HER Majesty The Queen, in her role as Captain-General of The Royal Regiment of Artillery, visited Larkhill on Thursday to review the Royal Artillery on the occasion of their Tercentenary.

In bright sunshine a crowd of 5,000 packed Knighton Down, resplendent in ceremonial uniforms, top hats and tails and best dresses to greet the Queen who arrived by helicopter.

As the helicopter landed, ceremonial guns of The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery fired a 21 gun Royal Salute and the Queen then drove to the saluting dais where she was met by Master Gunner, Sir Timothy Grenville-Chapman.

Dressed in a suit of pale pink summer tweed with a matching hat and wearing a diamond Royal Artillery brooch, The Queen received a Royal Salute from the Guard of Honour provided by soldiers from Tidworth based 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery.

The massed bands of the Royal Artillery, with the pipes from Tidworth based 19 Regiment, played as she got into an open topped State Review Range Rover to inspect the regiment.

Lined up in front of The Queen and the crowd was every different piece of equipment and guns that the modern Gunner uses, from surveillance radars, drones and unmanned aerial systems from Larkhill based 32 and 47 Regiments, anti aircraft missile systems and then on to the huge AS90 15mm self propelled guns, 105mm Light Guns and the Multi Launch Rocket System.

On returning to the dais, the Master Gunner gave an address outlining the history of the Regiment and its many achievements over the past 300 years.

He then spoke about the Captain-Generals baton, shaped like the barrel of a 6 Pounder Gun, which contains a message of Loyal Greetings to The Queen, which has been carried by members of every Regiment around the globe over the last year.

Suddenly two riders from the King’s Troop galloped through the massed artillery with the Baton and handed it to the youngest soldier in the Regiment, 17 year-old Gunner Mischa Callis, who is in training at Larkhill with 14 Regiment, who presented it to The Queen.

The Queen responded, saying that the last time she reviewed the Regiment it was in Germany in 1994 and praised the Regiment for their work and adaptability in difficult circumstances around the world. She said that the Regiment had “served with great distinction, no more so than in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, you should be rightly proud of your achievements.”

Then the AS90 guns of 1st RHA fired a Feu de Joie, a salvo of live rounds that impacted across the Plain. A drive past of the Regiment was led by the guns and horses of King’s Troop followed by representatives of every regiment in the Royal Artillery driving their modern equipments past The Queen in a noisy and dusty spectacle.

The Queen left the parade and was shown a modern field headquarters manned by Bulford based 3rd UK Division and was told how an operation is planned by the Commander Joint Fire, Colonel Richard Smith and each member of the team explained their role in the operation.

She then moved on to a Heritage display where she was shown paintings and artefacts from the Regiments history leading up to a brief on the proposed Salisbury Plain Heritage Centre.

Lunch was in a marquee on the site where the Royal menu was pressed ham hock terrine with quails eggs, fig bread toast and a de-structured Piccalilli. This was followed by fillet of English lamb with a herb crust, fondant potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a red wine jus. The sweet was a Peach Melba with cheese cake and a mango puree.

After lunch The Queen moved to The Royal Garrison Church where she was greeted by hundreds of flag waving pupils from Larkhill primary schools. Here she unveiled a foundation stone for the new Chapel and Cloister of the Regiment.

As she left she was presented with an official bouquet by four-year-old Albert Beebe, whose father Major Mark Beebe serves at Larkhill and two more informal posies by local school children.

Amongst those she was presented to at the Church was Tidworth Town Council Mayor, Councillor Chris Franklin, himself a former Gunner who served for 22 years with 1 RHA.

“It was a brilliant day”, said Chris “Everyone was in good spirits, it was wonderful meeting The Queen, and it is wonderful how keen and sure footed she is”.