Need help , does anyone know where this battery was positioned in January 1944 . My mother was in the A.T.S. and was posted to RA145 Regiment 501 (Mixed) HAA battery ? Any help would be very much appreciated .
Not an exact answer but a start. 145 (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA(TA) - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 Dangerous assumption but at a guess, from your information Mixed - Male & Female. Whilst the (M) would normally denote Medium it seems to mean Male only. The true answer should be in their War Diary others might be able to help with that. Anti Aircraft can get a bit complicated particularly home defence units as some of them changed designation a lot over the course of the war.
That is a puzzle. Wiki states 145 Regiment became part of the 36th (Scottish) Anti-Aircraft Brigade from April 1943, previously being part of 43 AA Brigade. It appears this regiment was disbanded: From: 36th (Scottish) Anti-Aircraft Brigade - Wikipedia There is no Wiki for 8 AA Group. Their Operations Room in March 1945 was at Aitkenhead House, King's Park, Glasgow. From: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/344314333987244350/ Post 3 states: From: Glasgow - 1941 -43 Heavy Anti Air Batteries This appears to be based on: Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 1-85753-099-3.
The website referred to in #2 corresponds to the thread but if you follow Derek's Battery Finder he notes: 501 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Bty 145 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt Formed Feb 42 - Apr 47 Re-designated 294 HAA Bty which seems to go astray. During my quick research I also followed dbfpo link but that also goes astray. This is a regular problem with Home Service units who either break up or are re numbered when going abroad. The AA Command Structure is very confusing seemingly independent of normal RA Regimental structures.
It would help if you can indicate when your mother was in the ATS and posted to 501 (Mixed) Battery 145 HAA Regiment or even post a Service Record or documentation which told you this. The ra 39-45 website does not mention 1943 or 44 and 1945 seems to be M only. Her Army name rank and number would be useful. Others may be able to trace her unit on National Archives or even locate their War Diary. If you dont have a Service Record you should consider applying for one and post the forms for members to decipher and research for you from there. Otherwise it is really all guess work.
