Help with British Units and Acronyms

stephen · 6 August 2006, 04:57 PM

Arthur Behrend was a Forward Observation Officer in the British army. He is listed as being with the "90th Brigade, RGA."

What does RGA stand for? Obviously its a Royal something or other...

Does anyone know the name and availability of the memoir that Behrend apparently published after the war?

Many thanks.

Doc · 6 August 2006, 10:40 PM

Royal Garrison Artillery-- this was the corps of the Royal Artillery which handled the big guns, coast protection, siege guns, mountain guns, etc. No idea on the book. Doc

Grovetown · 7 August 2006, 05:16 AM

Hi Stephen

Arthur Behrend's artillery memoir is As from Kemmel Hill: An Adjutant in France. It is available new through Amazon.com, or used through Bookfinder.com.

Some biographical detail is here: Arthur Behrend

His novel The House of the Spaniard was filmed in 1936.

Best wishes,

GT.

stephen · 7 August 2006, 05:56 AM

Thank you all very much; I appreciate your help.

Grovetown, do you happen to have this book... or does anyone else here? I simply need the place and date which corresponds to an incident described in the book. I hate to spend the money to buy a copy when I only need a single reference.

Grovetown · 7 August 2006, 05:59 AM

Sorry Stephen - can't help there.

GT.

duckman · 7 August 2006, 09:58 PM

Stephen,

Just a thought. If you post the details of the "incident" there may be some here who can provide colour or context, even without Behrend's book.

I don't have a copy, but I know at least one person who does.

stephen · 8 August 2006, 05:49 AM

Absolument!

Behrend gives an account in his book of his first-ever trip aloft in a balloon for artillery spotting. He and an experienced observer named Cleaver go up to 1,000 feet for observation and witness a German fighter who downs four British balloons in a row and runs out of ammo moments before attacking Behrend's balloon.

I need the date and place of this incident... I don't even know the year. I am reading a book called Hot Blood and Cold Steel by Andy Simpson which recounts most of the above incident but neglects to tell exactly when and where it took place.

If anyone can provide the additional details, I am studying the incident a bit more and would appreciate the help. Thanks.

Barrett · 8 August 2006, 12:29 PM

Stephen, I checked the old C&C Journal list of German balloon claims. Gontermann had a four-claim day on 19 Aug 17 south of Aisne (Frenchies).
Roeth got four Brit balloons in -10 minutes on 1 Apr 18, around Loos.
Claimed five more Brit/Belgians on 29 May in Flanders.

stephen · 8 August 2006, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrett

Roeth got four Brit balloons in -10 minutes on 1 Apr 18, around Loos.
Claimed five more Brit/Belgians on 29 May in Flanders.

Thanks, Barrett. One of these two sounds right. It was definately against the Brits and must have been during the summer since Behrend mentioned green grass.