St. David's Battery, also known during wartime as the "Examination Battery", was a fixed battery of rifled breech-loader (RBL) artillery guns, built and manned by the Royal Garrison Artillery and the Royal Engineers, and their part-time reserves, the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, part of the Bermuda Garrison of the British Army.
No. 2 9.2-inch gun at St. David's Battery (or the Examination Battery), in 2011. Two 6 inch guns are visible behind.
Bermuda Militia Artillery warrant officer and NCOs at the St. David's Battery, ca. 1944. Left-to-right: Bdr. A. Caisey, Sgt. Maj. R.C. Smith, and Bdr. C.E. Esdaille.
One of the 6 inch Breech Loading (BL) guns, with the two 9.2 inch BLs visible beyond, and the barracks to the right, in 2011
St. David's Battery in 1942
The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA). The RGA were the 'technical' branch of the Royal Artillery who were responsible for much of the professionalisation of technical gunnery that was to occur during the First World War. It was originally established to man the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division and the guns of the siege artillery. The RGA was amalgamated with the RFA in 1924, from which time the only two arms within the Royal Regiment of Artillery have been the Royal Artillery and the Royal Horse Artillery.
Royal Garrison Artillery
The defunct St. David's Battery, St. David's, Bermuda in 2011, historically manned by the RGA and the part-time reserve Bermuda Militia Artillery.
Royal Garrison Artillery training on various types of Coast Artillery equipment at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth, c1905
St. David's Battery, Bermuda, completed in 1910, with two 9.2" and two 6" guns