In October- 1914 the RMA had been re-organised to provide two artillery brigades for the Western Front, One of these became an anti-aircraft unit, but the second was equipped with 12 heavy 15" howitzers to form the RM Howitzer Brigade. Rear Admiral Bacon, manager of the Coventry Ordnance Works, who supervised their construction and took them' into action was granted a Special commission in the Royal Marines. The Brigade totalled around 1,000 all ranks, but rarely fought as a unit. More often, the howitzers were deployed as single units along the front line.