29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) before and during the Second World War. It defended East Anglian airfields and ports during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. It was reformed in the postwar TA.
Origin 29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Group was organised in January 1936 at RAF North Weald, Essex, as part of 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. Its first commander was Brig N.M. McLeod, DSO, MC, appointed on 8 January 1936. The formation's original composition was as follows:Frederick, pp. 1048–50.Army List.Routledge, p. 59.
59th (The Essex Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, RA (TA): a Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) gun unit formed in 1935 by conversion of 7th Battalion, Essex Regiment.Litchfield, p. 70. HQ at Walthamstow 164th Anti-Aircraft Battery at Walthamstow 167th Anti-Aircraft Battery att Leyton 193rd Anti-Aircraft Battery at Leigh-on-Sea 28th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA): a searchlight unit formed in 1935 from Essex Group AA Companies, Royal Engineers. HQ at Brentwood 309th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Company at Harlow 310th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Company at Epping 311th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Company at Brentwood 312th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Company at Upminster 33rd (St Pancras) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA): a searchlight unit formed in 1935 by conversion of 19th London Regiment (St Pancras).19th Londons at Regiments.org HQ at Camden Town 332nd Anti-Aircraft Company at Camden Town 333rd Anti-Aircraft Company at Camden Town 334th Anti-Aircraft Company at Camden Town 36th (Middlesex) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA): a searchlight unit raised in 1936. HQ at Hendon 317th Anti-Aircraft Company at Hendon 345th Anti-Aircraft Company at Hendon 346th Anti-Aircraft Company at Hendon
29th and the other Anti-Aircraft groups adopted the more normal formation title of 'Brigades' after the Royal Artillery redesignated its Brigades as 'Regiments' in 1938. 29th AA Brigade's peacetime headquarters (HQ) was at 28 Roland Gardens, Kensington.29 AA Brigade War Diary 1939–40, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2250. Brigadier Kenneth Gourlay, DSO, MC, of the Royal Engineers, was appointed to command the brigade on 23 January 1939.Gourlay at Generals of World War II.
Second World War Mobilisation The TA's AA units were mobilised on 23 September 1938 during the Munich Crisis, with units manning their emergency positions within 24 hours, even though many did not yet have their full complement of men or equipment. The emergency lasted three weeks, and they were stood down on 13 October.Routledge, pp. 62–3. In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of the TA was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA gun and searchlight positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations.Routledge, pp. 65–6, 371.
On 7 September 1939, operational control of 29th AA Bde was transferred to 6th AA Division, which was formed in 1939 to take responsibility for air defence of the Thames Estuary, Essex and Kent. At this point the brigade was entirely composed of searchlight units:AA Command at Patriot FilesRoutledge, Table LVIII, p. 376; Table LX, p. 378.
28th (Essex) AA Bn RE 29th (Kent) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers: a searchlight unit with a similar history to 28th (Essex). 32nd (7th City of London) AA Bn RE: a searchlight unit with a similar history to 33rd (St Pancras), based in Finsbury Square; transferred to 41st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade in 2nd AA Division during September 1939 33rd (St Pancras) AA Bn, RE: transferred to 41 AA Bde in 2 AA Division during September 1939 73rd (Kent Fortress AA Bn) RE: a new searchlight unit formed in April 1939, incorporating 322 and 347 (Kent) AA Company from 29th (Kent) AA Bn and 331 AA Companies from 32nd (7th City of London) AA Bn. 347 (Kent) AA Company had been formed by personnel drawn from the three Electric Light and Works Companies of the Kent Fortress Royal Engineers. It was based at Bexleyheath.Monthly Army List May 1939.Planck p. 226. 74th (Essex Fortress) AA Bn RE: a new searchlight unit formed at Tottenham in April 1939, incorporating 310 AA Company from 28th (Essex) AA Bn, 335 AA Company from 33rd (St Pancras) AA Bn and 469 AA Company from the Essex Fortress Engineers. 29th AA Bde Company Royal Army Service Corps
Phoney War
In the spring of 1940, 6 AA Division reorganised its growing AA defences. As a result, 29th AA Bn and its S/L sites in Kent were transferred away from 29 AA Bde to 27 (Home Counties) AA Bde, while 32nd and 33rd AA Bns and their sites in Essex and Suffolk returned from 41 AA Bde to 29 AA Bde, together with 119 Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Bty (of 'P' LAA Rgt) with its Troops based at the RAF fighter and radar stations at Debden, Wattisham and Darsham. 29 AA Brigade then took on responsibility from 37 AA Bde for the HAA guns at Harwich (an important anti-invasion naval base), RAF North Weald and RAF Debden manned by 90th HAA Rgt (272, 284, 285 HAA Btys),Litchfield, p. 177. together with the Gun Operations Room (GOR) at Harwich.Collier, Defence of the UK', Chapter VIII.Landguard Fort GOR.
Afterwards 90th HAA Rgt was replaced by 99th (London Welsh) HAA Rgt (302, 303, 307, 318 HAA Btys) and the whole of 'P' LAA Rgt (49, 95 and 119 LAA Btys) was transferred to 29 AA Bde and its batteries transferred to a newly raised 48th LAA Rgt.Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.Farndale, Annex D, p. 258.
HAA gun sites were equipped with 3.7-inch or the older 3-inch guns. Although LAA units were receiving Bofors 40 mm guns, many of the sites only had LMGs, though some like the Royal Naval Mining Depot at Wrabness at least had quadruple mountings. The first, very secret, Gun-Laying Radar Mk I sets began to appear in May 1940, with one being stationed at Landguard Fort at Harwich to replace the old sound-locator at the S/L site operated by 469 AA Co, 74th AA Bn.Routledge pp 96–9.
In May 1940 Brigade HQ shifted to Boxted House in Boxted near Colchester in Essex. During August 1940 the AA Battalions were transferred from the Royal Engineers to the Royal Artillery, when they were designated Searchlight Regiments.
Battle of Britain The Phoney War ended with the German invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940. Home Forces became concerned about the threat from German paratroopers and AA Command's units were given anti-invasion roles. A plan to attach groups of riflemen from the infantry training centres to 6 AA Division's widely spaced S/L sites foundered on the lack of men. Instead the S/L detachments themselves were given the responsibility for attacking parachutists before they could organise, and spare men at company HQs were formed into mobile columns using requisitioned civilian transport to hunt them down. These arrangements were never tested in practice.
At the end of May the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk, and the Germans began preparations to invade South East England. In late June the Luftwaffe began small day and night raids on Ipswich and the Harwich Gun Defence Area (GDA) and during July 1940 there were almost daily attacks on shipping off the East Coast. In August, while the Battle of Britain was progressing by day over Kent and Essex, Luftwaffe seaplanes regularly dropped Parachute mines in the harbours and estuaries by night, which 29 AA Bde's guns and S/Ls attempted to counter.
By now, 29 AA Bde was only responsible for the Harwich GDA (covering Harwich, Ipswich, Felixstowe, Parkeston and Dovercourt) and RAF airfields in Essex and Suffolk, 73rd AA Bn and its sites south of the Thames having been transferred to 56 Light AA Bde command in early July.6 AA Div at RA 39–45
On 15 August Erprobungsgruppe 210 slipped through to attack RAF Martlesham Heath and got away without loss, despite being engaged by the Harwich AA guns while withdrawing.Collier, Defence of the UK, Chapter XII.Collier, Eagle Day, p. 91.
On 24 August North Weald was badly damaged by a raid, but remained serviceable. Then on 26 August, Luftflotte 2 sent a large raid to attack the fighter bases at Debden, North Weald and Hornchurch; the attackers missed the latter two targets, but Debden was hard hit. Debden was attacked again on 30 August, and North Weald received a raid on 31 August that was engaged by 285 HAA Bty, and a Heinkel He 111 was shot down by the AA light machine gun (LMG) of a S/L site.Collier, Defence of the UK, Chapter XIII.
Brentwood, Essex, in the southern part of 29 AA Bde's area, was bombed on 7 September during the first big daylight air raid on London, which heralded the Luftwaffes shift away from RAF airfields to bombing cities.Collier, Defence of the UK, Chapter XV.
The Blitz As the Battle of Britain merged into the night Blitz during September 1940, the brigade's area was regularly crossed by night raids heading for London and the industrial cities of the Midlands, which the S/L sites strove to track for the night-fighters and HAA guns, often causing the raiders to jettison their bombs (frequently near the AA sites) and turn back. Low-flying daylight intruders sometimes exchanged fire with the AA LMGs at S/L sites.29 AA Brigade War Diary October 1940–1941, TNA file WO 166/2251.
Between 25 October 1940 and 2 January 1941, units of the Corpo Aereo Italiano based in Belgium made 11 day and night attacks on the East Coast, all but one of which targeted Harwich and Ipswich.Collier, Defence of the UK, Appendix XXVIII.
In November, 29 AA Bde HQ moved from Boxted to Coxtie House, Coxtie Green, near Brentwood.
By December 1940 all S/Ls in the brigade's area, except the coastal sites, had been 'clustered' The cluster system was an attempt to improve the chances of picking up enemy bombers and keeping them illuminated for engagement by AA guns or Night fighters. Eventually, one light in each cluster was to be equipped with searchlight control (SLC) radar and act as 'master light', but the radar equipment was still in short supply.
Summer 1941 The Blitz ended in May 1941. By August 1941 the following changes to 29 AA Bde's order of battle and dispositions had taken place:Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941, with amendments TNA file WO 212/79.
99th (London Welsh) HAA Rgt – to Orkney & Shetland Defences (OSDEF) May 1941Litchfield, p. 168. 302, 303, 318 HAA Btys 121st HAA Rgt – from 37 AA Bde to relieve 99th HAA Rgt May 1941 385 HAA Bty at RAF North Weald, RAF Debden 387 HAA Bty at RAF Martlesham, RAF Wattisham, Ipswich Airport 388 HAA Bty at Harwich 48th LAA Rgt 49 LAA Bty at Chelmsford 95 LAA Bty at RAF North Weald, RAF Stapleford Tawney 182 LAA Bty – to War Office (WO) control 30 May 1941 242 LAA Bty at Wrabness, Great Bromley, Parkeston Quay – joined from 77th LAA Rgt July 1941 49th LAA Rgt – from 6 AA Bde; later to 78th Infantry DivisionJoslen, p. 101.49 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45. 84 LAA Bty at RAF Martlesham 119 LAA Bty at Landguard 28th S/L Rgt in clustersLitchfield, p. 69.28 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45. 309, 311, 312 S/L Btys 74th S/L Rgt in clusters, coastal sites and RAF MartleshamLitchfield, p. 174. 310, 335, 469 S/L Btys
During the summer of 1941 the Luftwaffe continued minelaying and intruder raids against airfields in 29 AA Bde's sector at night, against which S/Ls could be effective – on one occasion a Junkers Ju 88 night-fighter attacking British bombers was dazzled and crashed. In August a daylight raid using cloud cover was made against the radar station at Great Bromley.
Winter 1941-42