The 54th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War. It was engaged in defending the West Midlands of England during the war. It comprised a varying number of searchlight (S/L) battalions and later included light anti-aircraft units. It was disbanded at the end of 1943. When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the former 54th AA Bde was reformed as 80 Anti-Aircraft Brigade but was disbanded on 9 September 1948.

Mobilisation As tensions rose at the time of the Munich Crisis, Britain's AA defences were strengthened and 4th AA Division was formed in 1938 within Western Command. In 1939 all TA AA formations, comprising units of the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE), were brought under a new Anti-Aircraft Command covering the whole country. On the outbreak of war a new 54th AA Brigade was being formed in 4 AA Division to provide searchlight cover straddling the South Midlands Area of Southern Command and the West Lancashire Area of Western Command. The brigade was formally raised on 1 September 1939 at Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham.Frederick, pp. 1050–2.Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376. Its units had already mobilised on 22 August.41 AA Bn War Diary, August 1939, The National Archives (TNA), Kew file WO 166/3059.

Order of Battle 1939–40 On formation the brigade had the following composition:AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot FilesRoutledge, Table LX, p. 378. 41st (5th North Staffordshire Regiment) AA Battalion, RE – infantry battalion converted to searchlights in 1936 HQ 362–365 AA Cos at Stoke-on-Trent 45th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) AA Bn, RE – infantry battalion converted to searchlights in 1936Litchfield, p. 241.45 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45. HQ, 378–382 AA Cos at Thorpe Street, Birmingham 59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, RA – new unit formed from a battery of 45 AA Bn in 1938 HQ, 399, 427, 428 Btys at Birmingham 61st (South Lancashire Regiment) Searchlight Regiment, RA – infantry battalion converted to searchlights in 1938 HQ, 432–434 Btys at St Helens

Battle of Britain and Blitz On 1 August 1940 the AA battalions of the RE were transferred to the RA, in which they were designated 'Searchlight Regiments'.Litchfield.S/L Index at RA 39–45

There were numerous small raids on the West Midlands during the Battle of Britain, including one on the night of 26/27 August when the officers' mess of 54 AA Bde received a direct hit that wrecked the building without causing any casualties.4 AA Division intelligence summary 20–31 August 1940 in 44 AA Bde War Diary 1939–41, TNA file WO 166/2282.

In the reorganisation of AA Command in November 1940, 54 AA Bde assumed responsibility for searchlight provision for the Gun Defence Areas of the West Midlands under a new 11th AA Division. At this time it only had two regiments under command: 45th (Royal Warwicks) and 80th, a new regiment raised in October 1940.Farndale, Annex M.

Coventry Blitz

The new division was still being formed when the Luftwaffe launched a series of devastating raids, beginning with the notorious Coventry Blitz on 14/15 November.Collier, Chapter 17. The Coventry raid was preceded by a dozen pathfinder aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 100 riding an X-Gerät beam to drop flares and incendiary bombs on the target. The huge fires that broke out in the congested city centre then attracted successive 40-strong waves of bombers flying at heights between 12,000 and 20,000 feet to saturate the defences. The AA Defence Commander had prepared a series of concentrations to be fired using sound-locators and GL Mk. I gun-laying radar, but the bombing severed all lines of communication and the noise drowned out sound-location. Some gun positions were able to fire at searchlight beam intersections, glimpsed through the smoke and guessing the range. The Coventry raid was followed by three consecutive nights (19–22 November) of attacks on Birmingham and other Black Country industrial towns including West Bromwich, Dudley and Tipton. The change in enemy tactics led to additional AA units being moved to the West Midlands.Pile's despatch.Routledge, p. 391.

Birmingham Blitz Birmingham was bombed again during December (3, 4, 11) and on 11 March 1941, but the full Birmingham Blitz came in April 1941, with heavy raids on the nights of 9/10 and 10/11 of the month, causing extensive damage and casualties.Collier, Appendix XXX.

The Blitz is generally held to have ended on 16 May 1941 with another attack on Birmingham. By now the HAA sites had the advantage of GL Mk I* radar with an elevation finding (E/F or 'Effie') attachment to supplement searchlights, and several attackers were turned away by accurate fire and their bombs scattered widely, some on nearby Nuneaton.Routledge, pp. 98–9, 393. The city was attacked again in July, but the Luftwaffe bombing offensive was effectively over.Collier, Chapter 19. The West Midlands had been the hardest hit area of the UK after London and Merseyside.Collier, Appendix XXXI.

Order of Battle 1941 The brigade's composition by the end of the Blitz was as follows:11 AA Division at RA 39–45Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.Farndale, Annex D, p. 258.Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941, with amendments, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 212/79. 45th (Royal Warwicks) S/L Rgt 378, 379, 380, 381 Btys 59th (Warwickshire) S/L Rgt – to Orkney and Shetland Defences (OSDEF) May 1941 399, 427, 428 Btys 80th S/L Rgt 505, 506, 507 Btys 83rd S/L Rgt – from 68 AA Bde Summer 1941 513, 514, 515 Btys

Mid-war In the summer of 1941, AA Command began to receive purpose-built searchlight control (SLC of 'Elsie') radar in sufficient numbers to allow some S/Ls to be 'declustered' into single-light sites. These were redeployed into 'Indicator Belts' of radar-controlled S/L clusters covering approaches to the RAF's night-fighter sectors, repeated by similar belts covering AA Command's Gun Defence Areas (GDAs). Inside each belt was a 20-mile deep 'Killer Belt' of single S/Ls spaced at intervals in a 'Killer Belt' cooperating with night-fighters patrolling defined 'boxes'. The pattern was designed to ensure that raids penetrating deeply towards the Midlands GDAs would cross more than one belt, and the GDAs had more S/Ls at close spacing. The number of LAA units to protect VPs was growing, albeit slowly.Routledge, p. 99.Routledge, pp. 398–404.

By now, additional Bofors LAA guns began to arrive in quantity to defend vulnerable points (VPs) and as a light AA Bde, 54th now began to receive LAA gun units in addition to its S/Ls.Routledge, Table LXVI, p. 397.

At this stage of the war, experienced units were being posted away to train for service overseas. This led to a continual turnover of units, which accelerated with the preparations for the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) in late 1942, and the need to transfer LAA units to deal with the Luftwaffe's 'hit-and run' raids on the South Coast. However, newly formed units continued to join AA Command, the HAA and support units increasingly becoming 'Mixed' units, indicating that women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) were fully integrated into them.Routledge, pp. 398–404.Collier, Chapter XX.

Order of Battle 1941–42 During this period the brigade was composed as follows (temporary attachments omitted):Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 2 December 1941, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/80.Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 14 May 1942, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/81.Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 1 October 1942, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/82.Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 13 March 1943, TNA file WO 212/83.Order of Battle of AA Command, 1 August 1943, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/84. 22nd LAA Rgt – from 34 (South Midland) AA Bde June 1942; to War Office Control August 1942; later to Operation TorchOrder of Battle of the Field Force in the United Kingdom, Part 3: Royal Artillery (Non-Divisional Units), 14 August 1942, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/7 and WO 33/1927.Joslen, p. 465. 70, 72, 141 LAA Btys 111th LAA Rgt – from 2 AA Division July 1942; to 34 AA Bde May 1943 348, 349, 350, 363 LAA Btys 128th LAA Rgt – from 67 AA Bde June 1942; to 68 AA Bde July 1942 421, 422, 423, 424 LAA Btys 30th (Surrey) S/L RgtLitchfield, p. 226.30 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45. – from 10 AA Division by May 1942; to WO Control August 1942; later to Operation Torch 318, 323, 511, 567 S/L Btys 45th S/L Rgt – converted into 122nd LAA Rgt February 1942, joined 68 AA Bde May 1942 378, 379, 380, 381 S/L Btys 67th (Welch) S/L Rgt – from 3 AA Group November 1942 450, 451, 452 S/L Btys 80th S/L Rgt – to 3 AA Group September 1943 505, 506, 507 S/L Btys 83rd S/L Rgt – to 2 AA Group September 1943 365, 513, 514, 515 S/L Btys 54 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section – part of No 2 Company 11 AA Division Mixed Signal Unit

Later war In October 1942 AA Command reorganised its structure, replacing the AA Divisions with AA Groups coinciding with RAF Fighter Command's Groups. 54 AA Bde came under 4 AA Group covering North-West England and North Wales.

After September 1943, 54 AA Bde only had one unit (67 S/L Rgt) under command, and the brigade HQ began disbanding at Knowle on 28 November, completing the process on 21 December.

Postwar: change of designation When the TA was reformed in 1947, the former 28th (Thames and Medway) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was renumbered as 54 Anti-Aircraft Brigade.

The previous 54th Brigade at Sutton Coldfield was redesignated 80 Anti-Aircraft Brigade (TA), which had no connection with the disbanded wartime 80th AA Bde. The brigade came under 4 AA Group with the following composition:Litchfield, Appendix 5.Watson, TA 1947. 67–106 AA Bdes at British Army 1945 on 30–66 AA Bdes at British Army 1945 on 469 (Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA at Kings Heath, Birmingham 495 (Birmingham) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA at Sheldon, Birmingham 580 (5th Bn The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA (the former 45 S/L Regiment) at Birmingham 594 (Warwickshire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA (the former 59 S/L Regiment) at Birmingham

However, the brigade was disbanded on 9 September 1948.

Notes

References Basil Collier, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom, London: HM Stationery Office, 1957. Gen Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, . J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, . Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, . Gen Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: "The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28th July, 1939, to 15th April, 1945" London Gazette 18 December 1947 Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, .

Online sources British Army units from 1945 on British Military History Orders of Battle at Patriot Files The Royal Artillery 1939–45 Graham Watson, The Territorial Army 1947