The 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade (38 AA Bde) was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army formed just before the Second World War, which protected London and Southern England during the Blitz and later converted into an infantry formation for the liberation of Europe.
Origins
The brigade headquarters was formed on 28 September 1938 by duplicating the 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade at the Duke of York's Headquarters in Chelsea, London, as part of the expansion of Britain's Anti-Aircraft (AA) defences before the Second World War. The brigade was composed of searchlight units of the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE) and formed part of 1st AA Division, which came under Anti-Aircraft Command the following year. The first brigade commander was Brigadier W.T.O. Crewdson (appointed 28 September 1938).
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. At this time the brigade had the following order of battle:
26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion (London Electrical Engineers), RE (TA) – from 26 AA Bde HQ, 303, 321 and 339 AA Companies at Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea 301 Company at Shepherd's Bush 27th (London) Anti-Aircraft Battalion (London Electrical Engineers), RE (TA) – from 26 AA Bde HQ at Streatham 304, 305, 306 and 390 AA Companies at Westminster 75th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, RA (TA) – formed May 1939 HQ and 470, 471, 472 and 473 S/L Batteries at Cowley, London 38th AA Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps
Blitz
In August 1940, the Royal Engineers AA battalions were transferred to the Royal Artillery and were termed Searchlight Regiments. By now, the 27th (London Electrical Engineers) had been transferred to 47 AA Bde covering Southampton, and had been exchanged with 35th (1st Surrey Rifles) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery. In October, 38 AA Bde was joined by the newly raised 79th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery.
During the Blitz of 1940–41, 38 Light AA Bde provided the searchlight component of 1 AA Division, directing the Heavy (HAA) and Light (LAA) anti-aircraft guns defending London. 1st AA Division had established a control centre at the disused Brompton Road tube station, with an elaborate network of dedicated telephone lines linking the AA sites across the Inner Artillery Zone (IAZ), including many isolated searchlight positions. The London IAZ extended from Cheshunt and Dagenham in the east to Bexley and Mitcham in the south and to Richmond and Northolt in the west, with three brigades of guns deployed. Superimposed across the IAZ were the 73 searchlight sites controlled by 38th AA Bde.
In the absence of inland radar coverage, 1st AA Division's Chief Signals Officer, Lt-Col G.C. Wickens, devised a system of 14 fixed base-lines of sound locators to detect night raids approaching the IAZ. These were linked by automatic telephone equipment to the Brompton operations room, where the angular plots were resolved to indicate grid squares where the HAA guns in range could fire an unseen barrage. Detachments of 75th Searchlight Regiment from 38th AA Bde were trained to operate the base lines. This 'Fixed Azimuth' system came into action in June 1940, in time for the opening of the night Blitz on London. It was later replaced as searchlight control (SLC) and gunlaying (GL) radar systems were introduced.
However, the performance of the AA defences in the early weeks of the Blitz was poor. AA Command moved 108 HAA guns to the IAZ from other divisions, and arranged 'fighter nights' when the guns remained silent and Royal Air Force (RAF) night fighters were allowed to operate over London with the searchlights. Gun-laying (GL) radar, modern sound-locators and larger (150 cm) searchlights were introduced as rapidly as possible, and by February 1941 Searchlight Control (SLC or 'Elsie') radar began to be issued, replacing the fixed azimuth system. The number of raiders shot down steadily increased until mid-May 1941, when the Luftwaffe scaled down its attacks.
Order of Battle 1940–41
The composition of 38 LAA Bde during this period was as follows: