on the Italian mainland, when two AGRAs fired across the Straits of Messina from Sicily or in Operation Undergo, the battle for Calais in 1944. As the British Army manpower shortage developed, the weight of fire that an AGRA could add to an attack became increasingly important. AGRAs were not originally provided with their own Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshops, and experience proved that this was a mistake in theatres with limited support services, such as the Italian Front. Switching large groupings of artillery from one corps to another put immense strain on the corps' own REME, and later the AGRAs in Italy were provided with their own workshops, though not specifically attached to any particular AGRA. Commonwealth AGRAs Canadian corps artillery was also referred to as an AGRA and was composed of units of the Royal Canadian Artillery as well as the Royal Artillery. Canada had two AGRAs in the Second World War, one in Italy as part of I Canadian Corps and North West Europe from March 1945 and the other only in North West Europe with II Canadian Corps. After the war, 59th AGRA appears to have been transferred to the British Indian Army in 1946, becoming 59 Army Group Royal Indian Artillery, retitled 2 Army Group RIA the following year. At Independence in 1947, the order of battle of the RIA included 1 AGRIA, 2 AGRIA and 11 AGRIA (AA). List of AGRAs during the Second World War Where known, with area of operation and dates formed and disbanded. 1st AGRA – formed 29 August 1942 at Hamilton Park, Glasgow; Tunisia and Italy; redesignated 3 AGRA (Field) 1 January 1947, disbanded in Central Mediterranean Forces (CMF) 29 October 1947 2nd AGRA – formed 28 August 1942 at Scotch Corner Hotel, Darlington; Tunisia and Italy; redesignated postwar as HQ 180 Infantry Brigade 3rd AGRA – formed at 49 Frant Road, Tunbridge Wells, 11 February 1943; North-West Europe, usually attached to XII Corps; disbanded in British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) 15 August 1946 4th AGRA – formed at Clyde Hotel, Bothwell, Lanarkshire, 22 February 1943; North-West Europe, usually attached to I Corps; disbanded in BAOR 18 February 1946 5th AGRA – formed in Italy 11 February 1943 as HQ AGRA; numbered 17 March 1943; North-West Europe, usually attached to XXX Corps; disbanded in BAOR 15 April 1946 6th AGRA – formed in Middle East 15