58th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery

Last updated

58th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment
593 (Harrow) Heavy AA Regiment
Active1 November 1938 – 4 July 1955
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg Territorial Army
TypeSearchlight Regiment
Infantry Battalion
Anti-Aircraft Regiment
RoleAir Defence
Garrison/HQ Harrow, Middlesex
Engagements Battle of Britain
The Blitz
Operation Diver

58th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised just before World War II. It defended the East Midlands of England during The Blitz, and later served as infantry in North West Europe at the end of the war, converting to the anti-aircraft (AA) artillery role postwar.

Contents

Origin

Cap badge of the Royal Engineers. RE Badge (GVIR).jpg
Cap badge of the Royal Engineers.

This searchlight unit was formed as part of the doubling in size of the TA at the time of the Munich Crisis in late 1938. Formally, it was a duplicate of 36th (Middlesex) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers, based on 344 AA Company at Harrow, which was transferred from 36th AA Battalion to provide a cadre of trained men. Two new companies were then formed to give the unit the following organisation: [1] [2] [3] [4]

58th (Middlesex) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers

The first commanding officer was Lt-Col Edward Boggis, MBE, who had been officer commanding 344th AA Company. [3]

World War II

90 cm 'Projector Anti-Aircraft', displayed at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth. 90cm Projector Anti-Aircraft Flickr 8616022073.jpg
90 cm 'Projector Anti-Aircraft', displayed at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.

Mobilisation

In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. 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. [5] The outbreak of World War II saw 58 AA Battalion forming part of 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in 2nd AA Division. Based at RAF Duxford, the brigade was responsible for providing AA defence for RAF airfields in East Anglia. [2] [4] [6] [7] [8] In April 1940, 58th moved to come under the command of 39 AA Bde. [9]

Cap Badge of the Royal Artillery (pre-1953). Koning Soldaat., item 60.jpg
Cap Badge of the Royal Artillery (pre-1953).

Battle of Britain and Blitz

On 1 August 1940 the Royal Engineers' AA battalions were transferred to the Royal Artillery (RA), being redesignated searchlight regiments, and the companies became batteries. [1] [2] [10] [11] [12] By this time 58th (Middlesex) had been moved to 32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, still in 2 AA Division, but now responsible for AA defence of the East Midlands during the forthcoming Blitz. [7] [13] [14] [15]

A new 511 S/L Bty was formed for the regiment in late 1940. Initially it was attached to the 40th (Sherwood Foresters) S/L Rgt and remained in 39 AA Bde, coming under command of 30th (Surrey) S/L Rgt from 8 January (when it was considered operationally active) until 12 May 1941, when it rejoined 58th S/L Rgt. [1] [9] The battery permanently joined 30th (Surrey) S/L Rgt in early 1942. [16] The regiment also supplied a cadre of experienced officers and men to 233rd S/L Training Rgt at Saighton Camp where it provided the basis for a new 539 S/L Bty formed on 12 December 1940. This battery later joined a newly-forming 88th S/L Rgt. [1]

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. [17]

344th Battery

On 19 April 1943, 344th Bty received orders to train for a mobile role, and after this training it joined 100 AA Bde on 30 June. 100 AA Bde was one of the formations slated to participate in Operation Overlord (the Allied invasion of Normandy planned for 1944) and shortly afterwards the battery became formally independent of 58 S/L regiment. [1] [18] 344th Independent S/L Bty proceeded to Normandy in July 1944 where it pioneered the use of searchlights to create artificial moonlight, otherwise known as movement light or 'Monty's Moonlight', to aid movement in night operations by 21st Army Group. [19] In February 1945 it changed its title to 344th Independent Moonlight Bty and split off a separate 581st Independent Moonlight Battery. [20]

Operation Diver

Meanwhile, the rest of 58th S/L Regt (425 and 426 Btys) had remained with AA Command. In May 1944 it was joined by 314 (Kent) S/L Bty from 29th (Kent) S/L Rgt. Then on 1 June E Troop of 372 S/L Bty of 43rd (5th Duke of Wellington's Regiment) S/L Rgt joined and became E Trp of 425 S/L Bty. [1] Soon after D Day in June 1944 the bombardment of London by German V-1 flying bombs began, and AA Command was engaged in the efforts to combat them (Operation Diver). Much of AA Command's strength was repositioned on the South Coast of England to engage the V-1s as they came in over the sea. In the centre of the line at Dungeness were four Z Batteries, each of 64 twin 3-inch rocket-launchers. Z Batteries defending towns were by 1944 largely manned by shifts of part-time members of the Home Guard, but for these frontline batteries the detachments were provided by 58th S/L Regiment, which had been hastily trained in the new role. [21] [22]

The most severe phase of V1 attacks on the UK ended in September 1944 after the launching sites were overrun by the advance of 21st Army Group along the coast of France and Belgium. [21] [23]

Infantry role

By the end of 1944, the German Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted and the War Office began reorganising surplus anti-aircraft regiments in the UK into infantry battalions for duties in the rear areas. [21] [24] 58th Searchlight Regiment was one of the units selected for conversion, and on 9 November 1944 it was ordered to convert, being redesignated 58th (Middlesex) Garrison Regiment, RA. (314 Searchlight Bty became independent and eventually rejoined 29th S/L Rgt.) [1] [7] [10] [11] [12] [25]

Meanwhile, 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry. [26] In January 1945, the War Office accelerated the conversion of surplus artillery into infantry units, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service. [27] [28] 58 Garrison Regiment was redesignated again, becoming 611 (Middlesex) Infantry Regiment, RA in February. It went to North West Europe the following month and did duty with Second Army until after VE Day. It was placed in suspended animation on 31 October 1945. [1] [7] [10] [11] [25] [29] [30] [31]

Postwar

AA Command's formation sign. Anti Aircraft Command formation Patch.gif
AA Command's formation sign.

When the TA was reconstituted on 1 January 1947 the regiment reformed as 593 (Middlesex) (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA at Harrow, ('mixed' indicating that it was composed partly of members of the Women's Royal Army Corps). Its title was later changed to 593 (Harrow) HAA Regiment. [1] [10] [11] [32] [33] It was assigned to 82 AA Bde based at Heston [34] [35] [36]

On 10 March 1955 Anti-Aircraft Command was disbanded, and many of its TA regiments were reduced: 593 HAA Regiment was placed in suspended animation, and completely disbanded on 4 July that year. [11] [32] [33]

Badge

During 1941, the regiment adopted as its arm badge a blue Cornflower embroidered on a khaki disc. The cornflower is the traditional buttonhole worn by supporters of Harrow School at the Eton-Harrow match, the annual cricket match against Eton College held at Lord's Cricket Ground. The regiment and its successors continued to wear the badge until disbandment in 1955. [11] [37]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frederick, pp. 858–61, 870.
  2. 1 2 3 Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 111–4.
  3. 1 2 Monthly Army List January 1939
  4. 1 2 "2 AA Division 1939 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Routledge, pp. 65–6, 371.
  6. ↑ AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files
  7. 1 2 3 4 "2 AA Division 1940 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Routledge Table LX, p. 378.
  9. 1 2 39 AA Bde War Diary 1939–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2272.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Farndale, Annex M, p. 339.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Litchfield, p. 178.
  12. 1 2 "58 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45".
  13. ↑ Routledge Table LXV, p. 396.
  14. ↑ Farndale, Annex D, p. 258.
  15. ↑ 2 AA Division at RA 39–45.
  16. ↑ 30 S/L Rgt War Diary 1942, TNA file WO 166/7780.
  17. ↑ Routledge, p. 399.
  18. ↑ 344 S/L Bty War Diary 1943, TNA file WO 166/11549.
  19. ↑ Routledge, p. 314.
  20. ↑ 344 M/L Bty War Diary 1945, TNA file WO 171/5095.
  21. 1 2 3 Pile.
  22. ↑ Routledge, p. 413.
  23. ↑ Routledge, p. 415.
  24. ↑ Routledge, p. 421.
  25. 1 2 "58 Garrison Rgt at RA 39–45".
  26. ↑ Ellis, pp. 141–2.
  27. ↑ Ellis, pp. 369, 380.
  28. ↑ Infantry Regiments RA at RA 39–45
  29. ↑ Frederick, p. 881.
  30. ↑ "611 Infantry Rgt at RA 39–45".
  31. ↑ Joslen, p. 463.
  32. 1 2 Frederick, p. 1025.
  33. 1 2 592-638 Rgts at British Army 1945 on.
  34. ↑ 67-106 AA Bdes at British Army 1945 on.
  35. ↑ Watson, TA 1947.
  36. ↑ Litchfield, Appendix 5.
  37. ↑ "58 S/L Regimental insignia at RA 39–45".

Related Research Articles

27th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an Air Defence formation of the British Army in World War II that served in The Blitz and later converted to infantry.

36th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 36th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence battalion of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1936 until 1961, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. As part of 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade it defended air bases in East Anglia through the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Towards the end of 1944 the unit underwent infantry training, serving briefly in Norway at the end of the war. After the war, the 36th continued as a TA unit, with some women serving with it. In 1961, the remnants of the regiment amalgamated with others to form a combined infantry battalion, and all links with air defence were severed.

28th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of the British Territorial Army created in 1925 to command anti-aircraft units in Kent and around the militarily important Medway Towns, which it defended during the Second World War. In 1940 the brigade was responsible for the defences on the south side of the Thames Estuary including the Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham and the Port of Dover. The brigade was heavily engaged throughout the Battle of Britain, in the summer of 1940, and The Blitz, from autumn 1940 to spring 1941, operating a total of 70 heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) guns controlled from a gun operations room (GOR) at Chatham. During 1942 many of the brigade's experienced units were transferred to active theatres overseas. Increasingly the brigade included women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).

The 29th (Kent) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1935 until 1955, at first as part of the Royal Engineers (RE), later in the Royal Artillery (RA). It served during The Blitz, defended South West England, Orkney and Shetland before becoming garrison troops in North West Europe.

30th (Surrey) Searchlight Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1924 until 1961. During World War II it served in The Blitz and later in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns, while detachments from the regiment served in the Far East and were captured at the Fall of Singapore.

The 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army formed just before World War II, which protected London and Southern England during the Blitz and later converted into an infantry formation for the liberation of Europe.

The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during World War II.

The 31st Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1948. During World War II it defended West Yorkshire and later participated in the North West Europe campaign.

The 32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1936 to 1955, charged with defending the East Midlands of England.

The 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in the British Territorial Army (TA) formed shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Its initial role was to defend Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields in East Anglia. Later it commanded part of the searchlight belt protecting The Midlands. In 1944 the brigade was moved south to protect the embarkation ports for Operation Overlord and to defend against V-1 flying bombs in Operation Diver. It was briefly reformed in the postwar TA.

51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was a Scottish unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed for air defence just before World War II. It later served as an anti-aircraft (AA) artillery unit in the North West Europe Campaign 1944–45, and continued in the postwar TA into the 1950s.

The 41st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in the British Territorial Army, formed shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Its role was to defend East Anglia.

The 37th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed just before the outbreak of World War II. It was engaged in defending the Thames Estuary during the war, and continued to form part of Anti-Aircraft Command in the postwar era.

70th (Sussex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

70th (Sussex) Searchlight Regiment Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised just before the outbreak of World War II, which served as part of Anti-Aircraft Command during and after the war.

71st (East Lancashire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 71st Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA), which was raised just before the outbreak of World War II and served as part of Anti-Aircraft Command during and after the war.

72nd (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

72nd (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised just before the outbreak of World War II, which served as part of Anti-Aircraft Command during and after the war.

75th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

75th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised just before the outbreak of World War II and served as part of Anti-Aircraft Command in the early part of the war. Later, it changed role and served in Sicily and Italy, and reformed in AA Command after the war.

344th Moonlight Battery, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 344th Moonlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a searchlight unit of the British Army that provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45. Previously, it had served on anti-aircraft (AA) duties during The Blitz.

50th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. It defended the North Midlands of England during The Blitz and later helped to protect Brussels from V-1 flying bombs during the Campaign in North West Europe.

52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. Formed on the outbreak of war to control static searchlight (S/L) sites in Scotland, it later operated as a headquarters (HQ) for mobile anti-aircraft (AA) gun units in the Allied invasion of North Africa and subsequent Italian Campaign.

References

Online sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.