The 100th Anti-Aircraft Brigade (100th AA Bde) was an air defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in April 1943, the brigade was one of two mobile anti-aircraft brigades allocated to the Second Army for the campaign in North-West Europe, the other being the 106th AA Bde. In common with other anti-aircraft brigades, the unit took on anti-tank, river, ground and bridge defence, as well as laying smokescreens and providing fire support.
The brigade began landing in Normandy on 14 June 1944, before commencing operational duties in defence of Caen in July. It operated at or close to the front line of the Second Army's advance during the campaign in North-West Europe, taking on a number of short-lived deployments in major towns and cities and covering British forces during the breakout from Normandy, multiple river crossings and the advance into Germany in 1945. It was heavily involved in Operation Market Garden, and fought in a ground and anti-tank role at Veghel on what has become known as "Black Friday", before forming the anti-air, river and anti-tank defences of the bridges at Nijmegen.
At the cessation of hostilities the brigade moved to the Harburg area of Hamburg, where it took on occupational duties, including at the POW processing camp at Munsterlager. The brigade disbanded in February 1946.
Formation The brigade formed in April 1943, initially sharing 74th AA BDE headquarters in Cliftonville, near Margate in Kent. It was to be commanded by new Brigadier Edward Neufville Crosse MC, a veteran of the First World War who had served with the Royal Artillery since 1915. Its initial strength consisted of 90th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (90th HAA Rgt), 107th HAA Rgt, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (113th LAA Rgt), and 123rd LAA Rgt.
In May 1943 the brigade relocated to Blandford Camp, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, where it remained until November for training in gunnery, searchlight operation and in radar operation. Trials were conducted with different types of Window to establish their respective effectiveness as a countermeasure against the radars in use by the brigade. The 1943 war diaries show that the brigade's regiments were occasionally involved in active air defence duties, but these were typically conducted under the command of other brigades.
In October 1943, the brigade conducted "Exercise Lobster" to rehearse the processes of embarkation, disembarkation and deployment, followed by "Exercise Shrimp" in January 1944 rehearsing the breakout from a beachhead. During this period brigade headquarters relocated again to The Lindens in Cliftonville, Northamptonshire, where its HQ remained until its deployment in June 1944.
Operation Overlord
The first units of the brigade to land in Normandy did so on D-Day +8, 14 June. The 405th and 409th batteries of 123rd LAA Rgt came under the operational command of 80th AA Brigade, which had landed with the Juno beach assault waves on 6 June and taken up positions on the beachhead, prior to 100th AA Bde landing its HQ. The batteries were attacked from the air while unloading men and equipment onto two rhino ferries, with one man killed, 37 wounded and several guns and tractors destroyed. Lance Bombardier Henry Witts and Sergeant William Vernon were both awarded the Military Medal for their actions in the aftermath of this attack. The 100th AA Bde HQ landed a few days later, on 17 and 18 June, and established itself in Colombiers-sur-Seulles. The remainder of the brigade, consisting initially of 60th HAA Rgt and 113th LAA Rgt, along with 151st Anti-Aircraft Operations Room (AAOR) and the 557th Searchlight Battery (SL Bty), arrived through June and July, entering into secondments with other brigades while allied forces struggled to break out of the beachhead.
The 100th AA Bde's first major tasking came on 25 July, when it became operationally responsible for the air defence of Caen, which had been captured a few days prior after an unexpectedly protracted battle. The deployment was uneventful, as air attacks were light after the front line moved eastwards and concentrated around Falaise. 1st Canadian Army took over defence of the city on 12 August.
The allied break-out following the closing of the Falaise Pocket on 21 August led to a rapid succession of short-lived deployments for the brigade, by which point it had expanded to include 107th HAA Rgt and 71st LAA Rgt. On 24 August orders were received to prepare to move in support of the British crossing of the River Seine at Vernon bridge, and the brigade took position there on 26 August. Deployments at Amiens, Arras and Antwerp followed in support of XXX Corps' advance, with the latter reached on 4 September. The 106th AA Bde took over defence of the city two days later.
On 8 September, while in harbour near Diest after being relieved at Antwerp, 71st LAA Rgt shot down an Me262 jet while it was carrying out a low level bombing raid. This was one of the earliest ground-to-air kills of a jet aircraft.
Advance into the Low Countries Operation Crosseforce
The 100th Anti-Aircraft Brigade had been operating in a dual anti-air and anti-tank ground role throughout the advance, in common with the other leading anti-aircraft brigades, but the ground element of their role was significantly expanded on 9 September. The divergence of the advances of British XXX Corps and US XIX Corps had left a 25-mile gap on the right flank of 11th Armoured Division, leaving the lines of communication vulnerable to German counterattack which, based on intelligence reports, was being threatened by a large German armoured concentration believed at the time to comprise elements of II SS Panzer Corps. Operation Crosseforce was established, under operational instruction number 4. To 123rd LAA Rgt and 165 HAA Rgt were added 86th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, the Royal Netherlands Brigade, one troop of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and a company of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, forming a composite force for anti-tank and ground defence.
Defensive positions were established on a line centred at Beringen, with positions as far west as Geel and as far east as Helchteren. Brigade HQ itself was established at Leopoldsburg. In the event, no counterattack materialised and after six days the situation improved sufficiently for the brigade to be returned to regular duties. The action was important enough, though, to be mentioned in the citation for commander Brigadier Crosse's CBE nomination, which he received in October.
Operation Market Garden Orders and initial movements
On the same day Operation Crosseforce concluded, the brigade received its orders for Operation Market Garden. It was to provide anti-aircraft defence for the advance of XXX Corps and the bridges over the River Waal once captured, and anti-motor torpedo boat defence. The 165th HAA Rgt and 123rd LAA Rgt would cover Nijmegen, 113th LAA Rgt would cover Arnhem, and 27th LAA Rgt, under operational command of 100th AA Bde for the operation, would cover Grave, each with an accompanying searchlight battery. Detachments from the 27th LAA Rgt would also cover Veghel and Son.
The brigade was divided into four elements for the advance. Two sections each of the 165th HAA Rgt and 123rd LAA Rgt, along with searchlights, would advance first behind 32nd Guards Infantry Brigade, with a recce party from brigade HQ. This group began their advance on 18 September 1944. The main body, consisting of the remainder of the 165th HAA Rgt and 123rd LAA Rgt, as well as brigade HQ and 151st AAOR, followed on two days later. The third group of the 113th LAA Rgt moved on 21 September, and the final group consisting of regimental support vehicles followed them.
The advance party only covered two miles on the first day, but despite coming under aerial attacks at both Joe's Bridge and Grave bridge reached Nijmegen on 20 September. After the capture of the bridge on 21 September, sections from the 123rd LAA Rgt and 165th HAA Rgt took on air defence and river defence duties there as planned.
At the same time, the main body had continued its advance up "Hell's Highway" and reached Eindhoven on 21 September. The column was frozen several times with nose-to-tail traffic and having to allow other units to pass. The 100th AA Bde alone had nearly 700 vehicles in its convoy, with 255 of those travelling with the main body. The 113th LAA Rgt spent the night at Valkenswaard, only a few miles behind.
In the early hours of the following morning, 22 September, the brigade's main body reached Veghel and was ordered to halt to allow 69th Infantry Brigade to pass. The 123rd LAA Rgt was in front, half a mile north of the town, with brigade HQ following and 165th HAA Rgt in the rear, within and to the south of the town.
Black Friday, 22 September
Veghel had been a primary objective of the US 101st Airborne Division, as a key point on the main supply route of XXX Corps. The 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (2/501 PIR) was holding Veghel, and General McAuliffe was in the town that morning. American paratroopers were positioned on the road adjacent to the 123rd LAA Rgt. Mid-morning, information was received of a concentration of enemy tanks and infantry on the right flank, later known to be Kampfgruppe Walther with tanks from the 107th Panzer Brigade and an SS panzergrenadier battalion. The brigade was not, and could not have been, aware that it was about to become heavily engaged in what has since become known as "Black Friday" — the third, and according to Saunders probably the most significant, interruption of XXX Corps' supply line during Operation Market Garden.
Initial Engagement: 123rd LAA Regiment
At 1130 sustained small arms fire began, along with shelling of the town. The 123rd LAA Rgt enacted plans that it had drawn up earlier in the case of engagement, with E Troop of 408th Battery under the command of Lieutenant Milum moving north along the road with their guns and a Bren gun party commanded by the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM), Warrant Officer W.V Hutchinson, to disperse the column's vehicles and provide anti-tank defence. The remainder of E Troop formed up behind regimental HQ. A Bofors 40 mm gun and PIAT were also positioned to defend approaches to the column.
The column came under fire, and tanks were heard in the woods. US airborne troops withdrew through the regimental HQ position to an anti-tank screen on the edge of town, and due to the "smallness of numbers and equipment available" the British position became untenable.
While preparing to withdraw, tanks broke through onto the road, both on the right and left flanks, "much to the surprise of everyone concerned." The tanks proceeded along the road "knocking out and setting fire to vehicles on the way, and spraying the hedges with machine gun fire". The regiment, excluding the now cut off men of E Troop, conducted a fighting withdrawal, which was not done without casualties. A storeman and clerk from HQ successfully destroyed a Panzer IV at point-blank range with their PIAT, and a second tank was destroyed by American anti-tank guns.
Two men in a ditch on the far side of the road had been wounded by the second tank, and a party under the command of Lieutenant Hirsch, a non-combatant attached to the 123rd LAA Rgt from the Belgian Military Mission, began to drag them away. The withdrawing troops became pinned down by small arms fire and, without orders, Hirsch manned a Bren gun and occupied enemy infantry long enough for regimental HQ to disengage and withdraw to the line of US troops. Hirsch and a gunner stayed in no-mans-land with the second wounded man — Lieutenant Jordan — until the attack subsided and they could safely make their way back to town. He was awarded a Military Cross for his actions.
Isolation of E Troop