Were they in the Middle East in 42? I can only find a LAD diary attached to 1 RHA for 1942 at the National Archives.
Here is the subsequent history of the 1st RHA after turning its guns over to the 107th RHA: On 17 December 1941, it turned over its guns to 107th Royal Horse Artillery and moved to Tmini before returning to Tobruk and Cairo. It joined 4th Armoured Brigade in Egypt on 9 February 1942. The brigade left Egypt on 22 March 1942 and moved into Libya. It withdrew over the frontier with the brigade on 17 June and moved back to the Alamein line with the brigade. It came then reformed in Egypt and came under command of 22nd Armoured Brigade in Egypt on 2 August, remaining with it until 12 September. It then joined 10th Armoured Division in Egypt and served under the division until 27 May 1943. It was reorganized on 3 April 1942 with ‘A’, ‘E’ and ‘B’ Batteries. It also incorporated ‘ZZ’ Anti-Tank Battery from 2 June until 8 September. The regiment left Egypt on 21 December 1942 for Palestine and left Palestine on 11 January 1943 for Syria. It remained in Syria until 11 November 1943. It served under 10th Armoured Division until 27 May and under 9th Armoured Brigade Group until leaving Syria. The regiment then returned to 10th Armoured Division in Egypt on 13 November 1943, where it remained until 25 April 1944. It then left for Italy and joined 9th Armoured Brigade Group there on 4 May. It remained in Italy until the end of the war. It stayed with 9th Armoured Brigade Group until 18 September 1944 and joined it again from 1 February to 31 March 1945. During the other times the regiment served as a self-propelled field regiment of 8th Army.
