5th Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom)

The 5th Anti-Aircraft Division (5th AA Division) was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended Southern England during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

5th Anti-Aircraft Division
Formation sign of the 5th Anti-Aircraft division.[1]
Active1 September 1938–30 September 1942
Country United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Army
TypeAnti-Aircraft Division
RoleAir Defence
Part ofAnti-Aircraft Command (1938–40)
I AA Corps (1940–42)
Garrison/HQReading, Berkshire
EngagementsBattle of Britain
The Blitz

Origin

Increasing concern during the 1930s about the threat of air attack led to large numbers of units of the part-time Territorial Army (TA) being converted to anti-aircraft (AA) gun and searchlight roles in the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE), and higher formations became necessary to control them. One such formation was the 5th AA Division, raised on 1 September 1938 at Reading, Berkshire, to command all the TA AA units in the South, South West and South Midlands of England and South Wales. Its area was roughly aligned with that of No 10 Group of RAF Fighter Command under whose orders Anti-Aircraft Command operated.[2][3][4] The formation's first General Officer Commanding (GOC) was Major-General Alan Cunningham.[5][6]

The divisional badge was a falling black aircraft silhouette trailing red flames, on a khaki background.[7]

Mobilisation

The deterioration in international relations during 1939 led to a partial mobilisation of the TA in June, after which 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.[8]

Equipment

On mobilisation in August 1939, the 5th AA Division had the following equipment:[9]

The HAA guns were deployed as follows in September 1939:[10]

Phoney War

The process of training and equipping the newer AA units had hardly begun when they were mobilised, but the delay in active operations during the autumn and winter of 1939–40 (the Phoney War) gave the AA formations time to address the worst deficiencies. Modern guns remained scarce, however.[11]

Equipment

By 5 June 1940, just before the start of the Battle of Britain, the 5th AA Division's armament state was:[12]

  • HAA
  • LAA
    • 3-inch: 28
    • 40 mm Bofors: 4
    • Single Vickers guns: 18
    • LMGs: 386
  • S/L
    • 150 cm: 46
    • 90 cm: 535

Reorganisation

Major-General Cunningham was transferred to the command of an infantry division on 10 January 1940 and was replaced as GOC by Maj-Gen Robert Allen, brought in from the command of the artillery of an infantry division, but who was a former commander of the 48th AA Brigade.[5][13] (Cunningham went on to command a succession of infantry divisions before becoming GOC East Africa Command and commanding the campaign against the Italians, and then GOC Eighth Army in Operation Crusader.)

The Royal Artillery's AA regiments were redesignated Heavy AA (HAA) in 1940 to distinguish them from the new Light AA (LAA) units being formed. Also the RE and infantry AA (searchlight) battalions were transferred to the RA in August 1940.[14][15]

In July 1940, after the British Expeditionary Force had been evacuated from Dunkirk, the Regular 5th AA Brigade was reformed in the Gloucester area under 5th AA Division. It was to consist of:[16]

Meanwhile, the 46th AA Brigade at Bristol was now to consist of:[16]

Battle of Britain

On 11 July 1940, at the start of the Battle, the 5th AA Division's guns were deployed as follows:[17]

The Battle of Britain opened with the Luftwaffe attacking shipping and coastal towns by day and bombing ports and industrial cities by night, which involved all of AA Command's divisions. In July the Luftwaffe switched to day raids in strength against ports and Midlands industry. Portland and Portsmouth were regularly raided. On 4 July, Portland was attacked by a continuous flow of Ju 87 Stukas and Ju 88s, lasting two and a half hours, yet none was shot down. But AA Command's shooting and techniques improved with experience. In attacks on Portsmouth on 12 August, six Bf 109s were shot down and a searchlight detachment on the Isle of Wight shot down another with its LMG.[18]

After these preliminary skirmishes, the battle intensified from 13 August with bombing raids primarily directed against Fighter Command's airfields. Some of the greatest battles were fought on 15 August, from South Wales to the Yorkshire Coast, when the 5th AA Division was hotly engaged. On that day Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1) made a heavy raid of 70–80 bombers escorted by single- and twin-engined fighters against the South Coast. No. 10 Group scrambled five fighter squadrons and action began at 17.20 over Portland Bill. The Stukas of IV.(St)/LG 1 and escorting Bf 110 Zerstörers of V.(Z)/LG 1 heading for RNAS Worthy Down were attacked out of the sun, dropped a few bombs at Portland and withdrew with heavy losses. The rest of the raid (II.(St)/LG 1) flew on to attack RAF Middle Wallop, causing some damage, but suffering further casualties. Between the fighters and the AA guns at Portsmouth and Southampton, the Geschwader lost 8 bombers, 4 Stukas and 13 Bf 110s, as well as many others damaged. The one-sided action was highly satisfactory for Fighter Command and the 5th AA Division.[19][20][21]

Another peak day came on 24 August, when the gunners were in action at Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol, Portland and Bramley, with the Swansea gunners claiming hits. Then on 6 September the Luftwaffe switched its attacks from airfields to London.[21]

The climax of the battle was on 15 September, when massed raids attacked London and suffered severe casualties from the fighters and guns. On the same day there were attacks against Portland and Southampton, and with all available fighters engaged elsewhere, the 5th AA Division had to defend against these on its own.[22]

Blitz

After its crushing losses in day raids, the Luftwaffe switched to night bombing of London and the industrial cities ('The Blitz'), with Southampton, Cardiff and Swansea being among the targets attacked using Knickebein navigation aids.[23] During the Portsmouth Blitz, two bombs dropped directly on a position of the 35th AA Brigade, killing an officer and 10 men, wrecking the command post and one gun. Two of the remaining guns continued to fire by improvised methods.[24]

Reorganisation

In November 1940, as the Blitz was getting under way, there was a major reorganisation of AA Command. The 5th AA Division's responsibilities were split, with the 8th AA Division created to cover South West England, and the 9th AA Division to cover the South Midlands and South Wales. Thereafter, the 5th AA Division's remit was to concentrate on Southern England. All three divisions came under the command of a newly formed I AA Corps. There were other consequential reorganisations: the 5th AA Divisional Signals divided to form the 8th AA Divisional Signals at Bristol, for example.[25] Major-General Allen moved to command the 8th AA Division and was replaced as GOC by Acting Maj-Gen Robert Pargiter from the 7th AA Division.[5][26]

Mid-War

Fringe and Baedeker raids

The Blitz ended in May 1941 when German attention switched to Russia, the Balkans and North Africa. A new Luftwaffe campaign against the mainland UK opened in March 1942, with a series of low-level fighter-bomber attacks against coastal towns, many in the 5th AA Division's area, which had few LAA guns available for defence. Both HAA and LAA guns were moved from all over England to reinforce the naval bases and create new Gun Defended Areas (GDAs) including Winchester and Brighton. As well as these 'Fringe Targets', the Luftwaffe switched night bombers from target to target in what were dubbed 'Baedeker' raids.[27] Newly-formed AA units joined the division, the HAA units increasingly being 'mixed' ones into which women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service were integrated. At the same time, experienced units were posted away for service overseas. This led to a continual turnover of units, which accelerated in 1942 with the preparations for Operation Torch and the need to transfer AA units from North West England to counter the Baedeker raids and the Luftwaffe's hit-and-run attacks against South Coast towns.[28] The increased sophistication of Operations Rooms and communications was reflected in the growth in support units by May 1942. In August 1942, the 27th and 47th AA Brigades were transferred to the 3rd AA Division, a HQ brought down from Scotland to handle the increased workload of combating the 'hit and run' raids.[29][30]

Disbandment

AA Command was reorganised again in October 1942, when the AA Corps and Divisions were disbanded and replaced by a single-tier 'Group' structure, with each group corresponding to a Group of Fighter Command. The 5th AA Division's role was subsumed into the 3rd AA Group.[2][31]

The 5th AA Divisional Signals re-amalgamated with the 8th AA Divisional Signals at Bristol, and formed the 3rd AA Group Signals. Postwar the unit became the 57th (City and County of Bristol) Signals Squadron, today part of the 39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment.[25][32][33]

General Officer Commanding

The following officers commanded the 5th AA Division:[5]

  • Major-General Alan Cunningham (1 September 1938 – 9 January 1940)[34]
  • Major-General Robert Allen (10 January–10 November 1940)[35]
  • Major-General Robert Pargiter (11 November 1940 – 30 September 1942)[36]

Order of battle

Notes
  1. Cole p.55
  2. Frederick, p. 1047.
  3. "AA Command 1940 at British Military History". Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  4. "5 AA Division 1939 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  5. Farndale, Annex J, pp. 292–306.
  6. Cunningham at Generals of World War II.
  7. 5 AA Division 1940 at Royal Artillery 1939–45. Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Routledge, pp. 65–6.
  9. Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376.
  10. Routledge, Table LIX, p. 377.
  11. Routledge, p. 371.
  12. Routledge, Table LXI, p. 379.
  13. Allen at Generals of World War II.
  14. Litchfield p. 5.
  15. Routledge, p. 60.
  16. 37th (TEE) S/L Regt RA, War Diary 15 May–16 June 1940, The National Archives (TNA), Kew file WO 166/679.
  17. Farndale, p. 106.
  18. Routledge, p. 383.
  19. Basil Collier pp. 195–6.
  20. Richard Collier, pp. 97–8.
  21. Farndale, p. 108
  22. Routledge, p. 386.
  23. Routledge, p. 391.
  24. Routledge, p. 395.
  25. Lord & Watson, p. 170.
  26. Pargiter at Generals of World War II.
  27. Routledge, pp. 401–4.
  28. Routledge, pp. 399–404.
  29. 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.
  30. Routledge, pp. 402–4.
  31. Routledge, pp. 81, 401, Map 36.
  32. Nalder, p. 620.
  33. Brief History of 39 Signal Regt at British Army website.
  34. Cunningham at Generals of World War II.
  35. Allen at Generals of World War II.
  36. Pargiter at Generals of World War II.
  37. Monthly Army List May 1939.
  38. Routledge, Table LX, p. 378.
  39. "5 AA Division 1940 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  40. Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.
  41. Farndale, Annex D, p. 257.
  42. "5 AA Z Regt at RA 1939–45". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  43. 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.
  44. 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.
  45. Farndale, Annex M.
  46. Routledge, p. 178.
  47. Joslen, p. 465.
  48. Routledge, Table XXXVIII, pp. 253–4.
  49. Hoslen, p. 521.
  50. Routledge, pp. 221-9.
  51. Joslen, p. 558.
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References
  • Cole, Howard (1973). Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire. London: Arms and Armour Press.
  • Basil Collier, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom, London: HM Stationery Office, 1957.
  • Richard Collier, Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain, August 6–September 15, 1940, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1966/Pan Books, 1968, ISBN 0-330-02105-2.
  • 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, ISBN 1-85753-080-2.
  • J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X.
  • Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
  • Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents, Solihull: Helion, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-92-2.
  • Maj-Gen R.F.H. Nalder, The Royal Corps of Signals: A History of its Antecedents and Developments (Circa 1800–1955), London: Royal Signals Institution, 1958.
  • Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 1-85753-099-3.
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