The 7th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended North East England during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.
Mobilisation The 7th Anti-Aircraft Division was created in 1939 by Anti-Aircraft Command to control the anti-aircraft (AA) defences of North East England, Yorkshire and Humberside. It took over brigades from the 2nd AA Division, which then concentrated on defending the North Midlands and East Midlands, and from the 3rd AA Division defending Scotland. Planned from February 1939 and established in June, the new division's exact responsibilities were still being worked out when war broke out. The Divisional headquarters (HQ) was established at Newcastle upon Tyne on 16 September and the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) was Major-General T.G.G. Heywood, who had been Brigadier, Royal Artillery, in Aldershot Command. AA Command mobilised fully on 24 August, ahead of the official declaration of war on 3 September.Routledge, p. 65.Frederick, p. 1047.Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376.Farndale, Annex J.Heywood at Generals of World War II.
Order of Battle 1939–40 On mobilisation, the 7th AA Division was intended to be constituted as follows:AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot FilesRoutledge, Table LX, p. 378.
30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade at Sunderland – from the 2nd AA Division 63rd (Northumbrian) AA Regt, Royal Artillery (RA) – heavy anti-aircraft (HAA) unit converted from medium artillery 1936 176, 177, 178, 269 Batteries 64th (Northumbrian) AA Regt, RA – HAA batteries converted from medium artillery 1936 179, 180, 268 Btys 87th AA Regt, RA – HAA unit raised April 1939 278, 279, 280 Btys 37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) AA Bn, Royal Engineers (RE) – searchlight (S/L) unit 307, 308, 348, 349 Companies 5th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (53rd Searchlight Regiment) – S/L unit converted from infantry 1938 408, 409, 410 Companies 30th AA Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC)
31st (North Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade at York – from the 2nd AA Division 66th (Leeds Rifles) AA Regt, RA – HAA unit converted from infantry 1936 184, 185, 197 Btys 96th AA Regt RA – HAA unit raised April 1939 186, 287, 295, 296 Btys 43rd (Duke of Wellington's Regiment) AA Bn, RE – S/L unit converted from infantry 1936 370, 371, 372, 373 Companies 49th (West Yorkshire Regiment) AA Bn, RE – S/L unit converted from infantry 1936 395, 396, 397, 398 Companies 31st AA Brigade Company, RASC
39th Anti-Aircraft Brigade at RAF Digby – from the 2nd AA Division; did not actually transfer 62nd (Northumbrian) AA Regiment, RA – HAA unit converted from field artillery 1936 172, 173, 266 Btys 67th (York and Lancaster Regiment) AA Regiment, RA – HAA unit converted from infantry 1936 187, 188, 189, 198 Btys 91st AA Regiment, RA – HAA unit raised April 1939 221, 270, 286 Btys 40th (Sherwood Foresters) AA Battalion, RE – S/L unit converted from infantry 1936 358, 359, 360, 361 Companies 46th (Lincolnshire Regiment) AA Battalion, RE – S/L unit converted from infantry 1936 382, 383, 384, 385 Companies 39th AA Brigade Company, RASC
43rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade at West Hartlepool – from the 3rd AA Division 85th (Tees) AA Regiment, RA – HAA unit raised 1938 174, 175, 220 Btys 47th (Durham Light Infantry) AA Battalion, RE – S/L unit converted from infantry 1936 386, 387, 388, 389 Companies 1/5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (54th Searchlight Regiment) – S/L unit converted from infantry 1938 411, 412, 413 Companies 2/5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (55th Searchlight Regiment) – duplicate S/L unit raised April 1939 414, 415, 416 Companies 43rd AA Brigade Company, RASC
57th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade – new brigade forming at Newcastle 13th Light AA Regiment, RA – light anti-aircraft (LAA) unit raised 1938 37, 38, 122 Btys 28th Light AA Regiment, RA – LAA unit raised August 1939 53, 112, 113 Btys 29th Light AA Regiment, RA – LAA unit raised August 1939 108, 121 Btys 30th Light AA Regiment, RA – LAA unit raised August 1939 117, 118, 119, 120 Btys 57th AA Brigade Company, RASC 7th AA Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals (RCS) – formed 1939 at Darlington, possibly from elements of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Divisional SignalsLord & Watson, p. 173.Nalder, p. 623. 7th AA Divisional Workshop Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC)
In practice, the 39th AA Brigade remained with the 2nd AA Division, but on 23 September 1939, responsibility for the Humber Gun Zone (including 30 HAA guns manned by 62nd (Northumbrian) and 91st AA Rgts) was transferred to the 31st AA Brigade from the 39th AA Brigade. This responsibility reverted to the 39th AA Brigade and the 2nd AA Division in May 1940.39 AA Brigade War Diary 1939–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2272.91 HAA Rgt War Diary 1939–41, TNA file WO 166/2382.
Phoney War However, equipment was critically short. In August 1939 the 7th AA Division only had the following:Routledge, p. 372. 3-inch AA guns: 14 Bofors 40 mm and 2-pounder LAA guns: 22 Light Machine Guns (LMGs – mainly Lewis guns): 486 S/Ls: 673
(In addition to the LAA LMGs, each S/L position had an LMG for self defence).
Luckily, the months of the Phoney War that followed mobilisation allowed AA Command to address its equipment shortages. Gun Defence Areas (GDAs) with 3-inch or 3.7-inch HAA guns were established around Leeds, Teesside (including Middlesbrough and Billingham) and Tyneside (including Newcastle). Vital Points (VPs) such as RAF Fighter Command airfields and factories began to receive a few Bofors guns.Routledge, p. 373.
AA Command was also desperate for manpower. When the War Office released the first intakes of Militiamen to the Command in early 1940, most were found to be in low physical categories and without training. The 31st AA Brigade reported that out of 1000 recruits sent for duty, '50 had to be discharged immediately because of serious medical defects, another 20 were judged to be mentally deficient and a further 18 were unfit to do any manual labour such as lifting ammunition'.Routledge, p. 374. Fitness and training was greatly improved by the time Britain's AA defences were seriously tested during the Battle of Britain and Blitz.
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 (S/L) regiments.
After the German invasion of the Low Countries in May 1940, Maj-Gen Heywood was appointed head of the British Military Mission to the Netherlands and briefly replaced as GOC of the 7th AA Division by Maj-Gen J.E.T Younger, promoted from command of the 57th LAA Brigade. Within days, Younger was transferred to command the 3rd AA Division and later was replaced by Maj-Gen R.B. Pargiter from the 4th AA Division.Younger at Generals of World War II.Pargiter at Generals of World War II.
Battle of Britain Tyneside, Wearside, and Teesside were important strategic targets because of their high concentrations of heavy industry and ports. During the early part of the Battle of Britain, German day and night air raids and mine laying began along the East Coast of England, intensifying through June 1940. Thereafter the Luftwaffe concentrated on Royal Air Force sites in the South of England, with occasional raids on the North East, such as the period 12–15 August.Routledge, Table LXII, pp. 379–80.
On 15 August, in the belief that the defences of NE England had been denuded, Luftflotte 5 attacked across the North Sea from Norway. Some 65 Heinkel He 111 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 26 escorted by 35 Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörer fighters of Zerstörergeschwader 76 were picked up on radar and ambushed by fighters of No. 13 Group RAF before they reached the coast. Those bombers that succeeded in breaking through then split into two groups, one being engaged by the guns of the Tyne GDA the other by the Tees GDA. Bombs were widely scattered and only at Sunderland was any major damage inflicted. KG 26 lost 8 bombers and 7 fighters for no loss to the RAF, in 'one of the most successful air actions of the war'.Basil Collier pp. 191–4, Map 16.Richard Collier, Eagle Day, pp. 86–8.
On 21 August, the 7th AA Division had its guns distributed as follows:Basil Collier, Appendix XXII. Leeds: 20 HAA Teesside: 30 HAA Tyneside: 50 HAA Airfields of No. 13 Group RAF and other VPs: 14 HAA, 62 LAA, 270 LMG Mobile: 4 HAA S/L: 604
With the bulk of the fighting occurring further south, the mobile guns soon moved out of the division's area.
In September 1940 the 7th AA Division formed the 7th AA Z Regiment equipped with rocket projectors.7 AA Z Rgt at RA 1939–45.
The Blitz The Battle of Britain was followed by the Luftwaffes night Blitz on London and other industrial cities during the winter of 1940–41. Again, NE England escaped the worst of this, but hundreds of people died during the Newcastle Blitz and there were notable air raids on Tyneside on 9 April and Sunderland on 25 April.Basil Collier, Appendices XXX and XXXI.Routledge, pp. 387–404.
AA Command was now reaching its peak strength, and there was considerable reorganisation in November 1940. The 31st and 39th AA Brigades transferred to a new 10th AA Division covering Yorkshire and Humberside, and the 7th AA Division came under the command of III Anti-Aircraft Corps. The 30th AA Brigade was covering Tyneside and the 43rd AA Brigade covering Teesside, while the 57th LAA Brigade had become primarily a searchlight rather than LAA gun formation.Routledge, p. 393, Maps 34 & 35.
Order of Battle 1940–41 The 3rd AA Division had the following composition during the Blitz:7 AA Division 1940 at RA 1939–45.Routledge, Table LXV, p. 397.Farndale, Annex D, pp. 257–9.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.
30th AA Brigade 63rd (Northumbrian) HAA Rgt – see above 64th (Northumbrian) HAA Rgt – see above 37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) LAA Rgt – duplicate of the 37th (TEE) S/L Rgt, see above 38th LAA Rgt (part) – unit shared with the 10th AA Division 68rd LAA Rgt– new unit raised in December 1940Farndale, Annex M. 7th AA Z Rgt – see above
43rd AA Brigade 8th (Belfast) HAA Rgt – returned from Dunkirk and re-equippedFarndale, p. 98. 73rd HAA Rgt – returned from Dunkirk and re-equipped 50th LAA Rgt – new unit raised in July 1940 72nd LAA Rgt – new unit raised in January 1941 47th (Durham Light Infantry) S/L Rgt – see above 55th (Durham Light Infantry) S/L Rgt – see above
57th AA Brigade 41st LAA Rgt – new unit raised in January 1941 46th (Lincolnshire Regiment) S/L Rgt – see above 53rd (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) S/L Rgt – see above 7th AA Divisional Signals, RCS 7th AA Divisional RASC 907th and 923rd Companies 7th AA Divisional Company, Royal Army Medical Corps 7th AA Divisional Workshop Company, RAOC
In 1941, the 7th Divisional Signals became a 'Mixed' unit, indicating that women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) were fully integrated into the unit.
Mid-War