Action Front!

This book tells the history of 'C' battery, Honourable Artillery Company, beginning in the summer of 1939 with its bizarre and strangely weaponless establishment as a 'duplicate' battery to 'A' Battery, HAC. The author aims to capture the early spirit of the Battery, moulded by such charismatic Battalion Commander's as Clive Usher into the blend of insouciance and guts that remained its hallmark until it was disbanded in 1973. The book tells of the rigours and humour of training without equipment. It follows the Battery's history from guarding Battersea Bridge to spearheading the 1st Army's thrust towards Tunis in 1942. Then came the defensive battles of Bou Arada and Sbiba before the eventual surrender of the Axis in North Africa. Finally, the slow, bloody slog through Italy in 1944 and 1945. Post-war 'C' Battery was lucky to inherit such torch-bearers as Mike Austin-Smith and Aubrey Lincoln who inculcated the wartime "esprit de corps" into a Territorial Army setting. In the 1960's, the Battery, not surprisingly, flowered and the author here again unearths some interesting stories.
The book should appeal to anyone interested in the history and traditions of the 12th Regiment and 'C' Battery in particular.