2024 News 

For News Items prior to July 2024, please click here for NAA News Archive

Shortly to be uploaded are reports on:

May and September 2024 – The NAA Individual Achievement Awards 2024; and

10th October 2024 – the Award of the NAA Medal at the Regimental Awards Ceremony

The NAA Annual Lunch – 27th September 2024

The NAA Annual Lunch took place at The Victory Services Club in London on Friday 27th September 2024.

This was a relaxed and convivial lunch (as can be seen from the photographs) and we were delighted that the Regimental Colonel Col C Harmer ADC and the 2ic of 106 Regiment Maj Andy Coney were able to join us.

A toast to our Patron His Majesty King Charles III was specifically important to us following the King’s acceptance of Patronage of the NAA in May 2024 whilst we also drank a toast to absent friends.

Those attending, in addition to our guests were: Cols Chris Comport, Guy Clarke, Tom Lloyd, Mike Taylor, Lt Col Roderick Morriss, Majs Peter Boyce, Andrew Coney, Andrew Dines, David Harris, Simon Sadler and Matthew Taylor.

This lunch is held annually and we hope to be able to announce a date for the Annual Lunch 2025 shortly.

The NAA Visit to Shoeburyness – 9th October 2024

This first formal visit of the National Artillery Association to Shoeburyness (a co-hosted visit with the Shoebury Coastal Community Interest Company) on 9th October 2024 was a resounding success and much enjoyed by all who attended.

The visit represented a very important step forward for the NAA in re-discovering its remarkable history (and the synergies between):
• The Artillery Volunteers formed in 1859 and merged into the new Territorial Force in 1908; and
• The hosting of the annual NAA competitions at Shoeburyness from 1865 until 1906 by the Royal Artillery School of Gunnery Shoeburyness (which was stationed there in 1859).

Our hosts for the day were the Shoebury Coastal Community Interest Company (Shoebury CIC) based at the Shoeburyness Heritage and Community Centre called the Cart and Wagon Shed (formerly an old Royal Artillery cart and wagon building from the 1860s) all co-ordinated by David Hadjicostas, the lead director of the CIO and a gunner himself). This visitor destination centre hosts a long gunner heritage (as the Gunners were based there from 1859 to 1996); substantial archives; a community space and a café .

A good mix of people attended this event including representatives from the Fortress Study Group CIO, the Palmerston Forts Society (based in Fort Nelson), Trustees, Members of the NAA and Reserve Veterans.

Attendees and a 32 pounder ML gun (similar to those used in the first NAA competition)
at the entrance to the Garrison Parade Square surrounded by buildings in a horseshoe layout

Allowing for lunch and tea and cake breaks, there were 3 main strands to the day:

• A very informative and interesting review of the NAA and its history over 160 years but concentrating, for the purposes of the day, upon the ‘Forgotten Story of the Artillery Volunteers, the NAA and Shoeburyness 1859 to 1906’ given by Maj Andrew Dines;

• A guided walk to view the positions of the competition live firing points; envisaging the targets out on the sands out to sea and viewing and envisaging the ‘Tented Camping Field’ on which up to 1,000 volunteers were camped for each competition week; and

• An absorbing talk by David Hadjicostas about the history of the Gunners at Shoeburyness and the current role of the Shoebury Coastal CIO – what it has accomplished and what is planned. This was followed by a short walk to view key heritage landmarks within the Shoeburyness Barracks (built from 1859 onwards).

The above Illustrated London News lithograph dated August 12 1865 shows the initial gun
positions and the targets set out on the sands of the Thames Estuary (at low tide). 

Pre-lunch discussions!

The day provided some real insights into the Corps of Artillery Volunteer and the very important role undertaken by the NAA in providing the platform for the advancement and promotion of the practice and science of artillery within that Corps. The presentations recounted the high profile weekly NAA competitions held at Shoeburyness which were supported by the Royal Family; the Houses of Parliament, Livery Companies etc., for up to 1000 volunteers (often with 2 weeks of competitions with different Corps of Artillery Volunteers who had pre-qualified to attend Shoeburyness from across the UK whilst both the major and local newspapers provided detailed reports upon the results of the competitions.

We thank David Hadjicostas and the caterers at the Cart and Wagon for looking after us so well.