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73rd A/T Regiment R.A (T.A).
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:28 pm
by David W
Can anyone give me the composite batteries that went to make up the 73rd A/T Reg during 1941 & 1942? Please.
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:26 pm
by David W
Anyone?
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:39 am
by daveh
Joslen notes that on 23.10.42 B Battery of 73rd A/T Regiment R.A (T.A).
was attached to 24th Armoured Brigade, 2 troops guarded HQ X Corps and the rest of the Regiment was with Hammerforce (no details of batteries given).
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:44 am
by David W
Perhaps just A, B & C then?
Or the 4 battery formation A-D?
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:23 am
by nigelfe
Generally TA regts didn't use A-D bty letters, they were all numbered (with the exception of some TA RHA). As far as I know, and ignoring RHA, only a handful of regular regts used letters and a handful of regts raised outside UK as an interim measure until they were given bty numbers.
However, 73 wasn't TA. Basically the first 5 TA atk regts were formed by converting TA fd regts in 1938/9, the next 5 by converrting TA infanty bns, the next 10 by doubling this 10. This gives us 51 - 70 regts. After that they were War Formed regts. I think bty numbers were sequential starting in 51 regt (the handful of regular atk regts used reg numbers). The issue is to find the starting number in 51 regt. However, the problem is that there was some fluctuation between 3 and 4 bty regts which have screwed up the sequence.
The starting number was 201, and the first 10 regts seem to have had 4 btys. 69 Atk regt had 273-6 btys.ers.
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:47 am
by David W
I thought that the 73rd
were T.A?
Perhaps I should go and re-title this thread.
69 Atk regt had 273-6 btys.ers.
So do we think that 73 might be 289 - 292?
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:50 am
by nigelfe
That's the logical conclusion. However, 73 is a bit odd because it was formed in India and not UK and some months after some higher numbered regiments in UK. That said I think it's a reasonable working assumption that the regt and bty numbers were allocated well before the regiment was actually formed. The check would be to find the bty nos of a higher number regiment and see if they fit. The risk here is that higher number regts may have been formed with only 3 btys.
Incidentally these btys weren't 'composite'. As the war progressed differently equipped troops within a bty became usual in divisional regiments and there were quite a lot of combinations. However, IIRC it was only in ME that the 4 x 4 x 4 regt existed for a few months, mostly it was 4 x 3 x 4 with a brief period of 4 x 4 x 3 in some places.