The 52nd (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, (52nd (EL) LAA Rgt) was a Royal Artillery (RA) air defence unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) converted from a field artillery unit just before the outbreak of World War II. It served in the Battle of France, shooting down a large number of aircraft before being evacuated from Dunkirk. It was then sent to the Mediterranean, where detached batteries were destroyed in the fighting in Greece and Crete. The reformed regiment then took part in the defence of the Suez Canal and later in the Italian Campaign. It continued in the postwar TA until 1955 when it merged with other units in Lancashire.

Origin

During the 1930s the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence was addressed by converting a number of existing TA units to the AA role. One unit chosen for conversion was the 93rd (East Lancashire) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, based at Burnley and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel C.H. Mather. After conversion into a Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) regiment on 28 November 1938 it had the following organisation:Monthly Army List, various dates.Litchfield, pp. 115–6.Frederick, p. 524.Frederick, pp. 802, 828–9.

52nd (East Lancashire) LAA Regiment Regimental HQ (RHQ) at Burnley Barracks 154 (East Lancashire) LAA Battery at Artillery Drill Hall, Church – converted from 201 Field Bty 155 (East Lancashire) LAA Battery at Burnley Barracks – converted from 202 Field Bty 156 LAA Battery at Clitheroe – newly-formed

At this stage LAA units were armed with Light machine guns (AALMGs), usually old Lewis guns, but the new Bofors 40 mm gun was on order.Routledge, pp. 52–5. After the Munich Crisis in 1938, the TA was doubled in size, and in June 1939 the 52nd formed a duplicate unit at Oswaldtwistle, the 56th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, which received its 'East Lancashire' subtitle in February 1942.

World War II Mobilisation In February 1939 Britain's AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of the TA 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 (S/L) positions. The whole of AA Command was fully mobilised on 24 August ahead of the declaration of war.Routledge, pp. 65–6, 371.

The War Office's plan was that the four newly converted TA LAA regiments (51st–54th) would go to France as soon as they could be mobilised, in order to provide AA cover for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). 52nd (EL) LAA Regiment therefore crossed to France under Lt-Col Mather in November 1939 as corps LAA regiment for I Corps. (The duplicate units like 56th LAA Rgt remained in the UK to continue their training and became entirely independent.) The new LAA regiments were still badly under-equipped for active service: 52nd had 16 Bofors, 40 AALMGs and 7 Vickers 2-pdr Mk VIII pom-poms, with a reduced scale of transport for a mobile role.Ellis, France and Flanders, Appendix I.Farndale, Annex A.Joslen, p. 462.Routledge, pp. 113 & 373.Routledge, Table XVII, p. 125.

Battle of France

When the German invasion of the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940, the BEF advanced into Belgium under Plan D, and by 15 May 52nd (EL) LAA Rgt was with I Corps on the River Dyle. As a corps LAA regiment its role was to defend bridges, gun areas, HQs and defiles. But the Wehrmacht's breakthrough in the Ardennes threatened the BEF's flank, and it had to retreat again.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter III.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter IV.Routledge, pp. 115–7; Table XVIII, p. 126.

By 18 May 52nd (EL) LAA Rgt was in action round Tournai where it brought down two Dornier Do 17s, two Heinkel He 111s the next day, and one of each on 20 May. On 21 May, at Annappes, 155 LAA Bty under Maj J.S. Baldwin came under shellfire but downed another Dornier, while 156 LAA Bty under Maj E. Howard-Vyse got a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and a Dornier. By now, the regiment was with III Corps and on 22 May the regiment came under the command of 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division, with 155 LAA Bty detached to 'Hammondforce' at St Omer under 2 AA Brigade. On 23 May the regiment got another two Dorniers.Farndale, p. 63.Routledge, pp. 117–8.2 AA Bde War Diary, France 1940, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 167/427.

On 26 May the decision was made to evacuate the BEF through Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo). Next day 52nd (EL) LAA Rgt was deployed round Bailleul, where it was credited with the extraordinary number of 14 enemy aircraft shot down. Now the regiment joined 1 AA Bde on the Dunkirk beaches. The AA units covered the shrinking 'pocket' until it was their turn to destroy their equipment and join the queues of men waiting to be taken aboard small boats back to England. During the short campaign 52nd (EL) LAA Rgt was credited with 58 confirmed 'kills', 37 'probables' and many more enemy aircraft damaged.Ellis, France & Flanders, Chapter XI.Routledge, pp. 118–22.

AA units returning from France were rapidly reinforced, re-equipped where possible, and redeployed for future integration into existing defence plans. 52nd LAA Rgt, went to the North Midlands where it re-equipped with Bofors guns.Farndale, p. 98.

Greece

Apart from home defence, Britain's strategic focus was on the Mediterranean and Middle East, and after the entry of Italy into the war in June 1940 there was an urgent need to reinforce British forces in the region. A series of convoys began shipping troops (including AA units) on the six-week journey via the Cape of Good Hope and the Red Sea to Egypt. 52nd (EL) LAA Regiment was one of the first units sent.Farndale, pp. 117–9.Playfair, Vol I, pp. 190–2, 244–5.Routledge, pp. 127–8. On 28 October Italy invaded Greece and British troops were sent to help, including 154 LAA Bty, which landed at Piraeus on 6 November and was allocated to defending airfields. Meanwhile 13th LAA Rgt, which had also contributed a battery to Greece, took over 155 LAA Bty in its place and moved up to defend Mersa Matruh on the Egyptian frontier. It advanced to Tobruk after Operation Compass. 155 LAA Battery was then released and sent to Greece in February 1941. Lieutenant-Col Mather went with RHQ and his remaining battery, 156, to join the defences on Crete.Farndale, pp. 129–30, 180.Joslen, pp. 478, 481.Playfair, Vol I, pp. 226–9.Routledge, pp. 128–30, 144; Table XIX, p. 141.

The Greeks having halted the initial Italian invasion, it was widely anticipated that the Germans would carry out a new attack in the Spring. 'W Force' of Commonwealth troops was stretched in a defensive line along the River Aliakmon. 155 LAA Battery was posted to hold the Aliakmon crossings while 154 LAA Bty was deployed as three separate troops around the vital road centre and airfield of Larissa, about behind the line. The German invasion of Greece came on 6 April, preceded by heavy bombing raids and a flanking attack through Yugoslavia. W Force was soon obliged to abandon the Aliakmon line and carry out a fighting withdrawal. 155 LAA Battery was ordered to detach two troops to Grevena to cover the retirement of an isolated brigade back to Larissa. The battery reached Grevena on 12 April, then spent 5–6 days moving back by stages along rough tracks through narrow ravines, constantly in action. In one defile near Kalabaka the Luftwaffe caught a mass of halted motor and horse-dawn vehicles and caused a catastrophic traffic jam; 155 LAA Bty lost one gun and took 24 hours to cover .Playfair, Vol I, pp. 333–7, 377–81, 385–6.Playfair, Vol II, pp. 70, 83–90.Routledge, pp. 144–6.US Army CMH, Balkans, pp. 80, 96.

After making a good stand on Mount Olympus, W Force planned to withdraw through Larissa to defend the Pass of Thermopylae. The Luftwaffe attempted to stop this with three days of air raids on Larissa and the airfields. After the airfields had been abandoned, 154 LAA Bty was withdrawn to reinforce Eleusis. The seven remaining guns of 155 LAA Bty finally reached Larissa on 17 April and were immediately sent on to Thermoplyae in 36 hours of continuous driving. After a short rest they were sent another to join the 2nd New Zealand Division, which was making a fighting retreat down the coast. The battery was attacked while on the move and in the action lost another gun to a premature shell-burst. On arrival the Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA), of 2nd NZ Division deployed the six guns along the division's line of retreat along rough tracks through rugged country. By 24 April these guns had been in action for three days covering the New Zealanders' withdrawal and had exhausted their ammunition. That night the New Zealand rearguard broke contact with the enemy and made its way over the hills to Thebes and Athens, taking 155 LAA Bty with it. On 26 April the battery was ordered to destroy its remaining equipment and make its way south.Playfair, Vol II, pp. 90–100.Routledge, pp. 146–7.US Army CMH, Balkans, pp. 96–107.

154 LAA Battery and 20 Heavy AA Bty of 2nd HAA Rgt defending the airfields at Menedi and Eleusis were under repeated attack from 18 to 20 April by Bf 109s and Junkers Ju 87 'Stukas'. The HAA could do little against these low-level and divebombing attacks, and several guns were knocked out, but together with 154th LAA Bty 5 enemy aircraft were destroyed before the guns were withdrawn. The bulk of W Force was now making its way to Kalamata to be evacuated and the remaining AA guns were redeployed to Argos to cover the route through Athens and across the Corinth Canal. A troop of 154 LAA Bty helped to defend the airfields at Argos against fierce attack until the last Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters were destroyed, then made its way to the bridge over the Corinth Canal. Here heavy raids began at dawn on 26 April, with the AA positions being singled out. Although the AA guns put up desperate defensive fire they were swamped by several hundred German paratroopers and glider troops landing in and around their defences. The bridge was blown up before the paratroops could seize it but the AA detachments armed with only a few rifles and LMGs were overrun and most were captured. Only about 130 AA gunners, from a variety of units, got away from this battle to be picked up by HMS Orion. All remaining AA gunners in Greece were ordered to destroy their equipment and form anti-paratroop platoons to cover the evacuation from Kamalata. On 28 April the New Zealanders arrived to take over this rearguard role and the gunners were released for evacuation. Four officers and 90 other ranks of 155 LAA Bty eventually made their way out of Greece by this means.Playfair, Vol II, pp. 93–104.US Army CMH, Balkans, pp. 107–111.

Crete

After conquering mainland Greece, the Germans turned their attention to Crete, where RHQ and 156 Bty of 52nd (EL) LAA Rgt had been deployed with 'Creforce' since the previous December. On the eve of the invasion, Lt-Col Mather with RHQ was AA Defence Commander (AADC) of 'M' Group defending the naval installations in the Suda–Canea Sector, consisting of:Farndale, pp. 180–1.Joslen, p. 481.Playfair, Vol II, pp. 121–5.Routledge, p. 149. One Trp 151st HAA Bty of 51st (London) HAA Rgt – 6 x 3.7-inch guns 129 LAA Bty of 15th (Isle of Man) LAA Rgt – 11 x Bofors Section 156 LAA Bty of 52nd (EL) LAA Rgt – 2 x Bofors Section 7 Australian LAA Bty – 2 x Bofors Gun Operations Room

A few miles away, two troops of 156 LAA Bty under Maj R.S. Kay with 8 Bofors were deployed round Maleme airfield, sited on higher ground to get an all-round field of fire and also to be able to fire onto possible invasion beaches. Meanwhile, another troop of 156 LAA Bty with 5 Bofors was along the coast at Heraklion with 14 Infantry Bde.