32nd Regiment Royal Artillery
Encyclopedia
32nd Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment
of the Royal Artillery
in the British Army
. It currently serves in the surveillance
and target acquisition
role, and is equipped with the Hermes 450
and Watchkeeper
unmanned aerial vehicles.
in France at the start of the Second World War.
In 1947 the 32nd Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) was retitled as the 45th Field Regiment. and the 7th Medium Regiment RHQ was retitled as the 32nd.
In 1965, the regiment became a Heavy Regiment with the M107 self-propelled 203 mm howitzer.
In the 1970s it became first a light Regiment with the 105mm Light Gun, then a Guided Missile Regiment with Swingfire
In 1985 it became a heavy regiment again.
During the first Gulf War the regiment with the 203 mm Howitzers was part of the Divisional Artillery Group supporting the British 1st Armoured Division
.
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. It currently serves in the surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
and target acquisition
Target Acquisition
In the military, target acquisition denotes any process that provides detailed information about enemy forces and locates them with sufficient accuracy to permit continued monitoring or attacking it....
role, and is equipped with the Hermes 450
Elbit Hermes 450
-Operators: *In June 2008, Azerbaijan ordered ten Hermes 450, choosing it over other drone models because of its "'invisibility' for the enemy's anti-aircraft defense." On September 12, 2011, a UAV was reportedly shot down by the air defense arm of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army over the...
and Watchkeeper
Watchkeeper
Watchkeeper WK450 is a £800 million contract awarded in July 2005 to Thales to provide the British Army with an unmanned aerial vehicle for all weather, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance use....
unmanned aerial vehicles.
History
The 32nd Field Artillery Regiment was in the British Expeditionary ForceBritish Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
in France at the start of the Second World War.
In 1947 the 32nd Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) was retitled as the 45th Field Regiment. and the 7th Medium Regiment RHQ was retitled as the 32nd.
In 1965, the regiment became a Heavy Regiment with the M107 self-propelled 203 mm howitzer.
In the 1970s it became first a light Regiment with the 105mm Light Gun, then a Guided Missile Regiment with Swingfire
Swingfire
Swingfire was a British wire-guided anti-tank missile developed in the 1960s and produced from 1966 until 1993.-Development:Swingfire was developed by Fairey Engineering Ltd and the British Aircraft Corporation. It replaced the Vickers Vigilant missile in British service...
In 1985 it became a heavy regiment again.
During the first Gulf War the regiment with the 203 mm Howitzers was part of the Divisional Artillery Group supporting the British 1st Armoured Division
British 1st Armoured Division
The 1st Armoured Division is an armoured division of the British Army. Originally formed in November 1937 as the Mobile Division, it saw extensive service during the Second World War, was disbanded afterward, was reconstituted in 1976, and remains in service today...
.
Batteries
- 18 (Quebec 1759) Battery
- 22 (Gibraltar 1779–1783Great Siege of GibraltarThe Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of 18 September 1782...
) Battery - 42 (Alem Hamza) Battery - Placed into suspended animation as at 25 February 2011
- 43 (Lloyds Company) Battery
- 46 (Talavera) Battery
- 57 (Bhurtpore) Battery
- 74 Battery (The Battle Axe Company)74 Battery (The Battle Axe Company) Royal Artillery74 Battery Royal Artillery is part of the Royal Artillery. Its name is pronounced "seven four", The battery is one of the sub-units of 39th Regiment Royal Artillery, part of the British Army. It was formed in 1801. Its based in Albermarle Barracks in Northumberland-Present day:The Battle Axe...
was formerly a battery within 32 Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery. - 171 (The Broken Wheel) Battery