I'm interested in tracing the LAA Regts that were at Bari in Dec 43. Whilst Routledge suggests that 117 was there, they were in fact somewhere else according to their diaries. Any suggestions/ information would be welcome.
49th LAA Regiment was part of 78th (Battleaxe) Division (until December 1944 ?) Ron's your man - I'm sure he will be along soon! Found this http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/9474-49th-light-ack-ack-rgt-ra-regimental-diary-extracts/ Lesley
HAARA Hi ! Sorry, but not the 49th LAA Yes we passed through Bari and I had a day leave there but we soon moved up Northward to Termoli http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/image/1091-014-page-14/ As Lesley pointed out, the 49th were part of 78 Div, but by December we were already on our way to join the 5th Army at Cassino, stopping en-route at Casaacalenda and finishing up at Carovilli. My own diaries for that period have, unfortunately, gone missing but I fell back on the Regimental diaries and those of my old friend and fellow Driver/Op Lew Fox . You can see the relevant excerpts here: On 8 Nov RHQ moved to Castel Bordino. Orders came that day to collect 12 SP Bofors from 74 LAA Regt and on the 10th A/90 Tp went to Campomarino for training on the SPs. There were two attacks by "friendly" aircraft on 11 Nov in which a bomb was dropped. A later report states that attacks were made quite near the easily identifiable Punta della Penna which was well south of the "bombline". The report also states that the attacks were neither determined, being turned away by warning shots, nor accurate so that no great damage was done. On 12 Nov 26 Sights Correctional, Stiffkey Sticks, were issued. On 17 Nov the C) exchanged posts with CO 76 HAA Regt, for a short period, so that each could study the AA policy of the other regt. A/83 Tp went to Campomarino for SP Bofors training. A /90 left Campomarino and moved north of Vasto with SP guns. On 24 Nov six "friendly" bombers (Bostons) dropped bombs east of Casalbordino. Six FW 190s attacked the bridge over R Sangro at H 4302. Stiffkey sticks were used and the guns destroyed one of the aircraft and the RAF another. On 25 Nov A/90 moved to defend a bridge over R Sangro at H 4301. There were twenty air raids during the month, including those by "friendly" aircraft. DEC 1943 On 2 Dec A/90, C/90, 3 guns B/90 and 3 guns B/280 were relieved by Cdn LAA and concentrated east of Sangro. On the 4th ( Dec) 90 Bty moved with 36 Bde to a rest area at Casacalenda Lew's Diary: 4/12/43 Said goodbye to the Sangro as we were going out of the line to be relieved by the 1st Canadian Division for a rest (Oh Yeh !) They occupied our positions and back we moved travelling all night, didn't feel tired. Lew's Diary: CASACALENDA 5/12/43 Arrived in town at about 0300 which turned out to be Casacalenda but as we were so tired we stopped where we were and fell asleep.. When we were woken we went for breakfast and then off to our billets which were quite good. Then the ballshit began. We cleaned up the trucks, boots polished, webbing scrubbed and kit layouts, this was only the beginning. Back with my own Diaries: Saturday 1st. January 1944 Spent in Carovilli in the Central sector. Snow, cold, damp but still had a very good Xmas. I'm afraid that despite Lesley's assurances you will have to keep on looking Good luck ! Ron Ps On reading this posting through I wondered if you knew what a Stiffkey Stick was. Just in case you were interested there's a good explanation here: http://www.timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=3915.0
Found a chap here from 117 LAA who was killed on 4/11/43 and buried at Bari http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2202944/ARMSTRONG,%20GEORGE Looked at CWGC and some buried at Bari in December 1943 with the following LAA units: 74 14 47 Of course these units might not actually have been at Bari but it could help Lesley
Thanks guys, your kindness in responding is much appreciated! My particular interest is in the Bari raid, night of 2 Dec 43. Routledge advises that 177 LAA were part of 62Bde there, but as I noted above, their diaries advise otherwise - I'm sure they appreciated the 'quiet' evening they had instead ( and I trekked to Nat Archives to find this out!). I've seen mention of 47 LAA in the area. Do you have any knowledge of them? The internet seems rather sparing in information on them- unless of course I'm looking in completely the wrong place!
Sorry - slip of the finger - should have typed 117. But interestingly, i did check 177 as well, but drew a blank there too.... unless you can correct me?
Hi A reply to my posting enquiring about the 39th LAA regiment turned up the following... 39th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) HQ: Lincoln 110th Bty: Scunthorpe 111th Bty (307th Tp: Cleethorpes; 308th Tp: Binbrook; 309th Tp: Scampton) The regiment was forming in September 1939. It served under 39th AA Brigade at Humber and Scunthorpe in February 1941. 240th Battery was added on 8 July 1941. The fourth troops of all batteries were detached on 1 December 1941 to form 363rd Battery of 111th Light AA Regiment. It was sent to North Africa and arrived after January 1943. It formed part of 62nd AA Brigade on arrival at Bougie and Setif. Just before the end of the campaign in May 1943, the regiment was placed into reserve under the brigade. The regiment moved to Italy in October 1943 under 62nd AA Brigade and served with the brigade in the Bari area until the regiment was placed on suspended animation on 1 March 1945. Graham
