The formation was raised as 30th Anti-Aircraft Group on 1 November 1936 at Sunderland forming part of 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division. Its initial order of battle was as follows:
47th Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE – Searchlight unit formed in 1936 by conversion of 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry''
* HQ at Sunderland
* 386th, 387th, 388th, 389th AA Companies
In 1938 the RA replaced its traditional unit designation 'Brigade' by the modern 'Regiment', which allowed the 'AA Groups' to take the more usual formation title of 'Brigades'. Brig F.C. Chaytor, OBE, MC, was appointed brigade commander on 1 November 1938. Anti-Aircraft Command was formed in April 1939 to control all the TA's AA units and formations. 30th AA Brigade transferred to the new 7th AA Division when that was formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in June 1939. As AA Command continued to expand, 62nd AA Regiment and 47th Searchlight Battalion moved to other brigades in 7 AA Division and were replaced by newly formed units.
World War II
Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war 30th AA Brigade was mobilised to defend its home area of Tyneside and Sunderland, with the following order of battle:
63rd Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery – as above
64th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery – as above
Early in 1940, 37th AA Bn left to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. It was one of the last units to be evacuated, from Saint-Nazaire two weeks after the main Dunkirk evacuation. In 1940, RA regiments equipped with 3-inch, 3.7-inch or 4.5-inch AA guns were designated Heavy Anti-Aircraft to distinguish them from the new Light Anti-Aircraft regiments, and RE AA battalions were transferred to the RA and designated Searchlight regiments.
During The Blitz, 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade comprised both HAA and LAA artillery while the searchlight units in the area were controlled by 57th Anti-Aircraft Brigade:
63rd HAA Regt – as above
* 176, 177, 178, 269 HAA Btys
64th HAA Regt – as above
* 179, 180, 268 HAA Btys
* 431 Bty
37th LAA Regt – duplicate of 37 AA Battalion RE, organised on 28 August 1939 as an LAA Regiment RA; left July 1941
68th LAA Regt – new unit formed December 1940, joined by February 1941
* 203, 204, 205 LAA Btys
7th AA Z Rgt – new unit raised in September 1940, equipped with Z Battery rocket launchers
* 106, 109, 110, 117 Z Btys
Mid-war
As the war progressed, many experienced prewar AA units were deployed overseas and replaced in Home Forces by newer units, often 'mixed' units including personnel from the Auxiliary Territorial Service or members of the Home Guard. 37 LAA Regt went first to Palestine in April 1942 and then moved on to North Africa; 63 HAA Regt went to Ceylon in May 1942; 38 LAA Regt went to North Africa in August 1942 and 64 HAA Regt to Tunisia in May 1943. 68 LAA Regiment joined 59th Infantry Division in April 1943 and served with it during the Normandy Campaign.
Order of Battle 1941–42
During this period the brigade was composed as follows:
63rd HAA Rgt – left for War Office Control December 1941 preparatory to embarking for Ceylon
64th HAA Rgt – left April 1942 preparatory to joining Operation Torch
124th LAA Rgt – converted from 51st S/L Rgt and joined May 1942
* 404, 411, 412, 413 LAA Btys
7th AA Z Rgt – to 43 AA Bde February 1942
30 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section
Reorganisation
On 30 September 1942 the AA Divisions and Corps were dissolved and 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade came under a new 6 AA Group covering Scotland and North East England and aligned with No. 13 Group RAF.
Order of Battle 1942–44
Under the new command structure, 30 AA Bde had the following composition:
However, in April 1944 the brigade's reporting line changed again and it became part of 5 AA Group covering the East Coast and East Midlands. A number of its former units returned to its command, and over succeeding months it exchanged units with other brigades in 2 and 5 AA Groups.
By October 1944, the brigade's 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. In addition, the brigade had a Mixed Signal Office Section of 1 officer, 5 male other ranks and 19 ATS, which was formally part of the Group signal unit.
War's end
By the end of 1944, 21st Army Group was suffering a severe manpower shortage, particularly among the infantry, and AA Command was forced to disband several regiments and batteries, and release their personnel. At the same time the German Luftwaffe was suffering from such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious air attacks on the United Kingdom could be discounted, so the War Office began to convert surplus AA regiments into infantry battalions, primarily for line of communication and occupation duties in North West Europe, thereby releasing trained infantry for frontline service. Being stationed in Eastern England, still threatened by V-1 flying bombs air-launched from the North Sea, 30 AA Brigade was less affected by these changes. Nevertheless, in January 1945, 128th LAA Rgt was converted into 628th Infantry Rgt, RA, and went to Europe, while 183rd HAA Rgt was sent to Antwerp to defend that city against bombardment by V-1s.
Order of Battle 1945
From mid-February 1945 until the end of the war, 30 AA Bde had the following composition:
130th HAA Rgt – returned June 1945
144th HAA Rgt – joined June 1945
* 497, 498, 503 HAA Btys
* 504 HAA Bty – disbanded July 1945
151 HAA Rgt
158 HAA Rgt
147th LAA Rgt – detached to 41 AA Bde for agricultural work summer 1945
* 492, 493, 495 LAA Btys
7 AA Area Mixed Rgt – disbanded April 1945
21 AA Area Mixed Rgt – disbanded April 1945
10 AA Area Maintenance HQ – joined May 1945
Postwar
When the TA was reformed in 1947, 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade's Regular Army units reformed 8 AA Bde at Newcastle, while the TA portion was renumbered a 56th Anti-Aircraft Brigade, with its HQ at Washington, Co Durham, and the following order of battle:
325 LAA Rgt at Sunderland – formerly 125 Anti-Tank Regt
590 LAA/SL Rgt at Stockton – formerly 113th LAA Rgt
654 LAA Regt at Bishop Auckland – newly raised
654 LAA Regt was placed in suspended animation in May 1949, and 325 LAA Regt merged into another unit in January 1954. Then on 1 March 1954, 56th Anti-Aircraft Brigade HQ was disbanded at Seaburn, Sunderland. The following year AA Command was disbanded and the air defence of the UK was reorganised. A new 30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was formed as a TA HQ from the Regular Army's 1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade, based at Edenbridge, Kent. It had no connection with Northumbria and was disbanded in 1961.
