1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers
military unit
The 1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers and its successor units served in the British Army's Reserve Forces from 1859 to 1961. During World War I it carried out garrison duty in British India but went on to see active service in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Converting to an air defence role before World War II its units participated in the Norwegian campaign and the Dunkirk evacuation, the Battle of Britain and then the campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and Burma
Volunteer Force
The Volunteer Force came into existence in 1859 as a result of an invasion scare and the consequent enthusiasm for joining local Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps. By 8 August 1860 there were already enough Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) in Devonshire to form an Administrative Brigade with its Headquarters (HQ) at Teignmouth:
1st Administrative Brigade, Devonshire Artillery Volunteers
HQ at Teignmouth; moved to Torquay in 1863 and to Exeter in 1865
1st (United Woodbury and Topsham 'Royal') Devonshire AVC, raised 18 August 1859 at Woodbury by Robert Brent, formerly a lieutenant in the Devon Artillery Militia; moved to Lympstone in 1874
2nd (Sidmouth) Devonshire AVC, raised 4 September 1859; disbanded November 1871
3rd (Teignmouth) Devonshire AVC, raised 15 November 1859
4th (Torquay) Devonshire AVC, raised 15 February 1860; had an additional half battery for a while from 9 October 1860
5th (Exeter) Devonshire AVC, raised 8 February 1860; later had a second battery
6th (Dartmouth) Devonshire AVC, raised 25 January 1860; transferred to 2nd Administrative Brigade in January 1861
7th (Weymouth) Devonshire AVC, raised at Weymouth, Dorsetshire, 11 March 1860; moved to Exmouth, Devonshire in July 1860
8th (Woodbury) Devonshire AVC, raised 31 March 1860; moved to Topsham in late 1861 and to Heavitree in May 1875
9th (Paignton) Devonshire AVC, formed as a section 2 June 1860, raised to a full battery 3 December 1860
10th (Salcombe) Devonshire AVC, formed as a sub-division 7 July 1860, raised to a full battery August 1860; transferred to 2nd Administrative Brigade in January 1861
11th (Brixham) Devonshire AVC, raised 20 July 1860
12th (Devonport Dockyard) Devonshire AVC, raised 20 December 1860; transferred to 2nd Administrative Brigade in February 1862
14th (Ilfracombe) Devonshire AVC, raised 23 June 1875
In January 1861, a 2nd Administrative Brigade was formed, taking over the units in the west of the county.
Sir Lawrence Palk, 4th Bt, a former officer in 1st The Royal Dragoons, became lieutenant-colonel commanding the brigade on 2 September 1863, and honorary colonel in 1868, when Brent (promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 13 February 1866) took over command and Palk's son, Lawrence, (formerly an officer in the Scots Fusilier Guards) became a major in the unit. In January 1866, the 1st (Lyme Regis), 3rd (Bridport) and 4th (Portland) AVCs from the neighbouring county of Dorsetshire were included in the 1st Devonshire Administrative Brigade, joined by the 5th (Charmouth) and 6th (Swanage) upon formation in 1868 and 1869. All the Dorsetshire AVCs were transferred to the 1st Hampshire Administrative Brigade in January 1873.
In 1880, the AVCs were consolidated, and the 1st Devonshire Administrative Brigade became the 1st Devonshire AVC with the following composition:
HQ at Exeter
No 1 Battery at Lympstone; later at Tor Square, Torquay, with detachment at Lympstone, former 1st Corps
No 2 Battery at Drill Hall, New Market Buildings, Brixham, former 11th Corps
No 3 Battery at Northumberland Place, West Teignmouth, former 3rd Corps
No 4 Battery at Market Hall, Torquay, former 4th Corps
Nos 5 & 6 Batteries at Exeter, former 5th Corps
No 7 Battery HQ at Exeter Road (later at Ferry Road), Exmouth, with the guns at the beach, former 7th Corps
No 8 Battery at Fore Street, Heavitree, former 8th Corps
No 9 Battery at Public Hall, Paignton, former 9th Corps
No 10 Battery HQ at Drill Hall, Avenue Road, and Armoury at 24 Oxford Grove, Ilfracombe, later HQ and Armoury at 2 Croft Side, High Street, Ilfracombe, former 14th Corps
The corps was attached to the Western Division of the Royal Artillery from 1 April 1882, changing its designation to 1st Volunteer (Devonshire) Brigade, Western Division on 1 September 1886. It changed its name to 1st Devonshire Volunteer Artillery in November 1891, and the batteries were termed companies. By 1893, the War Office Mobilisation Scheme had allocated the 1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers to the Plymouth fixed defences.
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