RAA LIAISON LETTER – 2025 - 2026 CANNONBALL SUPPLEMENT JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY HISTORICAL COMPANY 143 Anniversary Day Year Action / Event / Ceremony Field Battery RA is approved. April 2026 109th 10 Apr 1917 To mount the attack at Bullecourt Australian guns were pushed well forward and exposed. On just this day eleven gunners are KIA, including the CO of the 4th Australian Field Artillery Brigade from German counter battery fire. 109th 15 Apr 1917 A predawn German attack between Divisional boundaries overruns all four batteries of the 2nd Australian Field Artillery Brigade in one sector. Also, at Noreuil, guns were dragged from pits to engage attacking Germans with direct fire. Infantry counter attacks saved most of the guns. The action at Noreuil, which included 13th Battery, 5th AFA Brigade, is commemorated by a park with its name on the banks of the Murray River in Albury. 20th 19 Apr 2006 Under the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (2003 to 2017) an RAA staffed Evacuee Handling Centre from 4th Field Regiment deployed as part of a Ready Battalion Group deployment. Additionally, 101st Medium Battery (Combat Team Thor) is deployed in an infantry role as part of Operation ANODE II for 4 months. RAA batteries then successively deployed on rotation until 2013. 85th 21 Apr 1941 21-22 Apr: At Brallos Pass, Greece, two 25-pounder guns from A Troop 3 Battery 2nd/2nd Field Regiment RAA deployed to support the withdrawal of 19 Brigade to Crete. Seventeen gunners held off a German Mechanised Brigade for 36 hrs. They were led by LT John Anderson who was awarded a MC; his batman, GNR Brown, was awarded a MM. Seven gunners were KIA, six WIA. The brave action enabled a textbook 'clean break' withdrawal o f the main force. Related painting: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C175428 115th 25 Apr 1911 Approval for the Royal Australian Artillery to be redesignated The Royal Australian Garrison Artillery, and for the permanent batteries of Field Artillery (i.e., No 1 and No 2 Batteries, Australian Field Artillery (Permanent), formed on 1 December 1910 vide MO 405/1910 of 29 Nov 10 by expansion of 'A' and 'C' Mounted Instructional Cadres RAA) to be redesignated The Royal Australian Field Artillery was given by the King on 10 March 1911. The redesignation was promulgated and put into effect vide MO 160/1911 of 25 Apr 11. 111th 25Apr 1915 At ANZAC Cove the first efforts to land artillery commences. The landing order on the day is: six 10-pounder mountain guns (26th Jacob Battery, Indian Mountain Artillery), one 18-pounder field gun (4th Australian Field Artillery Battery), and six 10-pounders (21st Kohat Battery, IMA). 54th 25 Apr 1972 RAA Kings Banner is laid up in perpetuity in the Australian War Memorial. 61st 27 Apr 1965 Advance elements of 102nd Field Battery RAA moved from Malaysia to Borneo during Confrontation with Indonesia. The Battery is deployed for operations in Western Sarawak, Borneo, under command of 4th Light Regiment RA from 4 May - 27 July 1965. It returned to Malaysia by 14 August 1965. 62nd 29 Apr 1964 111th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery in Holsworthy is given four weeks’ notice to deploy to Butterworth Malaysia for a six-month unaccompanied tour to support forces countering Indonesian incursions. The BC, Major Arthur McDermott first heard of the mission from news sources. 111th 30 Apr 1915 At ANZAC total artillery ashore from Corps Troops and 1st ANZAC Division is: twelve 10-pounder mountain guns, eighteen 18-pounder field guns, and four 4.5-inch howitzers. May 2026 156th May 1870 The British Government announces it would shortly be withdrawing all Imperial troops from Australia. The last British troops departed in September 1870. As the Sydney Morning Herald commented at the time, it was 'Australia's first step toward nationality'. 85th May 1941 The WW2 German siege of the Tobruk fortress in North Africa continued with daily close quarter fighting. Effective but costly innovative tactical cooperation between RAA anti-tank gunners and infantry featured while attacking the German salient or defending against German attacks.
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