Hi all, Just a random thought that crossed my mind. I know a variety of TA units were converted to artillery in the runup to the war. Some of them had already become part of the artillery in the inter-war period (e.g. Suffolk Yeomanry converted to artillery in the 1920s). But for those which converted to artillery e.g. in 1938, I was wondering how this was actually accomplished. I imagine there was no way that the regiment's officers could be displaced - did they rotate through training courses? I imagine the rank and file would have learned through practice within the regiment. But I imagine this would have been quite different from building up a new regiment from a nucleus of men already trained in their role.
Something I've also wondered about. The Army must have had plenty of experience of the process as they were already converting yeomanry to artillery in WW1. One such unit being the 1st Glamorganshire Yeomanry in which my Gt Uncle was an officer. They converted to artillery whilst in Egypt/Palestine in 1917 initially with 2 inch mortars (toffee apples) but later were equipped with 6 inch Newton Mortars. There doesn't seem to have been any sending of officers away on training courses when the first change occurred but when they converted to 6 inch mortars my Gt Uncle's service record shows that he was sent on a course in France. I can only conclude that when the initial change took place there were enough experienced instructors in Egypt to conduct the training insitu in Egypt and the whole regiment were trained together. Whether this method still applied in WW2 is of course a matter of conjecture.
