Country United Kingdom Type Anti-Aircraft corps Part of Anti-Aircraft Command | Branch British Army Role Air Defence | |
Active 11 November 1940–30 September 1942 | ||
3 Anti-Aircraft Corps (3 AA 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 World War II.
Contents
Origin
AA Command had been created in 1938 to control the Territorial Army's rapidly-expanding anti-aircraft (AA) organisation within Air Defence of Great Britain. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, it commanded seven AA Divisions, each with several AA Brigades, disposed around the United Kingdom. Continued expansion made this organisation unwieldy, so in November 1940 – during the Luftwaffe's nightly Blitz on London and other British cities – five further AA Divisions were organised, and all the divisions grouped under three corps headquarters directly subordinate to AA Command. 3 AA Corps covered North Eastern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and by February 1941 comprised four division-level headquarters and 11 brigades. Its boundaries roughly coincided with 13 Group and 14 Group of RAF Fighter Command.
Order of Battle
3 AA Corps had the following organisation from February 1941:
Corps HQ: Edinburgh
General Officer Commanding:
3rd AA Division
7th AA Division
12th AA Division
Orkney & Shetland Defence Force (OSDEF)
Intermediate Ammunition Depots
Equipment Ammunition Magazines
Operations
During its short existence, 3 AA Corps had to deal with the 1940–41 Blitz on industrial towns and cities such as Belfast, Clydebank, Greenock and Newcastle upon Tyne, as well as later raids on Middlesbrough and Sunderland. In August 1942, 3 AA Division HQ was sent south to assist in defending the South Coast of England against 'hit and run' attacks by the Luftwaffe.
Disbandment
The AA Corps and Divisional HQs were disbanded in October 1942 and a replaced by a more flexible system of AA Groups. The area covered by 3 AA Corps became the responsibility of two of the new groups: 6th AA Group (North East England and Scotland) and 7th AA Group (Northern Ireland); OSDEF remained directly subordinate to AA Command.