( TA ) . On the disbandment of Anti - Aircraft Command in 1955 , 274 Regiment absorbed 487 H . A . A . Regiment RA ( Durham ) ( TA ) and 377 ( Durham ) Observation Regiment RA ( TA ) . In 1967 , the TA became the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve ( TAVR ) . As part of this restructuring , 101 ( Northumbrian ) Medium Regiment RA ( V ) was formed . 205 Medium Battery was constituted from 274 Field and 463 LAA Regiments . In 1974 , the honour title 3rd Durham Volunteer Artillery was adopted by the Battery . Initially equipped with the BL 5 . 5 inch Medium Gun , the battery converted to the 105mm Light Gun in 1980 and to FH - 70 in 1991 . The Battery was the last to fire 101 Regiment ' s guns during the prestigious Queen ' s Cup , which they won for the second year running . The Battery therefore concluded 137 years service on the guns of the Royal Artillery as the premier Gun Battery in the Territorial Army . The following year , 205 Battery converted to a rocket Battery equipped with M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ; the first TA Battery to use that weapon system . The Battery currently provides reinforcements for Operation Herrick in Afghanistan . The first firing of MLRS in Afghanistan by a formed troop from the Territorial Army was fired by a detachment from 205 Battery . 269 ( West Riding ) Battery . The West Riding Artillery is a Surveillance and Target Acquisition battery and is based at Carlton Barracks , Leeds . The battery supports 5th Regiment RA .