29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade

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29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade
Active January 1936–September 1948
Country  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg Territorial Army
Type Anti-Aircraft Brigade
Role Air Defence
Part of 1st AA Division
6th AA Division
Engagements The Blitz

29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army before and during World War II. It defended Kent during The Blitz.

Origin

29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Group was organised in January 1936 at RAF North Weald, Essex, as part of 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. Its original composition was as follows:[1][2]

29th and the other Anti-Aircraft groups adopted the more normal formation title of 'Brigades' after the Royal Artillery redesignated its Brigades as 'Regiments' in 1938.

World War II

By the time war was declared on 3 September 1939, 29th AA Bde had been transferred to 6th AA Division, which was formed in 1939 to take responsibility for air defence of the Thames Estuary, Essex and Kent. At this point the brigade was entirely composed of searchlight units:[5][6][7]

File:The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H10006.jpg
Soldiers cleaning a searchlight at Minley Lodge, Farnborough, Kent, 24 May 1941.

During August 1940 the AA Battalions were transferred from the Royal Engineers to the Royal Artillery, when they were designated Searchlight Regiments. At this time AA Command was heavily engaged in the Battle of Britain, in which 29 AA Bde was responsible for guarding Kent. This was soon followed by the night-bombing campaign of The Blitz, in which searchlights were a key element in the defences. At his time 29 Bde consisted of two units:[10][11]

  • 28th (Essex) S/L Regt RA.[12]
  • 74th (Essex Fortress) S/L Regt RA.[13]

In November 1940 the brigade was joined by the newly formed 48th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery.[14][15] This regiment was sent overseas in December 1941, arriving in Java where it was captured by the Japanese.[10][16][17]

By the end of 1944, however, the German Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted. At the same time 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry.[18] In January 1945 the War Office began to reorganise surplus anti-aircraft and coastal artillery regiments in the UK into infantry battalions, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service.[19][20][21]

Postwar

When the TA was reconstituted on 1 January 1947, the East Anglian AA Brigade was reformed, numbered as 55 (East Anglian) AA Brigade (the TA AA brigades were now numbered 51 and upwards, rather than 26 and upwards as in the 1930s). It was based at Barking, Essex, and was subordinate to 1 AA Group (AA Command's corps and divisions had been disbanded in 1942 and a group structure introduced; 1 AA Group controlled the air defences of the London region). At this time the brigade comprised the following units from Essex:[27][28]

However, 55 AA Bde was disbanded the following year, completely disappearing in September 1948.[28]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 BMH 1 AA Division
  2. ↑ Routledge, p. 59.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Litchfield, p. 70.
  4. ↑ 19th Londons at Regiments.org
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 6 AA Division 1939 at British Military History
  6. ↑ AA Command at Patriot Files
  7. ↑ Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376; Table LX, p. 378.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Monthly Army List May 1939.
  9. ↑ Planck p. 226.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 6 AA Division 1940 at British Military History
  11. ↑ 6 AA Div at RA 39–45
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 28 SL Rgt at RA 39-45.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 74 SL Rgt at RA 39-45.
  14. ↑ Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.
  15. ↑ Farndale, Annex D, p. 258.
  16. ↑ Joslen, p. 558.
  17. ↑ 48 LAA Rgt at RA 39-45.
  18. ↑ Ellis, pp. 141–2.
  19. ↑ Ellis, pp. 369, 380.
  20. ↑ Infantry Regiments RA at RA 39–45
  21. ↑ Routledge, p. 421.
  22. ↑ Joslen, p. 400.
  23. ↑ 630 (Essex) Rgt at RA 39-45
  24. ↑ Joslen, p. 463.
  25. ↑ 74 Garrison Rgt at RA 39–45
  26. ↑ 613 Infantry Rgt at RA 39–45
  27. ↑ Graham Watson, The Territorial Army 1947 at Orbat.com
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 AA Brigades 30–66 at British Army Units 1945 on
  29. ↑ 592–638 Regiments at British Army Units 1945 on

References

  • Major L.F. Ellis, "History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West", Vol II: "The Defeat of Germany", London: HM Stationery Office, 1968/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-59-9.
  • Gen 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 1843424746.
  • Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
  • C. Digby Planck, History of the 7th (City of London) Battalion London Regiment, London: Old Comrades' Association, 1946/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2002, ISBN 1-84342-366-9.
  • 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.

External sources

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