Hello, My Grandfather Frederick George Payne served in the 99th LT. A.A. REGT. R.A. from Dec 1942 to Sept 1944 I was wondering if anyone could help translate what unit this is and also if anyone knew where to get some more info on the unit? I think it may be the 99th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery but I am not sure. In case is helps track down his unit his service record states that he was stationed in the following countries Home - 17th July 1940 - 26th October 1942 Iraq - 27th October 1942 - 16th March 1943 Middle East - 17th March 1943 - 28th August 1943 BNAF - 29th August 1943 - 5th February 1946 Home - 6th February 1946 - 13th May 1946 Before and after the 99th he was in the 14th Btn Queen’s RR. Any help you can give would be much appreciated. Steve
Steve, you've identified it correctly as the 99 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. Their war diaries are held at the National Archives at Kew. Here's a list of them: WO 166/7687, 99 Regt. (1941 Dec.- 1942 Apr.) WO 166/11725, 99 Regt. (1943 May-Sept.) WO 169/4903, 99 L.A.A. Regt. (1942 Oct.- Dec.) WO 169/10012, 99 L.A.A. Regt. (1943 Jan.- Dec.) WO 170/1246, Light Anti-Aircraft Regiments: 99 Regt. (1944 Jan.- Aug.) Lee
Steve, Does the service record mention whether he served in a particular battery of 99 LAA Regt. It would look something like the wording over my Avatar. 336/102. My Dad served in 336 Battery/102 LAA Regt and that's how it looked in his service record. Quite often the batteries were seperated from one another and wrote their own diary and it's sometimes more detailed. Unfortunately, I don't know which batteries came under command 99 LAA, otherwise I would have checked for you. Regards - Rob
Hi Steve, I've identified the 3 batteries of 99 LAA Regt and they did have war diaries for 1943 & 1944. Send me a private message for the information. Regards - Rob
14th battalion, The Queen's RR was converted to 99 LAA on December 1, 1941. It was one of 22 infantry battalions converted to light anti-aircraft regiments between November 1941 and February 1942.
Hi This confirms what you have- RA 1939-45 99 LAA regards Robert That's the first place I looked and unfortunately the batteries are not listed. They are however, 327, 328 and 329. 99 LAA Regt lost 23 men killed in WW2, 21 in Sicily and Italy. 2 men are buried in the UK. One in 1942 and 1 in 1944.
Dear All, Thanks very much for all the info you have provided. There service record certainly now makes a bit more sense to me than at first. I did have a few further questions if anyone can help? Between 1st January 1945 and 3rd March 1945 his unit is listed as X(4). After that it is listed as 2/6 Queens. Does anyone know what this means? Ramacal – His service record says he was in 327 Battery. Bofors – The link RA 1939-45 99 LAA shows the locations of the unit but some dates do not tally with my grandfather’s service record. The link says they were in North Africa (Middle East Forces) in Jan 1942, North Africa (8th Army) in Jun 1942 & Italy (8th Army) in Sept 1943. The service record says UK - 17th July 1940 - 26th October 1942, Iraq - 27th October 1942 - 16th March 1943, Middle East - 17th March 1943 - 28th August 1943 & Italy - 29th August 1943 - 5th February 1946. The main one is that he left the UK on October 1942, not January 1942 as the link suggests. I shall go to the National Archives to read the war diaries but just wondered if anyone had any ideas on why the dates might be wrong? I have scanned the service and casualty record into 3 images so I can email them or post them if that would be useful in checking the details I have given? Steve
Steve, here are some more diaries that might be of interest. Give me a shout if you need any tips for when you make your National Archives visit. WO 169/10113, 327 L.A.A. Bty. (1943 June- Dec.) WO 170/1298, Light Anti-Aircraft Batteries: 327 Bty. (1944 Jan.- July) WO 170/5060, 2/6 Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (1945 Jan.- Dec.) WO 170/8030, 2/6 Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (1946 Jan.- May) Lee
Hi Steve Like my Father, he was probably a reinforcement. The regiment went in January and after training he was posted later. His battery may have been posted differently during the war, the war diaries will give you a better guide as to what happened. I know with my Father, batteries in his regiment were being split off and posted to different areas at different times. regards Robert
Hi Steve, my grandfather served in 14th QRR, 327 battery 99 LAA and rejoined the QRR in Italy. I have lots of information and would love to share it with you. Kind regards, Sean
Hello Sean Steve has not been on the forum since 19-09-2011 Send him a private message and he should get a notification and reply to you. regards Clive
Hi Clive, Thank you for your advice. I've sent Steve a private message and hope to hear from him. Regards Sean
Hello, Thanks for getting in touch. Just replied to your message. Look forward to hearing from you. Steve
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/45836-99th-light-anti-aircraft-regiment-ra-ta/?hl=99th Hi I have already made a post on this subject elsewhere, see the link above My Dad was also in this unit, OC R Troop 329 Bty. For some reason he had 'The Regimental Camera' and took lots (100's) of well catalogued pictures . After the war to his suprise they were all returned to him by The War Office After he died they came to me. and I have scanned them all, together with some maps and other documents. I have just handed the originals (and CD with scanned images) to the Imperial War Museum for safe keeping. I have kept a CD for the family. I believe they They will be in the London Site for 5 yrs and then to Duxford. I Understand they will be called 'The Williamson Collection' My understanding of some events, but may not be accurate At Outbreak of War: 14th Battalion The Queens Regiment. B Company. Was on the ranges in lime pits west of Dorking when war was declared. Battalion on sea defence Near Selsy. CO, Col Alex Wilson (ex Coldstream Gds) receives George Medal after one of his men is injured and trapped in defensive beach minefield. Rather than wait for area to be cleared, he walked in, picked him up and walked out (See the page from “Sunday Pictorial” dated 21 Dec 1941 from Eye Witness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Wilkinson Troop Ship from Avonmouth, via, Brazil, South Africa (Table Bay) to Basra (& Baghdad). Prior to Op Husky – Invasion of Italy. Converted to: Royal Artillery. (They retained their Queens Regiment Buttons on their uniform much to the Gunners upset) Boarded in Tunisia and landed on Amber Beach MARZAMEI Sicily. Landings virtually unopposed, largely thanks to Operation Mincemeat, “The Man Who Never Was”. Book by Owen Montague. You all need to read this book; many of us owe our very existence to the guys in this book, widely available on ebay. Royal Artillery, 99 Light Anti Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery. Completed aircraft recognition course in Bagdad or Basra During their time in Basra a lot of the regiment, were badly laid up with some sort of local stomach upset Fought right through Italy. 1 Battery (I am not sure which one), detached to Salerno landings near Naples. At Cassino they were responsible for 24/7 Smoke cover for RE Bridge over Seino (4th Battle) 99 Regt very effective (but did not always follow official Artillery procedure. “Wall of Lead”, reportedly they consumed 10 times the normal ammunition used by most AA regiments) After threat of Luftwaffe was eliminated Re-Converted to Infantry 1 Bn The Buffs. By now my Dad was in Suppory Coy, OC Bren Gun Carrier Pl In action at Lake Comacchio (NE Italy). A difficult operation and many casualties Finished war in Thessalonica, after disarming The Chetnicks . Had R & R in Rome, Venice and Lake Como
