Garrison Artillery Volunteers

A display group whose passion is Royal Artillery of the 20th Century



The Garrison Artillery Volunteers (GAV) were formed over 30 years ago in the early 1990's to promote the understanding and interpretation of the UK's wartime coastal defences. The group soon found itself branching out into field artillery supported by an anti-aircraft and searchlight section. 

 The GAV are a group of volunteers whose aims are to rediscover and learn all technical aspects of gunnery during the 20th Century. We demonstrate the skills of both male and female gunners using period equipment. Passing this knowledge on via educational demonstrations enabling us to give a future to artillery of the past.


The GAV is truly an international organisation with membership from North Yorkshire to the south coast, Holland, Czech Republic, Belgium and Malta. The main base is in and around Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire with a large section in Yorkshire and Lancashire. There are also smaller sections in Bristol and Essex. This regional structure, supplemented by members from other parts of the country, provides the group with flexibility to put on numerous small local events as well as coming together for much larger events when required.