Royal Horse Artillery

Royal Horse Artillery
Cypher of the Royal Horse Artillery
Active1 February 1793 – present
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeHorse artillery
RoleThe King's Troop - Ceremonial
1st Regiment - Field Artillery
3rd Regiment - Field Artillery
7th Regiment - Airborne Artillery
SizeThree Regiments and one Ceremonial Battery plus affiliated TA Units
Part ofRoyal Artillery
Garrison/HQThe King's Troop - London
1st Regiment - Larkhill
3rd Regiment - Newcastle Upon Tyne
7th Regiment - Colchester
Motto(s)French: Honi soit qui mal y pense
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
MarchBonnie Dundee (Gallop march); The Keel Row (Trot March); The Royal Artillery Slow March sometimes referred to as Duchess of Kent March (walk march)
Commanders
Captain General, Royal ArtilleryThe King
Colonel CommandantGeneral Sir Alexander Harley, KBE, CB
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Astley, Worcestershire, grave of Major General Hill Wallace CB (1823–1899), late RHA[1]

The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army.[2] Although the cavalry link remained part of its defining character, as early as the Battle of Waterloo the RHA was sometimes deployed more along the lines of conventional field artillery, fighting from comparatively fixed positions.[3]

The Royal Horse Artillery, currently consists of three regiments, (1 RHA, 3 RHA and 7 RHA) and one ceremonial unit (King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery). Almost all the batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery have served continuously since the French Revolutionary Wars or Napoleonic Wars, except the King's Troop, created in 1946, and M Battery, which was 'reanimated' in 1993. Horses are still in service for ceremonial purposes but were phased out from operational deployment in the 1930s.

  1. ^ Monument to Hill Family, Church of St Peter, Astley
  2. ^ "Royal Artillery". National Army Museum.
  3. ^ Kinard, Jeff (2007). Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 139.