203 (Elswick) Battery Royal Artillery

British Army reserve artillery battery

203 (Elswick) Battery Royal Artillery

Active| 1900-Present
Country| United Kingdom
Branch|  British Army
Role| Precision Fire
Part of| 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery
Garrison/HQ| Blyth, Northumberland
Equipment| M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System

Military unit

203 (Elswick) Battery Royal Artillery is a part of 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery, an artillery regiment of the British Army.

## History[edit]

'C' Section of the Elswick Battery, South Africa, c1901

Formed on 31 January 1900, the Elswick Battery, as it was then known, set off for South Africa to take part in the Second Boer War.[1] The Battery was armed with 12 pounder guns manufactured by Armstrongs at Elswick.[1] The guns had been paid for by Lady Meux, an eccentric brewery heiress.[1]

When the Territorial Army as it was then known was reorganised in April 1967, three Batteries of the Royal Artillery in Blyth and Seaton Delaval were merged to form 203 Battery based in Blyth, part of 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery.[1][2] The Battery was equipped with the BL 5.5-inch Medium Gun in 1967, converting to the 105mm Light Gun in 1980. In April 1992, the Battery was again re-equipped, this time with FH-70 howitzers. In 1998, the Battery became the first reservist battery to be equipped with the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).[3][4]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Elswick Guns". Retrieved 21 April 2014.
2. ^ "101st (Northumbrian) Regiment". Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
3. ^ "Artillery Volunteers exercise Freemen right". News Post Leader. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
4. ^ "Support our troops: Blyth residents asked to take to streets to celebrate Northumberland regiment". Chronicle Live. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2024.

## Publications[edit]

* Litchfield, Norman E H, 1992. The Territorial Artillery 1908-1988, The Sherwood Press, Nottingham. ISBN 0-9508205-2-0