About This Unit
These Batteries were raised in Australia in 1916 and troops assigned for Embarkation, but on arrival in England they were disbanded in October - November of 1916. This was because Field Howitzer Brigades had been raised in Egypt and then sent to the Western Front already, and in any case, there were not enough 4.5 inch Howitzers available to fill the existing establishments, let alone any more.
The Howitzer Brigades were themselves disbanded in April 1917, and a battery of four howitzers was allocated to each of the extant Field Artillery Brigades. Most of the men shown against this listing would have ended up in one of the Howitzer Batteries allocated to each of the 15 Field Artillery Brigades. They themselves were subsequently rationalised by increasing the number of guns / howuitzers in each battery from four to six, and reducing the number of Field Artillery Brigades in each Division to two.
This served to beef up the firepower of each Field Artillery Brigade and reduced the number of headquarters elements that needed to be staffed. The principle of 'conentration of force and control at higher levels' was being pursued.
Steve Larkins 2014 updated 2024