93 (Le Cateau) Battery RA

First records of the sub-unit date back to 6 December 1803 when Vivyan's Company Royal Artillery was formed as a precaution for the threat of invasion by Napoleon's forces. On 16 August 1807 the Company landed near Copenhagen along with six other RA companies to bombard the Danish fleet at anchor in the Baltic approaches. This was to prevent the fleet in assisting the French alliances attempt to breach the Royal Navy's blockade of continental Europe. Immediately after, the Company arrived in Southern France as part of the Peninsular war effort in September 1808. After the war the company was renamed as A Company, 8 Battalion Royal Artillery. They remained in the Iberian Peninsula until after the end of the campaign in 1814. Throughout the 1800s the Company served in Afghanistan during the Anglo-Afghan Wars and in Southern Africa during the Anglo-Boer Wars. In 1914 the company was re-designated and officially referred to as 37 Field Battery, Royal Field Artillery, within 8 (Howitzer) Brigade.

Still based in Ireland and commanded as part of the 5th Division, the Battery landed at Le Havre, France in August 1914, for their participation in World War I. Whilst retreating from the fateful Battle of Mons, on 25 August 1914, 37 Field Battery (Howitzer) halted to set up defensive positions in order to carry out a fighting withdrawal against the German advance, outside the town of Le Cateau.  On the morning of 26 August, the German Army arrived and proceeded to heavily assault the British Forces of the II (Second) Corps, commanded by General Sir Horrace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien. The Battle of Le Cateau was an artilleryman's fight, which demonstrated the devastating results capable by modern quick-firing artillery. The German Army outnumbered the II Corps by 3:1, but the British troops held their ground tenaciously, taking heavy casualties, before a highly coordinated tactical withdrawal towards the River Marne.

Three members of the Battery were later awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the face of the enemy during the Battle. War diaries noted that Captain Douglas Reynolds RFA VC had been aided by three volunteers from 37 Battery RFA, in limbering up a field gun under heavy fire from the advancing German Army. Dragging the howitzers away from enemy fire only 100 yards from their position, they managed to return it to the Battery and commence firing. Subsequently, Driver Job Drain and Driver Frederick Luke were awarded the VC whilst the third volunteer, Gunner Benjamin Cobey was Killed in Action. During the Battle of Le Cateau the Battery was also awarded 2 Distinguished Service Order's for Major EH Jones RFA and 2nd Lieutenant EG Earle RFA, 2 Distinguished Service Medals for Sergeant Brown and Trumpeter Waldron, A Légion d'honneur for Captain Reynolds (French equivalent of the VC) and a Croix de Guerre for Gunner Fraser. 37 Field Battery moved to 27 Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in May 1916, for the remainder of the war.

37 Field Battery merged with 47 Field Battery in 1938 to form 37/47 Field Battery RFA. They then spent the early stages of World War II in Sub-Saharan Africa, before travelling to South-East Asia as part of the 1944 Burma Campaign.

On 1 April 1947, 37/47 Field Battery RFA was renamed 93 Field Battery RA in Gunclub Barracks, Kowloon, Hong Kong as part of 25th Field Regiment RA.

93 Field Battery were called into action on 16 June 1948 and were the first Battery involved in countering the Malayan Communist Terrorist Insurgency. They deployed equipped with the 25 pdr gun but spent a vast majority as a light role infantry company. Because of their actions, the Battery was awarded the honour title "Le Cateau". The Battery was then joined by the remainder of 25th Field Regiment RA from Hong Kong where they served until 1955. In 1956 the Battery returned to Bulford, England with the Regiment.

1958 saw the Battery deploy to Cyprus without their guns as part of a regimental commitment to the Cypriot internal security.  Three years later in 1961, 25th Regiment RA moved to Campbell Barracks, Hohne, Germany and along with a re-role to the M44 SP gun, the Battery was renamed 93 (Le Cateau) Medium Battery RA.  The Battery then spent four years as part of the British Army on the Rhine (BAOR), before moving back to the UK, Larkhill, where the regiment assumed the position of the Royal Artillery's Support Regiment.

1969 saw the Battery once again deploy to Hong Kong equipped with the 5.5" gun. They deployed to Borneo Lines, Sek Kong Camp and were heavily used in border security. February 1971, 93 (Le Cateau) Battery returned to England, based in Barnard Castle, they re-rolled to Light Artillery before deploying to Lisburn, Northern Ireland for Operation BANNER. On their return they were based in Bourlon Barracks, Catterick. October 1972, the Battery re-deployed on Op BANNER, this time in Londonderry.  1974 seen the Battery move to Munsterlager, Germany and deploy on a further two deployments on Op BANNER in 1975 and 1977, both served in Belfast before returning and moving to Paderborn, Germany which would be the last home for the Battery in the 20th century.

1 April 1984 25th Field Regiment, inclusive of all sub units were placed into suspended animation and the Battery lowered its flag for the last time at 1100hrs.

24 November 2011, 93 (Le Cateau) Battery re-established as a Battery within 5th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Yorkshire Gunners), based in Marne Barracks, Catterick.

The Battery would operate in a completely different role than its predecessor and would divert from Gunnery to Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR). This would swap its guns for Radars, Acoustic Sensor Posts and surveillance equipment to provide ISTAR for deployed personnel.  In September 2012 the Battery deployed to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 17 as the Theatre Surveillance and Target Acquisition Battery. The Battery were employed in a plethora of key locations within Helmand Province and provided vital ISTAR to the Brigade.

On return in April 2013, the Battery returned to Marne Barracks.

• The Battle of Le Cateau
• First World War - Battle of Le Cateau
• Old Comrades Association
• 5th Regiment Royal Artillery

• List of Royal Artillery Batteries