Bermuda Militia Artillery - Between The Wars

Between The Wars

This was not the end for the BMA, however, as it was re-constituted for the annual camp of 1920, when fifty new recruits joined six officers and 154 other ranks who had enlisted before the war. in 1921, one company was tasked with providing mobile detachments, and the other for serving at fixed batteries.

In 1928, the BMA was reorganised along the lines of the Territorial Army. Training requirements became a weekly drill night, plus an annual two week camp. All of its enlisted men were discharged, and the unit slowly began to rebuild its strength through new recruitment. By 1930 it had been decided to remove the last of the regular RGA detachments, and to close all of the batteries except the Examination Battery at Saint David's Head, which the BMA assumed complete responsibility for operating. In 1932, a new voluntary unit, the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, was raised. This absorbed the BVRC signals element, and was also responsible for manning the search light detachments at Saint David's Head. That year, the War Office also ceased funding annual camps outside of the British Isles, citing a lack of funds, and the Bermuda government began funding training. In 1936, on the occasion of the death of King George V, the BMA was involved in what could have been a severe international incident. The BMA had been instructed to fire a memorial salute from one of the two 4.7" guns at Saint David's Battery. This salute was to consist of seventy blank rounds, one for each year of the King's life, fired at one minute intervals. Because of the difficulty of storing ammunition in Bermuda's humid climate, there proved to be only twenty-three rounds of blank ammunition in stock, and the remainder used were all headed ammunition. As the firing was to commence at 8am (on the 21st January), and it was thought unlikely any vessels would be in the danger area, it was decided to proceed with the salute, ensuring the guns were elevated for maximum range (8,000 yards), out to sea. The firing began at 08:00, and was over seventy minutes later. What the BMA gunners were unaware of, however, was that a Colombian Navy destroyer, the Antioquia, was at the receiving end of their barrage. The British-built destroyer was under the command of a retired Royal Naval officer (part of the British Naval Mission to Colombia), and was arriving at Bermuda to undergo repairs at the HM Dockyard. Although the ship's crewmembers were alarmed to find themselves on the receiving end of an artillery barrage, the ship fortunately was not hit.