1st Wessex Artillery The 1st Wessex Artillery was a volunteer unit of the British Army that existed under various titles from 1860 to 1971 , including active service in World War I and World War II Volunteers . An invasion scare in 1859 led to a surge of new Rifle and Artillery Volunteer corps coming into existence across Great Britain , forming a large Volunteer Force . The 2nd Hampshire ( 2nd Hants ) Artillery Volunteers ( AV ) were formed at Southsea in May 1860 and the following year became part of the 1st ( Portsmouth ) Administrative Brigade of the Hampshire Artillery , along with the 1st Hants AV at Bitterne , Southampton , and the 3rd Hants ( Dockyard ) AV raised from civilian staff of Portsmouth Dockyard . In 1871 the 2nd Hants absorbed the Dockyard AV . The 2nd Hants AV drilled on the guns at Southsea Castle and was attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery . ( an 11th company was raised later ) . Territorials . On the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908 , Nos 1 - 9 companies of the 2nd Hants Volunteer Artillery formed 1st ( Wessex ) Brigade Royal Field Artillery ( RFA ) , organised as follows : Nos 10 and 11 Companies were separated to form the nucleus of 2nd Wessex ( Howitzer ) Brigade RFA on the Isle of Wight . As the change of title indicates , 1st Wessex Brigade was now trained and equipped as field artillery rather than garrison artillery . It formed part of the Wessex Division of the TF . When war was declared in August 1914 the whole division was at its annual camp on Salisbury Plain . World War I . On mobilisation in 1914 , the Territorials of the Wessex Division were sent to India to relieve British and Indian Regular troops for the Western Front . The artillery left behind their horses and their ammunition column , which were needed in France . With the expansion of the army , the division was designated 43rd ( Wessex ) Infantry Division in April 1915 and 1st Wessex Brigade became CCXV ( or 215 ) Brigade RFA . Its three batteries were renamed A , B and C . All those Territorials who had not volunteered for overseas service , together with the recruits , were left behind to form Second Line units . The 45th ( 2nd Wessex ) Division containing the CCCCXV ( 2 / 1st Wessex ) Bde RFA resulted from this process , and was ready so quickly that it followed the 43rd to India in December 1914 . These units remained in garrison in India , supplying drafts to the First Line and other theatres throughout the war until they had virtually disappeared . CCCXV Bde was broken up in April 1917 . Initially , CCXV brigade had been equipped with obsolete 15 - pounder field guns , but in July 1916 it re - equipped with 4 x 18 - pounders per battery in preparation for front line duty . With a reformed Brigade Ammunition Column , CCXV Bde moved in October 1916 to Basra to take part in the Mesopotamian campaign , and on 8 December 1916 it joined 3rd ( Lahore ) Division of the Indian Army on the Tigris front . At this time it had 524 ( Howitzer ) Battery ( 4 x 4 . 5 - inch howitzers ) attached , which remained with the brigade until September 1917 . From 14 December 1916 until 19 January 1917 the division participated in the advance to the Hai and the capture of the Khudaira Bend . The one - hour bombardment at Khudaira by 3rd Division ' s guns on 9 January was described by the Turks as ' violent ' and caused heavy losses . When the infantry went in they occupied the Turkish front line in minutes with few losses . The Turks counter - attacked under cover of a mist , but when that cleared a 15 - minute bombardment enabled the British to secure the position . After the capture of Baghdad , 524th ( Howitzer ) Battery was lent to 7th ( Meerut ) Division for the advance on Hassaiwa and Fallujah , which was captured on 19 March 1917 . In parallel , the rest of CCXV Bde was with another force advancing towards Khaniqin , where they were supposed to link up with Russian troops . There was no sign of the Russians , but the Turks were present in force in the Jabal Hamrin hills . A brigade group including B Battery CCXV was ordered to outflank this position , and at one point B / CCXV was engaging the enemy at 1500 yards ' range from open positions in the plain . But the Turkish position was too strong and the British force had to fall back towards Baghdad . In July the British resumed their advance , making for Ramadi . CCXV had its own A and B Batteries , 66th Battery and 524 ( Howitzer ) Battery under command . Contact was made at Mushaid Ridge , where the force was held by heavy fire from the banks of the Euphrates Canal and from the Regulator House . 2nd Battalion 7th Gurkha Rifles and CCXV Bde were ordered to try a left flanking movement . The Turks had about six guns firing very accurately , but 66th and 524th Batteries got the upper hand and by 1830 hours the Gurkhas were across the canal , only to come under heavy fire from the Ramadi trenches . Forward artillery observers saw signs of a Turkish retirement and brought down fire on the Aziziya Ridge to cut them off . But now confusion set in : Turkish shells cut telephone wires , two forward observers were wounded , and a dust storm blew up . Then two guns of B Battery were hit . No effective artillery bombardment was possible and the attack had to be called off . The flanking force had lost 566 casualties , 321 from the effects of heat . On 7 August 1917 CCXV ' s 18 - pounder batteries were renamed again , as 1086 , 1087 and 1088 , and 1087 Battery was then broken up ( probably to make the other batteries up to 6 guns each ) . CCXV Bde transferred to 15th Indian Division on 4 October 1917 and gained an extra battery : 2 / 1st Nottinghamshire Battery Royal Horse Artillery ( renumbered 816 Battery RFA in February 1918 ) . With 15th Indian Division on the Euphrates front , CCXV Bde participated in the occupation of Hīt on 8 March 1918 and the Action of Khan Baghdadi on 25 March 1918 . At the latter battle , CCXV and CCXXII Brigades advanced by alternate batteries over rough country under heavy enemy fire . 1088 Battery lost a gun and many casualties , but they continued moving forward and kept the momentum of the infantry advance going . By now the gunners were so far forward that they were engaging at ranges of 1800 – 2200 yards , putting down a steady barrage on the Turkish trenches followed by 15 minutes of intense fire , described by the RA ' s historian , Gen Sir Martin Farndale , as ' the most accurate seen so far ' on the Mesopotamian Front . The infantry were able to enter these trenches with few casualties , taking many prisoners and enemy guns . After Khan Baghdadi , CCXV was sent to the rear to ease supply problems , and therefore took no part in the pursuit to Kirkuk through April and May . 15th Indian Division played little part in the final battles in Mespotamia . Interwar years . In 1920 the Territorial Army was reformed and prewar TF units reconstituted . 1st Wessex now became 54th ( Wessex ) Field Brigade , Royal Artillery ( RA ) , organised as follows : The unit was given a new role and title in 1932 as 57th ( Wessex ) Anti - Aircraft Brigade RA , ( TA ) , taking over 219 ( Isle of Wight ) Battery from 95th ( Hampshire Yeomanry ) Field Regiment – this battery had originally been part of 2nd Wessex Bde , soon it absorbed 216 Battery at Cosham which had a similar history . On the eve of World War II , 57th ( Wessex ) Bde was organised as follows : World War II . Early in WWII , the unit – now designated 57th ( Wessex ) Heavy Anti - Aircraft Regiment , RA – was part of Home Forces . During the Battle of Britain and Blitz it served in 65 AA Brigade of 5 AA Division , defending Southampton . In October 1942 , 57 ( Wessex ) HAA Regt was sent to North Africa to join Eighth Army , and it served with that formation through the rest of the North African Campaign and the Italian Campaign until the end of the war . Postwar years . On the reconstitution of the TA in 1947 , the regiment was designated 457 ( Wessex ) HAA Regiment RA . In 1955 it absorbed 428 HAA Regiment , formerly Princess Beatrice ' s Isle of Wight Rifles , which formed P ( Princess Beatrice ' s Isle of Wight ) Battery alongside Q ( Portsmouth ) and R ( Gosport ) Batteries . In 1963 , the regiment absorbed 295 ( Hampshire Carabiniers Yeomanry ) HAA Regiment , and became 457 ( Wessex ) Heavy Air Defence Regiment , RA , ( Hampshire Carabiniers Yeomanry ) . In 1967 the regiment became infantry as C Company ( Wessex Royal Artillery Princess Beatrice ' s ) in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Territorials , but when that regiment was subsumed into the Wessex Regiment the Royal Artillery and Hampshire Yeomanry links were discontinued . However , when 106 ( Yeomanry ) Regiment Royal Artillery was created in 1999 , the old number ' 457 ' was revived for 457 ( Hampshire Yeomanry ) Battery . Re - enactment group . The Palmerston Forts Society has a re - enactment group , the Portsdown Artillery Volunteers , based on the 2nd Hants Artillery Volunteers .