6th Regiment Maritime R.A.
Introduction
During WWI, merchant ships were armed under the Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DAMS) scheme. By November 1918, 4,203 vessels were armed in some way.
By the start of WWII the strengthening of ships in readiness for the fitting of guns began and some training of Merchant Navy officers started, the first gunnery training course taking place on 18 July 1938. In June 1939, the Admiralty Trade Division established the Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS) organisation. DEMS guns were manned by 24,000 Royal Navy personnel and 14,000 men of the Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment. 150,000 merchant sailors were trained to assist by passing ammunition, loading and replacing casualties.
Initially, light machine guns were manned by the Army’s Royal Artillery, 500 men of the Light Machine Gun section in two man teams, who were taken on and off vessels as they arrived and departed from British ports. The effectiveness of these army gunners was quickly realised and the Maritime Anti Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery was formed in 1941, renamed the Maritime Royal Artillery (MRA) in January 1943. The MRA eventually comprised six regiments, 24 port detachments, with over 14,000 men including 170 officers.
One of the training ships was HMS Flying Fox, berthed at Bristol. 6th Regiment Maritime Royal Artillery was formed in Thornbury6th Regiment Maritime R. A.
The unit that requisitioned Kyneton House, Thornbury started out as 28 all ranks and was named The 6th Battery, R.A. It soon grew to be a Regiment of 3,300, to be called the 6th Regiment Maritime Royal Artillery; its Commanding Officer was Lieutenant-Colonel H. de Roeper.
As the regiment grew, it took over all military buildings in Thornbury and district and many huts were built in the Castle grounds. Huts were also built at Kyneton House and in the Jubilee Hall field at Alveston. Their gun-firing practice range was at Severn Beach near the Pumping Station and they fired towards the Bristol Channel.
Also based in Thornbury were 52nd Heavy Brigade of the Royal Artillery which was formed in Thornbury at the end of September 1939, becoming 1,100 strong.
All the Martime R. A. regiments were disbanded in 1946.
Soldier, Sailor (1945) - Docudrama
Life aboard merchant ships with the Maritime Regiment of the Royal Artillery
Marlwood School
Marlwood School, Vattingstone Lane, Thornbury
The 1939 war brought a new challenge. The school had lived through a number of wars, both civil and international, but World War II brought the dangers of warfare right onto the doorstep, and pupil safety was a prime consideration. Under the sheltering lip of the quarry, a sandbagged shelter was built, and at the first whine of the siren, pupils and teachers, with gas masks trailing, evacuated the building with military precision. The air raid warning was not always unwelcome. The remote possibility of being hit by a bomb was a small price to pay for escaping from a difficult exam, and, fortunately although there were a number of alerts, the school remained undamaged. Troops temporarily based in the area found the school a friendly host, and football matches were arranged between the soldiers and the school team. At the end of the war, the Maritime Regiment of the R.A. gave a Maritime gun in appreciation of the happy relationship which had existed with the school during the years 1941-1945.
Sources and Resources
Derek Driscoll's original pages
6th Maritime Regt R.A.
6th Maritime Regt R.A.
Other Resources
6th Regiment Maritime R.A. Altar - War Memorials Online
6th Regiment Maritime R.A. Memorial - Imperial War Museums
6th Regiment Maritime R.A. Roll of Honour - War Memorials Online
D.E.M.S.: Naval Gunners in Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) - The Allied Merchant Navy of World War Two - A Canadian history.
Defensively equipped merchant ship - Wikipedia
Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) - National Museums Liverpool
Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DAMS) - Books, Boxes, and Books, Maritime & Historical Research Service
Defensively Armed Merchant Ships and Submarine Warfare - by A. Pearce higgins, M.A., LL.D., Stevens & Sons, London, 1917
Maritme R.A. - The Royal Artillery 1939-45
Maritime Royal Artillery Gunner - BBC WW2 People's War
The British Army’s Defence of Merchant Shipping 1939-45 - Thornbury Roots
The Crew - Empire Mica
The Merchant Gunners - David Smith
The VIth Regiment Martime R. A. - Thornbury Roots
Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial - South Gloucestershire War Memorials. This site contains a short history and a list of those who died in the regiment along with short biographies.
Thornbury and the War at Sea 1941-1945 - Thornbury Roots