Honourable artillery Company

Second World War

In 1939, the Infantry Battalion became 162 (HAC) Officer Cadet Training Unit, leading to 3,800 commissions. In addition, the company provided four regiments of artillery.

• The 11th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery served in North Africa at the Battle of Knightsbridge with 25-pounder guns and, after re-equipping with the M7 Priest self-propelled gun, in the Second Battle of El Alamein. The regiment's guns were the first guns ashore in the invasion of Sicily; then they took part in the Allied invasion of Italy and the Italian Campaign.
• The 12th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery took part in the Operation Torch landings and were in action at Thala in February 1943, where they halted a German advance following the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. After re-equipping with Priests, they too moved on to Italy in March 1944 and fought at Monte Cassino.
• The 13th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (equipped with Sexton self-propelled guns) fought in Normandy, the Netherlands and across the Rhine into Germany as part of 11th Armoured Division.
• The 86th (HAC) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment took part in the defence of the Capital during the London Blitz. The regiment was the first heavy AA unit ashore after D-Day and they operated in the anti-aircraft and ground support roles across north-west Europe, including the defence of Antwerp against a V-1 flying bomb barrage.

Over seven hundred members of the Company lost their lives during the Second World War.

The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII and is the second oldest military organisation in the world (behind the Vatican's Pontifical Swiss Guard). Today, it is a registered charity whose purpose is to attend to the "better defence of the realm". This purpose is primarily achieved by the support of the HAC Regiment and a detachment of Special Constabulary to the City of London Police.

Regiments, battalions and batteries of the Company have fought with distinction in both World Wars and its current Regiment, which forms part of the Territorial Army, is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most seniorin the Territorial Army.Members of the Regiment and Specials are drawn, for the most part, from young men and women working in and around the City and Greater London. Those leaving the active units may become Veteran Members and remain within the fraternity of the Company, which they then serve in a variety of ways.