51st (Devon) LAA Dunkirk The Territorial Army mobilised on the outbreak of war. The War Office's plan was that the first four newly formed TA LAA regiments would go to France as soon as they could be mobilised, in order to provide AA cover for the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF). 51st (Devon) LAA Regiment therefore crossed to France as part of
2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade (2nd AA Bde). The new LAA regiments were still badly under-equipped for overseas service, having only a small number of their establishment of
Bofors 40 mm guns and a lot of
Light machine guns (LMGs), usually old
Lewis guns, and a reduced scale of transport for a mobile role. In November 1939, 51st LAA only possessed 12 Bofors and 48 LMGs. On 2 December 1939 the regiment was joined by 6 LAA Bty, a
Special Reserve battery that had been formed at
Coleraine within
9th AA Rgt before that regiment specialised as heavy AA. When the German offensive began on 10 May 1940, 2nd AA Bde's task was to defend the airfields of the BEF's Air Component. As the
Luftwaffe began the air raids that heralded the German offensive, 151st LAA Bty was in action at Abbeville airfield with A and C Troops. C Troop soon registered a hit, and A Trp claimed 11 hits during the day, but a Battery Quartermaster Sergeant (BQMS) and three gunners were killed. The BEF began its planned advanced into Belgium, but the
German Army broke through the
Ardennes, forcing the BEF to withdraw again, the AA batteries giving cover leap-frog fashion. Soon they were sucked into the ground battle, split into sub-units to join rearguard actions or moved back from one key point to another, with all the roads choked with refugees. By 21 May, 151st Bty had A Trp defending
Hazebrouck, where an enemy aircraft was brought down, while B Trp was at
Merville. Next, A Trp went to the defence of
Cassel, where it was attacked by tanks and aircraft. One gun was hit and one had to be abandoned. Second Lieutenant Forbes went out to find the remaining two guns but was never heard of again. Sergeant Lord and 22 men eventually got out at Dunkirk. At Dunkirk the last three guns of B Trp were constantly in action on
Bray-Dunes, one gun being destroyed by a direct hit. Here they were joined by 152nd LAA Bty, with D, E and F Trps, which took up positions on the Dunkirk beaches and went into action at once. They were in continuous action from 21 to 25 May and many aircraft were brought down. The Bty commander, Major F.C. MacKenzie, was killed and buried in the dunes, the second-in-command, Capt A.M. Hicks, was wounded and a 2/Lt took over. By 27 May, all ammunition was expended and the guns were destroyed before the crews were evacuated. The RA history comments: 'This gallant battery had done much to save the BEF from the incessant air attacks n the beaches'. 152nd LAA Bty was soon back in action defending
Tangmere airfield during the
Battle of Britain, destroying numerous enemy aircraft. On 15 January 1941, 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt joined 6th Support Group in
6th Armoured Division, which had recently been formed as part of the GHQ Reserve. Support Groups at the time consisted of a brigade of mobile field, anti-tank (A/T) and LAA artillery together with lorried infantry, intended to support the armoured brigades of the division. The LAA regiment was equipped with towed Bofors guns. However, the support group concept was soon scrapped and from 1 June 1942 the regiment served directly under the HQ RA of 6th Armoured Division.
Tunisia 6th Armoured Division sailed from England on 8 November 1942, and landed at
Algiers as part of
Operation Torch, completing its concentration by 22 November. In December,
V Corps took over operational control of the advance into
Tunisia, and sent 6th Armoured to reinforce the infantry of
78th Division. With a front spread over 60 miles, the fighting consisted of confused encounter battles and enemy counter-attacks making skilled use of the terrain, so that British spearhead forces were often outflanked and encircled. AA guns were often involved in ground fighting. 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt had a hard time in these encounters, losing men and guns in actions in which they were encircled by the enemy. During the
Tunisian campaign, 6th Armoured took part in the following major actions: • Bou Arada (18–25 January 1943) • Fondouk (7–11 April 1943) • El Kourzia (22–26 April 1943) • Tunis (
Operation Vulcan, 5–12 May 1943) At the end of the campaign, 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt claimed to have destroyed 45 enemy aircraft for the expenditure of 62,300 rounds of ammunition – a high figure, but many of these rounds were fired in ground combats.
Italy 6th Armoured Division did not participate in the
Allied invasion of Sicily nor the early stages of the
Italian Campaign, remaining in North Africa until 18 March 1944. It then went to Italy and was operational by April, in time for
Eighth Army's Spring campaign. During the campaign, 6th Armoured Division took part in the following actions: • Liri Valley (18–30 May 1944) • Arezzo (4–17 July 1944) • Advance to Florence (17 July–10 August 1944) By September 1944, the Axis air forces were suffering such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks were rare, and AA units began to be put to other uses. 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt left 6th Armoured Division and rejoined 2nd AA Bde, which was supporting
XIII Corps. Although it was responsible for defending a few airfields and other vital points, the brigade's role was mainly to provide Heavy AA guns firing in ground roles, while some of its LAA batteries were being retrained as infantry support troops to meet the increasing manpower crisis. By the end of the year, 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt had been reduced from 54 to 36 Bofors guns. In January 1945, it had one battery in AA defence of bridges and 6th Armoured Division's gun areas, while the other batteries were carrying out labour duties for the
Royal Engineers, transporting ammunition, and firing mortars for infantry support and for projecting smoke screens. In February, first 152nd and then 153rd LAA Btys manned
4.2-inch mortars in support of 6th Armoured Division, then at the end of the month 153rd moved its mortars to support the
Folgore Group of the
Italian Co-belligerent Army. At the end of March, just before the final Allied offensive in Italy began, 2nd AA Bde had 51st Rgt disposed with 151st and 152nd LAA Btys in AA defence of
10th Indian Infantry Division's gun areas, while 153rd LAA Bty manned its mortars behind the Folgore Group. Its three batteries each had 12 Bofors guns, although like all the units in the brigade it was short of men, instruments and vehicles. The regiment arrived at Harstad on 9 May, where the brigade's guns were already engaged against almost daily attacks on the shipping in the fjord. The regiment was sent to defend Harstad airfield, with a Troop of 164th LAA Bty detached to the expedition's naval base in
Skånland Municipality. The regiment shot down its first aircraft on 10 May, capturing the downed German pilot. By 18 May, 164th LAA Bty had its HQ and eight guns defending
Bardufos airfield where
Royal Air Force Gloster Gladiator and later
Hawker Hurricane fighters were based. Narvik was captured on 28 May, but immediately afterwards orders were received to destroy the port and evacuate to the UK. (The BEF was simultaneously being evacuated from
Dunkirk). To cover the evacuation, AA units were ordered to maintain maximum activity and especially to prevent reconnaissance overflights. At the same time, 6th AA Bde was ordered by London to recover its guns as a matter of priority. This was done by progressively thinning out defences. Although much of the force's equipment was saved, 164th LAA Bty at Bardufoss was ordered to destroy all guns on 5 June after the aircraft had flown out and the runways had been cratered. 6th AA Brigade ended all AA defence on 6 June and by 8 June the British troops had embarked with their surviving equipment and the convoy sailed for the UK, still under air attack.
Home defence After evacuation, 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt landed in the UK on 13 June and was sent to
Troon to re-equip with Bofors guns and then supplement AA Command's defences. It was granted its 'Devon' subtitle on 17 February 1942. After the fall of Singapore and Burma in early 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to neutralise the important British naval base of Ceylon. Air raids against Colombo and
Trincomalee began on 5 April and continued for months. As the AA defences built up and the threat of low-level attacks by carrier-based fighters receded, the LAA units could be redeployed. 1st RM AA Brigade with 55th (Devon) LAA left Ceylon for India in June 1942. In 1942–3,
Fourteenth Army fighting in Burma, adopted a new policy with the formation of composite Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank regiments, each containing two LAA and two A/T batteries. This format was intended to help divisions distribute sub-units with balanced firepower and mutual support in close jungle fighting where battle groups often had to move independently. 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt was one of those selected for conversion, exchanging two batteries with
56th (King's Own) A/T Rgt to become
55th Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment, RA on 9 August. 56th Anti-Tank Regiment (The King's Own), RA, formerly the 4th Bn
King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), had been heavily engaged in the defence of the
River Lys during the
Battle of France and then evacuated through Dunkirk. It had subsequently been joined by a newly formed 290th A/T Bty and by 203rd (Ross) A/T Bty from
51st (West Highland) A/T Rgt, which had evacuated through
Cherbourg Naval Base after the rest of the regiment was destroyed at
St Valery with
51st (Highland) Division. When the exchange with 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt took place, these were the two A/T batteries transferred, while 56th LAA/AT Rgt kept its original King's Own batteries, joined by 163rd and 164th from the 55th. Thus the composition of 55th LAA/AT Rgt, formed on 29 July in the
Calcutta area, was as follows: In October, it moved to
Ranchi with the division, and on 1 December it moved to
Imphal on the Burma/Assam border and reached
Tamu on 16 December. When the Japanese offensive opened on 6 March 1944, it penetrated between the divisional boxes and 20th Indian Division began withdrawing from its forward screen to its main defensive positions on the Shenan Saddle just short of
Palel. The two LAA batteries of 55th LAA/AT Rgt worked with infantry groups leap-frogging back to successive pre-prepared fall-back positions. They suffered shelling and tank attacks (destroying four Japanese tanks), but air attacks were slight (although 524th LAA Bty shot down one attacker). By the first week in April, the regiment was back in the main Imphal defences, in the boxes at Shenam and
Bishenpur. Here they were subject to increased air attack by
Nakajima Ki-43 fighter-bombers. On 6 April, 165th LAA Bty shot down three with 175 rounds, and another on 10 April. 524th LAA Bty set up outlying 'trap' positions and destroyed two more. By the end of the battle, 20th Indian Division's LAA guns had destroyed 12 aircraft with another four 'possibles'. During the battle, Imphal had been cut off and supplied by air until the
Kohima road was reopened in June, after which 20th Indian Division began to advance. The other two batteries from 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt, 163rd and 164th, served with 56th LAA/AT Rgt in
5th Indian Infantry Division on the
Arakan front. Again, the British had formed air-supplied defensive 'boxes'. 56th LAA/AT Rgt provided AA defence for 5th Indian Division's HQ box, with Bofors guns operating in field gun areas, brigade boxes, in ground role actions against enemy strongpoints and in ambushes against infiltrators, while the A/T gunners were employed as infantry. The division's boxes were besieged from 7 to 13 February, with the gunners in frequent actions against air attacks and infantry, but it was the Japanese supplies that failed first. Reinforcements cleared the road block behind 5th Indian Division, which then resumed its advance, while 56th LAA/AT Rgt was responsible for defending North Island at
Maungdaw. In March the
Monsoon broke and 5th Indian Division was relieved, 56th LAA/AT Rgt returning to Elephant Point near
Cox's Bazar for a rest. The division then took part in the relief of Imphal, 163rd and 164th LAA batteries moving by road to
Dimapur where they assumed an infantry role while the A/T batteries were flown into the box. When the British counter-offensive began in May, RHQ and the AA batteries of 56th LAA/AT Rgt accompanied
2nd British Division in the advance from Kohima to Imphal By mid-1944, the Allies were achieving air superiority over Burma, sightings of Japanese aircraft had become rare and LAA guns were more often being used against ground targets in jungle fighting. Some LAA units were broken up to provide reinforcements for the infantry, while the LAA/AT units became solely A/T. Between 17 July and 1 September 1944, while back at
Yairipok in India, 55th LAA/AT Rgt was converted into
111th (Devon) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA with 165th (later numbered 524th), 203rd and 290th A/T Btys. 56th LAA/AT Rgt reverted to 56th A/T Rgt on 1 October 1944, when 163rd LAA Bty became 351st A/T Bty, but operated infantry support mortars, while 164th LAA Bty left the regiment and remained directly under 5th Indian Division HQ. 111th (Devon) A/T Rgt and its batteries were placed in suspended animation at the
RA Depot at Woolwich on 23 October 1945. Once Rangoon had been captured, the regiment returned by sea to India, where it came under command of RA Training HQ No 40 until the end of the war. ==Postwar==