War Diary of 4th Field Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 1939.

4TH REGIMENT, ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY.
S E C R E T	SITUATION REPORT - OFFICERS.

Rank and name of officer	Employment	Situation.

Lieut.Colonel E. Latham, M.C.	Commanding Officer	Helmieh.
Major F.C.F. Cleeve, M.C.	2nd in Command	Helmieh.
Major R.P. Waller, M.C.	O.C., F/G Battery	Helmieh.
Major J.C. Campbell, M.C.	Offg.O.C., C Bty	Mersa Matruh.
Major L.E. Sheppard,	Regimental M.T.Officer.	Helmieh.
Major. M. Yates.	O.C. C Battery	Helmieh.
Major G. Colchester/	Regimental Duty	Mersa Matruh.
Captain C.D. Packard.	Attd "A" Branch	Cairo.
	B.T.E.
Captain R.J.M. Thomas, M.V.O.	P.A.D. Officers.	Helmieh.
Captian E.B.H. Fitch	Gunner Staff Course,	Woolwich
	Military College of
	Science.
Captain D.H. Halesworth.	Regimental Duty	Mersa Matruh.
Captain G.W. Goschen	Regimental Duty	Mersa Matruh.
Captain G.C, Graham	Regimental Duty	Mersa Matruh.
Captain H.M. Lewis.	Adjutant.	Helmish.
Lieut, M.St,J Oswald.	Regimental Duty	Helmish
Lieut. R.C. Warlow-Harry	Green Court, Glen Head, Long Island.
	New York, U.S.A. (Leave).
Lieut G.M. Baker	En route unit from Malta per "Cyprian Prince"
	Arrives Helmieh 30/8/39.
Lieut. L/H. Lewis.	On duty at Port Said, returns unit 29/8/39.
Lieut D.A.B. Clarke.	Regimental Duty	Mersa Matruh.
Lieut, J, Harrington.	Sick Leave	"Kelston"
		Jointon Rd,
		Folkstone, Kent.
Lieut. L Walmesley-Cotton	Leave,	"Foxgrove"
		Felixstowe, Suffolk
Lieut.(QM) F.C. Studley	Quartermaster.	Helmieh

Home	1940	1941	1942
1943	1944	1945	1946

August 1939
Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information	References to Appendices
	1939
Helmieh	23/8		UMBRELLA Order. Camp dispersed. Anti-gas equipment issued to Batteries and Troops.	1
			"C" Battery, R.H.A. (less one Troop) placed at three hours notice to move to MERSA MATRUH.	1 and 2
	23/8		Warning order for move of "C" Battery (less one Troop) issued.	3
			Preparations made for move of "C" Battery (less one Troop). Equipment drawn from R.A.O.C.
			Shortages made up from "A" Troop, "C" Battery, R.H.A. and "F/G" Battery, R.H.A.	4 and 5
	24/8		Train party, "C" Troop, "C" Battery depart for MERSA MATRUH.
	25/8	0800	Road Party of "C" Battery, (less one Troop) depart for MERSA MATRUH.	6 - 13
	25/8		Train Party, H.Q. and "B" Troop depart for MERSA MATRUH.
	28/8/		Role of officers on the strength of the Regiment	14

September 1939
Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information	References to Appendices
	1939
Helmieh	1/9		Calibration of 25 prs carried out. ("A" Tp. "C" Battery and "F/G" Battery)
	3/9		War declared, Censorship of all correspondence introduced.
	4/9		Ordered given to mobilze. All ranks to consider themselves on Active Service. Peace accounting continues.
	4/9		P.A.B. Scheme. Helmieh and Heliopolis Area.
			Captain R.C. Warlow-Harry, R.H.A. posted to 2nd Regiment. R.H.A.
			Lieut. J. Harrington, R.H.A. posted to 2nd Regiment. R.H.A.
	6/9		Lieutenant Colonel D. Latham, M.C., R,H,A, and Captain H.M. Lewis, R.H.A., visit MERSA
	to 8/9		MATRUH to see "C" Battery, R.H.A.
	12/9	1430	P.A.B. Practice, Helmieh Area.
	to	2100
	15/9		Move into Camp vacated by 1 R.T.R.
	18/9		Five Supplementary Reserve Officers posted, having recently arrived from the United Kingdom.
			2/Lieutenant D.R. Hughes. 2/Lieutenant F.R.A. Smith. 2/Lieutenant P. Greenfield. 2/Lieutenant H.M Evers. 2/Lieutenant V.H. Wolfson.

October 1939
Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information	References to Appendices

Helmieh	1939
	1/10		Troop and Battery training in Helmieh
	to		"A" Troop, "C" Battery short of equipment and men. Am experimental 4 troop Battery
	30/10		considered with ll Troops linked to the Command Post. Found to be unpractical.

	15/10		"A" Troop, "C" Battery, proceed to MATRUH to join "C" Battery.

	24/10		6th Division Skeleton Exercise held near MERSA MATRUH. 4th Regiment, R.H.A., Regimental
	to		Headquarters too part as part of R.A. Group,
	3/11

November 1939
Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information	References to Appendices

Helmieh	1939

	1/11		F/G Battery Training.
	to
	30/11

	17/11		"C" Battery returned from MATRUH. Accommodated in tents and hutments in HELMIEH Camp.

	19/11		Major. R.P. Waller, M.C., R.H.A., posted to Home Establishment as Instructor in Gunner.

	17/11
	to		Both Batteries on Battery Training.
	30/11

December 1939
Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information	References to Appendices

Helmieh	1939

	1/12
	to		Regimental Training
	23/12

	23/12
	to		Christmas Break.
	26/12