56th Heavy Regiment was formed at St Leonards-on-Sea, near Hastings, on 2 January 1940 from the cadre provided the previous month by 64th (7th London) Field Rgt.
It was formed of four batteries, A, B, C and D, which were redesignated P, Q, R and S respectively on 11 March 1942.
The regiment never received the '7th London' subtitle, but was included on the 7th Londons' regimental war memorial after WWII.
In May 1940 it was photographed at Hastings manning 6-inch guns and 9.2-inch howitzers of World War I vintage.
The 9.2-inch was an effective but relatively immobile siege gun.
The regiment was serving in Eastern Command of Home Forces, and transferred to South-Eastern Command when that was split off in 1941.

The 7.2-inch howitzer (a relined 8-inch howitzer from World War I) began to be issued to heavy regiments in 1942, and by then the regiment had its own signal section of the Royal Corps of Signals and Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, ready for mobile warfare.
In October 1942 the regiment was assigned to First Army preparing for the landings in North Africa (Operation Torch).
On 1 January 1943 the four batteries were redesignated 15, 17, 18 and 19 Hvy Btys.
56th Heavy Regiment was formed at St Leonards-on-Sea, near Hastings, on 2 January 1940 from the cadre provided the previous month by 64th (7th London) Field Rgt. It was formed of four batteries, A, B, C and D, which were redesignated P, Q, R and S respectively on 11 March 1942. The regiment never received the '7th London' subtitle, but was included on the 7th Londons' regimental war memorial after WWII. In May 1940 it was photographed at Hastings manning 6-inch guns and 9.2-inch howitzers of World War I vintage. The 9.2-inch was an effective but relatively immobile siege gun. The regiment was serving in Eastern Command of Home Forces, and transferred to South-Eastern Command when that was split off in 1941.
The 7.2-inch howitzer (a relined 8-inch howitzer from World War I) began to be issued to heavy regiments in 1942, and by then the regiment had its own signal section of the Royal Corps of Signals and Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, ready for mobile warfare. In October 1942 the regiment was assigned to First Army preparing for the landings in North Africa (Operation Torch). On 1 January 1943 the four batteries were redesignated 15, 17, 18 and 19 Hvy Btys.
7th County of London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery