7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery

7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (7 Para RHA) is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the field artillery role with 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, and is equipped with the L118 Light Gun.

This article is about the current regular unit sometimes referred to as 7 Para RHA. For a similarly numbered unit in World War I, see VII Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery.

7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Active27 June 1961 – present
All of the individual batteries were formed in the period 1800-1805 and have existed continuously since their formation.
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch British Army
RoleClose Support Artillery
Size5 Batteries
357 personnel[1]
Part of16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team
Garrison/HQMerville Barracks, Colchester
Nickname(s)Airborne Gunners
Drop Zone Flash
EquipmentL118 Light Gun
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Col Farrell RHA

The regiment was constituted in 1961 out of existing batteries that have served continuously since the Napoleonic Wars.

History

The regiment was formed on 27 June 1961 with the re-designation of 33rd Parachute Light Regiment Royal Artillery as 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. The regiment first saw action in the middle-east in Kuwait in 1961 and then in Aden in 1963–65 where it was involved in fierce fighting in the Radfan mountains. The 1970s and 80s saw the regiment involved in four Northern Ireland tours in the infantry role as well as a period where they briefly lost their airborne status and were arms-plotted to Germany until 1984 when they joined newly formed 5th Airborne Brigade and returned to Aldershot.[2]

In 1994 the regiment deployed to Cyprus as part of the UN mission to patrol the buffer-zone between Cypriot and Turkish forces. This was followed in 1996–97 with two battery deployments to Bosnia as part of the NATO mission and the Kosovo campaign of 1999.[2]

Since the formation of 16 Air Assault Brigade in 1999, 7 Para RHA has been involved in numerous overseas operations. The Sierra Leone campaign in summer 2000 was followed by involvement in the 2001 Macedonia conflict as 'Operation Essential Harvest' a year later. The regiment also sent a number of troops to Northern Ireland in 2001 who were at the forefront of the Holy Cross riots in that year while deployed with the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment. Two batteries deployed to the Kabul area of Afghanistan in early 2002.[2]

On the afternoon of 19 March 2003 the regiment fired the first shots of the Iraq War by any coalition ground forces. The next day they crossed the border in support of the US I Marine Expeditionary Force. The regiment was instrumental in securing the strategic Rumalya oilfields and supporting the MEF in their move north to Nasiriyah.[3][4][5][6]

Gunners of 7 Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, fire their 105mm Light Gun at Taliban positions in Afghanistan during August 2008

In late 2003 the regiment moved from Aldershot to Colchester to join the rest of 16 Air Assault Brigade. 2006 saw the first of the regiment's three tours of Afghanistan. The first of these saw the regiment play a key role in the break into Helmand province. This tour attracted much public attention and has often been described as the most intense combat fighting since the Korean War of the 1950s. The regiment returned to Helmand two years later and were again involved in heavy fighting – cumulating in the large scale operation to move a turbine from Kandahar along a heavily mined and fiercely defended road to the Kajaki Dam. 7 Para RHA's final deployment on Op Herrick saw the regiment's gun groups and Fire Support Teams deploy to central Helmand Province in order to provide offensive support to 16th Air Assault Brigade.[7]

In May 2013, V Battery was disbanded.[8]

In September 2013, the regiment was part of Exercise Sphinx Resolve.[9]

Following the Army 2020 Refine, the Honourable Artillery Company formed A (1st City of London) Battery, The Honourable Artillery Company to provide a reserve element for 7 Para RHA. This battery is co-located with RHQ HAC at Finsbury Barracks.[10][11]

In August 2021, members of the Regiment (held at high readiness), deployed to Kabul in Afghanistan on Operation Pitting. This was to aid in the extraction of British Nationals, following the rapid Taliban advance across the country and into the city. Over 15,000 eligible Afghans and British Nationals successfully evacuated, in an operation that marked the end of the UK’s 20-year military campaign in Afghanistan.

Under the Future Soldier Programme (from July 2023), the regiment remains under the renamed 16th Air Assault Brigade Combat Team.[12] The regiment's role remains the same, however the regiment's overall structure and strength has expanded. I Parachute Battery (Bull's Troop) re-roles as a Light Gun battery, identical to F (Sphinx) Parachute Battery and G Parachute Battery (Mercer’s Troop).[13] H Battery (Ramsay's Troop) are reformed from suspended animation to take the role of Headquarters Battery in the form of H Parachute Headquarters Battery (Ramsay's Troop).[13] In addition, N Parachute Battery (The Eagle Troop) have joined the regiment to act as a Tactical Group Battery.[13]

Organisation

As of May 2023, the regiment is organised as follows:[14][15]

Reserve reinforcement

References
  1. "Army – Question for Ministry of Defence". p. 1. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. "7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery". British Army units 1945 o. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  3. Lowry, p. 309
  4. Murray, Williamson; Scales, Robert H. (24 July 2003). The Iraq War: A Military History. Harvard University Press. p. 142 – via Internet Archive. G Parachute Battery Nasiriyah.
  5. U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2003, History and Museums Division, United States Marine Corps, 2006, anthology, page 109
  6. Marine Artillery in the Battle of An Nasiriyah, Field Artillery November–December 2003, Major Walker M. Field USMC, page 28
  7. Judd, Terri (3 September 2008). "Operation Eagle's Summit: the inside story of a daring foray into Taliban territory". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  8. British Army (28 May 2013). "Parade marks artillery battery's proud history". Facebook. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  9. 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Exercise Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Honourable Artillery Company". www.army.mod.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  11. "The Regiment". HAC. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  12. "Future Soldier Guide" (PDF). United Kingdom Parliamentary Publishings. Ministry of Defence. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  13. "The Integrated Review and Future Soldier - RA Association". www.thegunners.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  14. "British Army units from 1945 on - 7th Regiment RHA". british-army-units1945on.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  15. "Regimental Family - RA Association". www.thegunners.org.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  16. "The Gunners Mar 22" (PDF).
  17. "Honourable Artillery Company - British Army Website". Army.mod.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  18. "Reservists pair with Airborne gunners - British Army Website". British Army. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
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