Phoney War On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised and the SR units in Northern Ireland went to their war stations around the Province. In November 1939, however, 3 AA Bde HQ and some of its units crossed to France to defend the lines of communication of the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It deployed around the port of
Le Havre with the following initial composition: •
2nd AA Rgt (Regular) –
24 x 3.7-inch guns •
4th AA Rgt (Regular) –
16 x 3-inch guns, 8 x 3.7-inch • 2 Independent LAA Bty (Regular) –
12 x Bofors 40 mm guns • 4 Independent LAA Bty (Regular) –
12 x Bofors guns • 165 LAA Bty –
detached from 54th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) LAA Rgt (TA); 12 x Bofors guns Battle of France By 10 May, when the
Phoney War ended with the
German invasion of the Low Countries, 3 AA Bde was commanded by Brig W.R. Shilstone and had the following composition: • 2nd AA Rgt –
at Boulogne • 4, 5, 6 AA Btys • 8th (Belfast) AA Rgt (SR) –
at Le Havre • 22 AA Bty • 21 AA Bty –
detached to Arras • 23 AA Bty –
detached to Honfleur under 79th (HY) HAA Rgt •
79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) AA Rgt (TA) –
at Le Havre • 246 (1st Watford) AA Bty –
4 x static 3.7-inch, 4 x mobile 3.7-inch, 1 x Gun-Laying (GL) Radar Mk I, at Le Havre Mole • 247 (2nd Watford) AA Bty –
8 x mobile 3.7-inch, 1 x GL Mk. I at Sainte-Adresse and Octeville-sur-Mer •
248 (Welwyn) AA Bty –
8 x static 3.7-inch at Cape la Heve • 4 Ind LAA Bty –
8 x static Bofors,4 x mobile Bofors • 174 LAA Bty –
detached from 58th (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders) LAA Rgt; 4 x Vickers 2-pounders at Honfleur Although 79th (HY) AA Rgt had some gun-laying radar sets, the brigade still had no searchlights in position. Consequently, Brig Shilstone and
Lieutenant-Colonel R.C. Raikes of 79th (HY) AA Rgt (the AA Defence Commander (AADC) for Le Havre) devised an AA
barrage scheme using fixed bearings and staggered heights over the docks and oil storage tanks of Le Havre for 'unseen' fire at night; this was codenamed 'Pillar of Fire'. From 10 to 19 May the only
Luftwaffe activity in the Le Havre 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. The brigade was due to be reinforced by a TA searchlight unit of the
Royal Engineers,
37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) AA Battalion but the
Battle of France had already begun when Battalion HQ and a Composite Company landed at Dunkirk on 16 May, followed by 307 Company the next day. They found the roads choked by streams of refugees fleeing the advancing Germans. They eventually took up positions at Le Havre (307 Coy with 24 lights) and
Harfleur (Composite Coy with 13 lights). The crossing of the rest of the battalion to Dunkirk had been cancelled, and the two other companies (348 and 349) were sent instead to
Cherbourg. Part of 349 Coy landed there on 19 May and entrained for Le Havre, but returned to Cherbourg after a trip round France. 348 Coy also landed at Cherbourg on 20 May and proceeded to
Rennes. By now, the
Panzers of the
''Wehrmacht's'' Army Group A had broken through the
Ardennes and threatened the BEF's flank. 210 AA Battery of
73rd AA Rgt and two Troops of 8 S/L Bty of
2nd Searchlight Rgt had been defending
Conteville and
Crécy airfields under
2 AA Bde when the German forces took nearby
Péronne. On 20 May they were ordered to move south-west to
Rouen to come under 3 AA Bde. However,
2nd Panzer Division was already in
Abbeville blocking the way, and the battery had to fight a rearguard action with enemy ground troops to get to the coast and make it back to Dunkirk. 3 AA Bde was now cut off from the bulk of the BEF, which was preparing to evacuate from Dunkirk (
Operation Dynamo). Even after this ended on 3 June, there were still British forces in France north of the
Seine, and 79th (HY) HAA Rgt maintained its defences at Le Havre covering the Seine ferries. As AADC, Lt-Col Raikes had a troop of 174 LAA Bty and 307 AA Coy, in addition to his own regiment and 4 LAA Bty: a total of 22 x 3.7-inch, 8 x Bofors, 4 x 2-pounders and 24 S/Ls. There were also some
Barrage balloons and French AA guns. Nightly air attacks on the Le Havre harbour area began in earnest on 3/4 June, with the guns in action for long periods. By 8 June, under renewed German attacks,
1st Armoured Division, the
51st (Highland) Infantry Division and assorted other British forces were withdrawing 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 highly secret GL radar transmitter and receiver trailers across the river to Honfleur, followed by 247 AA Bty with the mobile guns.
Operation Aerial With the enemy closing in on Le Havre (51st (H) Division was cut off and forced to surrender at
St Valery), 3 AA Bde was ordered to deploy for the defence of the ports of Cherbourg,
Nantes,
St Malo and
St Nazaire, which were needed to evacuate the remaining British forces (
Operation Aerial). On 9 June, 3 AA Bde HQ and Cuckoo Section of 79th (HY) HAA Rgt moved to
Martigné, while Bn HQ and Composite Bty of 37th (TEE) AA Bn went to St Malo, taking command of the heavy and light AA guns of 23 AA Bty, and was joined by one troop of 307 S/L Coy from the south side of the Seine. Cuckoo Section 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 the following day.
Operation Aerial to evacuate the remainder of the British forces from France was now under way. From Cherbourg, RHQ 79th (HY) AA Rgt 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. On 17 June 348 and 349 Companies destroyed their remaining equipment and moved from Rennes and Cherbourg to the ports at
Brest, St Malo, and St Nazaire from where 37th (TEE) AA Bn was evacuated to Southampton, one of the last British units to leave France. Some of its personnel were aboard the
Lancastria when she was sunk off St Nazaire with heavy loss of life, but all except two of the party were rescued.
Belfast Blitz On arrival in England the evacuated AA troops were sent to various AA training camps to reform, and 3 AA Bde HQ returned to Northern Ireland. Because most of the SR units had been sent to join the BEF, Belfast was defended by only seven heavy AA guns by 11 July. In June 1940 those AA regiments equipped with
3-inch or the newer
3.7-inch guns were termed Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) to distinguish them from the new Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) units being formed. (Prior to that, some of the Regular Army and SR regiments had included both HAA and LAA batteries.) In August, all the Royal Engineers AA battalions were transferred to the
Royal Artillery as Searchlight (S/L) regiments. In AA Command, signals detachments for AA brigade signals were provided from divisional units so 3 AA Bde Signals, the SR unit that had served in France, transferred to 2 AA Bde and went with that formation to
Egypt in November 1940 Although its shipyards made Belfast an important target, the city did not receive a major bombing raid until nearly the end of the Blitz, when two attacks on 15 April and 4 May (the
Belfast Blitz) caused widespread damage and loss of life.
Order of Battle 1940–41 By the end of the Blitz in May 1941, the brigade's composition had become as follows: • 102nd HAA Rgt • 314, 315, 316 HAA Btys •
66th LAA Rgt –
new unit raised December 1940 from LAA batteries of 102nd HAA Rgt • 175, 176, 251 LAA Btys • 90th S/L Rgt –
new unit raised March 1941 • 546, 548, 560 S/L Btys • 91st S/L Rgt –
new unit raised March 1941 • 549, 550, 552, 553 S/L Btys • 2 Company, 12 AA Divisional Signals, RCS –
expanded from a Glasgow company of 3 AA Divisional Signals • 195 Company RASC
Mid-War After May 1941 there were only rare incursions by enemy aircraft over Northern Ireland. Newly-formed units continued to join AA Command, the HAA and support units increasingly becoming 'Mixed', indicating that women of the
Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) were fully integrated into them. Searchlights had been deployed in clusters of three lights since November 1940. The cluster system was an attempt to improve the chances of picking up enemy bombers and keeping them illuminated for engagement by AA guns or
night-fighters. Eventually, one light in each cluster was to be equipped with Searchlight Control (SLC) radar and act as 'master light', but the radar equipment was still in short supply. Later SLC radar and GL radar for the HAA guns became more widely available. Towards the end of 1941 the lights in Northern Ireland were redeployed singly to form a 'killer belt' primarily to assist night-fighters. This system required fewer lights, and in November 1941 AA Command decided that 91st S/L Rgt would be converted to the LAA gun role as
114th LAA Rgt. In December the batteries went to Holywood, where they were retrained by what was now 237th LAA Training Rgt, and surplus manpower was drafted to other units.
Order of Battle 1941–42 During this period the division was composed as follows (temporary attachments omitted): •
1st HAA Rgt from 4 AA Division July 1941 • 1, 17 HAA Btys • 2 HAA Bty –
attached to 11 AA Division • 102nd HAA Rgt –
to 6 AA Division by October 1942 • 314, 315, 316 HAA Btys • 431 HAA Bty –
joined February 1942 •
111th HAA Rgt –
from 42 AA Bde at Glasgow June 1941 • 347, 355, 356, 389 HAA Btys • 66th LAA Rgt –
to 6 AA Division June 1942 • 175, 176 LAA Btys • 251 LAA Bty –
to 84th LAA Rgt by May 1942 • 459 LAA Bty –
joined February 1942 • 146 AA 'Z' Bty –
joined June 1941, equipped with Z Battery rocket launchers •
81st LAA Rgt –
from 42 AA Bde by October 1942 • 199, 261, 307, 472 LAA Btys •
84th LAA Rgt –
from 63 AA Bde in West Scotland June 1942; to 9 AA Division by October 1942 • 177, 201, 448 LAA Btys • 251 LAA Bty –
from 66th LAA Rgt by May 1942 • 90th S/L Rgt • 546, 548, 560 S/L Btys • 91st S/L Rgt –
converted into 114th LAA Rgt January 1942; then to 4 AA Division • 549, 550, 551, 552 S/L Btys • 2 Company, 12 AA Division Mixed Signal Unit • 3 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section • 410 AA Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Section • 30 AA Sub-Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Sub-Section • 31 AA Sub-Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Sub-Section • 337 AA Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Section (
Londonderry) • 207 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section (
RAF Ballyhalbert) • 208 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section (
RAF Eglinton) • 209 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section (
RAF St Angelo) • 195 Company RASC ==Disbandment and 7th Anti-Aircraft Group==