27th (Home Counties) Anti Aircraft Brigade

Origin

German air raids by Zeppelin airships and Gotha bombers on London and other British cities during World War I had shown the need for strong anti-aircraft (AA) defences in any future war. When the Territorial Army (TA) was reformed in 1922 it included a number of dedicated AA units of the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE). Two formations were organised in London District to command these units, provisionally known as the 2nd and 3rd London Air Defence Brigades, but soon numbered 26th and 27th.

Both brigades were based at the Duke of York's Headquarters in Chelsea. 3rd AD Bde's units were initially based at Lytton Grove, Putney, taking over buildings previously used by the City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders).

The 27th (London) Air Defence Brigade comprised:

1935 Reorganisation

As Britain's AA defences expanded during the 1930s, higher formations became necessary. 1st AA Division was formed at the end of 1935 to cover London and the Home Counties. As part of this reorganisation, 26th (London) Bde assumed command of all the gun and searchlight units of the two former brigades, while the 27th was reformed as 27th (Home Counties) Anti-Aircraft Group, based at RAF Kenley, to command new AA units in the South London suburbs.

The AA Groups took the more usual formation title of Brigades in 1938 after the Royal Artillery replaced its traditional unit designation 'Brigade' by the modern 'Regiment'.

Outbreak of war

During the period of tension leading to the Munich crisis and eventually the outbreak of World War II, the Territorial Army grew enormously, and existing TA infantry battalions continued to be converted to AA regiments. The number of divisions and brigades was expanded, and the whole AA defence of the United Kingdom was taken over by Anti-Aircraft Command on 1 April 1939. When the UK declared war on 3 September 1939, 27th (Home Counties) AA Bde was a searchlight formation in 6 AA Division (also based at Uxbridge) and had the following composition:

In August 1940, during the Battle of Britain, the RE 'Anti-Aircraft' (searchlight) battalions became regiments of the RA.

The Blitz

By late 1940, at the height of The Blitz, 27 AA Bde was serving in 5 AA Division covering the important naval base of Portsmouth, with the following regiments under command:

The AA Corps and Divisions were disbanded and replaced on 1 October 1942 by new AA Groups. Late in 1944, 27 AA Bde was serving in 2 AA Group, covering the Solent, South-East England and southern East Anglia.

Mid-war

Over the two years following the end of the Blitz, the brigade had the following changes in composition:

Hit and run

The AA defences of Southern England were severely tested in the summer of 1942 by the Luftwaffe's 'hit-and-run' attacks along the South Coast, and there was much reorganisation, accounting for some of the turnover of units listed earlier. In August 1942, 27 AA Bde was transferred from 5th AA Division to 3rd AA Division, a HQ brought down from Scotland to handle the increased workload. However, all the AA Divisions were disbanded on 30 September. 27 AA Brigade joined the new 2 AA Group covering South East England, and took responsibility for S/L units in that area. After this major reorganisation in October–December 1942, the brigade settled down with the following composition:

However, in the spring of 1943, 125th LAA left 27 AA Bde, later joining 76 AA Bde, one of the formations earmarked for the planned invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord). It was briefly replaced in 27 AA Bde by the return of 4th LAA Rgt, but that unit left permanently in May. After that, 27 AA Bde once again became purely a S/L formation.

In February, the brigade was strengthened to deal with renewed 'hit-and-run' attacks by Luftwaffe fighter-bombers attacking coastal towns at low level in daylight. 73rd (Kent Fortress) S/L Rgt joined from 56 AA Bde, where it had been covering airfields in Kent, and 355 S/L Bty was detached from 39th (Lancashire Fusiliers) S/L Rgt in 53 AA Bde in North West England, and travelled by train to join 27 AA Bde on the South Coast.

Because of the hit-and-run raids, the allocation of Lewis guns for local defence was increased from one to four and later six per S/L site. The guns had to be manned throughout the hours of daylight. On 11 March a raid on Hastings by Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s flew right over 355's Battery HQ, and a raid by Bf 109s on Ashford on 24 March was engaged by one of 355's sites. However, in May 1943, 355 S/L battery was disbanded, the ATS personnel and specialists being posted to other units in 27 AA Bde, the remainder being drafted as reinforcements to LAA units.

In April, 73rd S/L Rgt was exchanged for 33rd (St Pancras) S/L Rgt from 66 AA Bde in East Anglia, which took over four areas of Kent under Biggin Hill Sector of No. 11 Group RAF. This area was under regular attack by Luftwaffe fighter-bombers, and the defensive armament of S/L positions was increased, with the existing Lewis guns being supplemented with twin Vickers K machine gun mountings and later twin 0.5-inch Browning machine guns on power mountings.

By the summer of 1943 the brigade had the following composition:

From September 1943, 33rd S/L Rgt carried out experiments for AA Command on new combinations of S/Ls and searchlight control radar (SLC).

Baby Blitz and Operation Diver

By the end of January 1944, 27 AA Bde had been reinforced by further S/L regiments:

Between 21 January and 14 March 1944 the Luftwaffe carried out 11 night raids on London in the so-called 'Baby Blitz'. However, by March 1944, AA Command was being forced to release manpower for Operation Overlord. Each of 27 AA Bde's S/L regiments lost one of its four batteries, leaving:

In May and June 1944, while the build-up for Overlord was at its height, 38th and 61st S/L Rgts were transferred to 38 AA Bde in 2 AA Group (covering the Thames Estuary), but they returned a month later.

In July 1944 came the start of the V-1 flying bomb campaign against London, though Kent was on the fringe of the V-1's route. 27 AA Bde's S/L layout was little affected by the massive reorganisation that AA Command had to carry out to meet this threat (Operation Diver). However, as 21st Army Group overran the V-1 launching sites, the Luftwaffe began to launch them from aircraft over the North Sea. AA Command shifted units from Kent to deal with them, and in November 33rd S/L Rgt had to take over some of the vacated sites along the East Kent coast. By mid-October, 79th and 83rd S/L Rgts had been transferred to 56 AA Bde in 2 AA Group, and both regiments were disbanded shortly afterwards.

Conversion

By the end of 1944, 21st Army Group was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry. At the same time the Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted. In January 1945 the War Office began to reorganise surplus anti-aircraft and coastal artillery regiments in the UK into infantry battalions, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties in North West Europe, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service.

61st S/L Regiment had already left the brigade in December and been converted into a Garrison regiment, while in mid-Jan 45, 1st S/L had joined 21st Army Group to defend Antwerp and the Scheldt Estuary.

On 22 January 1945, HQ 27 AA Bde under Brigadier H.G. Smith was converted into 303rd Infantry Brigade with the following units under command:

After initial infantry training, 303 Bde was sent to Norway in June 1945 as part of the liberation of that country (Operation Doomsday).

Postwar

When the TA was reformed in 1947, 27 AA Bde was reformed at Dover under the new designation of 53 (Home Counties) AA Brigade, with the following composition:

However, the brigade was disbanded in 1948.