2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps
The 2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery raised in County Durham by the Vane-Tempest family during an invasion crisis in 1860. It became a permanent part of the Volunteer Force and later the Territorial Force, and fought as field artillery on the Western Front in World War I. Before World War II it became an anti-aircraft unit that served in the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and in the Far East where it converted to medium artillery in the Burma Campaign. Postwar, it continued to serve in the air defence role in the Territorial Army until 1955.
Letterhead of the 2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteers, c1890
Territorial shoulder title worn by the Northumbrian (County of Durham) Brigades RFA.
15-pounder gun, known to the gunners in France as the 'pip-squeak'.
18-pounder preserved at the Imperial War Museum.
1st Durham Volunteer Artillery
The 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army from 1860 to 1956. During World War I, it was the only coastal defence unit to engage the enemy, and it also trained siege gunners for service on the Western Front. It continued its coast defence role in World War II, after which it was converted into air defence and engineer units.
Photograph of Lt Col Lancelot Robson, VD, Commanding Durham RGA, Fire Commander, Hartlepool Batteries, on 16 December 1914 during the bombardment.
FWD Model B lorry towing a 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer. 41st Siege Bty was the first unit to be issued with this new gun.
Moving a 60-pounder during the Third Ypres offensive, September 1917.
9.2-inch howitzer in action on the Somme, 1916.