Phoney War After war was declared on 3 September there were numerous adjustments to AA Command's deployment as further units and equipment became available. During the autumn 79th (HY) AA Rgt handed over most of its responsibilities for airfields, and shifted towards the Gun Defence Area (GDA) round the port of
Harwich and adjacent harbours, where Lt-Col Bazley-Green was appointed AA Defence Commander (AADC) with a Gun Operations Room (GOR) at Harwich: • RHQ at
Stansted Mountfitchet, later
Felixstowe • 246 Bty: • 4 x 3-inch at site H1 (
Landguard Common, Felixstowe) • 20 x AA LMG at
Royal Naval Mining Depot,
Wrabness • 20 x AA LMG at
Murex Works,
Rainham • 247 Bty: • 2 x 3-inch at site A1 (RAF Bentley Priory) • 2 x 3-inch at site A2 (RAF Bentley Priory) • 2 x 3-inch at site H5 (
Beacon Hill Battery, Harwich) • 248 Bty: • 2 x 3.7-inch at site H2 (
Trimley, Felixstowe) • 2 x 3.7-inch at site H3 (
Dovercourt) • 20 x AA LMG at RAF Martlesham Heath • 20 x AA LMG at
Parkeston Quay, Harwich (The
Royal Navy submarine depot ship HMS
Cyclops in Harwich harbour was designated as AA site H4 under the GOR) On 17 October the regiment fired its first rounds in anger, when sites H2 and H3 engaged an aircraft identified as hostile. During this period a draft of 100-plus recruits (
Militiamen with 3 months' AA training) was received for each battery, and training began for 'Operators, Fire Control' who would man RDF (radar) sets when they arrived.
France 248 Bty proceeded from Blackdown to
Southampton and sailed for France on the night of 7/8 February 1940. It landed at
Le Havre where it came under the operational command of
8th (Belfast) AA Rgt in
3 AA Bde guarding the lines of communication for the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It was to remain at Le Havre to man two static 3.7-inch gun positions at Parc de la Hève on the edge of the cliff in front of the lighthouse. The concrete pits were built and guns emplaced by 27 February. The rest of the regiment disembarked on 6 March under the command of Lt-Col R.C. Raikes and took over from 8th AA Rgt. 246 Battery manned four static guns on the harbour
mole and four mobile guns some 300 yards to the west. 247 Bty manned one 4-gun position on the seafront and another at
Octeville-sur-Mer. In addition, 4 Light AA (LAA) Bty was attached, manning eight static and four mobile
Bofors 40 mm guns sited round Le Havre. Both 246 Bty at the harbour and 247 Bty at Octeville were equipped with a
Gun-Laying (GL) Radar Mk I set, and in the absence of searchlights the commanders of 3 AA Bde and 79th (HY) AA Rgt devised an AA barrage scheme using fixed bearings and staggered heights over the docks and oil storage tanks for 'unseen' fire at night; this was codenamed 'Pillar of Fire'. The
Battle of France began on 10 May with the German invasion of the
Low Countries and France. The BEF followed the pre-arranged
Plan D and advanced into Belgium, but a rapid German breakthrough in the
Ardennes forced it to fall back again. By 21 May the main body of the BEF was cut off, and between 26 May and 4 June as much as possible was evacuated through Dunkirk (
Operation Dynamo). Even after the Dunkirk evacuation ended, there were still British forces in France north of the
Seine, and 79th (HY) AA Rgt maintained its defences at Le Havre covering the Seine ferries. As AADC, Lt-Col Raikes had a troop of 174 LAA Bty from 58th (
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) LAA Rgt and from 20 May a battery of
37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Rgt with 24 lights, in addition to his own regiment and 4 LAA Bty. There were also some
Barrage balloons and French AA guns. From 10 to 19 May the only
Luftwaffe activity in the area was daily reconnaissance flights, but on the night of 19/20 May there was a three-hour raid on the French airfield at Octeville, during which 'Pillar of fire' brought down an enemy aircraft, followed on succeeding nights by attempts to drop
Parachute mines into the harbour entrance. Nightly air attacks on the harbour area began in earnest on 3/4 June, with the guns in action for long periods. By 8 June, under renewed German attacks, the
1st Armoured and the
51st (Highland) Infantry Division and other assorted British forces withdrew to the Seine. That night, with much of the town and oil depots set on fire by the raids, 'Cuckoo Section' of 79th (HY) AA Rgt ferried the four highly secret GL radar transmitter trailers and their receiver trailers across the river to Honfleur, followed by 247 Bty with the mobile guns. With the enemy closing on Le Havre, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was cut off and forced to surrender, 3 AA Bde was ordered to evacuate. On the night of 11/12 June 246 Bty disabled their static guns and boarded the
Southern Railway ferry SS
Brittany, which took them to
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. RHQ and most of 248 Bty followed the next night aboard SS
St Briac. In a week of prolonged action, 15 enemy aircraft had been destroyed and many of the dive-bombing attacks by
Junkers Ju 87 Stukas disrupted.
Operation Aerial, to evacuate the remainder of the British forces from France was now under way. From Cherbourg, RHQ and the two batteries without equipment were shunted by train between
Nantes and
Rennes before being evacuated from
St Nazaire aboard SS
Duchess of York and reaching
Liverpool on 18 June. The party of 248 Bty that had stayed to disable the guns was evacuated through
St Malo. 247 Battery, operating directly under 3 AA Bde, deployed to defend Rennes and then moved to St Nazaire on 18 June, when it dumped its disabled guns in the dock and boarded SS
Glenaffric and was evacuated to
Plymouth. Cuckoo Section joined 3 AA Bde HQ at
Martigné on 9 June and moved to Nantes on 11 June. On 14 June it was joined by two transmitters and receivers from
73rd HAA Rgt and on 16 June by two more transmitters. With great difficulty, the section got all the secret equipment aboard the SS
Marslew which sailed on 18 June and docked at
Falmouth, Cornwall, the following day.
Home Defence While the bulk of the regiment was accommodated in guest houses in
Blackpool, 247 Bty went from Plymouth to a hutted camp at
Devizes, and then to No 1 AA Practice Camp at Aberporth. When 79th (HY) Heavy AA Rgt (as AA units were designated from 1 June 1940 to distinguish them from LAA 246 Battery emplaced eight 3.7-inch guns at
Pembroke Dock to defend the oil terminal. The guns were unloaded on 24 August and were in action against an air raid the following day. There was a heavy raid on Swansea from 20.55 to 03.00 on the night of 1/2 September, but because RAF night fighters were in the area, 247 Bty was prevented from firing for the first three hours. After that raid, Lt-Col Raikes of 79th (HY) Rgt devised a new barrage scheme for the Swansea GDA codenamed 'Ball of Fire'. By the end of the month the responsibilities at Pembroke Dock and Cardiff had been handed over to other units and the whole of the regiment was deployed around Swansea, with a GOR established. On 15 September the regiment provided the first of five
cadres sent to form the basis of new batteries forming at the training regiments (
see below). In this case 364 HAA Bty was regimented with 79th (HY) until it completed its training and joined
116th HAA Rgt in December. The regiment also undertook basic training for an intake of 250 local Welsh recruits, of whom 100 remained with the regiment while others were posted to
77th Searchlight Rgt in 45 AA Bde. In January 1941 the regiment received a draft of 120 older recruits for basic training before they were sent to
Z Battery rocket units. In November 1940, 45 AA Bde was split into two, with a new
61 AA Bde HQ taking over control of Swansea and South West Wales as far as
Milford Haven; it came under a new
9th Anti-Aircraft Division split off from the 5th Anti-Aircraft Division. During October, 248 Bty began constructing a new gunsite at
Mumbles, which broke away from convention by positioning the emplacements at the corners of a field, concealed in the hedges and served by the existing road, rather than grouped in the centre of the field with visible access tracks. The position was completed and guns mounted in December, and a similar 4-gun site was begun in January at
Ravenhill north of Swansea. The new elevation-finding attachment ('Effie') for the GL Mark I radar was also installed.
Swansea Blitz There was enemy air activity over the
Bristol Channel and South Wales coast on most nights, but usually these were reconnaissances or nuisance raids, Heavier raids against Swansea began on 4/5 January 1941, when a bomb put all the GOR telephone lines out of action, but the gunsites continued with 'Ball of Fire' barrages. In February 1941 the
Luftwaffe began a new tactic of hitting the same towns on successive nights in an attempt to put them completely out of action. Swansea was the first town so attacked. On the night of 19/20 February the building housing both RHQ and the GOR was destroyed by a direct hit during a heavy raid. Two officers and five other ranks (ORs) were killed or died of wounds, but the guns continued firing under local control and communications were maintained. The
Luftwaffe returned to continue the '
Swansea Blitz' on the nights of 20/21 and 21/22 February. On the latter night there was confusion between the Sector Operations Room at
RAF Pembrey and the Swansea GOR, resulting in the guns ceasing fire between 20.20 and 21.10, leaving the town centre unprotected. Although some raiders were shot down once the restriction was lifted, the centre of Swansea was devastated, and fires and delayed-action bombs destroyed communications. The GOR had to be temporarily relocated to
Neath. By the end of February 1941 the HAA guns in the Swansea GDA still only numbered 18 out of a planned establishment of 36. These were distributed to sites as follows: • N1
Llansamlet – 4 x 3.7-inch (247 Bty) • N2 Neath – 4 x 3.7-inch (246 Bty) • N3 Jersey Marine – 4 x 3.7-inch (247 Bty) • N4 Ravenhill (under construction by 246 Bty) • N5 Mumbles – 4 x 3.7-inch (248 Bty) • N6
Sketty – 2 x 3.7-inch (248 Bty) These had been increased a month later to 36, though an additional 18 were already being called for by 9th Anti-Aircraft Division. 398 HAA Battery, formed by a cadre from 79th (HY) HAA Rgt (
see below) joined the regiment from 207th HAA Training Rgt,
Devizes, on 10 March 1941 to take over N8 (
Margam) and N10 (Morfa Mawr). The newly formed 384 and 386 Btys of
120th HAA Rgt also came under operational command of 79th (HY) HAA Rgt. After a last burst of enemy activity in early May, the Blitz came to an end, and there was little more activity until the end of the year. The equipment of the gunsites round Swansea was improved and 437 HAA Bty, also raised from a cadre provided by the regiment (
see below), was regimented on 10 July and joined in August, while 248 Bty was transferred to 120th HAA Rgt (
see below).
Mobile training On 3 January 1942, 79th (HY) HAA Rgt was ordered to convert from a four-battery static organisation to a three-battery mobile unit in preparation for overseas service. Vehicles arrived for training in March, and in April the regiment (except 437 Bty) was relieved by
57th (Wessex) HAA Rgt. It moved to
Eastleigh in
Hampshire and came under control of
11 AA Bde, responsible for mobile training. Upon completion of the course, the regiment returned to its previous sites round Swansea on 16 May, but on 13 June it moved to
55 AA Bde in
Cornwall to relieve another regiment for training; at this point 437 Bty transferred to
138th HAA Rgt and left the regiment permanently. The whole South Coast of England was at the time subject to 'hit and run' raids by the
Luftwaffe, and gunsites occupied by the regiment at
Penzance and
Truro were called into action as soon as they arrived on 15 June. A month later the relieved regiment returned, and 79th (HY) HAA Rgt moved to Hitchwood Battle Camp in Hertfordshire for infantry training. It was then sent back to South Wales to complete mobilisation by 1 September while occupying gun sites at
Chepstow (246 Bty),
Barry (247 Bty) and
Port Talbot (398 Bty). During October the regiment was relieved of duties under AA Command and came under
War Office (WO) Control at
Uttoxeter while the necessary ancillary units arrived. A practice move by road to
Otterburn Training Area was followed by gunnery practice. By November the regiment had the following organisation: • RHQ • 246, 247, 398 HAA Btys (each 8 x 3.7-inch) • 79th HAA Rgt Signal Section,
Royal Corps of Signals • 79th HAA Workshop,
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) • 79th HAA Rgt Platoon,
Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) –
later redesignated 1521 HAA Rgt Platoon Operation Torch 79th (HY) HAA Regiment now formed part of
First Army, the leading elements of which landed at
Algiers in
French North Africa as part of
Operation Torch on 8 November. However, the regiment did not begin to load its guns and equipment on various transport ships until 2 January 1943, and the personnel finally embarked on HM Transport
Dunnottar Castle at
Glasgow on 20 January. The
Dunottar Castle docked at Algiers on 1 February, where the regiment's baggage party and '1st Reinforcements' remained while the frontline personnel embarked on the Landing Ships, Infantry (LSIs) HMS
Royal Scotsman and HMS
Royal Ulsterman for forward transport to
Bône in eastern Algeria. The ships carrying the regiment's guns and equipment docked at Algiers, Bône and
Philippeville on 8 and 9 February, but two vessels had been sunk
en route and all of 247 Bty's guns and towing vehicles were lost, as well as the light vehicles of 398 Bty and the REME workshop. While 247 Bty remained at Bône providing guards for
66 AA Bde HQ and 209
Prisoner of War Camp, 246 and 398 Btys and their guns were assembled at Philippeville, where Lt-Col Dickinson of 79th (HY) HAA Rgt was appointed AADC by 66 AA Bde on 14 February. He had elements of
64th LAA Rgt and
30th (Surrey) Searchlight Rgt under his control, later joined by a Z Rocket battery. The vulnerable areas to be defended were the port and fuel terminal, and
Philippeville Airfield when it became operational. The town was designated as an Inner Artillery Zone (IAZ) in which AA guns had priority over fighters. During February and March the regiment sited its guns, and sited and resited its GL sets to find good reception areas. 398 Battery had two engagements on 4 and 19 March against low-flying aircraft: the gun positions fired
Shrapnel shell from their 3.7-inch guns and used the twin
Bren LMGs with which they were equipped for close defence. By the end of March the Philippeville defences under 79th (HY) HAA Rgt were as follows: • RHQ • 'H' AA Operations Room • 246/79 HAA Bty (8 x 3.7-inch) • 398/79 HAA Bty (8 x 3.7-inch) • 285/64 LAA Bty (18 x
Bofors 40mm guns) • C Troop, 193/64 LAA Bty (6 x Bofors) • 184 AA 'Z' Bty (12 x 9-barrel projectors at Philippeville airfield) • One troop 567/30 S/L Rgt (6 x radar-controlled S/Ls) • 263 Company,
Pioneer Corps (smoke-producing) • C Flight, 985 (Barrage Balloon) Squadron, RAF (18 x balloons) In April, 247 Bty was able to draw new 3.7-inch guns from the base ordnance depot and install them at two new sites at Philippeville that the battery had constructed over the preceding two months. There were three raids on the town, on 21, 27 and 28 April, when the AA fire was generally successful in deflecting the bombers from their targets. Enemy resistance in North Africa ceased on 12 May 1943, but AA defence of the Algerian ports continued while they were used to prepare for the invasion of Sicily (
Operation Husky). AA engagements were usually against single high-flying reconnaissance aircraft, with one significant raid on the night of 17/18 June. 246 AA Battery was moved to Bône in July, followed in September by RHQ, 'H' (now 40) AAOR and 247 Bty, where the regiment took over operational control of 180 HAA Bty of
64th HAA Rgt, 567 S/L Bty and 124 AA 'Z' Bty. The OC of 398 HAA Bty became AADC of the reduced Philippeville IAZ. During the winter of 1943–4, responsibility for the AA defence of the Bône–Philippeville area passed from 66 AA Bde to
52 AA Bde and 44 AA Artillery Brigade,
US Army. Meanwhile, 79th (HY) HAA Rgt prepared for service in the
Italian Campaign with training in mobile warfare and ground shooting. On 26 March 1944, the regiment handed over to French troops and sailed from Bône and Algiers.
Italy 79th (HY) HAA Regiment disembarked from transports at
Naples between 27 March and 14 April to join 52 AA Bde defending the
Foggia Airfield Complex. Lt-Col Dickinson was appointed Deputy AADC for the
Spinazzola Group of airfields, with batteries of 64th LAA and
106th HAA Rgt under command. By 3 May the regiment was deployed as follows: •
Canosa: • RHQ and GOR •
Lesina Airfield (
306th Fighter Wing,
US Army Air Forces): • L1: A Trp, 246 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) • L2: B Trp, 246 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) •
Venosa Airfield (
485th Bombardment Group USAAF): • V1: D Trp, 247 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) • V2: C Trp, 247 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) • F Trp, 193/64 LAA Bty (6 x Bofors) •
Pantanella Airfield (
464th and
465th Bombardment Groups USAAF): • P1: F Trp, 398 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) • P2: E Trp, 398 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) • G & H Trps, 285/64 LAA Rgt (12 x Bofors) •
Spinazzola Airfield (
460th Bombardment Group USAAF): • S1: A Trp, 332/106 HAA Bty, (4 x 3.7-inch) • S2: B Trp, 332/106 HAA Bty (4 x 3.7-inch) • J Trp, 285/64 LAA Bty (6 x Bofors) In June 1944 the regiment was 'diluted' (as the process was officially described) by
Basuto troops from the African Pioneer Corps. Each battery received 81 ORs from 1932 Dilution Company to be trained as gunners at L1 site at Lesina Airfield. In practice, Nos 1 and 4 of each nine-man gun crew remained British ORs, the other seven numbers being African. Twelve British ORs from each battery formed a new plotting detachment while the remaining 190 surplus gunners were transferred to the infantry (those aged under 40) or to other Royal Artillery units or the Royal Signals (over-40s). In July the regiment was withdrawn from operational duties and began mobile training pending a move to
Allied Force Headquarters in northern Italy. The fully mobile establishment required additional drivers and other specialists, who were obtained from
100th HAA Rgt, which was being disbanded. The regiment also practised firing against ground targets. It began moving north on 25 August, reaching the
River Arno at Leghorn (
Livorno) on 28 August, having detached 398 Bty to take over AA defence of
Porto Santo Stefano, some 80 miles down the coast. The regiment deployed to sites as follows: • 246 Bty • A Trp to site W (4 miles south of
Pisa) in dual AA/field role • B Trp to site LH7 (immediately east of Leghorn) in AA role • 247 Bty • C Trp to site LH4 (northern outskirts of Leghorn) in AA role • D Trp to site Y (7 miles north of Leghorn) in dual AA/field role As soon as it arrived, D Troop began firing ground shoots in direct support of
39th LAA Rgt acting as infantry, knocking out German
88mm Flak guns (also operating in a dual field role) and in harassing fire tasks. Calls for ground fire slackened after
US IV Corps crossed the Arno on 1 September, and the batteries took up positions on the far side of the river. The regiment reverted to AA duties, except for No 1 Gun (codenamed 'Arthur Gun') of A Trp, which came under operational command of
71st (Forth) HAA Rgt and was kept busy with observed fire tasks. B Troop's No 3 Gun took over as 'Arthur Gun' on 14 September, and was in turn relieved by a gun from C Trp. Before the 'Arthur Gun' detachment was withdrawn on 8 October, its average daily ammunition expenditure was 70 rounds, peaking at 140 on 2 October. In October the regiment left
US Fifth Army and crossed Italy again to join
12 AA Bde in
British Eighth Army at
Rimini. The journey on muddy mountain roads was particularly difficult. On arrival it took over established gun positions, including its first
GL Mk. III radar sets and twin
0.5-inch Browning machine guns to replace the twin Brens. In November some of the guns were pushed forward to defend a landing-ground at
Bellaria and Lt-Col Dickinson became AADC Bellaria and Rimini Landing Grounds and Rimini Railhead. In January 1945 the regiment learned that it was to be disbanded. The African ORs transferred to
57th (Wessex) HAA Rgt, the British ORs to the infantry or other RA units. 79th (HY) HAA Rgt with 246, 247 and 398 HAA Btys passed into 'suspended animation on 10 March 1945.
248 (Welwyn) HAA Battery ::
See main article: 248th (Welwyn) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery On 20 mid-August 1941, 248 Battery was transferred to bolster the inexperienced 120th HAA Rgt In mid-January 1943, 120th HAA Rgt left 26 AA Bde and came under WO Control to mobilise as a defended ports unit. After two months at the mobilisation centre at
Easthampstead in
Berkshire it sailed from Liverpool on 14 March and disembarked at
Port Tewfik,
Egypt, on 6 May. Here it came under
Middle East Forces. After a month in Egypt it was moved by railway to
Beirut and then by sea to
Cyprus, where it landed on 14 June to take over AA defence of ports and airfields on the island under
20 AA Bde in
Ninth Army. At the end of October 1943, 248 Bty was 'diluted' by a draft of 80 ORs of the African Pioneer Corps. The state of readiness in Cyprus was relaxed in March 1944 and the AA defences on the island were run down during April. The remaining personnel moved to
Cairo where 120th HAA Rgt, including 248 (Welwyn) Bty, was disbanded in May–June 1944.
Cadres Between 1940 and 1942, 79th (HY) HAA Rgt provided cadres to form the following new batteries. Each cadre comprised a battery commander-designate, 1–3 other officers and 9–21 other ranks who were pre-war Territorials embodied in August 1939: The battery joined 79th (HY) HAA Rgt (replacing 248 (Welwyn) HAA Bty) 20 August 1941, and served with the regiment until transferred to
138th HAA Rgt on 11 June 1942. • 496 (Mixed) HAA Bty: cadre transferred to 206th HAA Training Rgt, Arborfield, 10 November 1941. The male soldier intake came from 224 LAA Troop, originally formed on the outbreak of war to defend
RAF Hullavington. The battery joined
143rd (Mixed) HAA Rgt 2 February 1942 and transferred to
171st (Mixed) HAA Rgt 29 August 1942. • 526 (Mixed) HAA Bty: cadre transferred to 207th HAA Training Rgt, Devizes, 29 January 1942. Battery joined
154th (Mixed) HAA Rgt 20 April 1942. 'Mixed' indicated units where women from the ATS were integrated into the unit; in the case of HAA batteries they provided approximately two-thirds of the personnel. ==Postwar==