J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery RHA was formed in 1756 as the Madras Galloper Guns.Following more than one hundred years service in India as part of the Madras Horse Artillery the Troop was renamed J Battery in 1889.The Battery fought during the Boer War and on the Western Front in France during World War I.The honour title Sidi Rezegh was awarded to the battery in April 1954 in recognition of the actions of the Battery and, in particular, 2Lt George Ward Gunn who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for Conspicuous Gallantry following the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941.
Following a period as a Divisional anti-tank Battery, J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery was reformed in its present incarnation as part of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in 1984.The Regiment moved to Hohne in Germany in 1998 and still resides there today.Since being stationed at Hohne, J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery has deployed on Op TELIC 1 (Iraq) in 2003, closely followed by a tour in Cyprus at the end of the same year.The Battery didn’t have much time off, and were soon back in Iraq on Op TELIC 7 late 2005.
3RHA is a very busy Regiment and J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery hasn’t missed out. In 2003 they were deployed on Op TELIC 1 as the fighting force in the SecondGulf War, but then quickly changed role and became part of the peace keeping force. After coming back from Op TELIC 1 they only had a few months off till they were redeployed on Op TOSCA in Cyprus. Having been on some demanding Peace Operations in 2003, the Regiment was awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Peace. This was presented to the Regiment by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne on a parade which saw all the soldiers of J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery taking part in.
For the rest of 2004 the Battery was training back in their primary role on the guns and catching up on courses missed due to being deployed. This was short lived when the Battery had to start their pre operations training for their next tour to Iraq and then deployed to Iraq in October 2005. The Battery returned to Germany early this year and was rewarded for all their hard work in Iraq with a parade with General Viggers handing out their medals. The Battery is now in their training year again with most of the Battery on courses to learn new skills to further their career.
At the moment J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery is in its training year. Majority of the Battery are on courses to further their careers and will soon be practicing their skills learnt on Exercise SHELDRAKE SWORD. Beginning of the New Year sees the Battery going on Exercise SHELDRAKE SPEAR then off to Canada on Exercise MEDMAN 4. At the start of 2008 the Battery starts its pre-deployment training, ready to deploy back to Iraq on Op TELIC 12 later that year.
Away from field work, the Battery is going to participate in Red Rat Diamond, the Brigades Adventurous Training Exercise. It will see a lot of the soldiers taking part in a wide variety of adventurous sports like sailing, rock climbing, mountain biking and many more.
With the Regiment being so busy lately, sport has taken a back burner. This year should see the Regiment getting back to life in barracks with many sporting events being organised. The Battery contains a lot of talented sporting individuals and should see the Battery winning a lot of silverware in the Inter Battery Competitions
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