Training for Drivers (Horse and Wagon) RFA

[Henry's-Daughter]

My father signed up in 1916. His Medal Index Card which shows he was in the RFA an that his regiment as 173^rd B TF which with the help of members of this form is (3/1^st London Brigade). As there are no other surviving Army Records for him (destroyed in WW2) I am trying to piece together some ancillary information about his army life. I have photographs of him in uniform seated on a horse that is attached to a wagon.

Is there a surviving RFA training manual for Drivers that would show the content of training and competence expected of the recruit?

I am guessing that he would have undergone basic training before the specialist training? Would this have been different in any way?

Would he have had to be deemed to have “aptitude” or be “a suitable candidate” for working with horses?

How long would this specialist training last and any ideas where the training camp would have been?

In 1911 Census he was a Milk Deliverer. He did tell me that he used to deliver it directly to houses. At a guess, he could have either delivered by hand cart or by a horse drawn cart suitable for the streets on London. He did not elaborate further.

Many thanks in advance

Henry’s Daughter

[sammybill]

Thanks Ginge - I certainly found that fascinating as my grandfather was a RFA driver. Any idea what happened to the horse teams after the guns were in position, did they return to their stables, or wait somewhere nearby in case a hasty retreat was in order?

Sammybill

[Ron Clifton]

Hello sammybill

While the guns were in action, the horse teams were withdrawn a fairly short distance, as far out of the way of enemy shelling as feasible while still close enough to be able to come back to move the guns quickly if necessary.

Ginger is slightly wrong about the ranks. It was a sergeant - the No. 1 of the gun detachment - who rode a separate horse on the left of the lead pair. A corporal would ride similarly on the left of the lead pair of one of the ammunition wagons supplying the gun, but in neither case would the driver of the lead pair be a sergeant, under normal circumstances.

Ron

[sammybill]

Thanks Ron - only noticed this reply today. This is the third time you've given me helpful info, and I greatly appreciate it! Especially since grandad was a lance corporal, it all helps fill in the gaps in my woeful lack of knowledge

Regards, Sammybill

[Rob Chester]

My Grandfather was a Driver in the RFA - 33rd Div DAC - I know its a bit late, but better late than never, and you might be interested. In his memoir A Subaltern’s Odyssey, R. B. Talbot Kelly described the Artillery Driver:

And what of the Artillery drivers? Throughout the war their task was unending, exhausting and cold-blooded. In the long winters they spent their days tending horses, picketed in the open, often knee-deep in liquid, poisonous mud, six to ten miles behind the guns. At dusk they set out on a nightly journey with food and ammunition, over roads swept by shell-fire, through inky, soaking nights of rain and cold. Often they were wounded, often left with screaming maimed horses; always they met terror on each night-bound road. After eight to ten hours of inglorious toil they returned, haggard in the dawning of their muddied horse lines, to prepare for the next night. So on, night in and night out, week by week, month by month for four years. Yet always their horse came first, always in deed and action they were gentle to their ‘pair’ though rough in speech. The British driver almost alone amongst those fighting in the war, showed constant, tender hardiness.