30 Battery (Rogers's Company) Royal Artillery

The company was raised on 1 January 1759 as Captain F.J. Buchanan's company, 2nd Battalion (there were only three at that time), Royal Artillery. The Battery was used to provide numerous attached personnel to other units, much as it does today, and, as such the Battery's history can be traced from many far-flung destinations across the globe. At its time of inception the country was embroiled in the Seven Years' War, which ran from 1756 to 1763. Wrangling with the French was by no means a new thing, but it was during this seven-year period that the Battery or elements of it saw action in two arenas, namely Menorca and then Gibraltar.

In 1756 both the military and the Government were deceived by the French into believing that an attack on England was imminent. The French amassed some 50,000 troops near the Channel ports and this was enough to force the English into deploying artillery in a coastal defence role. As it transpired this amassing of troops was more than likely a decoy for the force that was subsequently sent to the Mediterranean, which by comparison was virtually unguarded. The French objective was the smaller of the two significant Balearic Islands, Menorca. The in site garrison force at Fort St Phillip comprised 24 × 32-pounders, 50 × 18-pounders, 40 × 12-pounders, 36 × 8-pounders, and 10 × 6-pounders.

This was not an inconsiderable force to defend an island, but was overpowered in a matter of months and eventually surrendered. By the terms of the capitulation, the British Garrison was repatriated to Britain by way of Gibraltar, an indulgence granted by the French as a token of their respect for the brave defence. It also interesting to note that the soldiers were also rewarded by the Board of Ordnance, who granted them an extra half a days wage per day of the siege.

The company subsequently became involved with an attempt to regain control of Menorca over the following two years.

Between 1785 and 1791 the Battery was stationed at Gibraltar. Elements of the Battery are believed to have been stationed at Gibraltar before then and were therefore involved in the Great Siege by the Spanish and the French, which lasted nearly four years from 1779 to 1783. At this time there were only 25 officers and 460 NCOs and men to man 452 guns and mortars. In addition they were only getting limited supplies of food smuggled in from North Africa.

The Battery was rarely recorded in action as one cohesive unit, but with sections being seconded as operational commitments dictated and this trend was to continue. For example, in 1778, records show that five soldiers from 30 Battery served for the first seven months of the year aboard the bomb vessel Thunder based in New York.

In 1794, under General Sir Charles Grey, the Battery helped to capture Martinique and Guadeloupe, and detachments were also engaged in suppressing French inspired Negro riots in St Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent. By now the Battery had been engaged in almost back-to-back campaigns far removed from home and this had taken its toll. At the turn of the century the disease-decimated Battery returned home to the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich to recuperate.

The next significant point in the history of the Battery is in 1806 when Captain Thomas Rogers took command. He led the Battery for an uninterrupted 19 years and it is in honour of his command at Waterloo that the Battery still carries his name. At the outset his powers of leadership were tested as the Battery sailed on 28 July 1809 for what was to be an ill-fated expedition to Walcheren. The force comprising 144 guns and mortars and 35 ships of the line was intended to relieve French pressure on the Austrian Alliance. Unfortunately, the expedition was struck by widespread sickness and was forced to turn sail for England.

When the company returned from abroad they were based in Ireland to help quell the Irish riots of 1849–53, in a dismounted infantry role. The following year saw the start of the Crimean War when an expedition of 24,000 English, 22,000 French and 8,000 Turkish troops landed north of Sevastopol in September 1854. The Battery, then 2nd Company of the 3rd Battalion RA and commanded by Captain A.C. Gleig left several months later once the siege of Sevastopol was underway.

The Battery left Woolwich and set sail from Greenhithe for Balaclava in May 1855. It was 203 officers and soldiers strong and there was nearly a horse per man – well this was true at the time of sailing but unfortunately five died en route. In fact the records from this period of the Battery's history holds more information about the welfare of the horses than of the fighting soldiers. Indeed, it is fair to say of the siege that the Battery lost more men to the ravages off cholera and other diseases than in action; there is no record of a soldier being lost in action at Sevastopol, yet there is accurate documentation of the number that were detained in hospital.

At Sevastopol the Battery distinguished itself, but like the rest of the expedition, it suffered gravely from disease and cold. British losses totalled 24,000 by the end of the campaign. The company was one of eight field batteries mobilised for the campaign and along with a siege train and troops from the Royal Horse Artillery, the original artillery contingent was complete under the command of Brigadier General Thomas Fox-Strangways. The Battery consisted of one captain, one second captain, three first lieutenants, one colour sergeant, five sergeants, five corporals, five bombardiers, 174 gunners/drivers (for the first time recorded as drivers) and two trumpeters. The artificers included a farrier, five shoeing-smiths, two collar makers and two wheelers.

The Battery that returned from the hardship of the Crimea in June 1856 was dishevelled and once again was fortunate to get a spell in England to carry out much needed regrouping and recuperation. The Battery was next called overseas in response to the Indian Mutiny where it was felt that the strength of the garrisons there should be bolstered. The rebellion was actually confined to a relatively small part of the sub-continent, namely the area of Delhi and the province of Uttar Pradesh, and part of the more central region of India. The capture of Delhi was the first priority and with great daring the officers in the Punjab rushed what troops they could to the city. Once in the area they seized a ridge of high land commanding the city and kept it under continual attack while reinforcements and a siege train was assembled and sent to join them. After four years of garrison and internal security duty in Bengal the Battery returned to England was again engaged in policing the Irish in the Riots of 1868–69. The Battery returned to India in 1871 where it was successively stationed in Bengal, Darjeeling, Calcutta and Rawalpindi, sailing home via Aden to England in 1884. Before the Battery had had a chance to lament the balmy Indian evenings that the English weather could not match it was again off to India, this time bound for Burma and operations against the Burmese rebels in a jungle warfare role. Once the situation in Burma was resolved the Battery returned once more to garrison duty, in Madras, Karachi and Fort Attock until 1904.

The Battery served in Gibraltar from 1905 to 1926 and therefore took part in what many called the Forgotten War, while the world's attention was focused on the Western Front. In 1902 the Battery was known as 54 Company Royal Garrison Artillery, but by 1924 had amalgamated with 55 Company and renamed 8 Heavy Battery Royal Artillery. During the First World War the Battery frequently engaged German submarines and the Governor, Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Miles presented a pair of binoculars to the Rock Fishing Club. On the night of 31 December 1915 enemy submarines attacked the fortress; the South Mole Battery and Elbow Battery, manned by Rogers's Company, opened fire on the enemy and managed to drive them off. The Army Council wrote to congratulate the Battery on its actions:

"Relative to an engagement of hostile submarines on the night of 31 December 1915, I am commanded by the Army Council to say that they concur in the view expressed by you, that this occurrence reflects great credit on the vigilance and training of the Royal Garrison Artillery"

After 21 years based at Gibraltar the Battery returned England. Initially on return to England the Battery was involved in trials and firing at Fort Yaverland. Throughout the inter-war years the Battery fluctuated between coast defence in Ireland and coastal defence on mainland England. In 1938 the evacuation of the Queenstown Harbour defences took place and a ceremonial parade was held to hand over to the Irish Army. Because 19th Heavy Battery was being made up to war strength many NCOs and men were taken from the Battery and 1 and 8 Heavy Batteries were reduced to cadre strength and amalgamated to form 8 Heavy Battery RA.

In September 1939 the Battery became 2nd Coast Defence Training Battery RA as part of 2nd Heavy Regiment in the Royal Citadel, Plymouth. This Regiment was formed on the evacuation of the North and South Irish coast defences in July 1938. 1 and 8 Heavy Batteries were re-formed and became 1st and 2nd Coast Training Batteries. They received recruits from the RA Depot and trained them as Coast Defence gunners.

In August 1946 the battery was stationed at Llandudno under the title 8th (Rogers's Company) Coast Battery RA. They were involved in training on the 5.25 inches (133 mm) dual purpose gun in preparation for the Coast Artillery Gunnery course, firing at both sea and air targets. In 1947 the Battery was renumbered 30 (Rogers's Company) Coast Battery and 2 Coast Training Regiment was renamed 16 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA. The camp was subsequently renamed Waterloo Camp after the Battery's most significant action. The Regiment, and 30 Battery with it, moved to Bulford Camp in 1950, on to Osnabrück in 1952 equipped with 40 mm Bofors guns, then back to Bulford four years later.

• List of Royal Artillery batteries