129 (Dragon) Battery Royal Artillery
Battery History
The Battery was raised in 1778 as 7 Coy, the Madras Artillery. During the Fourth Mysore War, the 7th Coy along with elements of the 1st Battalion, stormed and seized Seringapatam, killing the ruler Tippoo Sahib. As a consequence of this action, both the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Madras Foot Artillery were permitted to bear the words ‘Seringapatam 4th May 1799’ on their colours. It was thus the Battery won its first battle honour.
The next major action was the Battle of Assaye, where as a part of a force of 7000 men, the Battery was joined in in pursuing the Army of Douhit Rao Scinda. Caught at Assaye, a desperate battle took place, which was won on the 23rd September 1803.
Following this, the Battery then went on to create a breach for the infantry at the Siege of Nagapore in 1818, adding this honour to the list.
Between the years of 1840 to 1843, the Battery saw action in China as part of the China Wars, which included the Boxer Rebellion and Opium Wars. These wars were in essence wars based on trade disagreements between China, an old empire with closed trade borders, and a coalition between England and other empire building countries who wished access to China’s lucrative markets. Following a brief, but nevertheless fierce campaign, the Battery was permitted to wear a Golden Dragon, facing right to left, wearing the Imperial Crown, atop the words ‘China’.
The Battery continued to serve in the Far East with distinction, seeing action in the Indian Mutiny. Following the Indian Mutiny, the armies of the East Indian Company were absorbed into the Indian Army, with the Artillery Companies and Battalions going to the British Army. The Battery first saw the shores of Britain in 1877, before being re-designated as the 51st Field Battery in 1889. Following this, the Battery then deployed to the North West Frontier, seeing action at Shabradr.
The Battery returned from the Far East until 1906 where it stayed until August 1914, when the Battery set sail to France as part of the 1st Division, the British Expeditionary Force. The Battery remained in France, serving with distinction at the Battles of Mons, Passchendale, the Somme and Ypres.
After the War, the Battery then moved to Turkey, as part of the Army of the Black Sea, seeing action against Turkish Nationalists at Ismid. Following this action, the Battery returned to the UK in 1922 and stayed in the country until 1939. It period of time appears to have been one of the least eventful and most frustrating periods of the Battery’s history. Interest in the Army dropped with equipment being scarce and home units being drained by annual drafts sent to India. It was during this period that not only was the Honour title ‘Dragon’ first appeared, on the 18th October 1926, but the Battery lost it’s horses, on the 1st February 1928, in the name of mechanisation.
1939 saw the Battery return to active service as it deployed to France as part of the 10th Regiment RA, which saw action in the lead up to and then covered the retreat and then evacuation at Dunkirk, adding Dunkirk to our Honours list. The Battery then stayed in the UK until1942, re-equipping and re-training before being sent out as part of the 2nd Division to India. The Battery fought in support of the 5th Infantry Brigade in Burma, during the Chindit operations and were part of the Battles of Kohima, Mandalay, and the advance to Irawaddy
After the war, the Battery moved to Dortmund, and was re-designated 129 (Dragon) Battery, as part of 40th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, when the Regiment was first formed. As part of 40th Regiment, the Battery then saw service in Egypt (1954), Cyprus (1954-57) and then in Germany again (1957-65).
In 1965 the Battery then went to Borneo where ‘a close comradeship grew between Gurkhas and Gunners at all levels, cemented by a number of outstanding successes in action against Indonesian regular troops’. During the operations near Serikin in 1965, in which artillery played a decisive part, Lance Corporal Rambahadur Limbu won the Victoria Cross and the Military Cross was won by Lt Doug Fox attached to 129 Battery.
June 65 to Sept 69 the regt was based at Bulford(wing bks), during this period 129 were involed in the Borneo campaing, exercises in Greece, Libya and we also cleaned up the beach at perrenporth after the oil spill from the Torrey Canyon.
Following the successful campaign in the jungles of Borneo the Battery returned to Gutersloh in Germany until 1981. Though based in Germany the Battery carried out three tours of Northern Ireland, from February to June 1973, March to July 1975 and July 1977 to January 1978.
In 1981 40th Regt RA moved to Colchester and equipped with the 155mm FH70 Field Howitzer. In 1985 the Regiment moved again, this time to Hohne in Germany, and was then equipped with 155mm M109 Self Propelled Howitzer.
In October 1990, the Battery deployed to the Middle East and was involved in the First Gulf War, Op GRANBY, with 40th Regt RA as part of 7 Armoured Brigade seeing action in Kuwait in Iraq, returning to Hohne in March 1991. Three years later, in 1994, the Battery took charge of the 155mm AS90 Self Propelled Howitzer, and a year later deployed on Op BANNER, once again to Northern Ireland as the Girdwood Roulement Battalion. On the Regiments return to Hohne 129 Battery was caderised, leaving only the TAC Group on the Regimental ORBAT. 40th move to Topcliffe, North Yorkshire in later that year in September.
The Battery re-formed on 1st December 1999, and six months later was deployed to Bosnia on Op PALANTINE. In 2003 the 129 (Dragon) TAC group was the only part of the Regiment to return to the Gulf, this time for Gulf 2, Op TELIC, with the rest of the Regiment deploying on the subsequent Op TELIC 2 in July 2003 on a peace establishing mission. Personnel from the Battery helped backfill the other Batteries, bringing them up to full strength. A year later saw the deployment of the Regiment to Cyprus as part of UNFICYP with 129 Battery as one of the lead Batteries in Sector 2 West.
