Unit
Profile
Primary
role: Naval Gunfire Forward Observation (NGFO)
Secondary
roles: forward air control; artillery forward observation
Location:
Poole, Dorset, UK
148(Meiktila)
Commando Forward Observation Battery Royal Artillery is a Commando-trained unit of specialist Naval Gunfire Forward Observers. Although
part of 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, it conducts many operations separately from the rest of the regiment. Royal
Artillery batteries are usually named after one of their battle honours; the Battle of Meiktila occurred in Burma in February/March
1945, with 148 Battery firing its 25-pounder guns in support of 255th Armoured Brigade.
History
The
Combined Operations Bombardment Units (COBUs) provided fire direction for ships in shore bombardment in World War 2. The first COBU was
formed in 1940 and by the end of the war there were five in existence. In 1946 all were disbanded, except No.2 COBU which joined the
School of Combined Operations (later the Amphibious Warfare Centre) at Fremington. 3 Independent Combined Operations Bombardment Troop
(3 ICOBT) was raised to serve with the 40th Infantry Division in Hong Kong in 1949 and soon more Amphibious Observation
Units, as they were now called, were in existence. These were combined to form 95th Amphibious Observation Regiment, with
its headquarters at Fremington in Devon but batteries stationed at fleet bases throughout the world. 166 Battery, based at Malta,
participated in the Suez invasion in November 1956(Operation Musketeer).
148
Battery has been in existence under various names since 1842. After 1945 it became a training unit but converted to the Amphibious
Observation role in 1960. At around the same time it was decided that the Royal Marines, who no longer included gunners in their
ranks, needed specialist fire support from an Army artillery regiment. Up until then 3 Commando Brigade had relied on whatever gunner
regiment was available. 29th Field Regiment was serving in Kuwait in 1962 when it was chosen to take up this role. Its
members were to be the first Army Commandos since 1946 and the first men to complete training received their green berets on 15 May
1962. The following year 95 Regiment was also re-roled as a Commando Light Regiment with the 105mm pack howitzer ( later the Light was
dropped ). 148 Battery was to continue in the amphibious observation role for 95 as a Commando Forward Observation Battery, while 20
Battery did the same job for 29. Later a Territorial Army unit, 881 Battery, was formed. Members of 148 Battery saw service in the
Malay Peninsula 1963-66, Borneo 1963-66, the Radfan in 1964 and in Aden at various times between 1960 and 1967.
In
1971 the battery returned to the UK from Singapore,
along with the rest of 3 Commando Brigade, and took
up its present location at Poole. With the general
reduction of the Royal Navy and gun-armed ships in
particular there seemed to be less need for such units.
The various batteries had at certain times changed
regiments so when 95 Commando Regiment was disbanded
in 1975, 148 Battery survived as part of 29 Regiment.
20 and 881 Batteries were not so lucky and 148 became
the sole remaining NGFO unit. It too was scheduled
for disbandment when Argentina invaded the Falkland
Islands in April 1982.
In
the subsequent operations by British forces to re-take
the islands teams from 148 Battery proved invaluable.
Captain Chris Brown was in fact the first British
serviceman to set foot on the islands again. This
occurred on 1 May when the Lynx helicopter from which
he was spotting for the British battle fleet was forced
down on East Falkland by Argentine ground fire. Luckily
the helicopter managed to take off again a few minutes
later. Brown was attached to D Squadron of 22SAS for
most of the campaign, including the Pebble Island
raid on 14 May, in which fire from HMS Glamorgan pinned
down the garrison while the SAS destroyed the aircraft
which were the raid's target. Captain Hugh McManners,
today better known as an author and television producer,
was attached to the Special Boat Squadron Royal Marines.
On the night of the main landings he accompanied 2
Special Boat Section on their attack on the Argentine
soldiers on Fanning Head, overlooking San Carlos Water.
The fire he brought in from the twin 4.5in guns of
HMS Antrim killed,
wounded or scattered these men, whose mortars and
recoilless rifles could have done serious damage to
the landing craft. Captain Kevin Arnold was present
with 2 Para at the battle for Goose Green on 27/28
May. Unfortunately HMS Arrow's gun broke down soon
after the action began and Arnold took over as Forward
Air Controller. ( The battalion's RAF FAC had been
injured earlier and the Anti-Tank Platoon Commander
had been doing that job) Captain Willie McCracken
was B Company of 3 Para's forward observation officer
at Mount Longdon on 11/12 June. He received the Military
Cross for his superb fire direction, bringing in artillery
just 45m from the British troops without causing any
friendly casualties, while he himself was in the thick
of the fighting. These are just some of the actions
in which NGFOs were involved- naval gunfire played
its part in almost every action.
After
the Falklands War 148 Battery's disbandment order
was rescinded. Since then teams have been deployed
as part of Operation Granby, the British commitment
to the Gulf War, and Operation Haven, the deployment
by 3 Commando Brigade and US units to secure Kurdish
areas in Northern Iraq in 1991. They have also trained
all over the world.
Recruiting
and Training
All
members of 148 Battery are recruited from the Royal
Artillery. Officers are from the Depth Fire career
stream and will have served as Gun Position Officers
and later as Forward Observation Officers(FOOs) ,
usually with 29th Commando Regiment. Other
ranks will have most likely started off as Radio Operator/Drivers
in the Gunner Commando career stream and progressed
to Command Post Assistant and then Observation Post
Assistant in one of the firing batteries, both of
which involve further training. Some may have served
on gun crews and then changed trades.
Both
officers and other ranks joining 29th Commando
Regiment will report to that regiment's headquarters
at Plymouth for three weeks of pre-Commando training.
Those successful at this stage go on to the eight-week
All Arms Commando Course run by the Commando Training
Centre Royal Marines at Lympstone. Here they will
be joined by other members of the Army and Navy (and
a few from theAir Force) wishing to serve with 3 Commando
Brigade. Besides the seemingly interminable route
marches ( " yomping " in Marine parlance
) the Commando Course includes training in all aspects
of amphibious landings, such as embarkation and debarkation
from landing craft. There is also training in basic
Commando weapons and tactics, including night fighting,
combat survival and helicopter assaults. Cliff-climbing
and abseiling are also learned and together with all
other skills practiced in the Final Exercise in the
penultimate week. The course culminates in Test Week,
in which trainees must complete the 14.5km speed march,
the Tarzan assault course, the 48km march and the
19km load carry. All of these are of course in certain
times and most with full equipment. Those who pass
receive their green berets and " daggers "
and join the regiment. After gaining further experience
they may apply for NGFO duty. Volunteers for 148 Battery
who are not parachute-qualified (which means the majority)
go to RAF Brize Norton near Oxford after receiving
their green berets, for the four-week Basic Military
Parachute Course. They then join the battery itself;
a certain amount of training in the unit's equipment
and procedures is required before becoming a member
of an operational team. Other ranks are now given
the trade of Naval Gunfire Assistant.
Organisation and Operations
148
Battery currently has seven 5-man NGFO teams. There
is also a battery headquarters including administrative
and training sections. Each team is commanded by a
captain, with a sergeant or bombardier as his second
in command. The remainder of the team will be lance
bombardiers or gunners. A team can be split into two
if this is required. The battery's location at Royal
Marines Poole makes training with one of their main
" clients ", the Special Boat Service, quite
convenient. Other exercises are carried out in support
of the UK/Netherlands Amphibious Force centered around
3 Commando Brigade and the Allied Command Europe Mobile
Force(Land), the AMF(L), in Norway, Italy, Greece
and Turkey. The teams are in fact qualified to "
shoot " ships from all NATO countries. 3 Commando
Brigade does at least one jungle or bush exercise
a year, the most recent being in Brunei, Belize and
Kenya, and members of 148 Battery would usually go
with. Like all members of the brigade the NGFOs are
expected to become Arctic Survival and Arctic Warfare
qualified on one of the annual trips to Norway. Other
exercises could find teams all over the globe, from
the Falkland Islands to Australia.
How
do these specialists operate? A team may be parachuted
into enemy territory before an invasion and set up
a covert observation post to direct naval gunfire
and strikes by aircraft of the Royal Navy and Royal
Air Force, as well as their own regiment's guns once
they are ashore. Teams may accompany special forces
raids as they did to such effect in the Falklands
War. The single 4.5in gun mounted on most Royal Navy
frigates and destroyers today may not sound impressive
but it must be remembered that these are semi-automatic
weapons with the advantage of better fire control
systems than usually available to the field artillery,
and give a huge amount of firepower to a fairly lightly
armed special forces unit. Teams may go in with the
first wave of a landing force, ready to call in fire
on enemy positions as they are encountered. They may
be attached to a force of regular troops for a set-piece
battle, as at Goose Green. Here the NGFO team acted
more as a rebroadcast station, the actual spotting
being done by the various FOOs attached to the rifle
companies, with the men from 148 Battery then relaying
this information to the supporting frigate. A more
usual method is for the officer and his 2IC to act
as spotters, each with a signaller, while the fifth
man acts as a spare radio operator. Open sources do
not give much information about the communications
equipment used by these teams, but it certainly includes
both HF and VHF radios, such as the Clansman series,
especially the PRC-320, and the Scimitar and Jaguar
series of frequency-hopping radios, as well as the
PRC-319 special forces patrol radio. Other equipment
used includes the Spyglass, a Hand Held Thermal Imager(HHTI)
which incorporates a laser rangefinder, the Night Observation Device, an image intensifier, and the
Laser Target Designator. Weapons are presumably of
the standard SA80 pattern, though the battery's close
association with Special Forces means they probably
use the M16 too.
Besides
148 Battery, 29th Commando Regiment RA
has a headquarters battery and two firing batteries
at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth. A third firing battery
is based at Arbroath in Scotland with 45 Commando
and the fourth battery forms the TA element of the
regiment. Each firing battery has six 105mm Light
Guns and up to three Forward Observation Officers
(who are sometimes NCOs, but more usually captains
or lieutenants ). An FOO and his party would be attached
to each rifle company in the Commando or battalion
that the battery was supporting with the Battery Commander(BC)
accompanying the tactical headquarters. Men from 148
Battery have acted as FOOs before when there have
not been enough to go around, as Captain McCracken
did at Mount Longdon.
Insignia
148
Battery wears the Commando green beret with the capbadge of the Royal Artillery. Army Commandos may only wear the green beret when
actually assigned to a Commando unit, otherwise wearing the normal colour of their corps ( in most cases dark blue ). Thus another
distinction has been added in the form of the Commando qualification badge. This was originally the formation sign of the Special
Service (later Commando) Group in World War 2 and later of 3 Commando Brigade until 1964, but is now issued to those who have passed
the All Arms Commando Course. It is a red upward pointing Commando dagger on a navy-blue downward pointing triangle or " fan
" and is worn on the upper left sleeve, the opposite side to the parachute wings, in all orders of dress. On combat kit members
of 148 Battery wear the World War 2 Combined Operations badge on both sleeves. Also red on very dark blue, this depicts the RAF eagle
overflying a naval(stockless) anchor with a submachine gun superimposed, all on a square background. The Tommy Gun always faces
forward, so there are actually two different flashes.
Reader
Input:
I
can confirm that the personal weapon of choice is the M16
It is not just necessary that the personnel of 148 Bty are para-trained but they must have passed P Company as well as the commando course
whereas all other commando trained personnel may attend the jumps course at Brize Norton without attending P Company. However, due to
the recruitment problems that the parent regiment ( 29 Cdo Regt RA ) are currently suffering this requirement may have been waived.
Although 3 Cdo Bde dropped the wearing of the dagger patch in 1964 except for all Army personnel it would appear that this has now been
reintroduced (study photograhic evidence of Royal Marines in Sierra Leone). This would be similar to all members of 5 Airborne
Brigade wearing the Pegasus patch as well as the maroon beret and para wings.
Lastly, if 148 Bty wear the Comdined Op's patch (which, incidentally, was circular prior to the Falklands War when it was changed to a
square) with their combat gear then it cannot be with the commando dagger as there is no room on the sleeve!
Reader Input #2
Actually the above unit includes Royal Navy signallers, one in each team. They must undergo the same training as
the rest of the team.
