53 (Louisburg) Battery RA
Encyclopedia
53 Battery is the second most senior Artillery Battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 (non-amalgamated – 19/5 Bty
26th Regiment Royal Artillery
26th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the armoured field artillery role, and is equipped with the AS-90 self-propelled gun.-Batteries:...

 is senior if counted) in 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:...

 behind the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery
King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery
The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery is a ceremonial unit of the British Army. It is a mounted unit and all of its soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull each of the six First World War-era 13-pounder state saluting guns...

. Formed in 1740 the Battery is currently part of 5th Regiment Royal Artillery
5th Regiment Royal Artillery
5th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the Surveillance and Target Acquisition role equipped with various weapon locating equipment using radars and acoustic sound ranging, it also provides Special Observation Post...

 and is based at Marne
Marne
Marne is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne...

 Barracks, Catterick, North Yorkshire
Catterick, North Yorkshire
Catterick , sometimes Catterick Village, to distinguish it from the nearby Catterick Garrison, is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England...

.The Battery operates in a Surveillance and Target Acquisition
Surveillance and Target Acquisition
For Artillery STA, see belowSurveillance and Target Acquisition is a military role assigned to units and/or their equipment. It involves watching an area to see what changes and then the acquisition of targets based on that information....

 role.

Dress

The Battery wears a gold-blue-gold stable belt derived from the "Shield" of Nova Scotia 1867–1929
Coat of arms of Nova Scotia
The coat of arms of the province of Nova Scotia is the oldest provincial achievement of arms in Canada, and the oldest British coat of arms outside Great Britain. It was granted in 1625 by King Charles I for the first Scottish colony on the Canadian mainland...

, representing the earth banks either side of the St Lawrence River as authorised circa 1904. The shield depicts 3 thistles, which represent the 3 Municipalities of Nova Scotia (New Scotland) at the time and the salmon is shown swimming west – up-river to the capital, Quebec.

History

53 (Louisburg) Battery descended from Captain Melledge's Company, formed in 1740 at Royal Artillery Barracks
Royal Artillery Barracks
The Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich in South East London is the "home" of the Royal Artillery. It is famous for having the longest continuous building facade in the UK as well as for having the largest parade square of any UK barracks.-History:...

, Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...

. It then departed and saw service in the Caribbean protecting and expanding British interests until 1743 when it returned to Woolwich. In 1745 the Company departed for the territories, newly acquired from the French, in Canada and commenced garrison duties. From 1751–1758 the Company was commanded by Captain Charles Brome.

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 then provided a major period of activity for the Company. It was in 1758 that the second Battle of Louisbourg
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...

 took place, and the Company, commanded by Captain T Ord from 23 May 1758, played a pivotal role in securing the town. The honour title "Louisburg" commemorates the first stage of the campaign in Canada against the French in the Siege of Louisbourg
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...

 <---!notice the French spelling!--->, which were first launched from Halifax (Nova Scotia). The Company's contribution to the siege was an integral part of the sea-borne assault to capture the Fortress of Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...

 which would allow the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 to sail down the St. Lawrence River for an attack on Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 unmolested. The ground around Louisburg did not lend itself well to artillery, being composed mainly of swamp and marsh. Thus, the naval 18 Pounder and 24 Pounder Guns had to be manhandled over the sodden ground before being brought into action against the French. The landing of Guns
Güns
Güns or Guens may refer to:* Kőszeg, Hungary * Kőszeg Mountains, Hungary * Akiva Güns , birth name of Akiva Eger, a Hungarian-Polish rabbi- See also :* Guns * Gün, a surname...

 was an extremely difficult task but sheer grit and determination assured success.

The Battle of Louisburg – The Details

The British Force arrived at Louisburg on 2 June 1758. Reconnaissance showed that there were only three possible landing sites west of the fortress. It was thought that the furthest site from Louisburg would be the one least suspected by the French. The French defence was led by a Naval Officer, Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour
Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour
Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour was a French military officer, who led the French defence in the Siege of Louisbourg....

. His wife, Marie-Louise assisted in the battle by firing 3 canons every day to give moral support to the French troops. In doing so she was given the nom-de-guerre La Bombardier.

The attack was launched on 8 June and the British Light Infantry were able to land enough troops to attack the French and force them to withdraw into the fortress. The disembarkation of the British force and its establishment on shore followed.

During the period of 12 to 19 June, eight 24 pounder and three 12 pounder guns and ammunition were landed and proceeded to bombard the Island Battery.
After five days and nights of continuous fire, the Island battery was silenced and the British then dominated the harbour. From then on the British were required to conduct a siege operation.

Skill and heavy labour were required to bring the siege artillery ashore, which included twelve 24 pounders, six 12 pounders, four 32 pounders and a further two 24 pounder guns from the Royal Navy. It was necessary to devise a means of getting the guns across the marsh, which lay to the west of the fortress. 500 men were tasked to build a road made of brushwood fascines. However, part of the new road was in view of the enemy and came under regular fire. As a result, a bank of earth nine feet high had to be built to cover the road.

By the 14 July, the road had reached the position chosen for the siege batteries. The batteries were no more than 500 yards from the wall of the fortress, and it was therefore necessary for them to be heavily protected against the fire of the defenders' guns.

The British effort was made all the more difficult by small French defensive positions. During the second half of July a preliminary bombardment of the fortress with mortars began. However, the fire of the battering guns, when unleashed from three directions simultaneously, proved devastating to the fortifications and to the defending guns.

With the eradication of all of the outer positions the Company then turned their guns and the captured French guns on the main fort. By 26 July, with just three French guns remaining in action and all their ships either destroyed or blocked in the harbour, the French Governor surrendered. In the words of the French Garrison Officer "Each cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 shot from the English Batteries shook and brought down immense pieces of the ruinous walls". Louisburg surrendered on 27 July 1758. Once the fort was taken the British Fleet had free access to the river as planned and could carry British power deep into Quebec without having to fight across inhospitable terrain.

In honour of the Company Commander during the battle, Captain T Ord, the Battery HQ Troop is called "Ord’s" Troop. "A" Troop is named after Captain J Anderson who commanded the Company in 1858 during the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

 and "B" Troop after Captain NSK Bayliss who was Company Commander in 1855 during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855).

The Company served in Canada until 1766 and then spent the rest of the eighteenth century in various theatres of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 including the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

Nineteenth century

The first half of the nineteenth century was a relatively quiet one for the Company, bearing in mind it was the period of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. The Company did however receive its fair share of action and aggression by bombarding the French invasion fleet in Dieppe in 1801 and taking part in the Siege of Copenhagen in 1807. The Company then spent a long spell in Ireland from 1811 until 1849 when it took up coastal defence duties.

It should be noted that all Batteries in the Royal Artillery were called "Companies" and named after their Company Commander. In 1859 Batteries were formed and the practice of naming the Sub-Units after their Commanders ceased and all new Batteries were given either a letter or number. 53 (Louisburg) Battery is the second senior numbered Battery in the Royal Regiment of Artillery with 19/5 Gibraltar Battery being the senior. In recognition of the tremendous achievement of the Company during the Siege of Louisburg it was awarded the honour title 'Louisburg' on 3 May 1937.

For the remainder of the nineteenth century the Battery, served around the Empire in Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

, India, Burma and Britain. Notable achievements during this time included the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

 and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. In the Crimea, the Company took part in the Siege of Sebastopol, and the relief of Kandahar Garrison, Afghanistan in 1880.

Twentieth century

By the 1900s, the Battery returned to Britain and became part of the Coastal Defence Forces until 1926. The Battery then became a 'Heavy Gun' Battery until 1947.

In 1947 the Battery was reformed and armed with Bofors 40/L60 Mk 3. It became part of 22nd Light Anti Aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

 Regiment RA based in Germany. It was then reequipped with Bofors 40/L70 and FCE (Fire Control Equipment) No 7 Radars. During the period of the Emergency in the Far East, the Battery deployed to Changi
Changi
Changi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese Prisoner of War Camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore and Malaysia...

, Singapore in 1964. The Battery then undertook a further tour to ensure stability in the region in 1966 to Tampin
Tampin
Tampin  is both a town and a district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, however part of the town spills over into the neighbouring state of Malacca, as it is located along the Malacca-Negeri Sembilan border...

 and Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....

, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

.

In 1969 the Battery title finally becomes recognisable as 53 (Louisburg) Light Air Defence Battery RA.

The outbreak of the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

 in Northern Ireland led to the Battery deploying in the infantry role in 1972 to Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

. It then undertook further tours to Northern Ireland in 1973, 1974, 1978, 1987, 1993, 1997, and 1999. The Battery also re-armed several times over this period with equipment changing from Bofors to the introduction of Rapier
Rapier missile
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army and Royal Air Force. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other anti-aircraft weapons in Army service; guns for low-altitude targets, and the English Electric Thunderbird, used against longer-range and...

, Tracked Rapier, and finally Towed Rapier FSB2 (Field Standard B2).

Elements from the Battery deployed in 1990 in support of the first Gulf War against Iraq. During the Nineties the Battery also deployed twice to Cyprus. The first time was in 1990, first as Sovereign Based Area forces from May to August in Dhekelia. The Battery’s role then changed; from August until December it joined UN forces based in Nicosia as part of UNFICYP. The second Cyprus tour was in 2003 when the Battery again deployed in support of UNFICYP, that time as part of the Mobile Force Reserve (MFR) based in Blue Beret camp, Nicosia.

Following the suspended animation of 22nd AD Regiment RA in April 2004 the Battery joined 5th Regiment RA in Marne Barracks, Catterick, which was made official on 21 July 2004. It has since converted to a Surveillance and Target Acquisition
Surveillance and Target Acquisition
For Artillery STA, see belowSurveillance and Target Acquisition is a military role assigned to units and/or their equipment. It involves watching an area to see what changes and then the acquisition of targets based on that information....

 (STA) Role. Soldiers in 53 (Louisburg) Battery have the opportunity to become Weapon Locating Radar operators, Acoustic Weapon Locators, Communicators or Logisticians

Recent operations

Since joining 5th Regiment RA, 53 (Louisburg) Battery has served on Operation TELIC
Operation Telic
Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...

 in Iraq twice and also on Operation HERRICK
Operation Herrick
Operation Herrick is the codename under which all British operations in the war in Afghanistan have been conducted since 2002. It consists of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and support to the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom...

 in Afghanistan three times and only recently returned in Oct 2011.

53 (Louisburg) Battery was also the first within 5th Regiment RA to convert to Bowman (communications system)
Bowman (communications system)
Bowman is the name of the tactical communications system used by the British Armed Forces.The Bowman C4I system consists of a range of HF radio, VHF radio and UHF radio sets designed to provide secure integrated voice, data services to dismounted soldiers, individual vehicles and command HQs up to...

 in 2006.

Chronology of campaigns

53 Company/Battery served in:
Year Campaign Remarks
1758 Siege of Louisbourg
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...

Canada
1801 Dieppe Nil
1807 Siege of Copenhagen Nil
1854–1855 Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

Nil
1878–80 Second Anglo-Afghan War
Second Anglo-Afghan War
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...

Nil
1914–18 Sulva, Gallipoli Campaign World War I
1939–45 World War II Europe
1964 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Changi
Changi
Changi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese Prisoner of War Camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore and Malaysia...

, Singapore
1966 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Tampin
Tampin
Tampin  is both a town and a district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, however part of the town spills over into the neighbouring state of Malacca, as it is located along the Malacca-Negeri Sembilan border...

 and Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....

, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

1972 Operation Banner
Operation Banner
Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from August 1969 to July 2007. It was initially deployed at the request of the Unionist government of Northern Ireland to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary . After the 1998 Belfast Agreement,...

Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland
1973 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1974 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1978 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1987 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1993 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1997 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1999 Operation Banner Unstated, Northern Ireland
1990 Operation Granby
Operation Granby
Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations during the Gulf War. 53,462 troops were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations was £2.434 billion of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; £200...

Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

1990 Sovereign Base Areas
Sovereign Base Areas
The Sovereign Base Areas are military bases located on territory in which the United Kingdom is sovereign, but which are separated from the ordinary British territory....

 / UNFICYP
British Forces Cyprus
British Forces Cyprus
British Forces Cyprus is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the UK sovereign base areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus...

2003 Operation Tosca, UNFICYP British Forces Cyprus
2005 Operation Telic
Operation Telic
Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...

 6
Iraq
2007 Operation Telic 10 Iraq
2007 Operation Herrick
Operation Herrick
Operation Herrick is the codename under which all British operations in the war in Afghanistan have been conducted since 2002. It consists of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and support to the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom...

 6
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

2009 Operation Herrick 10 Afghanistan
2011 Operation Herrick 14 Afghanistan

External links

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