33rd (Western) Anti-Aircraft Brigade
59 Anti-Aircraft Brigade
Active1 November 1936 – 31 October 1955
Country United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Army
TypeAnti-Aircraft Brigade
RoleAir Defence
Part of2nd AA Division
4th AA Division
4 AA Group
Garrison/HQChester
Liverpool
Warrington
EngagementsThe Blitz

The 33rd (Western) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended Merseyside and West Lancashire during The Blitz.

Origin

The 33rd (Western) Anti-Aircraft Group (later Brigade) was formed on 1 November 1936 at the Drill Hall, Chester, as part of 2nd AA Division, with the following AA units of the Royal Artillery (RA) and Royal Engineers (RE) under command:[1][2]

The 33rd AA Brigade was reassigned to 4th AA Division when that formation was created in Western Command on 1 September 1938. AA Command took over all TA air defences in 1939.[2][3] From its formation, 33 AA Bde was commanded by Brigadier R.S. Ellis. By early 1939 its headquarters was at 'Crossacres', Woolton, Liverpool.[6][7]

Second World War

Mobilisation

AA Command mobilised in August 1939, and its units were already at their war stations on the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939. 33rd AA Brigade was responsible for the air defence of Liverpool and West Lancashire, controlling the following units:[3][8][9]

A panoramic view of bomb damage in Liverpool; Victoria Monument in foreground, the burned-out shell of the Custom House in middle distance
Another panoramic view, looking towards the River Mersey

Phoney War and Battle of Britain

During the early part of the war the brigade's searchlight regiments were transferred to other formations and were replaced by new HAA and Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) regiments. By the end of the Battle of Britain 33 AA Bde had the following units under command:[10][11][12][13]

The Blitz

While the Battle of Britain raged over the skies of Southern England by day, there were also night raids on industrial cities, and Liverpool was heavily attacked for four nights in a row from 28 August.[20] The night raids continued into the following Spring, during which period the city and its docks along the Mersey became the most heavily bombed area of Britain outside London. The campaign became known as the Liverpool Blitz, with particularly heavy attacks at Christmas 1940 (the Christmas Blitz), in April 1941, and again in May (the May Blitz).[21][22]

Order of Battle 1940–41

By the end of the Blitz the brigade had the following units under command:[23]

Mid-War

4 AA Division formation sign.

The Blitz ended in May 1941, but occasional raids continued.[25][26] Newly formed units joining AA Command were increasingly 'mixed' ones into which women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service were integrated. Some of these were armed with Z Battery rocket projectiles that were partly manned by members of the Home Guard. At the same time, experienced units were posted away for service overseas. This continual turnover of units accelerated in 1942 with the preparations for Operation Torch and the need to relocate guns to counter the Baedeker Blitz and the Luftwaffe's hit-and-run attacks against South Coast towns.[25][27]

Order of Battle 1941–42

During this period the division was composed as follows (temporary detachments omitted):[15][23][28][29]

Loading a mobile multiple Z Battery launcher.

Later war

A reorganisation of AA Command in October 1942 saw the AA divisions disbanded and replaced by a smaller number of AA Groups more closely aligned with the organisation of RAF Fighter Command. 33 AA Brigade came under a new 4 AA Group covering North West England and the West Midlands.[31][32]

Order of Battle 1942–44

By this time the brigade was composed solely of HAA regiments following the redeployment of LAA guns to the South Coast. It was only in early 1943 that the brigade was reinforced:[31][33][34]

Order of Battle 1944

In March 1944 the number of brigade HQs in 4 AA Group was reduced, and 33 AA Bde HQ was temporarily given additional responsibilities until these units were redistributed, mainly to the south of England to cover the embarkation ports for Operation Overlord:[34][36]

By October 1944, AA Command was being forced to release manpower to 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe and 33 AA was reduced to one HAA regiment (157th; replaced by 169th – 566, 571, 576 (M) HAA Btys – in December) and its three AA Area Mixed regiments.[36] At this date its own HQ establishment was 9 officers, 8 male other ranks and 25 members of the ATS, together with a small number of attached drivers, cooks and mess orderlies (male and female). In addition, the brigade had a Mixed Signal Office Section of 5 male other ranks and 19 ATS, which was formally part of the Group signal unit.[37]

War's end

As the war neared its end there was a continued run-down of AA Command: 4 AA Group was disbanded in mid-March 1945, and 33 AA Bde transferred to the command of 5 AA Group. By this time, the brigade consisted solely of the rocket batteries of the three AA Area Mixed Rgts, and as these were disbanded in April. were disbanded during March and April, the brigade HQ soon had nothing to command.[15][36] In May 1945, after the end of the war in Europe (VE Day), it was given control of 12 Area AA Maintenance HQ to administer the demobilisation process, with 37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) and 69th (3rd City of London) S/L Rgts added in June. By November it was commanding a number of returned Regular Army units, together with others awaiting demobilisation:[38]

Postwar

On 1 January 1947, 33 AA Bde's Regular Army units reformed 9 AA Bde in Wales, while the TA portion was renumbered as 59th Anti-Aircraft Brigade[a] in the reformed TA, constituting part of 4 AA Group based at Warrington:[1][39][40]

AA Command was disbanded on 10 March 1955 and there was a series of reductions and mergers in the TA's AA units. 59 AA Brigade was itself placed in suspended animation on 31 October 1955 and formally disbanded on 31 December 1957.[1][40]

A new brigade

A new 33rd AA Bde was formed on 1 November 1955 at Shepherd's Bush, London, by redesignation of X AA Bde (formerly 63 AA Bde). It had no links with Western Command or Merseyside. This brigade was reorganised on 1 May 1961, becoming 33 Artillery Brigade in 56th (London) Division.[1][40]

Footnotes

  1. ^ The TA AA brigades were now numbered 51 and upwards, rather than 26 and upwards as in the 1930s; the wartime 59th AA Bde was converted into an infantry brigade in 1945.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Frederick, pp. 1049–51.
  2. ^ a b "2 AA Division 1936 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "4 AA Division 1939 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. ^ 62 S/L at RA 39–45
  5. ^ Litchfield, p. 134.
  6. ^ a b Monthly Army Lists 1937–39.
  7. ^ Farndale, Annex J.
  8. ^ AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files
  9. ^ Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376; Table LX, p. 378.
  10. ^ "4 AA Div 1940 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  11. ^ 4 AA Div at RA 39–45
  12. ^ Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.
  13. ^ Farndale, Annex D, p. 258.
  14. ^ 103 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Farndale, Annex M.
  16. ^ 106 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45
  17. ^ "33 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45".
  18. ^ 42 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45
  19. ^ "65 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45".
  20. ^ Routledge, Table LXII, p. 379–80; p. 385.
  21. ^ Routledge, pp. 394–5.
  22. ^ "Liverpool Blitz - Visual Story of the May 1941 bombings".
  23. ^ a b Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941, with amendments, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 212/79.
  24. ^ Order of Battle of the Field Force in the United Kingdom, Part 3: Royal Artillery (Non-Divisional Units), 25 March 1941, TNA file WO 212/5.
  25. ^ a b Pile's despatch.
  26. ^ Collier, Chapter XVII.
  27. ^ Routledge, pp. 399–404.
  28. ^ Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 2 December 1941, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/80.
  29. ^ Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 14 May 1942, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/81.
  30. ^ Joslen, p. 521.
  31. ^ a b Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 1 October 1942, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/82.
  32. ^ Routledge, pp. 400–1, Map 36.
  33. ^ Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 13 March 1943, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/83.
  34. ^ a b Order of Battle of AA Command, 1 August 1943, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/84.
  35. ^ a b c d Joslen, pp. 484–5.
  36. ^ a b c Order of Battle of AA Command, 27 April 1944, TNA file WO 212/85.
  37. ^ AA Command Organisation Table, October–November 1944, TNA file WO 212/148.
  38. ^ Order of Battle of AA Command, 15 November 1945, TNA file WO 212/86.
  39. ^ Litchfield, Appendix 5.
  40. ^ a b c AA Brigades 30–66 at British Army Units from 1945 on

References

Online sources

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