3rd Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom): Difference between revisions
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* [http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk British Military History] |
* [http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk British Military History] |
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* [http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=listarticles&secid=17 Orders of Battle at Patriot Files] |
* [http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=listarticles&secid=17 Orders of Battle at Patriot Files] |
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* [http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html The Royal Artillery 1939–45] |
* [http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html The Royal Artillery 1939–45] |
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{{British Army Divisions}} |
{{British Army Divisions}} |
Revision as of 23:40, 29 September 2016
3rd Anti-Aircraft Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1 September 1939 – 30 September 1942 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Anti-Aircraft Division |
Role | Air Defence |
Part of | Anti-Aircraft Command (1939–40) III AA Corps (1940–42) |
Engagements | The Blitz |
The 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of World War II. It defended Scotland and Northern Ireland during the early part of the war.
Origin
Large numbers of Territorial Army (TA) units were converted to anti-aircraft (AA) and searchlight roles in the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE) during the 1930s, and higher formations were required to control them. 3rd AA Division was the first division-level headquarters created de novo (earlier ones being converted infantry divisions). It was formed at Edinburgh on 1 September 1938 within Scottish Command, transferring to Anti-Aircraft Command when that formation was created on 1 April 1939. It was responsible for the AA defences of Scotland, including Northern Ireland and the Orkney and Shetland Defences (OSDEF). It operated with No 13 Group of RAF Fighter Command, covering Scotland and the North of England.[1]
Order of Battle
The composition of 3 AA Division on the outbreak of war was as follows:[1][2]
- 3rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade formed 7 December 1938 at Belfast. The TA did not exist in Northern Ireland before the war, so the part-time units in the province were part of the Supplementary Reserve and were numbered in sequence after the Regulars.
- 3rd (Ulster) Searchlight Regiment, RA (SR) – formed 1939[3][4]
- 8th (Belfast) AA Regiment, RA (SR) – formed 1939[5][6]
- 9th (Londonderry) AA Regiment, RA (SR) – formed 1939[7][8]
- 102nd AA Regiment, RA (TA) – formed at Antrim 10 September 1939[9][10]
- 3 AA Brigade Signal Section, Royal Corps of Signals (RCS)
- 92 AA Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC)
- 3 AA Brigade Workshop Section, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC)
- 36th (Scottish) Anti-Aircraft Brigade formed 1 May 1938 at Edinburgh, responsible for the city of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth
- 71st (Forth) AA Regiment, RA – formed 1938 at Dunfermline[11][12]
- 94th AA Regiment, RA – formed April 1939 at Turnhouse[13][14]
- 101st AA Regiment, RA – formed August 1939 at Inverness[15][16]
- 36 AA Bde Company RASC
- 42nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade formed 1 October 1938 at Glasgow, responsible for the city of Glasgow and the Firth of Clyde
- 74th (City of Glasgow) AA Regiment, RA [17][18]
- 83rd (Blythswood) AA Regiment, RA – converted 1938 from 7th (Blythswood) Battalion Highland Light Infantry[19][20]
- 100th AA Regiment, RA – formed at Motherwell[16][21]
- 42 AA Bde Company RASC
- 51st Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade formed 25 August 1939 at Edinburgh, originally to command the LAA units of 3 AA Division, but later assumed responsibility for north east Scotland
- 14th (West Lothian Royal Scots) Light AA Regiment, RA – converted August 1938 from part of 4th/5th Battalion Royal Scots at Linlithgow[22][23]
- 18th LAA Regiment, RA – formed December 1938 at Glasgow[24][25]
- 19th LAA Regiment, RA – formed January 1939 at Edinburgh[14][26]
- 31st LAA Regiment, RA – formed August 1939 at Perth[27][28]
- 32nd LAA Regiment, RA – formed August 1939 at Falkirk[29][30]
- 51st AA Bde Company RASC
- 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade formed August 1939 at Stirling with responsibility for searchlight provision across 3 AA Division's sectors
- 51st (Highland) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers – formed 1938 at Aberdeen
- 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Scots (52nd Searchlight Regiment) – converted 1938 from part of 4th/5th Bn in central Edinburgh
- 5th/8th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (56th Searchlight Regiment) – converted 1938 at Glasgow
- 5th/8th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (57th Searchlight Regiment) – formed 1 November 1938 by duplication of the above, based in south Glasgow
- 52nd AA Bde Company RASC
- 3 AA Divisional Signals, RCS formed in Edinburgh in 1939[31]
- 3 AA Divisional Workshops, RAOC
Mobilisation
Mobilisation in the last week of August 1939 was difficult for 3 AA Division, which had the task of moving troops, guns and stores by road and by sea to remote and inaccessible sites in Orkney to defend the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow, which had high priority.[32]
At this point the division had a strength of 111 HAA guns, while in the LAA role there were 18 3-inch, 5 2-pounder 'pom-pom' and 40 mm Bofors guns, and 340 light machine guns (LMGs), together with 159 searchlights.[33] The HAA guns were deployed in the defended areas as follows:[34]
- Firth of Forth – 28 (plus 1 out of action)
- Firth of Clyde – 19 (plus 3 out of action)
- Scapa Flow – 8
- Invergordon – 2 (plus two out of action)
- Tyneside – 34
- Teesside – 14
Shortly afterwards, Tyneside and Teesside became the responsibility of a new 7 AA Division, and 3 AA Division was able to concentrate on defending Scotland.[33]
Phoney War
Unlike most of Britain's defence forces, 3 AA Division was frequently in action during the so-called Phoney War that lasted from September 1939 to May 1940. The first action occurred unexpectedly on 16 October 1939, when nine enemy aircraft suddenly appeared out of cloud and dived on warships off Rosyth Dockyard, close to the Forth Bridge. No warning had been given, but gun positions of 71 HAA Rgt hastily loaded for a 'crash' action under individual gun control, normal prediction being impossible against diving and turning targets. A total of 104 rounds were fired and one aircraft had its tail shot off (fighters accounted for another two). HMS Southampton was damaged. The following day, 14 hostile aircraft in three waves attacked warships lying in Scapa Flow. The Chain Home early-warning radar system did not yet cover Scapa, but 226 Bty of 101 HAA Rgt was able to engage and claimed one shot down. Among the vessels damaged in this raid was the Jutland veteran HMS Iron Duke, acting as a base ship and floating AA battery.[35]
These attacks led to calls for strengthened AA defence for the naval bases at Scapa Flow, Invergordon, Rosyth and the Clyde anchorage, and 3 AA Division was given priority for new guns. Starting in January 1940, the division was to receive 64 3.7-inch and 32 4.5-inch HAA guns and an increase to 100 searchlights, but only 10 Bofors and some Naval 2-pounders were available for LAA defence. 3 AA Division had many problems at Scapa, where a chain of rugged islands enclose an extensive area of water, which stretched beyond the reach of HAA fire from the islands. Installing gun positions on the islands required an immense amount of labour. A new Luftwaffe attack on 16 March 1940 caught the defences half-prepared: only 52 out of 64 HAA guns were fit for action, and 30 out of 108 SLs. About 15 Junkers Ju 88s approached at low level in the dusk: half dived on the warships and the rest attacked the airfield. 44 HAA guns of 42 AA Bde engaged, but their predictors were defeated by erratic curses and low height. 17 LAA guns also engaged, but the Gun layers were blinded by gun-flashes in the half light. No enemy aircraft were brought down. A subsequent inquiry concluded that the low level attack had evaded radar, the gun lay-out still left gaps in the perimeter, and guns were out of action awaitong spare parts.[36]
There were three more attacks on Scapa Flow the following month. On 4 April, a formation estimated at 12 Ju 88s carried out a series of medium- and low-level runs, dropping bombs and machine-gunning AA positions, and escaped without loss. Four days later, 12 Heinkel He 111s spent 2 hours over the anchorage carrying out individual attacks, but four were shot down. On 10 April about 20 hostile aircraft made a night raid; some were successfully illuminated and three shot down. The Scapa defences were clearly improved, and close concentrations of fire over warships, supplemented by naval AA fire, could no hold off dive-bombing attacks. The Luftwaffe now turned its attention to the campaigns in Norway and France and the Low Countries[37]
In November 1939, 3 AA Bde HQ and some of its units had gone to France with the British Expeditionary Force, defending the lines of communication.[38][39][40] 3 AA Brigade HQ returned to Northern Ireland after the Dunkirk evacuation.[41][42]
Battle of Britain
On 11 July 1940, at the start of the Battle of Britain, the guns of 3 AA Division under the command of Maj-Gen Leslie Hill were deployed as follows:[43]
- Belfast – 7
- Clyde – 28
- Ardeer – 4
- Kyle of Lochalsh – 4
- Aberdeen – 4
- Scapa Flow – 88
- Shetlands – 12
- Airfields – 8
- Vital Points – 119 (mainly Bofors gun)
3 AA Division was now cooperating with Fighter Command's No 14 Group, recently reformed to cover Scotland.
In 1940, the Royal Artillery's AA regiments were designated 'Heavy AA' (HAA) to distinguish them from the newer Light AA (LAA) units. (Prior to that, some of the Regular Army and Supplementary Reserve regiments had included both HAA and LAA batteries.) Also during 1940, all the searchlight units, whether AA battalions of the RE or still forming part of their parent infantry regiments, were transferred to the RA. The units of 52 AA Bde were therefore redesignated as follows:
- 51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, RA – from January 1940[44][45]
- 52nd (Queen's Edinburgh, Royal Scots) Searchlight Regiment, RA – from August 1940[46][47]
- 56th (Cameronians) Searchlight Regiment, RA – from August 1940[18][48]
- 57th (Glasgow) Searchlight Regiment, RA – from August 1940[20][49]
In September 1940, 3 AA Division formed 3 AA Z Regiment, equipped with Z Battery rocket projectiles.[50]
In November 1940, at the height of The Blitz, a new 12 AA Division was formed to take over responsibility for western Scotland and Northern Ireland, while 3 AA Division retained responsibility for eastern Scotland. 3 and 42 AA Bdes were transferred from 3 AA Division to the new formation,[41][42] and 12 AA Divisional Signals was formed by expanding the Glasgow company of 3 AA Divisional Signals.[31] Both 3 and 12 AA Divisions, together with OSDEF and 7 AA Division covering northern England, formed part of a newly created III AA Corps,[51] and 3 AA Division's commander, Maj-Gen Hugh Martin, was promoted to command the new higher formation.[1]
Reorganisation
From November 1940, therefore, 3 AA Division's order of battle was as follows:[52][53]
- 36 AA Bde Edinburgh & Forth
- 71 HAA Rgt – as above
- 114 HAA Rgt – formed November 1940[54]
- 31 LAA Rgt – as above
- 32 LAA Rgt – as above
- 51 AA Bde NE Scotland
- 108 HAA Rgt – formed August 1940[55]
- 40 LAA Rgt – formed September 1939; transferred to 51st (Highland) Division in May 1942[56][57]
- 67 LAA Rgt – formed December 1940[58]
- 52 AA Bde Searchlights
- 3 AA Z Rgt
- 3 AA Divisional Signals
Disbandment
At the end of September 1942, AA Command disbanded the AA Corps and Divisions and replaced them with new AA Groups, whose areas of responsibility coincided with the Groups of RAF Fighter Command. 3 AA Division's responsibilities were taken over by 6 AA Group, which coincided with No. 14 Group RAF.[52][62] In October 1942, 3 and 12 AA Divisional Signals re-merged to form 6 AA Group Signals.[31]
General Officers Commanding
The commanders of 3 AA Division were as follows:[1]
- Major-General Lancelot Hickes, from formation until 24 September 1939
- Major-General Leslie Hill, 24 September 1939 – 14 August 1940[63]
- Major-General Hugh Martin, 14 August–November 1940 (promoted to command III AA Corps)[64]
- Major-General John Younger, November 1940 (from 4 AA Division) to 7 January 1942 (posted to Washington)[65]
- Major-General William Wyndham Green, DSO, MC*, 7 January 1942 until disbandment (posted to 5 AA Group)[66]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d 3 AA Division 1939 at British Military History.
- ^ AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files.
- ^ 3 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 310.
- ^ 8 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 311.
- ^ 9 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 312.
- ^ 102 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 313.
- ^ 71 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 283.
- ^ 94 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b Litchfield, p. 300.
- ^ 101 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b Litchfield, p. 293.
- ^ 74 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b c Litchfield, p. 290.
- ^ 83 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b Litchfield, p. 291.
- ^ 100 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 14 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 299.
- ^ 18 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 292.
- ^ 19 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 31 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 302.
- ^ 32 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 309.
- ^ a b c Lord & Watson, p. 172.
- ^ Routledge, p. 371.
- ^ a b Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376.
- ^ Routledge, Table LIX p. 377.
- ^ Routledge, p. 374.
- ^ Routledge, p. 375.
- ^ Routledge, p. 376.
- ^ BEF at British Military History.
- ^ BEF GHQ at RA 39–45.
- ^ Ellis, Appendix I.
- ^ a b 12 AA Division at British Military History.
- ^ a b 12 AA Division at RA 39–45.
- ^ Farndale, pp. 105–6.
- ^ 51 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b Litchfield, p. 274.
- ^ 52 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b Litchfield, p. 298.
- ^ 56 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 57 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 3 AA Z Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ III AA Corps at RA 39–45.
- ^ a b 3 AA Division 1940 at British Military History.
- ^ 3 AA Division at RA 39–45.
- ^ 114 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 108 Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 40 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ Joslen, p. 83.
- ^ 67 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 124 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 130 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ 125 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
- ^ AA Command 1940 at British Military History.
- ^ Hill at Generals.dk.
- ^ Martin at Generals.dk.
- ^ Younger at Generals.dk.
- ^ Green at Generals.dk.
References
- Major L. F. Ellis, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940, London: HM Stationery Office, 1954.
- General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, ISBN 1-85753-080-2.
- Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945, London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-84342-474-6.
- Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
- Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents, Solihull: Helion, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-92-2.
- Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 978-1-85753-099-5.