Hello I'm a new member of the site, doing some research for/about my Great Grandfather's war record. He's 99 in a few weeks and his memory is a bit sketchy now, but it's very helpful to him if I can prompt memories. I know he was stationed in Hyde Park, West Africa and Burma. If anyone has any further information on his battery movements, I'd be very grateful. Thank you for any assistance, Katy.
While you still can get him to apply for his service records from the MoD. Get a copy of military service records: Apply for your own records - GOV.UK Wish him Happy Birthday from me. According to this 313Bty isn't listed as part of 52 HAA Regt, RA 1939-45 52 HAA Rgt Bit of background info here. 52nd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery - Wikipedia Says this about 313 Bty.
Hi Kates, You'll find a number of references to 52 HAA Regt RA and their activities in the book by Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, ISBN 978-1870114004. It's out of print, but there are copies available on Amazon circa £30.
Welcome I have the diaries for both the 52nd AA Regiment WO166-2342 A-A COMMAND HAA 52 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (HAA) 01 August 1939 - 31 December 1941 and WO166 2586 313 Bty August 39 to August 41 I would be more than happy to let you have a copy My father was in 52nd AA Reg as a TA pre war. Graham
The book runs to 470+pages, and covers the history of the AA from 1914-1955, including the campaigns of WW2 in which the AA was engaged. To simply answer your query, yes it does cover the BEF, but whether this is 'much' is perhaps a question of scale. A quick check shows there is a chapter of 13+ pages on the BEF, including data sheets and map. I used this book in a wider context as one of a number of references when writing the 'Ever Your Own, Johnnie' series covering the wartime experiences of John Kemp, who became RSM of the 76th HAA Regt RA, in Britain, N.Africa, and Sicily/Italy, and found it very informative and useful, and helped point me in the direction of other research. I can recommend it for this purpose and in its own right as an interesting 'technical' read (but not in the same league as Anthony Beevor), but it depends very much, I think on what your requirements are. Hope that answers your question!
My maternal grandfather was TA R Signals before the war but became a gunner in 52 HAA when he was called up and went on their London-Ceylon-Burma tour. The only proper war story that I got out of him, not long before he died, was him saying that a bomb hit one of their gunsites and they found the sergeant-major in a tree. This appears to relate to a mine coming down them while in Hyde Park, though it actually landed on their admin site rather than the guns, killing the BQMS and a handful of others. Shamefully, that's about as far as I've got with him to date...
My Grandad has told me a very similar story - perhaps the same event?! Killed 12 men. I’ll ask him if a sergeant-major ended up in a tree.
Kates Please drop me a PM message and we can agree best method to send. They will be too large to email! Graham
The war diary for 16/17 April 1941 (I've only got this bit so far) records 2 killed and 16 wounded, one of whom died later. It was 313 Bty that were hit. The casualties were Battery Quartermaster Sergeant Whitehead and Gunners Bryan and Orrow. I'm sure it was this site that used to include the June 1941 air photo referred to in the sources. Typically, I didn't keep a copy. The caption suggests that the photo showed the site under construction but - as it postdated the bomb - it's more likely it was reconstruction. Pastscape - Detailed Result: HEAVY ANTI AIRCRAFT BATTERY LONDON ZW5
I'll ask my Grandad Bertie if he remembers any of the men you mentioned above. He's definitely told me the story about their position being bombed in London - but I'm guessing, based on your information, the loss of 12 men must have been another event, perhaps in Burma. Thank you so much for the info. Katy.
