82nd (Essex) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1938 until 1955. During World War II it served in the Norwegian Campaign, defended Gibraltar and the D-Day invasion ports, and took part in Operation Diver against the V-1 flying bombs.
Origin The regiment was formed in Essex 1 October 1938 as part of the expansion of Britain's anti-aircraft (AA) defences in the period of tension before World War II. 82nd AA Brigade (like all Royal Artillery (RA) AA brigades it was redesignated as a 'regiment' on 1 January 1939), and it gained its 'Essex' subtitle the following year) comprised a regimental headquarters (RHQ) at Barking and three batteries:Frederick, pp. 754–756, 776.Litchfield, pp. 71–72. 156 (Barking) AA Battery at Barking; transferred from 52nd (London) AA Regiment, one of the first TA AA regiments, raised in 1922 193 AA Battery at Leigh-on-Sea; transferred from 59th (Essex Regiment) AA Regiment, itself converted from 7th Battalion Essex Regiment in 1935 256 (Barking) AA Battery newly-raised at Barking
The regiment was under the command of Brevet Colonel G. Shenstone, formerly of the 7th Bn Essex Regiment.Monthly Army List, May 1939. Its Essex subtitle was added in July 1939
World War II Mobilisation In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June a partial mobilisation of TA units 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. 65–66, 371. 82nd (Essex) AA Regiment formed part of 37th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in 6th AA Division covering South East England.AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files.Routledge, Table LX, p. 378.
Norway In April 1940, 6 AA Brigade was organised to provide AA cover for the Allied force sent to Norway. 82nd (Essex) AA Regiment, with 24 3.7-inch guns, was selected to join this formation, but like all the other AA units it was short of instruments and towing vehicles.Derry, Appendix B.Farndale, p. 27.Farndale, Annex C.Joslen, p. 461.Routledge, p. 109.
193 AA Battery of 82nd HAA Rgt, together with a Light AA (LAA) battery, was assigned to 146th Infantry Brigade, which had landed at Namsos 16–18 April as part of 'Mauriceforce'. However, only the first LAA guns had arrived by 29 April, when it was decided to evacuate the heavily-bombed infantry.Derry, pp. 88–90, 139–142.Farndale, p. 28.Shakespeare, pp. 100–102.
For the main attack on Narvik, AA guns were landed at Harstad, an island base just outside Narvikfjord with an anchorage, and an airstrip at Skånland on the opposite coast. Initial AA defence was provided by LAA guns, joined in May by 193/82nd HAA Bty with eight 3.7-inch guns. To enable the RAF to operate fighters, these guns were to be based at Bardufoss Air Station on the mainland, a remote site where packed ice had to be blasted clear before the guns could be emplaced. A small supply port was established for the Bardufoss force at Sørreisa, near Tromsø. 6 AA Brigade had to provide AA defence for all these sites, and for a blocking force to be put ashore at Bodo on the mainland to the south. In addition, the French combat groups along Narvikfjord were being strafed and needed AA cover.Routledge, pp. 110–112.Derry, pp. 148–150.
When the rest of 82nd AA Rgt arrived on 10 May, Brigade HQ allocated one battery to Bardufoss and another to Tromsø and Sorreisa. (The four guns at Tromsø, the temporary seat of the Norwegian government, represented the furthest northward British deployment.) These deployments were gradually carried out during May. All movements had to be carried out along steep narrow roads banked with six feet of snow, or on boats that could not take a 3.7-inch gun.Derry, p. 201. The Luftwaffe concentrated its air attacks on the AA defences. With high mountains and low cloud, early warning cover was poor, with just a single RAF radar post on the Lofoten Islands, and the Army AA units had to rely on radar-equipped warships, which provided most of the AA cover in Narvikfjord.
Bardufoss Airfield opened on 21 May and the final assault on Narvik by French, Polish and Norwegian troops began on 27 May. However, immediately after its capture, orders were received to destroy the port and evacuate to the UK. (The British Expeditionary Force was simultaneously being evacuated from Dunkirk). To cover the evacuation, AA units were ordered to maintain maximum activity and especially to prevent reconnaissance overflights. A the same time, 6 AA Bde was ordered by London to recover its 3.7-inch and 40mm Bofors guns as a matter of priority. This was done by progressively thinning out defences, and the brigade was able to assemble from the outlying positions 22 Bofors and five HAA guns at Hardstad, with a number of predictors and heightfinders. Although much of the force's equipment was saved, the AA guns were kept in action until 6 June to cover the evacuation. and many had to be abandoned when the last troopship left on 8 June.Derry, pp. 172, 220–222.
Gibraltar
AA units returning from France and Norway were rapidly reinforced, re-equipped where possible, and redeployed for future integration into existing defence plans. On 1 June, those AA regiments equipped with 3-inch guns or the newer 3.7-inch were termed Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) to distinguish them from the new Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) units being formed. 82nd (Essex) HAA Regiment was re-equipped with 16 x 3.7-inch guns, 8 x Bofors guns and GL Mk I gun-laying radar, and was then sent aboard the SS City of Cairo to reinforce the defences of Gibraltar.Farndale, p. 98.
On the outbreak of war in September 1939 there had only been two batteries (9 and 19 AA Btys) manning the totally inadequate AA defences of Gibraltar, which consisted of four old 3-inch guns and four new 3.7-inch guns, spread in two-gun sections to give the widest possible coverage, and two of the new Bofors 40 mm guns to protect the Royal Navy Dockyard, with the assistance of Royal Navy (RN) 2-pounder pom-pom guns. 10th AA Rgt was formed in December 1939 to command 9 and 19 AA Btys and train the AA Section of the new Gibraltar Defence Force (GDF), which took over the 3-inch guns. Apart from occasional shots fired at unidentified aircraft penetrating Gibraltar's airspace, there were no attacks on the fortress during the 'Phoney war' period.Routledge, Table XI, p. 68; Table XIII, p. 69.Routledge, pp. 201–204.Rankin, p. 153.
After the Fall of France, a group of AA detachments under 53rd (City of London) AA Rgt escaped from Marseille aboard the SS Alma Dawson. A French dockyard strike prevented them from loading any of their 3-inch guns or vehicles, but they mounted Bofors guns on the ship's deck and put to sea on 18 June. On arrival in Gibraltar they reinforced 10th AA Rgt. 82nd (Essex) AA Regiment arrived on 27 June, and once it had unloaded its guns and equipment 53rd AA Rgt re-embarked for home.53 HAA Regt War Diary 1940–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2343.Joslen, pp. 552–553.
There followed a reorganisation of the AA units in Gibraltar: 19 AA Bty joined 82nd AA Rgt, together with the GDF HAA battery, while 9 AA Bty took over all the Bofors guns. A searchlight battery arrived, and an AA Operations Room (AAOR) was established to control all the gunsites and to coordinate with AA-equipped ships in the harbour. 10th AA Rgt HQ was ordered to be transferred to Malta in July, but this did not occur until November when, as part of Operation Coat, a reinforcement convoy for Malta put in at Gibraltar and picked it up.
The first serious air raid on Gibraltar came at 02.00 on 18 July, when two unidentified aircraft bombed the slopes of the Rock, causing some fatalities. The attack was thought to be by the Vichy French Air Force in retaliation for the British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on 3 July (Operation Catapult), which had been carried out by Force H from Gibraltar.Playfair, Vol I, pp. 130–137, 142.Rankin, pp. 1–7.Smith, pp. 57–88. On 21 August the AA defences brought down a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bomber during a raid by the Italian Regia Aeronautica. On 24 and 25 September waves of Vichy bombers attacked Gibraltar again in retaliation for the British and Free French attack on Dakar (Operation Menace), and caused considerable damage. Several of these bombers were shot down by the combined AA fire. On other occasions the guns fired at single Italian reconnaissance aircraft, known to the garrison as 'Persistent Percy'.Farndale, pp. 200–201.Rankin, pp. 295–299.
A new 13th HAA Rgt HQ was formed in Gibraltar in March 1941 to replace the absent 10th and take over the newly-arrived 228 (Edinburgh) HAA Bty and the radar troop.Routledge, Table XXXIV, p. 212. Additional guns and GL radar sets arrived by May, and in September 1941 15 AA Bde HQ was formed to coordinate all AA defences and integrate them into the plans against invasion by sea or land. The revised layout could bring the fire of 20 HAA guns to bear on a target approaching at a speed of 240 mph from any direction at a typical height of 12,000 feet. Each AA gunsite was also given an Oerlikon 20 mm cannon for self-defence.
During 1941 there were five air raids that were positively identified as Vichy French, another six were attributed to Italian aircraft. A total of nine 'kills' were claimed with one 'probable', though the Vichy and Italian HQs announced higher losses than these, so some aircraft probably crashed in Spain or elsewhere. Throughout 1942, raiding was spasmodic and in small strength, most enemy sorties being confined to high level reconnaissance overflights, including German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 aircraft from March 1942. There were occasional Italian raids on moonlit nights, generally of three Savoia bombers flying at medium height. On 29 June the Royal Air Force early warning radar detected one such raid at a range of 60 miles, which was duly picked up by GL radar as the aircraft turned towards the Rock. One aircraft was illuminated by searchlight and shot down, the others were engaged with barrage fire by the HAA guns and Z battery rockets. Although Gibraltar's North Airfield was bombed and casualties suffered, two more of the hostile raiders were shot down and crashed in Spain.
During the whole of 1942 there were six bombing raids on Gibraltar, two of which were unidentified, and 18 reconnaissance overflights, all but two of them German. Four aircraft were shot down and others crash-landed in Spain. Some of the Italian raids missed their targets and dropped their bombs in Spanish territory, and Spanish AA guns sometimes opened fire as a raid passed towards them. By the end of 1942, the AA defences of Gibraltar reached a peak of scale and efficiency, but the threat had dwindled. There were only two or three reconnaissance flights during 1943. 228 HAA Battery joined the regiment when 13th HAA Rgt HQ was disbanded in November 1942. 175th HAA Rgt (375, 386, 441 HAA Btys) arrived in Gibraltar in May 1943 to relieve 82nd HAA Rgt, which embarked with 156, 193 and 256 HAA Btys on 30 May to return to Home Forces in the UK, leaving 228 HAA Bty with 175th HAA Rgt.
Home Defence On return to AA Command, 82nd HAA Rgt joined 35 AA Bde in 2 AA Group covering South East England. It was rejoined by 228 HAA Bty from Gibraltar in October 1943.Order of Battle of AA Command, 1 August 1943, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/84.