178 Siege Battery R.G.A.

The battery was raised at Forth in June 1916, equipped with four 6in Howitzers. The book describes the origin of the battery and opens with the nominal roll of the original battery, six officers and 128 men, with a group photo. To this roll are added, separately, the names of 14 officers who joined later. At the end is the nominal roll at the start of demobilization, six officers and 130 men, again with a group photo.
The battery left for France on 8 October 1916, joining the 54th Heavy Artillery Group in the Arras sector, where it was in action in the offensive of April 1917 and in May. In June 1917 it moved to Ypres and took part in the Third Ypres fighting. In November the battery was in action at Cambrai and in March 1918 it was involved in the retreat and then in the counter-offensive leading to the final advance. An ammunition report gives the total expenditure in the two years the battery was on the Western Front as 108,271 rounds, a weight of 4,833 tons.There is a list of honours and awards and of promotions and postings out of the battery. The roll of honour gives date of death and place of burial (there were no officers among the dead), and there is a separate roll of the wounded, again with date. Most useful is the diary of events detailing the battery’s moves, locations, and periods in action.

Keywords: history, war, wwi, first world war, world war one, world war 1, ww1, battalion, regiment, army, soldiers, battles, historical