39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery

   XIV Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, comprised 39th, 68th and 88th Batteries and served as Divisional artillery with 4th Division. The Division was held back from the original British Expeditionary Force by a last minute decision to defend England against a possible German landing. The fate of the BEF in France and the lack of any move by the Enemy to cross the channel, reversed this decision and they proceeded to France in late August. 14th Brigade, RFA were in action at the The Battle of the Marne, The Battle of the Aisne and at The Battle of Messines in 1914. 39th Battery transferred to XIX Brigade on the 8th of February 1915. In 1915 they fought in The Second Battle of Ypres. In 1916 they moved south and 86 (Howitzer) Battery (less one section) joined in May. They were in action during the Battles of the Somme. They left 4th Division on the 14th January 1917 to become an Army Brigade. B Battery, 188th Brigade RFA joined and became A Battery of the Brigade and 86th (Howitzer) Battery transferred to XXXII Brigade RFA.

18th Aug 1914 Concentration

19th Aug 1914 Concentration

22nd Aug 1914 Move

23rd Aug 1914 On the Move

24th Aug 1914 On the Move

26th Aug 1914 Shellfire

27th Aug 1914 Enemy Advance

27th August 1914 On the Move

28th Aug 1914 Enemy Advance

28th Aug 1914 On the March

29th Aug 1914 In Action

29th Aug 1914 On the March

30th Aug 1914 Rear Guard

30th of August 1914 A Hot March

30th Aug 1914 On the March

31st Aug 1914 Rear Guard

31st August 1914 Continued withdrawals

31st Aug 1914 On the March

1st Sep 1914 Rear Guard

1st Sep 1914 A Rude Awakening

1st September 1914 Continued withdrawals

1st Sep 1914 On the March

1st Sep 1914 On the March

2nd Sep 1914 Rear Guard

2nd September 1914 Continued withdrawals

2nd Sep 1914 On the March

3rd Sep 1914 Rear Guard

3rd September 1914 Continued withdrawals

3rd of September 1914 Across the Marne

3rd Sep 1914 On the March

4th Sep 1914 Rear Guard

4th Sep 1914 At Rest

5th Sep 1914 Rear Guard

6th Sep 1914 Advance Guard

6th Sep 1914 On the March

7th Sep 1914 Advance Guard

8th Sep 1914 Advance Guard

9th September 1914 Battle of Marne

9th Sep 1914 Bridging

10th of September 1914 Marching

12th September 1914 Bad Weather

13th September 1914 Strong Opposition

15th September 1914 Shelling

16th September 1914 Difficulties

17th September 1914

19th September 1914 Attack Repulsed

21st Sep 1914 Defences

23rd September 1914 Patrols

29th September 1914 Ongoing fighting on all fronts

22nd Oct 1914 Enemy attack

27th Oct 1914 Defensive improvements

30th Oct 1914 4th Divison under pressure  On the 30th of October 1914 the German forces launched an attack on the line from from le Gheer to the river Douve in the souther Ypres Sector. The British 4th Division extended its line from St. Yves to Messines, now covering a front of 12 miles. At St. Yves, German Infantry broke through, but the advance was halted by a counter attack by the 1st Battalion Somerset Light Infantry under the command of Major C B Prowse. (Prowse Point Cemetery which was later built on the site, was named after him.)

30th Oct 1914 Under Shellfire

31st Oct 1914 More enemy bombardment

3rd of November 1914 Situation Report

7th Nov 1914 Continued Action

5th December 1914 Quiet

9th December 1914 Uniforms

16th of December 1914 Instruction

19th Dec 1914 British attack

19th Dec 1914 Attack Made

4th of January 1915 Trench Work

21st Mar 1915 Defence Adjusted

3rd May 1915 Ongoing action and withdrawal

24th of May 1915 Enemy occupy farm

24th of May 1915 Into attack

24th of May 1915 Zeppelin being followed

2nd of February 1916 Moving to the Trenches

8th of February 1916 Shelling

9th of February 1916 Villages Shelled

10th of February 1916 Shelling and Bombs

12th of February 1916 A Line Rearrangement

13th of February 1916 German Trenches Shelled

16th of February 1916 Collapsing Trenches

19th of February 1916 Under Heavy Fire

21st of February 1916 Active German Patrols

23rd of February 1916 Weather Turns

24th of February 1916 Snowy Weather

25th of February 1916 Heavy Snow and a German Patrol

26th of February 1916 A Store Burns

27th of February 1916 36th Divisional Artillery Arrive

5th of March 1916 Relief Completed

1st July 1916 Bombardment

2nd Jul 1916 Attack and Counter Attack

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery?

There are:5314 items tagged 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served with
39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Greenfield Albert. Dvr.
Hicks MM.. Albert. Sgt.

All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery from other sources.

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.

Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's

Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.

Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

19th Nov 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 264989 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.

Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.

234062

Dvr. Albert Greenfield 39th Bty. Royal Field Artillery

I have recently started collecting postcards of my home town Of Hemel Hempstead. I bought one recently which is a picture of a beautiful old mansion house called Gadebridge House. No mention was given of what was written on the reverse.
It is dated 10th Feb 1917 and says: My dear Lassie, Just a line to let you know that I am quite well Trusting this may find you both quite well and to say that we are not gone away today, don't know what day we are going, Yours affect. Bert (He goes onto say -) My new number is 197302 don't put my old no on the letters again. F Sub 39th Batty RFA Gadebridge Camp, Hemel Hempstead
What a bonus! A card that is 99 years old, and from one of our brave boys, Albert Greenfield. I know there was a huge army camp based in Hemel Hempstead, he was obviously part of this group. There are pictures of the camp on line of this era. Did he survive? He obviously had family, as he says 'find you both well'. I now understand that sections of the army were formed together with other sections, hence my old number. I would love to know more. This card is one of my treasured possessions.
Sharon Forbes

Add to this record.

227499

Sgt. Albert Hicks MM. 39th Battery

My Grandad Albert Hicks got to France just in time for the battle of Le Cateau with 39th Battery, XIV Brigade and the retreat to the Marne. He then fought his way back up to the Aisne. Later he transferred to Howitzers in 460th Heavy Battery and joined the 29th Division to fight in the Dardanelles. Then returned to finish his time on the Western Front.
At the end of the war, he seems to have spent some time in Eastern command (the MOD will not release this part of his records yet), and it was during this time that he won the Military Medal.
Gary Hicks

Add to this record.

Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.

The Wartime Memories Project
- 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery during the Great War -

39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery

Want to know more about 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery?

Those known to have served with
39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project - 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery during the Great War -

39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery

Want to know more about 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery?

Those known to have served with39 Battery, Royal Field Artilleryduring the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- 39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery during the Great War -

Those known to have served with
39 Battery, Royal Field Artillery
during the Great War 1914-1918.