26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade (26 AA Bde) was an Air Defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It defended London during the Blitz.
Origin
German air raids by Zeppelin airships and Gotha bombers on London and other British cities during the First World War 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 were based at the Duke of York's Headquarters in Chelsea, where the units of the 2nd AD Bde were accommodated in buildings used before the First World War by King Edward's Horse and the Royal Army Service Corps divisional train of the 47th (1/2nd London) Division. Extra buildings erected for the units included gun drill sheds and a store for each battery. Meanwhile, 3rd AD Bde's units were based at Lytton Grove, Putney, taking over pre-war buildings previously used by the City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders).War Office to HM Treasury 19 February 1923, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file T 161/32/3. The brigades had the following composition:.Flight 24 August 1922Monthly Army List 1922–24.Titles and Designations 1927.Litchfield
26th (London) Air Defence Brigade 51st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery (TA) (heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) gun unit formed in 1922 at Chelsea) HQ at Duke of York's Headquarters 151st (London) AA Battery at Duke of York's Headquarters 152nd(London) AA Battery at Duke of York's Headquarters 153rd (London) AA Battery at Duke of York's Headquarters 52nd (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, RA (TA) (HAA unit formed in 1922 at Acton, London) HQ at Artillery House, Acton 154th (London) AA Battery at Artillery House, Acton 155th (London) AA Battery at Artillery House, Acton 156th (Barking) AA Battery at Empress Hall, Ripple Lane, Barking 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion (London Electrical Engineers), Royal Engineers (TA) (a searchlight unit) HQ at Duke of York's Headquarters 301st AA Company at Duke of York's Headquarters 303rd AA Company at Duke of York's Headquarters 321st AA Company at Duke of York's Headquarters 339th AA Company at Duke of York's Headquarters 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Signal Company, Royal Signals
27th (London) Air Defence Brigade 53rd (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, RA (TA) (HAA unit formed in 1922 at Putney), recruited mainly from men in banks and insurance companies in the City of London) HQ at White City, London 157th (City of London) AA Battery at White City 158th (City of London) AA Battery at White City 159th (Lloyd's) (City of London) AA Battery at White City 54th (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, RA (TA) (HAA unit formed in 1922 at Putney) HQ at Putney 160th (City of London) AA Battery at Putney 161st (City of London) AA Battery at Putney 162nd (City of London) AA Battery at Putney 27th (London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion (London Electrical Engineers), RE (TA) (a searchlight unit) HQ at Streatham 304th AA Company at Westminster 305th AA Company at Westminster 306th AA Company at Westminster 390th AA Company at Westminster 27th (London) Anti-Aircraft Signal Company, Royal Corps of Signals
1935 Reorganisation As Britain's AA defences expanded during the 1930s, higher formations became necessary. 1st AA Division was formed in 1935 at RAF Uxbridge to command the growing number of Territorial Army (TA) anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units covering London and the Home Counties. The 26th AD Bde was reorganised at Chelsea on 16 December 1935 as 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Group, commanding all the gun and searchlight units of the two former brigades, while the 27th was reformed as 27th (Home Counties) Anti-Aircraft Group at RAF Kenley, to command new AA units in the South London suburbs.Frederick, pp. 1048–50.Monthly Army List January 1936.Routledge, p. 59.
The AA Groups took the more usual formation title of Brigades on 1 January 1939 after the Royal Artillery replaced its traditional unit designation 'Brigade' by the modern 'Regiment'.Routledge, p. 60.
Mobilisation
The TA's AA units were mobilised on 23 September 1938 during the Munich Crisis. The call-out of key parties by telephone and telegram went well, and they assembled at their drill halls within a few hours. Because the units possessed only a small scale of transport, elaborate plans had been made to requisition civilian vehicles, ranging from heavy lorries to buses and private cars. Equipment was drawn from mobilisation stores, and the detachments ferried out to their war stations. Despite some failures and problems, the emergency positions covering London were manned and most of the equipment was in place within 24 hours. The emergency mobilisation lasted nearly three weeks before the TA units were released on 14 October.Routledge, pp. 62–3. Brigadier Robert Whittaker, a TA officer who had commanded 53rd (City of London) HAA Rgt, was appointed to command the brigade on 18 January 1939.Monthly Army ListWhittaker at Generals of World War II.
During this period of tension 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. A new 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was formed on 28 September 1938 by duplicating 26 AA Brigade HQ at the Duke of York's Headquarters. The new brigade took responsibility for searchlight units in the London area, leaving 26 AA Bde as a Heavy AA formation.
The further deterioration in international relations during 1939 led to a partial mobilisation in June, and a proportion of TA AA units manned their war stations under a rotation system known as 'Couverture'. Full mobilisation of AA Command came in August 1939, ahead of the declaration of war on 3 September 1939.Routledge, p. 65.
Just before the outbreak of war, 26 AA Bde moved its headquarters to Brompton Road in South Kensington, where a Piccadilly line underground railway station had been disused since 1934. 1st AA Division established a control centre at Brompton Road, where the tunnels, subways and lift-shafts were adapted to provide bomb-proof accommodation for a Central Operation Room reporting direct to HQ No. 11 Group RAF at Uxbridge, and four Gun Operations Rooms (GORs) subdividing the London Inner Artillery Zone (IAZ). An elaborate network of dedicated telephone lines was laid by the General Post Office and Royal Corps of Signals, linking the AA sites, including many isolated searchlight positions.Routledge, pp. 387–9.AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot FilesOsborne p. 101.Halliday, p. 165. (The building remained a TA centre after the war, later being known as the Signals Drill Hall. It was sold by the Ministry of Defence in 2014.)'London's Brompton Road Tube station sold for £53m', BBC News London, 28 Feb 2014.
It had been intended that 26th AA Brigade would control the whole London IAZ, but it proved too complex for one HQ, and in September 1939 it was divided among three: 26th, 48th and 49th AA Bdes. 26th AA Brigade still had the heaviest concentration of guns, with 34 sites disposed to north and east of London, mainly equipped with static 3.7 and 4.5-inch guns. Its sites were in the process of being increased from four to eight guns each.
Outbreak of war When the UK declared war on 3 September 1939, 26 AA Bde had the following composition:Routledge, Table LX, p. 378.
Brigade HQ: Brompton Road, Chelsea 53rd (City of London) AA Regiment (went to France with the Advanced Air Striking Force October 1939)Farndale, p. 19. HQ, 157th, 158th, 159th (Lloyd's) City of London AA Batteries as before 86th (Honourable Artillery Company) AA Regiment (a new unit formed in 1939 by the Honourable Artillery Company of London) HQ, 273rd, 274th, 275th AA Batteries all at Armoury House, Finsbury 88th AA Regiment (a new unit formed in 1939 as a duplicate of 53rd HAA Rgt) HQ, 281st, 282nd, 283rd AA Batteries all at White City 26th AA Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps
During 1940 the AA Regiments of the RA were redesignated Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) regiments to distinguish them from the newer Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) regiments.
Battle of Britain While the Luftwaffe attacked RAF airfields in south east England during the Battle of Britain, 26 AA Bde was hardly involved, but on 2 September 1940 a raid up the Thames Estuary reached the edge of the London IAZ and was engaged by guns of the brigade. Between 11 and 15 September, massed raids approached London, but running battles with RAF fighters broke up most of the raids before they reached the IAZ.Routledge, pp. 383–5.
221 HAA Battery of 91st HAA Rgt under 39 AA Bde in the Humber Gun Zone had been nominated as a reserve battery with mobile guns. As the London Blitz got under way during September it arrived to reinforce 26 AA Bde (one gunner was killed by a bomb blast). In mid-October, half of 286/91 HAA Bty arrived in London to reinforce 221 Bty. 221 Battery moved from London to Norwich later in October.91 HAA Rgt War Diary 1939–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2382.39 AA Bde War Diary 1939–41, TNA file WO 166/2272.Operation Orders in 91 HAA Rgt War Diary January–May 1942, TNA file WO 166/7462.
Brigadier Whittaker was promoted to command 1st AA Division on 12 November 1940 was succeeded by Brigadier S.K. Thorburn.Robert Palmer, 'AA Command History and Personnel' at British Military History.
The Blitz By late 1940, at the height of The Blitz, 26 AA Bde was still serving in 1 AA Division covering London, but had the following composition:1 AA Division at RA 39–45.Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941, TNA file WO 212/79.
Commander: Brigadier S.K. Thorburn (12 November 1940 – 19 February 1943) 4th HAA Regiment (a Regular unit returned from Dunkirk;Joslen, p. 462. left in June 1941 for West Africa CommandJoslen, p. 493. and the Malta garrison)Routledge, p. 168.4 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45. 5, 6, 18 HAA Batteries 52nd (London) HAA Regiment (left Summer 1941 for 9th AA Division; went to Ceylon May 1942)52 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45. 154, 155, 271 HAA Batteries 313 HAA Battery (left for West Africa with 4th HAA Rgt) 86th (HAC) HAA Regiment (to 49th AA Bde in 1st AA Division late 1941)) 273, 274 HAA Batteries 275 HAA Battery (left September 1941 to join 118th HAA Rgt in Wales) 383 Bty joined February 1941 446 Bty joined September 1941 88th HAA Rgt (rejoined from 9th AA Division by May 1941, left in June 1941 for Middle East Forces)Joslen, p. 482.Routledge, p. 135. 281, 282, 283 Btys 119th HAA Regiment (a new unit formed in December 1940)119 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45. 62nd LAA Regiment (a new unit formed in October 1940)62 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45. 185, 214 Btys 186 Bty (attached to 49th AA Bde until June 1941, thereafter left regiment) 235 Bty (joined Summer 1941)
Manning AA positions during the Blitz was dangerous and arduous work. A Parachute mine fell on one HAA position of 26 AA Bde in central London, killing three men and wounding 15, yet the position remained in action.Routledge, p. 395.
The Blitz effectively ended in May 1941, but the organisation of AA Command continued to evolve. From September 1940, rocket projectors (Z Batteries) were introduced, equipped with rocket projectiles, and during 1941 increasing numbers of women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) took over roles in AA Command. Where they were integrated into units these were designated 'Mixed' ('M').Routledge, pp. 377, 399–400.