I know they were part of the BEF and according to my fathers paybook was either in France or being sent there on 24.9.1939. That is all I know about them and father never spoke of it. Has anyone got any info on this battery etc Many thanks, this is my newbie question. Roger
Roger Hi and welcome. Have a look here RA 1939-45 53 LAA 8th Army; 10<SUP>TH</SUP> ARMOURED DIVISION [Major General Gatehouse] Royal Dragoons 1 Field Regiment RHA 5 Field Regiment RHA[ex 8ArmDiv] 104 Field Regiment RHA [ex 8ArmDiv] 98 Field Regiment RA 84 Anti-tank Regiment RA 53 LAA Regiment RA Rob
Presumably the date of September 1940 is a mis-type if relating to France ? The only mention that I have of 53 LAA with the BEF is as 2 Corps troops on the River Dyle on 15th May 1940.
There is a war diary reference at the National Archives Kew, showing that they were in France from Sept 39 and Mar, May to June 1940. Their search function is working dead slow at the moment, so I can't tell you the refernce of it or if there is one for 158 Battery as well. Will look again in the morning. Cheers - Robert
One of the very few things he told me was that digging gun emplacements on Vimy Ridge, they dug up plenty of human bones !
Hello Roger and welcome. This about your fathers battery is taken from Brig. Routledge's 'History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914-55' 53rd LAA Regiment (157th, 158th and 159th LAA Batteries) was a converted Territorial light infantry regiment, from the north of England, which had accompanied 2nd Corps to France in 1939, equipped at first with Vickers 2-pounders eventually replaced by 40mm Bofors. When 2nd Corps moved forward in May 1940, 53rd Regiment was assigned to route protection at a large number of river and canal crossings where all three batteries came into action and shot down a number of hostile aircraft. As the Dyle front was occupied, the batteries were distributed among field gun positions and 2nd Corps HQ near Louvain, where more attacks followed. Between 16th and 21st May, batteries moved back with 2nd Corps, by stages, in the withdrawal to the Escaut, then crossed the frontier to defensive positions between Lille and Armentières. Its LAA troops were split among route and field gun tasks as before and six hostile aircraft were shot down. HQ 2nd Corps then ordered the batteries to make their way independently back to Dunkirk with the aim of providing cover as corps formations reassembled there. 53rd LAA Regiment was caught up in the ground battle and took several days to reach the sea, fighting a series of short actions in which eight enemy aircraft were destroyed but losing over a third of its guns to damage or disablement on blocked roads. By 28th, 16 X 40mm guns reached the beaches where the MGAA placed 157th and 159th Batteries under 2nd AA Brigade positioned along the sea front and the harbour. What was left of 158th Battery went to the beach at La Panne. All three batteries were in action against low-flying attacks on 30th and 31st May claiming nine victims. The batteries thinned out their strength to leave five or six men on each gun while the rest embarked. At dusk on the 31st, the remaining guns were disabled and the men retrieved. In three weeks of virtually continuous action, from taking the regiment up to the Belgian front and back, to three days on the beaches around Dunkirk, it claimed to have destroyed 28 enemy aircraft.
As promised, I have checked the National Archive database and they do have a war diary for 158 LAA Battery for Sept 1939 to June 1940. The reference is WO167/663.
This is really great info, I never knew he had seen such action, he never spoke much about it. He left the RA in January 1942 and joined 249 HQ Provost Company CMP where he remained until demob on 18.1.46. He originally joined the RA on 26.10.1931 and was posted to the 15th Field Brigade of which I know nothing at all. He left the colours on 29.5.1938 so he had a break of 16 months
This is really great info, I never knew he had seen such action, he never spoke much about it. He left the RA in January 1942 and joined 249 HQ Provost Company CMP where he remained until demob on 18.1.46. He originally joined the RA on 26.10.1931 and was posted to the 15th Field Brigade of which I know nothing at all. He left the colours on 29.5.1938 so he had a break of 16 months 15 Field Brigade, Royal Artillery was officially raised in Gosport on the 1 May 1860 by Captain J de Havilland.<O:p</O:p At the start of the Second World War, the brigade, now re-named 120 Field Battery and part of 32 Regiment, served in France with the British Expeditionary Force and was part of the retreat and evacuation from Dunkirk.<O:p</O:p
My Grandpa was with the RAOC attached to the 53rd and he must have served with the 158 as he ended up on La Panne where he was evacuated by the paddlesteamer Gracie Fields on the 29th May. She was sunk enroute and he was then rescued by HMS Pangbourne
