The 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (79th (HY) HAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). Formed just before World War II, it fought in the Battle of France, the Swansea Blitz, Operation Torch and the Italian Campaign. It continued serving in the post-war TA until 1955.
Origin During the period of international tension in 1938, the TA was rapidly expanded in size, particularly for the Anti-Aircraft (AA) role. Much of this expansion was achieved by converting and/or expanding existing units. In the case of 86th (East Anglian) (Herts Yeomanry) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, partly descended from the old Hertfordshire Yeomanry cavalry,Litchfield, pp. 101-4.Mileham, pp. 88–9. this was done by expanding 343 (Watford) Field Battery into a complete new AA brigade. Orders were issued by the Army Council in July 1938 and the new unit came into existence on 1 November with the following organisation (the traditional term 'brigade' for a Lieutenant-Colonel's command in the Royal Artillery (RA) being superseded by 'regiment' on 1 January 1939, and the 'Hertfordshire Yeomanry' subtitle being granted in July 1939):Frederick, pp. 756–60, 775.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 27–34.Monthly Army List May 1939.
79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA Regimental HQ (RHQ) at Clarendon Hall, WatfordClarendon Hall at Drill Hall Project. 246 (1st Watford) Anti-Aircraft Battery – 2 x QF 3-inch 20 cwt semi-mobile guns 247 (2nd Watford) Anti-Aircraft Battery – 2 x 3-inch semi-mobile guns 248 (Welwyn) Anti-Aircraft Battery at Lemsford Lane, Welwyn Garden City – due to receive QF 3.7-inch AA guns
2nd Hertfordshire Company of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Unit, Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), was also based at Watford and affiliated to 79th (HY) AA Rgt. Under the command of Jean Knox (later director of the ATS) it provided support staff in the early days.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire's Soldiers, p. 63.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 40, 91, 113.
86th Field Brigade had retained the Hertfordshire Yeomanry badge of the Hart (deer) as a collar badge worn in addition to the RA's 'gun' cap badge, and later it replaced the gun badge on side caps and berets; this was continued by the new unit even though 343 Field Bty was strictly descended from 4th East Anglian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, and not the Yeomanry.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, p. 196.
Major Thomas Bazley Green, TD, officer commanding (OC) 341 (St Albans) Field Bty, was promoted to Lt-Col to raise and command the new regiment. Other officers were drawn from 86th Field Rgt and other TA units including Stockbrokers serving in the ranks of the 54th (City of London) AA Rgt.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, Appendix 3.
Mobilisation In June 1939, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of Anti-Aircraft Command was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each TA AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected gun positions.Routledge, pp. 65–6.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, p. 4. 79th (HY) AA Regiment was embodied on 25 June for a partial deployment to gunsites along the south bank of the Thames Estuary, with RHQ at Fort Borstal. The availability of equipment at the gunsites was invaluable for training the recruits, and the second half of the month's embodiment was spent at the AA Practice Camp at Bude in Cornwall.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 36–41.
On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised and sent to its war stations.Routledge, p. 371. 79th (HY) AA Rgt was under the command of 37th AA Brigade in 6th Anti-Aircraft Division, responsible for the defences of South East England, centred on the Thames Estuary and including the airfields of 11 Group of RAF Fighter Command.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, p. 42.AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files.Routledge, Table LX, p. 378.
The regiment's immediate task was to deploy two sections to defend Fighter Command's HQ at Bentley Priory near Stanmore in Middlesex. This required all four of the regiment's 3-inch guns, which were manned by 247 Bty. 247 Battery then drew four more 3-inch guns from the School of Anti-Aircraft Defence at RAF Biggin Hill and deployed them to defend RAF Duxford. Meanwhile 246 Bty took over four 3-inch guns from 90th AA Rgt at Alexandra Palace and four more from 59th (Essex Regiment) AA Rgt at Walthamstow and deployed them to RAF Debden and RAF North Weald respectively. One section of 248 Bty manned two 3-inch guns at Biggin Hill while the rest of the battery manned Lewis Light machine guns (LMGs) at RAF Felixstowe (8 LMGs) and RAF Martlesham Heath (12 LMGs).Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 42–5.
Second World War Phoney War After war was declared on 3 September there were numerous adjustments to AA Command's deployment as further units and equipment became available. During the autumn 79th (HY) AA Rgt handed over most of its responsibilities for airfields, and shifted towards the Gun Defence Area (GDA) round the port of Harwich and adjacent harbours, where Lt-Col Bazley-Green was appointed AA Defence Commander (AADC) with a Gun Operations Room (GOR) at Harwich:Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 45–50.
RHQ at Stansted Mountfitchet, later Felixstowe 246 Bty: 4 x 3-inch at site H1 (Landguard Common, Felixstowe) 20 x AA LMG at Royal Naval Mining Depot, Wrabness 20 x AA LMG at Murex Works, Rainham 247 Bty: 2 x 3-inch at site A1 (RAF Bentley Priory) 2 x 3-inch at site A2 (RAF Bentley Priory) 2 x 3-inch at site H5 (Beacon Hill Battery, Harwich) 248 Bty: 2 x 3.7-inch at site H2 (Trimley, Felixstowe) 2 x 3.7-inch at site H3 (Dovercourt) 20 x AA LMG at RAF Martlesham Heath 20 x AA LMG at Parkeston Quay, Harwich
(The Royal Navy submarine depot ship HMS Cyclops in Harwich harbour was designated as AA site H4 under the GOR)
On 17 October the regiment fired its first rounds in anger, when sites H2 and H3 engaged an aircraft identified as hostile. During this period a draft of 100-plus recruits (Militiamen with 3 months' AA training) was received for each battery, and training began for 'Operators, Fire Control' who would man RDF (radar) sets when they arrived.
On 26 December a warning order was received to prepare to move overseas, and the detachments concentrated at Harwich. The regiment was designated as a base defence AA regiment to man static 3.7-inch guns. 248 Battery was already experienced with the 3.7-inch and only needed to attend short courses by sections on a static gun site at Dartford before mobilising at Blackdown Camp near Aldershot, whereas 246 and 247 Btys went to 208th AA Training Rgt at Yeovil and 209th AA Training Rgt at Blandford respectively, followed by two weeks at No 4 AA Practice Camp at Tŷ Croes on Anglesey and No 1 AA Practice Camp at Aberporth in West Wales respectively.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 50–1.
France 248 Bty proceeded from Blackdown to Southampton and sailed for France on the night of 7/8 February 1940. It landed at Le Havre where it came under the operational command of 8th (Belfast) AA Rgt in 3 AA Bde guarding the lines of communication for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It was to remain at Le Havre to man two static 3.7-inch gun positions at Parc de la Hève on the edge of the cliff in front of the lighthouse. The concrete pits were built and guns emplaced by 27 February. The rest of the regiment disembarked on 6 March under the command of Lt-Col R.C. Raikes and took over from 8th AA Rgt. 246 Battery manned four static guns on the harbour mole and four mobile guns some 300 yards to the west. 247 Bty manned one 4-gun position on the seafront and another at Octeville-sur-Mer. In addition, 4 Light AA (LAA) Bty was attached, manning eight static and four mobile Bofors 40 mm guns sited round Le Havre. Both 246 Bty at the harbour and 247 Bty at Octeville were equipped with a Gun-Laying (GL) Radar Mk I set, and in the absence of searchlights the commanders of 3 AA Bde and 79th (HY) AA Rgt devised an AA barrage scheme using fixed bearings and staggered heights over the docks and oil storage tanks for 'unseen' fire at night; this was codenamed 'Pillar of Fire'.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 52–6.Farndale, p. 13.Routledge, pp. 116, 122, Table XVIII, p. 126.BEF at RA 39–45.Farndale, Annex A.Joslen, p. 462.Ellis, Appendix I.
The Battle of France began on 10 May with the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. The BEF followed the pre-arranged Plan D and advanced into Belgium, but a rapid German breakthrough in the Ardennes forced it to fall back again. By 21 May the main body of the BEF was cut off, and between 26 May and 4 June as much as possible was evacuated through Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo).Farndale, pp. 30–85.Routledge, pp. 115–22.Ellis, pp. 35–239.
Even after the Dunkirk evacuation ended, there were still British forces in France north of the Seine, and 79th (HY) AA Rgt maintained its defences at Le Havre covering the Seine ferries. As AADC, Lt-Col Raikes had a troop of 174 LAA Bty from 58th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) LAA Rgt and from 20 May a battery of 37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Rgt with 24 lights, in addition to his own regiment and 4 LAA Bty. There were also some Barrage balloons and French AA guns.Routledge, pp. 122–4.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 58–9.
From 10 to 19 May the only Luftwaffe activity in the area was daily reconnaissance flights, but on the night of 19/20 May there was a three-hour raid on the French airfield at Octeville, during which 'Pillar of fire' brought down an enemy aircraft, followed on succeeding nights by attempts to drop Parachute mines into the harbour entrance. Nightly air attacks on the harbour area began in earnest on 3/4 June, with the guns in action for long periods.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 56–60.
By 8 June, under renewed German attacks, the 1st Armoured and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and other assorted British forces withdrew to the Seine.Ellis, p. 282.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, p. 59. That night, with much of the town and oil depots set on fire by the raids, 'Cuckoo Section' of 79th (HY) AA Rgt ferried the four highly secret GL radar transmitter trailers and their receiver trailers across the river to Honfleur, followed by 247 Bty with the mobile guns.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 61–2.
With the enemy closing on Le Havre, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was cut off and forced to surrender, 3 AA Bde was ordered to evacuate. On the night of 11/12 June 246 Bty disabled their static guns and boarded the Southern Railway ferry SS Brittany, which took them to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. RHQ and most of 248 Bty followed the next night aboard SS St Briac. In a week of prolonged action, 15 enemy aircraft had been destroyed and many of the dive-bombing attacks by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas disrupted.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, p. 63.
Operation Aerial, to evacuate the remainder of the British forces from France was now under way. From Cherbourg, RHQ and the two batteries without equipment were shunted by train between Nantes and Rennes before being evacuated from St Nazaire aboard SS Duchess of York and reaching Liverpool on 18 June. The party of 248 Bty that had stayed to disable the guns was evacuated through St Malo. 247 Battery, operating directly under 3 AA Bde, deployed to defend Rennes and then moved to St Nazaire on 18 June, when it dumped its disabled guns in the dock and boarded SS Glenaffric and was evacuated to Plymouth.Sainsbury, Hertfordshire Yeomanry, pp. 65–7.