53rd (City of London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
53rd (City of London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 85th (City of London) Medium Regiment | |
---|---|
Burma Campaign 1944–45 (159 (Lloyd's) Bty) | |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Lt-Col Robert Whittaker Lt-Col Vere Krohn |
53rd (City of London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's
Origin
One of the first officers appointed to the regiment was Robert Whittaker, a City banker who had seen service with the RGA during World War I. He was commissioned as a major and commanded 158th (CoL) Battery, and later the whole regiment,[4] The Regimental Headquarters was at the War Office Department in White City, London. The unit formed part of 27th (London) Air Defence Brigade.[5] These original TA AA units were formed on a low peacetime establishment with a few old 3-inch guns on static mounts.[6]
As Britain's AA defences expanded during the 1930s, higher formations became necessary.
World War II
Mobilisation
The regiment was embodied on 5 August 1939 and occupied gun positions in parks and open ground around London: 157 Bty at Southwark Park and Brockley in south-east London and at Gunnersbury Park and Hurlingham Park in west London; 158 Bty at Hyde Park and Wormwood Scrubs, with its HQ at Fairlop and also occupying various sites in Essex east of London; 159 Bty with HQ at Finsbury Park and sites at Friern Barnet in north London. In early September, elements of 88 AA Regiment took over 157 Bty's positions and the battery moved to Bramley, Surrey where it came under 5 AA Division. Thus the regiment was fully deployed when war was declared on 3 September.[10]
The regiment manned static gun sites designated as Heavy AA (HAA) containing both the older 3-inch and newer 3.7-inch AA guns. They were moved frequently: by the end of September 1939, 157 Bty was stationed around Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, 158 at Enfield and Edmonton in Middlesex, and 159 at Cuffley, Hertfordshire, with Regimental HQ at Bush Hill Park.[10]
France
On 7 October 1939 the regiment received orders to proceed overseas. The regiment had to be brought up to war establishment and equipped with mobile equipment, albeit on a reduced scale because of shortages and the semi-static role envisaged for HAA units. It landed at
The regiment remained in its positions throughout the
On 10 May 1940, the Germans began their attack on
As the situation deteriorated, 53 AA Rgt was split up on 21 May: numerous personnel, guns and transport were transferred from 157 and 159 Btys to 158 Bty and other units of 12 AA Bde to bring them up to strength, while the remainder moved to Nantes in the Loire region to help guard a new base. 157 and 159 Btys, each with seven guns, and 7 S/L Bty (without searchlights), occupied positions on either side of the River Loire.[10]
By 4 June, while the bulk of the
By 17 June it was clear that France was about to surrender, and plans were made to evacuate HADDOCK FORCE by sea from Marseille. The AA detachments under command of 53 Regt were assigned to the SS Alma Dawson. A French dockyard strike prevented them from loading any of the 3-inch guns or vehicles, but the Bofors guns were mounted on the ship's decks. The ship put to sea on 18 June and slowly made its way to Gibraltar, where the AA gunners disembarked and temporarily reinforced the garrison. On 27 June, 82 HAA Regiment arrived on the SS City of Cairo, and once they had been unloaded with their guns and equipment, 53 AA Rgt boarded the ship and sailed in convoy for the UK on 2 July.[10][18][19]
Home Forces
53 HAA disembarked at Liverpool on 12 July and the men entrained for London, where the regiment came under the command of 49 AA Bde. Since 1 June, along with other AA units equipped with 3-inch or 3.7-inch guns, the 53rd had been formally designated a Heavy AA Regiment.[1][2] By 22 July, 157 Bty was manning static HAA gun sites in Dulwich and Woolwich under the command of 54 (City of London) HAA Regiment and 97 (London Scottish) HAA Regiment, while 159 Bty took over sites round Slough and Windsor. After various changes in location and command during the summer of 1940, the regiment moved to Rainham, Kent and joined 28 (Thames and Medway) AA Bde at the beginning of October, during the early stages of the London Blitz.[18]
In September 1940, Lt-Col Vere Krohn, who had commanded 53 HAA since before the outbreak of war, left the regiment for an appointment at AA Command, where he later headed the technical staff.[10][18][20][21] In the autumn, the regiment was re-equipped with 3-inch guns and sent to the live firing range at Aberporth for retraining.[22][23]
In February 1941, RHQ moved to Croydon and came under 48 AA Bde. 53 HAA was now designated as a mobile AA unit and had its own Royal Corps of Signals section and Royal Army Service Corps section with additional vehicles.[24] In October 1941 the regiment was posted to Dover (where it experienced occasional German shelling) but at the end of the month prepared for deployment overseas once more.[18]
Far East
On 1 May 1942, the regiment disembarked at
The
In July 1944 the regiment underwent a major reorganisation, converting to the medium artillery role at Poona. Initially designated 'A' Medium Regiment, it became 85th (City of London) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery on 24 August, with 157 and 158 Medium Batteries, while 202 Bty returned to 56 HAA, which became 'B' Medium Regiment (later
In September, 85 Medium Regiment moved to
Having fully trained on its new equipment, 85 Medium Regiment joined 59th Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA) on 18 May 1945 with which it remained until the end of the war.[26][34][35][37][39][40]
In July 1945, 85 Med Regt formed an additional 'R' Battery from personnel who were not due for early demobilisation, and others transferred from
Postwar
The regiment was reconstituted in the TA on 1 January 1947 as 453rd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery at Shepherd's Bush. In 1950 it amalgamated with 488 HAA Regt (the successor of its duplicate 88 HAA Regiment formed at White City in 1939) as 453rd/488th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (City of London) – the only TA artillery regiment to have two numbers in its title.[1][2][41][42]
When AA Command was disbanded in 1955 the regiment underwent a further amalgamation with three other London HAA regiments:
- RHQ Battery – from 453/488 HAA
- P (Middlesex) Battery – from 452 HAA
- Q (Lloyd's City of London Battery) – from 454 HAA
- R (Hammersmith) Battery – from 497 HAA
In 1961 the regiment amalgamated again with
Badge
The regiment adopted a collar badge of the brass RA grenade with the City of London arms on the ball and a pair of silver wings sprouting from the shoulders of the grenade. Instead of the RA motto UBIQUE, the scroll underneath the grenade was inscribed '53 (CoL) A.A. Bde RA'. This badge was also worn on the side of steel helmets and painted on vehicles during WWII.[2]
Prominent members
Among those who served in the regiment were:
- Lt-Col Lord Moynihan, OBE, TD, a stockbroker.[18][44]
- Capt Viscount Moore (later the 11th Earl of Drogheda, KG) who became chairman of the Financial Times.[10]
Honorary Colonel
The following served as Honorary Colonel of the regiment:[45]
- Lt-Col Sir Frederick Hall, 1st Baronet, DSO, MP, a member of Lloyd's of London, appointed 23 May 1923, died 28 April 1932[46]
- Lt-Col Sir Arthur Heneage, DSO, MP, appointed 1934
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Frederick, pp. 754–5, 768.
- ^ a b c d e f g Litchfield, p. 164.
- ^ a b "1 AA Division 1936–39 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ Monthly Army List 1923-39.
- ^ War Office, 'Titles and Designations' 1927.
- ^ Routledge, p. 40.
- ^ "AA Command at British Military History". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ Frederick, p. 777.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 166.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 53 HAA Regt War Diary 1939–40, The National Archives, Kew (TNA) file WO 167/617.
- ^ Routledge, pp. 114–5, 373, Tables XVII & XVIII, pp. 125–6.
- ^ a b "AASF at RA 39–45".
- ^ Farndale, Years of Defeat, p. 19.
- ^ "2 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45".
- ^ Routledge, p. 119.
- ^ Farndale, Years of Defeat, p. 20.
- ^ Routledge, p. 123.
- ^ a b c d e 53 HAA Regt War Diary 1940–41, TNA file WO 166/2343.
- ^ Routledge, pp. 123 & 201.
- ^ London Gazette 29 July 1930.
- ^ Sir Frederick Pile's despatch, 'The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom', London Gazette 18 December 1947.
- ^ Farndale, Years of Defeat, p. 98.
- ^ Routledge, p. 374.
- ^ Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941, TNA file WO 212/79.
- ^ a b c Joslen, p. 519.
- ^ a b c d "53 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45".
- ^ Farndale, Far East, p. 357.
- ^ a b 53 HAA Regt War Diary 1943, TNA file WO 172/2339.
- ^ "In the Skies of Calcutta : A tribute to Maurice Pring".
- ^ Farndale, Far East, p. 346.
- ^ Routledge, Tables XXXVII, pp. 252–3 and XXXIX, p. 254.
- ^ a b 53 HAA Regt War Diary May–July 1944, TNA file WO 172/4692.
- ^ Frederick, pp. 723, 740.
- ^ a b Joslen, p. 512.
- ^ a b "85 Med Rgt at RA 39–45".
- ^ Farndale, Far East, p. 364.
- ^ a b British Artillery in World War 2
- ^ a b 85 Med Regt War Diary August–December 1944, TNA file WO 172/4742.
- ^ a b c 85 Med Regt War Diary January–December 1945, TNA file WO 172/7483.
- ^ a b 59 AGRA War Diary February–December 1945, TNA file WO 172/7515.
- ^ a b Frederick, p. 1015.
- ^ a b 444–473 Regiments at British Army 1945 on.
- ^ Litchfield, p. 150.
- ^ Burke's Peerage
- ^ Army List
- ^ 'Hall of Grafham', Burke's.
References
- Army List, various dates.
- Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953.
- Gen Sir ISBN 1857530802.
- Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Far East Theatre 1939–1946, London: Brasseys, 2002, ISBN 185753302X.
- J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
- Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
- Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, OCLC 852069247.
- War Office, Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army, London: War Office, 7 November 1927 (RA sections also summarised in Litchfield, Appendix IV).
Online sources
- The Royal Artillery 1939–45
- British Military History
- Orders of Battle at Patriot Files
- British Army units from 1945 on
- British Artillery in World War 2