Shoulder flash Royal Artillery Regiment (canvas)

During the Second World War the Royal Regiment of Artillery expanded not only in size but in scope also. The Regiment, which in 1939 was still coming to terms with mechanisation and its relatively new branches of Anti-tank and Anti-aircraft, found itself, over the next six years, taking on even more roles. In the air, Gunners found themselves flying spotter planes, parachuting and landing by glider. At sea they manned the guns of armed merchantmen. On the ground they manned their guns, fought as infantry, built roads and landing strips and much more besides. By the end of the war there were nearly 700,000 serving in the Regiment - about two-fifths of the British Army and about equal with the whole of the Royal Navy.