132 Battery (The Bengal Rocket Troop) Royal Artillery | |
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Active | 13 September 1816 to present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Allegiance | Hon East India Coy (till 1858) United Kingdom (post 1858) |
Branch | Army |
Type | Artillery |
Role | Deep Fires |
Size | Battery |
Part of | 26th Regiment Royal Artillery |
Nickname(s) | The Bengals |
Anniversaries | 13 September (Foundation Day), Le Cateau Day 26 August |
Equipment | MLRS |
132 Battery (The Bengal Rocket Troop) Royal Artillery is an MLRS Battery, that is part of the Royal Artillery. Its name is pronounced "one three two" or it is known as "The Bengals". The battery is one of the sub-units of 26th Regiment Royal Artillery, part of the British Army. It was formed in 1816[1] and is based in Larkhill.
132 Battery (The Bengal Rocket Troop) Royal Artillery was raised on 13 September 1816 as a camel mounted unit in the service of the Honourable East India Company under the command of Captain (later General) William Samsen Whish. The troop carried a total of 912 six pound rockets, either in buckets on camels, or horse-drawn trolleys.
After the war the Battery served in the United Kingdom until 1926, being mechanised in 1924. In 1927 the Battery saw service in China (Shanghai) followed by a return to India for the remaining years before the Second World War.
During the Second World War the Battery served in the Western Desert, Eritrea, Syria, Palestine, Tunisia, Italy and Greece as part of 1st Field Regiment. It is particularly proud of its part in the action at Qineiquina* on the Egyptian / Libyan frontier on 25 November 1941. During the engagement the Battery helped defend the positions of 7th Indian Brigade, fighting in the open against no less than 28 tanks of the 21st Panzer Division's 5th Panzer Regiment. Despite the daunting onslaught, the gunners held their fire until the Panzers were within 500 metres, returning fire over open sights. After an intense duel lasting 45 minutes, the Germans withdrew having lost seven tanks and sustaining damage to a further four (by the evening of the 25th, 5th Panzer Regiment had only two operational tanks). The Battery suffered more than fifty casualties and five of its 25 pdrs were knocked out, but it had helped defeat Rommel's planned encirclement of the British forces East of the Solloum front.
The battery also served throughout the Italian campaign and fought at Cassino. [At Cassino, a notable incident took place. One of the Rocket Troop's 25-pounders suffered a 'premature' (a detonation within the gun barrel). The explosion blew open the end of the gun, ensuring that it could no longer fire. Bdr. L.O. Harris proceeded to cut off the shattered end of his 25-pounder's gun barrel with a hack-saw. The task took considerable time and effort, but upon completion, the gun was raised upon ammunition cases and successfully brought back into action. The unusual sound made by the modified 25-pounder's, shortened barrel and higher trajectory of the shell, reportedly lead the German defenders to presume that they were being engaged by a new British weapon.]