Mobilisation As tensions rose at the time of the
Munich Crisis, the TA's AA units were mobilised on 23 September 1938, with units manning their emergency positions within 24 hours, even though many did not yet have their full complement of men or equipment. The emergency lasted three weeks, and they were stood down on 13 October. Afterwards, Britain's AA defences were further strengthened.
4th AA Division was formed in 1938 and 33 AA Brigade was transferred to it, while all TA AA formations were brought under a newly created
Anti-Aircraft Command in February 1939. In June, a partial mobilisation of TA units was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA and searchlight positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations. On the outbreak of war, a new
54th AA Brigade was forming in 4 AA Division, and 41 AA Battalion was to join it, but the orders to mobilise on 22 August 1939 were actually issued to the battalion by
34th (South Midland) AA Brigade.
The Phoney War 41st AA Battalion spent the autumn of 1939 drawing searchlight equipment from stores, moving to its war stations, and digging in its AA
Light machine gun (LMG) positions. Battalion HQ moved from Stoke to
Hewell Grange, near
Redditch. By November, 362 and 363 Companies were operating in the
Birmingham Gun Zone (GZ), 364 in the
Derby and
Nottingham GZ, while 365 Company was guarding vital points around
Ironbridge, but then orders came for the whole battalion to move to the Derby and Nottingham GZ to provide illumination for
68th (North Midland) AA Regiment, Royal Artillery. At the same time, Battalion HQ moved to
Spondon Hall, Derby.
The Blitz On 1 August 1940, the AA battalions of the RE were transferred to the
Royal Artillery (RA), with the unit becoming
41st (5th North Staffordshire Regiment) Searchlight Regiment, RA (often abbreviated as '41 (5 NSR) S/L Rgt') and the companies were designated as batteries. By now, the unit had reverted to 2 AA Division, forming part of
32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade responsible for defending the
East Midlands of England. In May, Battalion HQ had moved to
Wilford House, near Nottingham; now it moved again to
Oakham with 365 Bty, while 363 Bty moved to the
Sheffield GZ. In early 1941, 41 S/L Rgt sent a
cadre of experienced men to 235 S/L Training Rgt at
Troon where they formed 541st S/L Bty with recruits mainly from
Glasgow. This battery then formed part of
89th S/L Rgt, which was later converted into
133rdLight AA Rgt, and fought in the North West Europe campaign. The quiet period of the
Phoney War was followed by an intense period of enemy air activity that culminated in
the Blitz of 1940–41. The Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) guns of the Derby AA Barrage fired for the first time on 19 August. In November, one of 363 Bty's LMG teams shot down a
Dornier Do 17 bomber at Borton-in-the-Wolds, while in February 1941, 365's Bty HQ was strafed by a
Heinkel He 111. In 1941, the searchlight layout over the Midlands was reorganised, so that any hostile raid approaching the Gun Defended Areas (GDA) around the towns must cross more than one searchlight belt, and then within the GDAs the concentration of lights was increased. May 1941 saw RHQ moving to
Melton Mowbray, returning to Oakham in January 1942. In that month, 365 Bty was transferred to
83 S/L Regiment, RA Searchlight Control (SLC) Radar, known as 'Elsie', was introduced from 1941 and was in widespread use by 1942. In July 1942, the
Luftwaffe transferred its attention from '
Baedeker Blitz' targets to industrial cities in Northern England. On the nights of 27/28 and 29/30 July, there were heavy raids and 41 Rgt's searchlights were engaged in illuminating targets for the AA guns. Sergeant L. Cox shot down a
Junkers Ju 88 with his site's LMG.
Home Defence In October 1942, AA Command reorganised its structure, replacing the AA Divisions with AA Groups coinciding with RAF Fighter Command's Groups. 41 Searchlight Regiment came under
5 AA Group, which reorganised its defences in January 1943. 41 S/L Regiment was ordered to take over searchlight sites defending the
Humber Estuary, 362 Bty going to
Pollington, 364 Bty going to
Scunthorpe, while 363 Bty and Regimental HQ moved to the Militia Camp at
Thorne, near
Doncaster. On the night of 9 March 1943, a
Dornier 217 picked up by the searchlights engaged two of the regiment's sites at
Yokefleet with bombs, incendiaries and flares. In August 1943, 362 Bty moved from Pollington to
North Cave. By now, Luftwaffe bombing raids were rare, and the regiment concentrated on 'Bullseye' exercises to practise cooperation with
Night fighter aircraft. By 1944, 41 S/L Rgt had come under the orders of
31st (North Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, which was earmarked for
Operation Overlord, the invasion of German-occupied France. The regiments re-equipped their AA LMG sections with twin
Browning machine guns. In February, RHQ and 363 Bty moved from Thorne to The Croft at
Selby and
Skipwith Hall respectively. Meanwhile, 'Bullseye' exercises continued with
No. 264 Squadron RAF.
Normandy On 15 April 1944, the regiment received orders to mobilise for overseas service, which was completed by 19 May. On 7 June (the day after
D-Day), it was ordered to move to a concentration area in
Sussex, where it practised laying out mobile searchlight sites and waterproofed its equipment ready for landing in Normandy. It embarked at
Southampton Docks on 8 August and by 11 August was deployed to defend the vital US Army supply port of
Cherbourg. 41 (5 NSR) was the first full searchlight regiment to land in Normandy during Overlord, joining some independent batteries that had landed earlier, and until the autumn was the only such unit operating in
21st Army Group. Air defence of the crowded bridgehead was vital, and by day the Allies had almost total air superiority, but night raids were common. Communications between sites and operation rooms proved to be a headache, even though the regiment had been loaned the
Royal Corps of Signals (RCS) line section of 42 S/L Regt (which was waiting to deploy to Normandy) and had the assistance of 153 and 154 Line Sections RCS.
Low Countries In September, the sudden Allied breakout from the Normandy bridgehead left the regiment behind, and it moved up behind the troops, coming under the command of 51 AA Defence HQ, and deploying in troop 'clumps' along the Rivers
Seine and
Somme, although there was no German air activity. On 22 October, the regiment was transferred to the command of
101 AA Brigade and moved to the
Brussels area to be employed in the 'Anti-Diver' role against
V-1 flying bombs heading towards
Antwerp. 362 Battery had three men killed by one of these V-1 attacks. Meanwhile, some 41 S/L Regiment personnel were attached 31 AA Brigade HQ for trials using 'Elsie' to track enemy mortar fire. On 18 November, a premature explosion while firing a captured German
81 mm mortar killed five men (including three from 41 S/L) and wounded four men of 41 S/L. Lieutenant Gilbert Rabbetts of 41 S/L 'acted with great gallantry, rapidly removing wounded to hospital, though himself badly wounded' and was later awarded the
MBE. In late November, the regiment moved north of Antwerp under
105th Anti-Aircraft Brigade, leaving two Troops of 362 Bty deployed round
Dunkirk to illuminate aircraft and shipping trying to supply the Germans besieged in the town. The regiment took up positions along the long vulnerable line of the
River Scheldt for the winter, adopting an 'extended canopy' layout, introducing new Mk VIII
centimetric radar SLC and cooperating with Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) batteries. There were frequent German raids in late December (during the
Battle of the Bulge), and on 1 January 1945 a low-level daylight raid by about 40
Messerschmitt Bf 109 and
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 single-engined fighter-bombers across the Scheldt was engaged by 20 of 41 S/L's sites with
Bren gun and small arms fire: the regiment was credited with two 'kills'. Another heavy mid-level raid on 23 January resulted in more 'kills' shared with the LAA batteries. By February 1945, the regiment was reporting no hostile activity, but it was frequently called upon to illuminate and identify friendly aircraft infringing the defence zone. It was also fitting out a
Landing Craft Tank ('Barge AA No 1') with searchlights for duty on the Scheldt, and deploying new
20 mm Polsten cannon to the S/L detachments. Otherwise, training was started for the regiment to take over garrison duty in Germany at the war's end.
Germany In April, the regiment moved up first to the
River Waal at
Nijmegen and then to the
Rhine, which had been crossed by 21st Army Group. Part of the duty was to provide illumination for engineers building bridges and also to prevent boat attacks on the bridges. On the night of 7/8 April, D Troop of 362 Bty provided 'artificial moonlight' for a raid by the
1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade against Dunkirk, and on 25 April the Troop shelled the Germans with its new Polsten guns. Immediately after
VE Day (8 May 1945), the regiment handed in its S/L equipment and began occupation duties in Germany – apart from a detachment sent to provide illumination for a British Army Exhibition in Paris. The regiment took over responsibility for the districts of
Hildesheim,
Marienberg and
Peine in
Lower Saxony, dealing with thousands of
displaced persons ('DP's) and released
prisoners of war. As demobilisation began, the regiment was kept up to strength for these duties into 1946 by absorbing cadres from other disbanded S/L and LAA regiments. The regiment was placed in suspended animation on 1 March 1946. • Lt-Col J.O. Doyle, OBE, TD, appointed 2 May 1936 • Lt-Col Marcus Jelley, OBE, from 9 June 1940 to VE Day ==Postwar==