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    • 45th Anti-Aircraft Brigade (45 AA Bde) was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). Formed in 1938, it was responsible for protecting South Wales during the Second World War. It was reformed in the postwar TA under a new title, and continued until 1955.


    Origin


    With the expansion of Britain's Anti-Aircraft (AA) defences in the late 1930s, new formations were created to command the growing number of Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE) AA gun and searchlight units. 45th AA Brigade was formed on 29 September 1938 at Newport, Wales, to take over the TA AA units in South Wales. The HQ later moved to Penylan Court, Cardiff, the pre-war HQ of 20th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. The brigade was responsible for the AA defences of South Wales, and initially formed part of 4 Anti-Aircraft Division. The first brigade commander was Brigadier Charles Massy, DSO, MC.


    Mobilisation


    At the time the brigade was formed, the TA's AA units were in a state of mobilisation because of the Munich crisis, although they were soon stood down. In February 1939 the TA's AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June, during the period of tension leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War, a partial mobilisation of AA Command was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA gun and searchlight positions. AA Command mobilised fully on 24 August, ahead of the official declaration of war on 3 September.


    = Order of Battle 1939

    =
    On the outbreak of war 45 AA Bde was supposed to have come under the command of 5 AA Division, but this process was not completed until 1 May 1940. In September 1939 it had the following composition:

    77th (Welsh) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA – Heavy AA (HAA) gun unit converted from field artillery
    HQ, 239th and 240th (Glamorgan) Batteries at Cardiff
    241st and 242nd (Glamorgan) Batteries at Rhondda
    6th (Glamorgan) Battalion, Welch Regiment (67th Searchlight Regiment) – Searchlight (S/L) unit converted from infantry
    HQ, 450th–452nd S/L Companies at Cardiff
    1st (Rifle) Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (68th Searchlight Regiment) – S/L unit converted from infantry
    HQ, 453rd–455th S/L Companies at Stow Hill, Newport
    No 2 (AA S/L) Company, Carmarthenshire Fortress Royal Engineers, at Llanelli – later 484 S/L Battery, RA
    45th Anti-Aircraft Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) – later 914 Company RASC
    Glamorgan Company, Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS)
    In addition, 20th Light AA Regiment was at Cardiff under the command of the Welsh area of Western Command and 34th LAA Regiment was forming in Swansea under the command of 55 Light AA Bde at Plymouth. These soon came under the command of 45 AA Bde.
    In mid-May, as the Battle of France got under way, 45 AA Bde's units – particularly the widely spaced S/L sites – were ordered to find rifle detachments to guard against possible attacks by German paratroopers. The brigade also had to lend 240 AA Bty of 77th AA Rgt, with a Gun-laying radar (GL) set, to reinforce the defences of Littlehampton on the South Coast of England, and 160 Troop of 20th LAA Rgt with its AA Light machine guns (LMGs) to Portsmouth.


    Battle of Britain


    After the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk, the German Luftwaffe began almost nightly minor air raids, often by single aircraft, against the dock facilities and steelworks of South Wales, though the Battle of Britain was mainly fought over Southern England.
    In July 1940, the Cardiff area was protected by a mere 12 HAA guns, but during the summer the AA defences of South Wales were bolstered by a number of units that had been re-equipped after evacuation from Dunkirk and Norway. These included 5 AA Bde, which was reformed to take over the Gloucester–Hereford area, 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt, a mobile unit returned from Norway, and 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) AA Rgt and 85th (Tees) AA Rgt from Dunkirk. The arrival in September of the Regular Army 1st S/L Rgt, RA, also re-equipped after Dunkirk, allowed 45 AA Bde to complete the illuminated areas of South Wales, and 484 (Carmarthenshire) S/L Bty was relieved and sent to Devonport.
    In June all 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. On 1 August all RE and converted infantry S/L regiments were transferred to the RA.


    = Dispositions, August 1940

    =
    In August and September 1940, the Cardiff area had 26 HAA guns. The available LAA units were distributed to defend Vulnerable Points (VPs) such as docks and Glascoed Royal Ordnance Factory. The number of raids over South Wales, and the number of times the guns engaged, increased sharply at the end of August. At this time, 45 AA Bde was deployed as follows:

    77th (Welsh) HAA Rgt
    239 HAA Bty
    The Bulwarks, Porthkerry – 4 x 3.7-inch
    Sully – 4 x 3.7-inch
    240 HAA Bty
    Llwyn-y-Grant, Cardiff – 2 x 3-inch
    New House, Newport – 2 x 3-inch, 2 x 3.7-inch
    241 HAA Bty – detached to 4 AA Division
    242 HAA Bty
    Ely Racecourse, Cardiff – 4 x 3.7-inch
    Intake, West Llandaff – 2 x 3.7-inch
    79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) HAA Rgt
    246 HAA Bty
    Bateman's Hill, Upton Castle, Pembrokeshire – 4 x 3.7-inch
    West Penner, Pembroke – 4 x 3.7-inch
    247 HAA Bty
    Jersey Marine Golf Club, Swansea – 8 x 3.7-inch
    248 HAA Bty
    Lavernock Fort, Penarth – 2 x mobile 3.7-inch with GL
    Mardy Farm, Cardiff – 4 x mobile 3-inch, 4 x static 3.7-inch
    85th (Tees) HAA Rgt
    174 HAA Bty
    RAF Pembrey – 4 x 3.7-inch
    Sketty, Swansea – 4 x 3.7-inch
    88th HAA Rgt
    283 HAA Bty
    Pye Corner, Nash, Newport – 8 x 3.7-inch
    20th LAA Rgt
    62 LAA Bty
    Glascoed – 10 Lewis AA LMGs
    63 AA Bty
    Pontypridd – 6 Lewis guns
    RAF St Athan – 4 x Vickers Mk VIII 2-pounder pom-pom gun
    94 LAA Bty
    Newport Docks – 24 x Lewis guns, 2 x 3-inch
    34th LAA Rgt
    64 LAA Bty
    Swansea – 16 x Lewis guns
    RAF Pembrey – 2 x Bofors 40 mm guns, 12 x Lewis guns
    65 LAA Bty
    Llandarcy – 2 x 3-inch Naval guns, 12 x Lewis guns
    Clydach, Swansea – 8 x Lewis guns
    92 LAA Bty
    Bridgend 16 x Lewis guns
    RAF Llandow – 14 x Lewis guns
    Port Talbot – 8 x Lewis guns
    67th (Welch) S/L Rgt
    450 S/L Bty, HQ at Castleton, Newport – 24 x S/Ls
    451 S/L Bty, HQ at Usk – 18 x S/Ls
    452 S/L Bty, HQ at Bridgend – 16 x S/Ls
    77th S/L Rgt – forming at Picton Castle, Haverfordwest
    484 (Carmarthenshire) Independent S/L Bty, HQ at Swansea – 15 x S/Ls
    There were frequent moves of sub-units as reinforcements were integrated into the defences, and as opportunities arose for training. During this period, 45 AA Bde was commanded by Brig Cuthbert Baynham, DSO.


    Blitz


    Following the Luftwaffe's defeat in the Battle of Britain, it began heavy night attacks on Britain's cities ('The Blitz'). At first the towns of South Wales, including important coal and oil port facilities, refineries, steelworks and ordnance factories, were under almost nightly air attack, to which the AA defences replied as best they could. In the absence of effective GL radar control, at night the guns could only reply blindly with fixed barrages. In September, 45 AA Brigade was also called upon to lend reinforcements (174 HAA Bty) to London. There was a lull in the intensity of raids on South Wales from late September as the Luftwaffe concentrated on London and the industrial cities of the English Midlands, but there was a flare-up in activity over South Wales in late October. Some of this was aircraft dropping Parachute mines in the Bristol Channel. In November the AA guns began to claim some hits from GL-controlled fire.
    As AA Command's resources expanded, 5 AA Division's responsibilities were split in November 1940 and a new 9 AA Division was created to cover South Wales and the Severn Valley. 45 AA Brigade was transferred to the new formation, and was itself split in half, a new 61 AA Bde taking over the western part of its area around the Swansea Gun Defence Area (GDA) and out to Pembroke Dock, while 45 AA Bde concentrated round the Cardiff GDA (covering Barry and Newport as well as Cardiff); the S/L detachments were widely spread across brigade boundaries. For example, 37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) S/L Rgt of 5 AA Bde had 307 Bty at Llandaff operating the 'Cardiff–Newport Dazzle Area' for 45 AA Bde. However, both splits (to form 9 AA Division and 61 AA Bde) did not take full effect until 3 February 1941.
    There were heavy night raids on Cardiff on 2 January, 3 and 4 March 1941 (the Cardiff Blitz), with frequent smaller raids. By the end of February 1941 the HAA guns (3-inch, 3.7-inch and 4.5-inch) in the Cardiff GDA only numbered 52 out of a planned establishment of 64. This increased a month later to 56 guns, though further additions to the establishment were already being called for. The position on LAA gun sites was worse: only small numbers of Bofors guns were available at the start of the Blitz, and most LAA detachments had to make do with AA LMGs. However, they began to be supplemented by AA rocket batteries (Z Batteries). Four of these (initially 111, 113, 124 and 125) were assigned to 45 AA Bde from early September 1940, and a regimental HQ was established soon afterward to command them.


    = Order of Battle 1940–41

    =

    The composition of 45 AA Bde during this period was as follows:

    77th (Welsh) HAA Rgt
    239, 240, 241 HAA Btys
    242 HAA Bty – disbanded June 1941
    85th (Tees) HAA Rgt (part) – returned from Dunkirk
    174, 220 HAA Btys
    88th HAA Rgt (part) – new unit formed in London; to 1 AA Division by May 1941
    281, 282, 283 HAA Btys
    112th HAA Rgt – from 8 AA Division July 1941
    351, 352, 353 Btys
    118th HAA Rgt – new unit formed December 1940
    373, 374, 375 HAA Btys
    20th LAA Rgt
    62, 63 LAA Btys
    94 LAA Bty – attached to 5 AA Division until March 1941; to 77th LAA Rgt summer 1941
    240 LAA Bty – joined summer 1941
    34th LAA Rgt (part) – to 61 AA Bde by May 1941
    64, 65, 92 LAA Btys
    93 LAA Bty – to 7 AA Division August 1940
    55th (Devon) LAA Rgt – mobile unit returned from Norway, part of GHQ Reserve lent to AA Command
    163 LAA Bty
    164 LAA Bty – attached to 5 AA Bde, then 1 AA Division
    165 LAA Bty – attached to 61 AA Bde
    55 LAA Rgt Signal Section, Royal Corps of Signals (RCS)
    1st S/L Rgt (part) – Regular Army S/L unit returned from Dunkirk
    2 S/L Bty
    37th (TEE) S/L Rgt (part) – returned from Dunkirk
    307 S/L Bty
    67th (Welch) S/L Rgt
    450, 451, 452 S/L Btys
    8 AA 'Z' Rgt
    113, 130 Z Btys – attached to 61 AA Bde until summer 1941
    125, 140 Z Btys – attached to 5 AA Bde until summer 1941
    12 AA 'Z' Rgt – joined June 1941
    101 Z Bty – disbanded summer 1941
    111, 124 Z Btys


    Mid-War


    After a busy period for the AA defences of South Wales in early May 1941, the Blitz effectively ended in the middle of the month. Desultory raiding continued through June and July while the gaps in AA defences were filled as more equipment and units became available. Searchlights, now assisted by Searchlight Control (SLC) radar, were reorganised, with a 'Killer Belt' established between the Cardiff and Bristol (8 AA Division) GDAs to cooperate closely with RAF night fighters. Obsolete equipment such as 3-inch guns and Vickers pom-poms were gradually replaced by 3.7-inch and Bofors guns, and GL Mark II radar became available. The HAA and support units increasingly became 'Mixed', indicating that women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) were fully integrated into them. Some LAA units and many 'Z' batteries also incorporated part-time members of the Home Guard. At the same time, experienced units were posted away to train for service overseas (sometimes being lent back to AA Command while awaiting embarkation). This led to a continual turnover of units, which accelerated in 1942 with the preparations for the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) and the need to transfer AA units to counter the Luftwaffe's Baedeker Blitz against largely unprotected inland cities and then the hit-and-run daylight attacks against South Coast towns. South Wales did occasionally receive a raid, as at Cardiff in May 1943.
    In October 1942 AA Command abolished its hierarchy of divisions and corps, and established a single tier of AA Groups corresponding to the Groups of RAF Fighter Command. 45 AA Brigade came under 3 AA Group covering South Wales and South West England and affiliated to No. 10 Group RAF.


    = Order of Battle 1941–44

    =
    During this period the brigade was composed as follows:

    77th (Welsh) HAA Rgt – embarked December 1941, captured in Java March 1942
    239, 240, 241 HAA Btys
    79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) HAA Rgt – returned from mobile training August 1942; mobilised and left AA Command October 1942; later to Operation Torch
    246, 247, 398 HAA Btys
    79 HAA Rgt Signal Section
    79 HAA Rgt Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
    112th HAA Rgt – to 61 AA Bde May 1942
    351, 353 HAA Btys
    352 HAA Bty – attached to 5 AA Bde March 1942
    380 HAA Bty – from 109th HAA Rgt
    118th HAA Rgt – unbrigaded April 1943; later semi-mobile unit with 21st Army Group
    373, 374 HAA Btys
    375 HAA Bty –attached to 61 AA Bde August; attached to 67 AA Bde October 1942
    275 HAA Bty – from 86th (Honourable Artillery Company) HAA Rgt; to 165th HAA Rgt July 1942
    399 HAA Bty – from 98th HAA Rgt July; attached to 61 AA Bde August 1942

    166th (Mixed) HAA Rgt – from 55 AA Bde by August 1943
    549, 555, 580 (M) HAA Btys
    171st (Mixed) HAA Rgt – formed August 1942
    474, 496, 569 (M) HAA Btys
    580 (M) HAA Bty –to 166th (M) HAA Rgt by August 1943
    181st (Mixed) HAA Rgt – formed October 1942
    587, 612, 621 (M) HAA Btys
    668 (M) HAA Bty – joined April 1943; attached 61 AA Bde; to 172nd (M) HAA Rgt May 1943
    20th LAA Rgt – began mobilisation as a Defended Ports unit August 1941; to 3 AA Division December 1941
    62, 63, 244 LAA Btys
    44th LAA Rgt – from 8 AA Division Autumn 1941; unbrigaded by end 1941; to India 1942
    75 LAA Bty
    91 LAA Bty – attached to 5 AA Bde
    239 LAA Bty – attached to 61 AA Bde
    50th LAA Rgt – joined by early November 1942; to 63 AA Bde before end of year
    58 LAA Bty – attached to 67 AA Bde
    93, 245 LAA Btys
    55th (Devon) LAA Rgt – embarked November 1941, to Ceylon 1942
    163, 164, 165 LAA Btys
    72nd LAA Rgt – from 3 AA Division before May 1942; to 8 AA Division May 1942
    212 LAA Bty
    213 LAA Bty – attached to 5 AA Bde
    217 LAA Bty – attached to 61 Aa Bde
    465 LAA Bty – joined February 1942
    97th LAA Rgt – from 2 AA Gp December 1943
    221, 232, 301, 480 LAA Btys
    112th (Durham Light Infantry) LAA Rgt – from 61 AA Bde Summer 1942; later to India
    364 LAA Bty – attached to 67 AA Bde October 1942
    365, 366 LAA Btys

    37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) S/L Rgt – from 67 AA Bde August 1942
    307, 308, 348 S/L Btys
    349 S/L Bty – attached to 69 AA Bde
    67th (Welch) S/L Rgt – to 4 AA Gp by March 1943
    450 S/L Bty
    451, 452 S/L Btys – attached to 11 AA Division October 1942
    8th AA 'Z' Rgt – to 61 AA Bde Autumn 1941; returned August 1942
    113 Z Bty – 'attached to 61 AA Bde
    125, 130, 140, 186, 222 Z Btys
    12th AA 'Z' Rgt – from 8 AA Division June 1941; to 6 AA Division Autumn 1941
    411 Gun Operations Room (GOR) – Cardiff
    45 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section – part of No 1 Company, 9 AA Division Mixed Signal Unit, RCS; later part of 3 Mixed Signal Company, 3 AA Group Mixed Signals
    411 GOR Mixed Signal Section


    Operations Overlord and Diver


    In March 1944 AA Command undertook a major reorganisation in order to defend the assembly camps, depots and embarkation ports for the planned Invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord) and to prepare for the expected onslaught of V-1 flying bombs (codenamed 'Divers') against London. As a result of these changes, 45 AA Bde came under the command of 4 AA Gp, which previously had only controlled North Wales and North West England.


    = Order of Battle March–December 1944

    =
    During this period 45 AA Bde's composition was as follows:

    166th (M) HAA Rgt – to 61 AA Bde August 1944
    549, 555, 580 (M) HAA Btys
    171st (M) HAA Rgt
    474, 496, 569 (M) HAA Btys
    181st (M) HAA Rgt
    587, 612, 621 (M) HAA Btys
    37th (TEE) S/L Rgt – to 2 AA Gp March 1944
    307, 308, 348 S/L Btys
    8th (M) AA 'Z' Rgt – became 8 AA Area Mixed Rgt April 1944
    113, 130 (M) Z Btys – to 61 AA Bde April 1944
    125, 140, 186, 222 (M) Z Btys
    914 (M) AA Transport Co, RASC
    By October 1944, the brigade's HQ establishment was 8 officers, 7 male other ranks and 22 members of the ATS, together with a small number of attached drivers, cooks and mess orderlies (male and female). In addition, the brigade had a Mixed Signal Office Section of 1 officer, 5 male other ranks and 19 ATS, which was formally part of the Group signal unit.
    In the autumn of 1944, the requirements of the anti-'Diver' defences of South East England meant that AA Command progressively stripped units from the West and North West. At the same time the Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious air attacks on the rest of the UK could be discounted. On 17 November 1944 45 AA Bde was disbanded and the last of its units were posted away.


    Postwar


    When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, 45 AA Bde was reformed at Cardiff as 71 AA Brigade (TA), taking the number of a wartime formation that had been disbanded. Forming part of 2 AA Group, it had the following composition:

    282 HAA Rgt – formerly 77th HAA Rgt as above
    602 Rgt HAA Rgt – formerly 608 (Welch) Rgt RA, previously 67th S/L Rgt as above
    603 (Mixed) HAA Rgt– formerly 609 (Monmouthshire) Rgt RA, previously 68 S/L Rgt as above
    520 LAA Rgt– formerly 20th LAA Rgt as above
    534 LAA Rgt– formerly 34th LAA Rgt as above
    AA Command was disbanded in March 1955, and 71 AA Bde was placed in 'suspended animation' from 31 October that year. It was formally disbanded on 31 December 1957.


    Notes




    References


    Basil Collier, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom, London: HM Stationery Office, 1957.
    Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, ISBN 1-85753-080-2.
    J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
    Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
    Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: "The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28th July, 1939, to 15th April, 1945" London Gazette 18 December 1947.
    Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 1-85753-099-3.
    Col J.D. Sainsbury, The Hertfordshire Yeomanry Regiments, Royal Artillery, Part 2: The Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 1938–1945 and the Searchlight Battery 1937–1945, Welwyn: Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Trust/Hart Books, 2003, ISBN 0-948527-06-4.


    External sources


    British Army units from 1945 on
    Generals of World War II
    Orders of Battle at Patriot Files
    Royal Artillery 1939–1945
    Graham Watson, The Territorial Army 1947

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