2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade (2 AA Bde) was an air defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War, seeing active service in the Battle of France and the North African and Italian campaigns.
Origin
During the 1930s the development of airpower led the British Army to expand its anti-aircraft (AA) defences. 2nd Anti-Aircraft Group was formed at Lichfield on 1 October 1936 as part of Northern Command. Initially it comprised the two senior Royal Artillery (RA) AA gun 'brigades' (at that time an RA 'brigade' was a regimental-size unit). Brigadier Edward Chadwick, MC, former Commanding Officer (CO) of 1st AA Bde (Rgt) was brought back from commanding the Mediterranean Air Defence Group in Egypt to lead the new Group, which was composed as follows: 1st AA Bde 1, 2, 17 AA Batteries, 4 Machine Gun (MG) Battery 2nd AA Bde 4, 5, 6 AA Batteries, 2 MG Battery
Terminology changed frequently: for a while the new group was termed 2nd Air Defence Brigade, and by July 1937 the MG batteries were termed Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) batteries. In January 1938 the RA changed the designation of a lieutenant-colonel's command from 'brigade' to 'regiment' allowing the AA groups to take the more usual designation of 'brigade'. By the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, 2 AA Bde at Lichfield came under Western Command, but its wartime role was to support the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that was to be sent to France.
Second World War
Phoney War
The prewar planning for the BEF had envisaged two AA brigades, one for forward defence and one guarding the bases and lines of communication, but this was quickly expanded, new headquarters (HQs) were created and the Regular Army AA units were supplemented by part-time units of the Territorial Army (TA) that had been mobilised for war service under Anti-Aircraft Command. The order to mobilise was received by 2 AA Bde HQ on 1 September and the advance party disembarked at Nantes on 5 September, followed by the main body aboard SS Manxman on 11 September. 1st and 2nd AA Regiments crossed to France the following day. 2 AA Bde HQ remained at Nantes throughout September organising disembarkation of searchlight units and awaiting the arrival of its signals, workshop and transport companies. 1st AA Regiment moved up to the forward area on 8 October, where it joined another brigade, as did 2nd AA Rgt. By November, 2 AA Bde HQ was established at Beauval, Somme, with the following units under command:
60th (City of London) AA Rgt (TA) – 24 x 3-inch guns
210 Bty of 73rd AA Rgt (TA) – 8 x semi-mobile 3-inch guns
51st (Devon) LAA Rgt (TA) – 12 x Bofors 40 mm guns, 48 x Light machine guns (LMGs) 1st Searchlight Battalion, Royal Engineers (Regular) – 96 x searchlights (S/Ls) 2 AA Bde Signals, Royal Corps of Signals (RCS) 2 AA Bde Workshop, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) 2 AA Bde Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC)
A new 5 S/L Bde took over responsibility for all the BEF's searchlights in February 1940, and there were several changes in 2 AA Bde's composition and locations. Its HQ moved to Villers-Bretonneux in April, by which time its responsibilities were to defend Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields of the BEF's Air Component, together with certain French power stations.
Battle of France
The so-called Phoney War was a monotonous period of watching and training. It ended on 10 May 1940 with the German invasion of the Low Countries, and surprise attacks on RAF airfields in France.
Order of Battle 10 May 1940
At this point 2 AA Bde's dispositions were as follows: 2nd AA Rgt 6, 21 AA Btys – 16 x 3.7-inch defending Arras airfield 60th (City of London) AA Rgt 168 AA Bty – 4 x 3-inch at each of Abbeville and Poix airfields 169 AA Bty – 4 x 3-inch at each of Vitry and Seclin airfields 194 AA Bty – 4 x 3-inch at each of Amiens–Glisy and Rosieres-en-Santerre airfields 210/73 AA Bty – 6 x 3-inch at Mons-en-Chaussee, 2 x 3-inch at Péronne Civil Airport 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt 151 LAA Bty – 4 x Bofors at each of Abbeville, Poix and Amiens Glisy 152 LAA Bty – 4 x Bofors at Mons-en-Chaussee, 8 x AA LMGs at each of Rosieres and Vitry 153 LAA Bty – 4 x Bofors at Vitry, 4 x Bofors and 8 x AA LMGs at Seclin 58th (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders) LAA Rgt 172 LAA Bty – 4 x Vickers Mk VIII 2-pounders at each of Pont-à-Vendin, Lomme and Comines 173 LAA Bty – 4 x 2-pounders at each of Douai and Dechy
The gunsites of 2nd and 60th AA Rgts and 51st LAA Rgt were each supported by a S/L Troop or half-Troop from 5 S/L Bde.