The Royal Regiment of Artillery originated in 1716, when two companies of artillery were formed to ensure that a regular force of gunners was readily available. The Regiment expanded rapidly in the 18th century and, since then, has seen service in campaigns worldwide, from the Boer and Crimean wars of the 19th century, to World Wars I and II. Today the Regiment forms a powerful and complex branch of the Army - the only section that has employed nuclear weapons. This book outlines the history, development and uniforms of the Royal Regiment of Artillery up to the late 1960s.

Loyal Gunners uniquely encapsulates the experience of Canadian militia gunners and their units into a single compelling narrative that centres on the artillery units of New Brunswick. The story of those units is a profoundly Canadian story: one of dedication and sacrifice in service of great guns and of Canada. The 3rd Field Regiment (The Loyal Company), Royal Canadian Artillery, is Canada’s oldest artillery unit, dating to the founding of the Loyal Company in Saint John in 1793. Since its centennial in 1893, 3rd Field—in various permutations of medium, coastal, and anti-aircraft artillery—has formed the core of New Brunswick’s militia artillery, and it has endured into the twenty-first century as the last remaining artillery unit in the province. This book is the first modern assessment of the development of Canadian heavy artillery in the Great War, the first look at the development of artillery in general in both world wars, and the first exploration of the development and operational deployment of anti-tank artillery in the Second World War. It also tells a universal story of survival as it chronicles the fortunes of New Brunswick militia units through the darkest days of the Cold War, when conventional armed forces were entirely out of favour. In 1950 New Brunswick had four and a half regiments of artillery; by 1970 it had one—3rd Field. Loyal Gunners traces the rise and fall of artillery batteries in New Brunswick as the nature of modern war evolved. From the Great War to Afghanistan it provides the most comprehensive account to date of Canada’s gunners.

This two-volume history of the Royal Artillery is one of the earliest published on that subject, and covers the period from its formation in 1716 to Waterloo, a hundred years of history. Volume I takes the story of the Regiment from 1716 to the end of the American War of Independence and the Peace Treaty of 1783. The first few chapters describe the situation regarding artillery before the Regiment came into existence, when all Artillery details came under the care and superintendence of the Masters-General of the Ordnance and the Honourable Board of Ordnance. This Board, apparently, invariably interfered with the duties of the Artillery and "no amount of individual experience, no success, no distance from England, could save unhappy artillerymen from perpetual worry and incessant legislation." Apart from telling the story of the campaigns and battles in which the Regiment took part during its first seventy or so years of its existence, principally the Seven Years War, the Siege of Gibraltar and the American War of Independence, this volume contains plenty of 'domestic' detail including the development and growth of the Artillery, changes of organization, changes in establishments, pay and conditions of service, officer personalities, commanders and the foundation of the Royal Military Academy. The author was Superintendent of the Royal Artillery Regimental Records and was well placed to write a very full and interesting account of the Gunners during the first hundred years of their existence.