61st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery

Last updated

61st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA
Koning Soldaat., item 60.jpg
Royal Artillery cap badge
Active1 November 1940 – 1 August 1944
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg Territorial Army
RoleAir Defence
SizeRegiment
Part of 1st Armoured Division
Engagements Battle of Gazala

61st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Royal Artillery formed during the Second World War. Its component Territorial Army batteries, both from London, had already seen action in the Battle of France before the regiment was formed in 1940. It went on to serve with armoured formations in the Western Desert Campaign, including the Battle of Gazala. It was broken up in the Middle East in 1944 to provide infantry reinforcements for the Italian Campaign.

Contents

Precursor unit

101st Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, had been formed in February 1940 based on the regimental headquarters (RHQ) and two batteries from 60th (Royal Welch Fusiliers) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, together with two light anti-aircraft (LAA) batteries: 43 Bty from 11th (City of London Yeomanry) and 44 Bty from 12th (Finsbury Rifles) LAA Regiments. (The two LAA batteries were permitted to retain their original subtitles.) This composite unit, the first of its kind, was part of 1st Support Group (1st Sp Gp) in 1st Armoured Division, which was preparing to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. The LAA units had been formed with old Lewis guns as AA Light machine guns, but were being re-equipped with Bofors 40 mm guns. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Battle of France

1st Armoured Division was ordered to France on 11 May when the Phoney War ended with the German invasion of the Low Countries. It began landing at Cherbourg and Le Havre on 15 May and was immediately ordered to advance and hold the crossings over the River Somme. It soon discovered that the Germans were already on the Somme and were rapidly closing on the Seine. 101st LAA/AT Regiment (with 20 2-pounder A/T guns and 96 Lewis guns, its Bofors guns not having arrived) was then ordered to seize the crossings over the Seine and hold them until the armour arrived (the infantry of 1st Sp Gp had been diverted to the defence of Calais and were not available). [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Unsuccessful attempts by 1st Armoured and 51st (Highland) Division under French command to break through to the encircled BEF at Dunkirk led to fighting round Abbeville on 27–28 May. By early June the BEF had been evacuated, but fighting continued. On 4 June 1 Sp Gp provided flank protection for another attempt by 51st (H) Division to destroy the German bridgeheads at Abbeville, but the Germans had had two weeks to dig in, and the attack failed. [11] Next day the Germans renewed their offensive, surrounding and capturing 51st (H) Division at St Valery-en-Caux, while 1st Sp Gp was 'out on a limb' facing German Panzer divisions and was driven back across the Seine. An operation began to evacuate the considerable numbers of British forces left in France from the western ports (Operation Aerial). The survivors of 1st Sp Gp were shipped out of Cherbourg on 16 June. [5] [12] [13]

61st LAA Regiment

After returning to the UK, the remnants of 1st Armoured Division were stationed in Surrey in VII Corps, as part of the mobile reserve to defend against the feared German invasion (Operation Sealion). The division was one of the first in line for re-equipping. [5] [14] [15] [16] [17]

While it refitted in the UK, 1st Sp Gp was reorganised, with 101st LAA/AT Rgt broken up at Godalming on 1 November to form 76th (Royal Welch Fusiliers) A/T Rgt and 61st LAA Regiment. The new LAA unit formed an extra battery, giving it the following organisation [3] [4] [5] [18]

Operation Crusader

After completing its refitting and training in the UK, 1st Armoured Division sailed for the Middle East, 1st Sp Gp leaving on 27 September 1941, arriving in Egypt on 5 December and moving up into Libya for Eighth Army's Operation Crusader. [5] [19]

1st Armoured Division was committed to the offensive piecemeal before it had time to prepare for desert warfare. The first phase of Crusader ended in January 1942 and during the pause 1st Sp Gp relieved 7th Sp Gp. Eighth Army's policy was to use mobile Jock columns to patrol aggressively and harass the enemy; these were largely supplied by the support groups and included a detachment of towed Bofors guns, travelling with the auto-loaders filled and the gun-layers in their seats, ready for a 'snap' action. The inexperienced 1st Sp Gp found itself operating in appalling hummocky country, and many of its vehicles were not desert-worthy. General Erwin Rommel's counter-attack in late January broke through 1st Armoured Division's screen, the support group finding itself in difficulties in the bad country and under attack by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka divebombers. Only by withdrawal did it escape destruction. [5] [20] [21]

Battle of Gazala

Bofors LAA gun being emplaced in the Western Desert, 1942. The British Army in North Africa 1942 E18689.jpg
Bofors LAA gun being emplaced in the Western Desert, 1942.

Eighth Army retired to defensive positions at Gazala. These consisted of a series of fortified 'boxes', each defended by a brigade group, usually including an LAA battery deployed in separate Troop positions. RHQ of 61st LAA Regiment left 1st Sp Gp on 26 January, but its batteries remained providing Troops to the boxes. [5] [22] From March to July, 44 (Finsbury Rifles) LAA Bty was attached to 2nd Armoured Brigade Group, which largely operated independently of the rest of the division. [18] [23]

Rommel attacked the Gazala Line on 27 May, swinging round the two southern boxes. 2nd Armoured Bde, positioned behind the line, moved south and then attacked the German flank from the east, delivering some sharp blows. Over the following days it was involved in fierce tank battles in what became known as the Battle of the Cauldron. [24] On 2 June the Luftwaffe began intense air attacks on the southernmost box at Bir Hakeim, defended by 1st Free French Brigade. Here, D Trp of 43 (CoLY) Bty under Lt Beachman distinguished itself in the defence of the box, which held out against ground and air attacks until ordered to withdraw on 10 June. [25] [26] [27]

On 12 June Eighth Army made a fresh attempt to move its armoured brigades south to attack the enemy, but although 2nd Armd Bde achieved its objective, the day was costly for the British. The Luftwaffe was very active over the battlefield. Next day 2nd Armd Bde held onto its position, but that night some of the remaining boxes had to be evacuated. By 14 June Eighth Army began to withdraw to the Egyptian frontier with 1st Armd Division supporting 2nd South African Division in a rearguard action. The South African division was trapped in Tobruk and captured, but 1st Armd Division made it back to the desert south of Mersa Matruh inside Egypt (2nd Armd Bde had been completely withdrawn from the battle). But the Axis forces renewed their attacks on 27 June and Eighth Army Eighth Army was forced to retreat to its fall-back defences at El Alamein. [28]

Alamein line

Once behind the Alamein defences the exhausted armoured divisions were withdrawn into reserve. Here 61st LAA Rgt and its batteries came under the command of 7th Armoured Division, which was engaged in the summer battles to hold the Alamein line. [29] [30]

However, the regiment had been withdrawn from the front line by the time the Second Battle of El Alamein was fought in October 1942. By January 1943, RHQ with 43 (CoLY) and 197 LAA Btys with 20 Bofors guns was stationed in Egypt under 21 AA Bde, defending the base areas of Cairo, Port Said, Suez and the Canal, while 44 (Finsbury Rifles) LAA Bty with 12 Bofors was under 18 AA Bde, which was stretched between Alexandria and Mersa Matruh, protecting landing grounds of the Desert Air Force. [31] [32] The whole regiment was under 21 AA Bde in the Canal Zone in May when the Tunisian campaign ended. [33] In January 1944 it was under 17 AA Bde, still defending the North African supply ports of Tobruk, Benghazi and Tripoli. [34]

Disbandment

Middle East Forces increasingly became a back area as the Italian campaign progressed. The Allied air forces had achieved air superiority in the Mediterranean theatre but at the same time British forces in Italy were suffering an acute manpower shortage. From April 1944 the number of AA regiments was reduced and their fit personnel converted to other roles, particularly infantry. 61st LAA Rgt was broken up in the Middle East on 1 August 1944 to provide infantry reinforcements for Eighth Army in Italy. [18] [3] [35] [36] [37] Its number was twice re-used for postwar units of the Regular army. [38]

Notes

  1. ↑ Frederick, pp. 800, 821, 846.
  2. ↑ Collier, Chapter V.
  3. 1 2 3 Farndale, Annex M.
  4. 1 2 Frederick, pp. 846, 920.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Joslen, pp. 13–5, 215.
  6. ↑ Collier, Chapter VI.
  7. ↑ Ellis, Appendix I.
  8. ↑ Ellis, Chapter X.
  9. ↑ Ellis, Chapter XVII.
  10. ↑ Farndale, Years of Defeat, pp. 86–7; Annex A.
  11. ↑ Ellis, Chapter XVIII.
  12. ↑ Ellis, Chapter XIX.
  13. ↑ Ellis, Chapter XXI.
  14. ↑ Collier, Chapter VIII.
  15. ↑ Collier, Chapter XIV and Map 17.
  16. ↑ Farndale, Annex D.
  17. ↑ Farndale, pp. 95–6, 102, 108.
  18. 1 2 3 Frederick, pp. 802, 829.
  19. ↑ Farndale, pp. 199, 202.
  20. ↑ Playfair, Vol III, pp. 4, 73, 136–44.
  21. ↑ Routledge, pp. 135–8.
  22. ↑ Playfair, Vol III, p. 138fn.
  23. ↑ Joslen, pp. 148–9.
  24. ↑ Playfair, Vol III, pp. 224, 226, 231–4.
  25. ↑ Broche, F. (2019), La Cathédrale des sables – Bir Hakeim 26 mai-11 juin 1942, Paris: Éditions Belin, ISBN   978-2410015812
  26. ↑ Playfair, Vol III, pp. 230–1, 235–7, Map 25.
  27. ↑ Routledge, pp. 136–7.
  28. ↑ Playfair, Vol III, pp. 239–43, 250, 284–5, 289, 292–5. Map 31.
  29. ↑ Order of Battle of Eighth Army, August 1942, TNA file WO 201/692.
  30. ↑ Playfair, Vol III, pp. 295, 351–7, 384-90.
  31. ↑ Routledge, Table XXIV, p. 162.
  32. ↑ Joslen, pp. 484–5.
  33. ↑ Routledge, Table XXV, p. 164.
  34. ↑ Routledge, Table XXVI, p. 165.
  35. ↑ Molony, Vol V, Pt I, pp. 421–3.
  36. ↑ Molony, Vol VI, Pt I, pp. 448–50.
  37. ↑ Routledge, p. 278.
  38. ↑ Frederick, p. 954.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders)</span> British Territorial Army unit

The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Territorial Army, formed in 1901 from veterans of the Second Boer War. In the First World War it served dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign but reverted to the mounted role in the Senussi campaign, at Salonika and in Palestine. It ended the war as a machine gun unit on the Western Front. In the interwar years it was reduced to a battery in a composite Royal Horse Artillery unit in London, but in the period of rearmament before the Second World War it was expanded into a full regiment of light anti-aircraft artillery. It served in this role during The Blitz and later in the Tunisian and Italian campaigns. Postwar it became an armoured regiment. It amalgamated with the Inns of Court Regiment to form the Inns of Court & City Yeomanry in 1961. The lineage is maintained by 68 (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, part of 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manx Regiment</span> Military unit

The Manx Regiment – the 15th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery – was raised in 1938 as a Territorial Army (TA) unit of the British Army. It recruited on the Isle of Man and formed part of Anti-Aircraft Command at the outbreak of the Second World War. The regiment was posted to the Middle East in November 1940, serving in the Western Desert, East Africa and Crete. In August 1942 it became the air defence regiment for the 7th Armoured Division. It served with the division through the North African, Italian and North West European campaigns. It was reformed in the postwar TA as 515 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment before being reduced to a staff troop in 42nd (Lancashire) Division in 1955.

1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an Air Defence formation of the British Army, during the Second World War, and served in the Battle of France and during The Blitz. It then transferred to the Middle East, where it defended the Eighth Army's lines of communication during the final phases of the North African Campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of the Territorial Army (TA), part of the British Army, and was raised in Birmingham in 1938 just before the Second World War. It later served as a light anti-aircraft gun unit and continued in the postwar TA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers</span> Military unit

The 1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers and its successor units served in the British Army's Reserve Forces from 1859 to 1961. During World War I it carried out garrison duty in British India but went on to see active service in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Converting to an air defence role before World War II its units participated in the Norwegian campaign and the Dunkirk evacuation, the Battle of Britain and then the campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and Burma

<span class="mw-page-title-main">89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 89th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) raised in Kent just before the outbreak of World War II. It served during the Battle of Britain and defended the Suez Canal while batteries served in the Battle of Crete and the Siege of Tobruk. The regiment then fought through the North African and Italian campaigns.

2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War, seeing active service in the Battle of France and the North African and Italian campaigns.

4th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed just before the Battle of France to protect the British Expeditionary Force's bases. After the Dunkirk evacuation it was reformed in Egypt as a mobile formation with the Western Desert Force. It played a distinguished part in the Defence of Tobruk in 1941, but its headquarters was captured in the Fall of Tobruk the following year. It was reconstituted as a training formation in Persia and Iraq Command for the rest of the war.

The 1st Linlithgowshire Rifle Volunteers was a Scottish unit of Britain's Volunteer Force raised in Linlithgow in 1860. It later became a cyclist battalion of the Royal Scots, which served in Home Defence and saw action in the North Russia Intervention force during World War I. Between the wars it was reduced to company strength, but just before World War II it was converted into an anti-aircraft (AA) regiment of the Royal Artillery (RA). This served in Anti-Aircraft Command during the Blitz and later distinguished itself in the Siege of Tobruk. It fought through the Italian Campaign and its successors continued in the postwar Territorial Army (TA) until 1967.

12th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It specialised in providing anti-aircraft (AA) protection for forward airfields, for the Advanced Air Striking Force in the Battle of France and the Desert Air Force in the North African Campaign. It landed at Salerno in 1943 and fought through the Italian Campaign, its guns often engaging ground targets as well as aircraft. It was reformed postwar and continued for a few years in Anti-Aircraft Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">25th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

25th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed in Liverpool just before the outbreak of World War II. It saw active service in the Western Desert Campaign, losing a battery at the Battle of Gazala, and then joined 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division for the assault landings in Sicily and Normandy. It ended the war with 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in Germany, and was reformed in the postwar TA, eventually merging with other Liverpool units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">66th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

66th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was an air defence unit of the British Army formed in Northern Ireland during World War II. It served in the Belfast Blitz and then defended 'Hellfire Corner' in East Kent. Later it participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily and the campaign in mainland Italy. Late in the war it was converted into a transport unit that saw active service in the Greek Civil War.

The 1st Flintshire Rifle Volunteers, later 5th (Flintshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it fought as infantry at Gallipoli), in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War. Converted to the anti-tank role, it fought in the Battle of France, the Western Desert and Italy in the Second World War. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until amalgamated with a neighbouring unit in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">89th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 89th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the Buffs in 1940, it transferred to the Royal Artillery in 1941. It served with 49th Infantry Division in Normandy and through the campaign in North West Europe until VE Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 40th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a Scottish air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. After serving with Anti-Aircraft Command in the defence of the UK, it joined 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and served with it at Alamein, in Tunisia and Sicily. It landed in Normandy on D + 1 and fought through the campaign in North West Europe, including the crossing of the Rhine, until VE Day. The regiment was reformed in the postwar TA but was amalgamated with other Scottish anti-aircraft units in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">49th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 49th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II. After serving with Anti-Aircraft Command during and after the Blitz, it joined 78th 'Battleaxe' Division to take part in the Allied invasion of North Africa. It then served with the division in Sicily and Italy until it was disbanded at the end of 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">32nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Scottish air defence unit

The 32nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a Scottish air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. After serving with Anti-Aircraft Command in the defence of the UK, it went to Malta and served for two years in the defence of the besieged island. It then landed in Normandy in August 1944 and fought through the campaign in North West Europe, notably at the Siege of Dunkirk, where it was used in a siege gun role, and in the crossing of the Rhine, until VE Day. The regiment was reformed in the postwar TA but was amalgamated with other Scottish anti-aircraft units in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">51st (Westmorland and Cumberland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 51st Field Regiment, was a Royal Artillery unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) formed after World War I from a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment recruited in Cumbria. One of its batteries served in the Norwegian campaign at the beginning of World War II. The regiment then sailed to the Middle East and took part in the Western Desert campaign, including the Siege of Tobruk and Operation Crusader. It was next transferred to Ceylon and later formed a Chindit column in the Burma Campaign. The regiment continued in the postwar TA until 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">52nd (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, was a Royal Artillery (RA) air defence unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) converted from a field artillery unit just before the outbreak of World War II. It served in the Battle of France, shooting down a large number of aircraft before being evacuated from Dunkirk. It was then sent to the Mediterranean, where detached batteries were destroyed in the fighting in Greece and Crete. The reformed regiment then took part in the defence of the Suez Canal and later in the Italian Campaign. It continued in the postwar TA until 1955 when it merged with other units in Lancashire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">56th (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 56th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a Royal Artillery (RA) air defence unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) raised as a duplicate unit just before the outbreak of the Second World War. It served in the Norwegian Campaign and then joined 8th Armoured Division. It was sent to Egypt and participated in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the subsequent pursuit across North Africa. It then fought in the Italian Campaign, including defending the Salerno and Anzio beachheads. It often operated under US command, on one occasion in an anti-tank role. The regiment reformed as heavy AA artillery in the postwar TA and continued until 1955 when it merged with other units in Lancashire.

References

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.