1878 History Honourable Artillery Company HAC British Military 2v SET War Maps
The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII and is the second oldest military organisation in the world (behind the Vatican's Pontifical Swiss Guard). Today, there is additionally a registered HAC charity whose purpose is to attend to the "better defence of the realm". This purpose is primarily achieved by the support of the HAC Regiment and a detachment of Special Constabulary to the City of London Police.
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Main author: G A Raikes
Title: The history of the Honourable Artillery Company
Published: London, R. Bentley & Son, 1878.
Language: English
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Wear: wear as seen in photos
Binding: tight and secure binding
Pages: complete with all xxxi + 491 + xl + 563 pages; plus indexes, prefaces, and such
Illustrations: 94 plates and maps
Publisher: London, R. Bentley & Son, 1878.
Size: ~8.5in X 5.5in (21.5cm x 14cm)
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The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII and is the second oldest military organisation in the world (behind the Vatican's Pontifical Swiss Guard).[3] Today, there is additionally a registered HAC charity whose purpose is to attend to the "better defence of the realm". This purpose is primarily achieved by the support of the HAC Regiment and a detachment of Special Constabulary to the City of London Police.
Regiments, battalions and batteries of the Company have fought with distinction in both world wars and its current Regiment, which forms part of the British Army Reserve (formerly the Territorial Army), is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior[4] in the Army Reserve.[note 2] Members of the Regiment and Specials are drawn, for the most part, from young men and women working in and around the City and Greater London. Those leaving the active units may become Veteran Members and remain within the fraternity of the Company, which they then serve in a variety of ways.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 South Africa 1900–02
1.2 Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907
1.3 First World War
1.4 Second World War
1.5 Post-War
2 Current role and organisation
2.1 Current Role
2.2 Command Structure
2.3 Organisation
3 Operations
4 Soldier ranks
5 Dress
5.1 Berets
5.2 Other headdress
5.3 Badges of rank
5.4 Stable belts
5.5 Other distinctions
5.6 Coat of arms
6 Battle honours
7 Colours
8 Squadron affiliations
9 City of London Police Special Constabulary
10 "The Company"
10.1 Pikemen and Musketeers
10.2 Light Cavalry
10.3 Grounds
10.3.1 Site
10.3.2 Armoury House
10.3.3 Finsbury Barracks
10.3.4 The HAC Shooting Lodge / "Bisley Hut"
10.3.5 Pencelli Estate
11 Notable members of the HAC
12 Affiliations
12.1 Schools affiliation
12.2 Cadet Force
13 See also
14 Order of precedence
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links
History[edit]
"The British Grenadiers"
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"The British Grenadiers", the official Regimental Quick March of the Honourable Artillery Company, performed by the United States Army Band Strings ensemble
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The HAC can trace its history back as far as 1087,[5] but it received a Royal Charter from Henry VIII on 25 August 1537, when Letters Patent were received by the Overseers of the Fraternity or Guild of St George authorising them to establish a perpetual corporation for the defence of the realm to be known as the Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of Longbows, Crossbows and Handgonnes. This body was known by a variety of names until 1656, when it was first referred to as the Artillery Company. It was first referred to as the Honourable Artillery Company in 1685 and officially received the name from Queen Victoria in 1860. However, the Archers’ Company of the Honourable Artillery Company was retained into the late 19th century, though as a private club. Founded in 1781 by Sir Ashton Lever, it met at Archers’ Hall, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London. The Archers' Company remained a part of the regiment operated from 1784 to the late 1790s, along with Matross, Grenadier (established on 11 August 1686[6]) and Light Infantry companies/divisions, with a Rifle or Jaeger Company introduced around 1803.[7]
Shield of the Honourable Artillery Company, in sand, 19th century.
The regiment has the rare distinction of having fought on the side of both Parliament and the Royalists during the English Civil War 1642 to 1649.
From its formation, the company trained at a site it had occupied at the Old Artillery Ground in Spitalfields and at The Merchant Taylors' Company Hall.[8] In 1622, the company built its first Armoury House at the site of the Old Artillery Gardens.
In 1638, Sir Maurice Abbot granted the company use of lands at its current site south of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground on City Road, which in 1649 consisted of twelve acres enclosed by a brick wall and pale.[8] In 1657, it sold its old Armoury House in Spitalfield to Master Gunner Richard Woolaston for £300.[9] It was in this New Artillery Gardens that, on 28 October 1664, the body of men that would become The Royal Marines was first formed. James (later James II), the Duke of York and Albany, Lord High Admiral and brother of King Charles II, was Captain-General of Honourable Artillery Company at the time.[10]
Until 1780, captains of the HAC trained the officers of the London Trained Bands.
The Company served in Broadgate during the Gordon Riots of 1780, and in gratitude for its role in restoring order to the City, the Corporation of London presented "two brass field-pieces", which led to the creation of an HAC Artillery Division. (These guns are on display in the entrance hall of Armoury House.)
In 1860, control of the Company moved from the Home Office to the War Office and, in 1889, a Royal Warrant gave the Secretary of State for War control of the Company's military affairs. In 1883, Queen Victoria decreed that the HAC took precedence next after the Regular Forces and therefore before the Militia and Yeomanry in consideration of its antiquity.[11][12]
South Africa 1900–02[edit]
Members of the Company first served as a formed unit overseas in the South African War (1899–1902). Almost two hundred members served;[13] the majority in the City Imperial Volunteers (CIV) as infantry, mounted infantry and in a Field Battery that was officered, and for the most part manned, by members of the Company.[14]
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907[edit]
In 1907, the Company became part of the newly formed Territorial Force with the passing of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act. The HAC Infantry was due to become part of the newly formed London Regiment as the "26th (County of London) Battalion",[15] but instead managed to retain its own identity as the Honourable Artillery Company Infantry Battalion. The HAC also had its property and privileges protected by the Honourable Artillery Company Act 1908.
First World War[edit]
A QF 15 pounder of B Battery, Honourable Artillery Company, at Sheik Othman, Aden.
Gunners of A Battery, the Honourable Artillery Company, attached to the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade, crouch between their 13 pounder quick fire field guns and a cactus hedge near Belah, Palestine, in March 1918.
The HAC raised three infantry battalions and seven artillery batteries[16] during the First World War. Second Lieutenants Reginald Leonard Haine and Alfred Oliver Pollard, of the 1st Battalion HAC, were awarded Victoria Crosses for their actions at Gavrelle in 1917. In total 1,600 men from the HAC were killed during the war.
In September 1914 the 1st Battalion followed the British Expeditionary Force to France and fought in the 1st Battle of Ypres. After the fighting at Ancre (1916) and the Arras (1917), it became an officer training battalion and provided demonstration platoons.[17] Elements of the battalion were used to help quell the Étaples Mutiny. The 2nd Battalion HAC was raised in August 1914; it was in France by October 1916 and in action on 25 February 1917 at Bucquoy. They also fought at the Battle of Arras in May and the 3rd Battle of Ypres in October.[18] In November 1917, the battalion moved to the Italian Front under the command of the then Lt Col Richard O’Connor. In the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, in October 1918, they led a force of Italians, Americans and British that compelled the garrison of the strategic island of Papadopoli (in the main channel of the River Piave) to surrender. For this remarkable feat of arms, the HAC was awarded two Distinguished Service Orders, five Military Crosses, three Distinguished Conduct Medals and 29 Military Medals.