Bristol Territorial Army 150th anniversary

The refined atmosphere of the officers' mess at the Whiteladies Road Territorial Army headquarters has a certain timeless quality.

It is a heady combination of the deep-buttoned leather armchairs, the cabinets filled with medals, Victorian uniforms and swords, and the view out on to the historic Artillery Grounds with its decorative canon proudly pointing towards the BBC building across the road.

For the reservist soldiers of 266 (Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery) Battery (GVA), this is a time of great celebration – on two fronts.

Earlier this month, the men and women of the TA unit paraded proudly to receive the Freedom of the City of Bristol.

It was the highlight of the battery's 150th anniversary year, but this is a unit that never fails to recognise its past achievements.

The walls of the corridors are lined with sepia pictures of proud busby-wearing officers, keeping a stern eye on their modern day counterparts.

"It's a long way from the idea that the public generally has of the TA," Staff Sergeant Bob Walker explains, as he shows me around.

"I always get the same old line from friends: 'So you're going off playing soldiers again?'

"I'm always quick to tell them that we're not playing at anything. We train for the real thing. Indeed, we've just had nine of our lads back from a tour in Afghanistan."

Bob, from Yate, is, at 41, the longest serving member of 266, which he joined in 1992. His career has taken him to Iraq in 2003, the United States, Canada and, earlier this year, to the Falklands, where he was involved in test-firing the islands' light guns.

"In the early 1990s, the TA was still looked upon as something of a social club because there weren't the problems in the world that we see today.

"Now, reserve service is completely different and so much more professional. Everyone knows there is the strong likelihood of deployment within a year or two of joining – and I would say that 90 per cent of our guys look forward to taking up that opportunity.

"I joined the TA because a friend invited me to come along and see if I liked it. I did. It has a great social side, and you make good friends.

"But when you've gone through all your training, everyone wants to put it into good practice by seeing a bit of action for real."

Bob volunteered for active service in Iraq in 2003.

"A week after volunteering I found myself in Kuwait, waiting to cross over for the invasion," he says.

It was a long way from his day-job, working in a sales office for an electrical wholesale business.

"It was an incredible experience to be there for the invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam," he says. "It was all about playing our part."

Bombardier Lee Maynard also volunteered to be among the initial troops to invade Iraq in 2003.

"It's one of those experiences that you'll never forget," explains Lee, a lorry driver from Warmley.

"We were caught up in some small arms fire, but generally the people of Iraq welcomed us with open arms – they lined the streets cheering as we entered the city of Amarah."

There is nothing tenuous about the link between the very modern light gun battery of 266, with its recent history in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the busby-wearing, wealthy sons of Bristol's gentry who were the first officers back in 1859. Affiliations and roles may have changed for the Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery at various times, but the name and its motto, Fidus et Audax – Fidelity and Audacity – have never been lost.

Parades still take place at the Artillery Grounds, home of the GVA since public subscription and the generosity of the Society of Merchant Venturers led to its opening in the early 1860s, at a cost of £12,000.

The officers' mess proudly displays beautiful trophies won in gunnery competitions during Victorian times, while dinners there take place around a giant mahogany table donated in the 1860s by a member whose family owned a Union Street furniture company.

These days, 266 Battery forms part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and provides vital support across the world for 29 Commando. Recruitment is strong, says Major Tony Rogers, the Battery Commander and a veteran of eight tours of Bosnia, even though deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq is likely sooner rather than later for any new reservist.

"It explains why it can take a fairly long slog to become one of today's TA soldiers," he says. "There is a strict process reservists need to work through before making that commitment."

It's all a far cry from 1859 when Lord Palmerston, Secretary of State for War, decreed that maritime areas such as Bristol needed artillery rather than rifle corps to help guard their waters.

In December of that year, the GVA paraded for the first time, forming four batteries, with Major Henry Bourchier Osborne Savile as Major Commandant.

Officers were drawn very much from the upper crust of Bristol society. They were "gentlemen soldiers" ready to serve their country but also eager to participate in a GVA social whirl of banquets and balls.

They paid for the privilege, including a fee to Bristol's Clerk of the Peace on appointment (the considerable sum of £30 for a Major). They also bought their own uniforms and weapons.

New recruits can hardly fail to be aware of the unit's proud history – there are reminders all around them at the Artillery Grounds.

Gunner Dan Potter, 29, of Backwell, who joined three years ago, says: "It makes you think of the thousands of soldiers who have come here to train through the decades and I feel proud and privileged to be part of it."

For more information on joining 266 Battery, contact Captain John Valentine on 0117 9733801 or log on to www.wessexrfca.co.uk.