2nd Devonshire Artillery Volunteers

2nd Devonshire Artillery Volunteers Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery 566th (Devon) Coast Regiment, RA 407th (Devon) Coast Regiment, RA
Royal Artillery cap badge
Active	3 January 1861–31 October 1961
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Role	Coastal Artillery
Garrison/HQ	Devonport, Plymouth
Engagements	World War I World War II Occupation of Iceland

The 2nd Devonshire Artillery Volunteers was a unit of the British Volunteer Force and Territorial Army. The unit and its successors defended Plymouth Dockyard and the Devon coast (and, briefly, Iceland) from 1861 to 1961.

The 2nd Administrative Brigade, Devonshire Artillery Volunteers was formed at Devonport, Plymouth on 3 January 1861 as a headquarters for a number of Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) that had been raised in Devonshire in response to the invasion scare of 1859. A 1st Administrative Brigade had been formed the previous year, but the number of units in the county had continued to grow and they were split between the two headquarters. The 2nd Admin Brigade took the units in the western part of the county and was based at Devonport, Plymouth, with the following composition:

The unit's HQ moved from Devonport to Dartmouth in 1874 before returning three years later. The commanding officer from 1864 was Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hayne, who was also a Captain in the South Devon Militia. He was succeeded by Lt-Col Alex Ridgway, a former captain in the 1st Devon Militia (appointed 1873). By 1866 the 12th AVC had four companies and the 13th had two. A cadet corps was attached to the unit from 1871 to 1879.

In February 1880, the AVCs were consolidated, and the 2nd Devonshire Administrative Brigade became the 6th (soon changed to 2nd) Devonshire AVC with the following composition:

In 1893 the HQ and Nos 1 and 3–9 Companies were based at 14 Paradise Place at Stoke in Devonport, and No 2 Company was at Ridge Park Road, Plympton, and Fore Street, Salcombe at Fore Street, Salcombe.

The corps was attached to the Western Division of the Royal Artillery (RA) in April 1882 and changed its name to 2nd Devonshire Volunteer Artillery in November 1891. In January 1902 it was attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and became the 2nd Devonshire RGA (Volunteers). A new cadet corps was formed at Plymouth and Mannamead College in 1900, but was transferred to the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Devonshire Regiment in 1907.