1st Army Group Royal Artillery was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign and throughout the Italian Campaign. It reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1950s to command air defence units. History Background and formation The need for a higher organisational command structure for medium and heavy artillery became apparent during the Battle of France and the early part of the Western Desert Campaign. The 'Army Group Royal Artillery' (AGRA) concept was developed during Exercise 'Bumper' held in the UK in 1941, organised by the commander of Home Forces, General Alan Brooke (himself a Gunner) with Lt-Gen Bernard Montgomery as chief umpire. This large anti-invasion exercise tested many of the tactical concepts that would be used by the British Army in the latter stages of the war. The gunnery tacticians developed the AGRAs as powerful artillery brigades, usually comprising three medium regiments and one heavy regiment, which could be rapidly moved about the battlefield, and had the punch to destroy enemy artillery with counter-battery (CB) fire. AGRAs were provided to field armies at a scale of about one per Army corps. AGRAs were improvised until 26 November 1942, when they were officially sanctioned, to consist of a commander (CAGRA) and staff to control non-divisional artillery. World War II The Headquarters (HQ) of 1st AGRA was formed at Hamilton Park, Glasgow, on 24 August 1942. It was assigned to First Army for the landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), and arrived in Tunisia in January 1943, together with 56th Heavy Regiment, equipped with 7.2-inch howitzers – the first heavy regiment of the RA to serve overseas since the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. 1st AGRA went into action in February in support of XIX French Corps with one heavy, three medium and three field regiments under command. Later it supported V Corps in the closing stages of the campaign. It then prepared for the Allied invasion of Italy. The make-up of an AGRA during the Italian Campaign was extremely flexible: it could include army field regiments (25-pounders), medium regiments (4.5-inch or 5.5-inch guns) and heavy regiments with 7.2-inch howitzers. It might also be augmented with 3.7-inch heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) guns loaned by the AA brigades for additional ground support fire. 1st AGRA landed in Italy in October 1943, operating with