Anti-Aircraft Command | |
---|---|
Active | 1 April 1939 – 10 March 1955 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Command |
Role | Ground Based Air Defence |
Garrison/HQ | Bentley Priory |
Engagements | Battle of Britain The Blitz Baedeker Raids Baby Blitz Operation Diver |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Lt-Gen Alan Brooke Lt-Gen Sir Frederick Pile |
Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom.
The formation of a Command-level body of anti-aircraft defences had been announced in 1938, but Anti-Aircraft Command was not formed until 1 April 1939 under General Sir Alan Brooke, who had been commander of Anti-Aircraft Corps. He then passed control to Sir Frederick Pile, who remained in command until the end of the war. [1] [2] [3]
AA Command was under the operational direction of RAF Fighter Command as part of Air Defence of Great Britain, and occupied a headquarters known as Glenthorn in the grounds of Bentley Priory, home of Fighter Command. [1] [4]
The majority of AA Command's guns and searchlights were operated by Territorial Army units. Some Regular Army units joined after they returned from the Dunkirk evacuation. Later, as the war progressed, Regulars and TA were freed up for overseas service by the use of men of the Home Guard (loading and firing the guns) and women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (handling ammunition and operating gun directors). [1] [5]
Divisions under the command were: [2] [5] [6] [7] [8]
AA Command was also responsible for the Orkney and Shetland Defences (OSDEF).
At the end of 1940, the Command created three Corps to supervise this expanding organisation: [2] [5] [7] [9]
In October 1942, the corps and divisions were abolished and replaced by seven flexible AA Groups more closely aligned with the operational structure of Fighter Command: [2] [5] [13]
(1st and 2nd AA Groups coincided with No. 11 Group RAF)
Later, the 6th AA Group took over the Solent area to cover the preparations for Operation Overlord and was replaced in NE England by a new 8th Anti-Aircraft Group. [2] [14]
A new 9th Anti-Aircraft Group was formed to cover southern East Anglia during the flying bomb offensive (Operation Diver). [2] [15]
On 1 April 1943, AA Command took over control of smoke screens from the Ministry of Home Security. These installations were manned by the Pioneer Corps.
In November 1944, the 3rd, 4th and 7th Anti-Aircraft Groups were disbanded, with the areas covered by the 2nd and 5th Anti-Aircraft Groups extended. [2]
When the TA was reformed after the Second World War in 1947, AA Command was generously provided for, with a large number of units, some of them including members of the Women's Royal Army Corps (successors of the ATS). It was structured in five regional AA Groups, each commanding a number of TA and Regular AA Brigades: [16] [17] [18]
On 1 December 1954, it was announced that AA Command would be disbanded with effect from 10 March 1955. [19] [20]
The following officers held senior posts in AA Command: [2] [21]
The 1st Anti-Aircraft Division was an Air Defence formation of the British Army before and during the early years of the Second World War. It defended London during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.
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.
The 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division was an Air Defence formation of the British Army from 1935 to 1942. It controlled anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units of the Territorial Army (TA) defending the East Midlands and East Anglia during The Blitz.
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.
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.
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 the Second World War. Its role was to defend East Anglia.
The 4th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended North West England during the Blitz.
The 5th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended Southern England during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.
I Anti-Aircraft Corps was a high-level formation of Britain's Anti-Aircraft Command from 1940 to 1942. It defended Southern England and Wales during the Blitz and the middle years of the Second World War.
II Anti-Aircraft Corps was a high-level formation of Britain's Anti-Aircraft Command from 1940 to 1942. It defended the Midlands and North West of England and Wales during the Blitz and the middle years of the Second World War.
III Anti-Aircraft Corps was a high-level formation of Britain's Anti-Aircraft Command from 1940 to 1942. It defended Scotland, Northern Ireland and North East England during the Blitz and the middle years of the Second World War.
The 7th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended North East England during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.
The 8th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended South West England during The Blitz and the Luftwaffe 'hit and run' raids, but only had a short career.
The 9th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the middle years of the Second World War. It defended South Wales and the Severn Valley during The Blitz but only had a short career.
The 10th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire during The Blitz and the Baedeker Blitz but only had a short career.
12th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended Western Scotland and Northern Ireland, including the period of the Clydebank Blitz and Belfast Blitz, but only had a short career.
3rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade was a Supplementary Reserve air defence formation of the British Army formed in Northern Ireland in 1938. On the outbreak of the Second World War it saw active service with the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France and Operation Aerial. It then returned to Northern Ireland and defended the Province for the next two years. Postwar, it was reformed in the Territorial Army and served until the disbandment of Anti-Aircraft Command in 1955.
228th (Edinburgh) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery was a Scottish air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed around Edinburgh during the period of international tension leading up to the outbreak of World War II. It defended Eastern Scotland during the early part of the war and then served in the defence of Gibraltar. Its successor unit served in the postwar TA as air defence artillery and as engineers until 1999.
The 90th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a short-lived air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. It served in Anti-Aircraft Command from 1941 to 1943, mainly in Northern Ireland, and never deployed overseas.
The 92nd Searchlight Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II. The regiment was formed in May 1941 as part of the rapid expansion of Anti-Aircraft (AA) defences during The Blitz. It served in AA Command until disbandment in 1943.