Country United Kingdom Type Anti-Aircraft Brigade | Branch Territorial Army Role Air Defence | |
Active 1 November 1936 – 1 March 1954 Part of 2nd AA Division
7th AA Division | ||
The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during World War II.
Contents
Origins
The formation was raised as 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Group on 1 November 1936 at Sunderland forming part of 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division. Its initial order of battle was as follows:
In 1938 the RA replaced its traditional unit designation 'Brigade' by the modern 'Regiment', which allowed the 'AA Groups' to take the more usual formation title of 'Brigades'. Anti-Aircraft Command was formed in April 1939 to control all the TA's AA units and formations. 30th AA Brigade transferred to the new 7th AA Division when that was formed in Newcastle in June 1939. As AA Command continued to expand, 62nd AA Regiment and 47th Searchlight Battalion moved to other brigades in 7 AA Division and were replaced by newly formed units.
World War II
On the outbreak of war 30th AA Brigade was mobilised to defend its home area of Tyneside and Sunderland, with the following order of battle:
Early in 1940, 37th (TEE) AA Bn left to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. It was one of the last units to be evacuated, from Saint-Nazaire two weeks after the main Dunkirk evacuation.
In 1940, RA regiments equipped with 3-inch or 3.7-inch AA guns were designated Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) to distinguish them from the new Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) regiments, and RE AA battalions were transferred to the RA and designated Searchlight regiments.
During The Blitz, 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade comprised both HAA and LAA artillery while the searchlight units in the area were controlled by 57th Anti-Aircraft Brigade:
As the war progressed, many experienced prewar AA units were deployed overseas and replaced in Home Forces by newer units, often 'mixed' units including personnel from the Auxiliary Territorial Service or members of the Home Guard. 37 LAA Regt went first to Palestine in April 1942 and then moved on to North Africa; 63 HAA Regt went to Ceylon in May 1942; 38 LAA Regt went to North Africa in August 1942 and 64 HAA Regt to Tunisia in May 1943. 68 LAA Regiment joined 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division in April 1943 and served with it during the Normandy Campaign.
On 30 September 1942 the AA Divisions and Corps were dissolved and a new 7th AA Group assumed responsibility for North-East England, including 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade.
Postwar
When the TA was reformed in 1947, 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was renumbered as 56th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, with its HQ at Washington, Co Durham, and the following order of battle:
654 LAA Regt was placed in suspended animation in May 1949, and 325 LAA Regt merged into another unit in January 1954. Then on 1 March 1954, 56th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade HQ was disbanded at Seaburne, Sunderland. The following year AA Command was disbanded and the air defence of the UK was reorganised. A new 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was formed as a TA HQ from the Regular Army's 1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade, based at Edenbridge, Kent. It had no connection with Northumbria and was disbanded in 1961.