7th Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom)


The 7th Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended North East England during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.

Mobilisation

The 7th Anti-Aircraft Division was created in 1939 by Anti-Aircraft Command to control the anti-aircraft defences of North East England, Yorkshire and Humberside. It took over brigades from the 2nd AA Division, which then concentrated on defending the North Midlands and East Midlands, and from the 3rd AA Division defending Scotland. Planned from February 1939 and established in June, the new division's exact responsibilities were still being worked out when war broke out. The Divisional headquarters was established at Newcastle upon Tyne on 16 September and the first General Officer Commanding was Major-General T.G.G. Heywood, who had been Brigadier, Royal Artillery, in Aldershot Command. AA Command mobilised fully on 24 August, ahead of the official declaration of war on 3 September.

Order of Battle 1939–40

On mobilisation, the 7th AA Division was intended to be constituted as follows:
30th Anti-Aircraft Brigade at Sunderland – from the 2nd AA Division
31st Anti-Aircraft Brigade at York – from the 2nd AA Division
39th Anti-Aircraft Brigade at RAF Digby – from the 2nd AA Division; did not actually transfer
43rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade at West Hartlepool – from the 3rd AA Division
57th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade – new brigade forming at Newcastle
In practice, the 39th AA Brigade remained with the 2nd AA Division, but on 23 September 1939, responsibility for the Humber Gun Zone was transferred to the 31st AA Brigade from the 39th AA Brigade. This responsibility reverted to the 39th AA Brigade and the 2nd AA Division in May 1940.

Phoney War

However, equipment was critically short. In August 1939 the 7th AA Division only had the following:
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Luckily, the months of the Phoney War that followed mobilisation allowed AA Command to address its equipment shortages. Gun Defence Areas with 3-inch or 3.7-inch HAA guns were established around Leeds, Teesside and Tyneside. Vital Points such as RAF Fighter Command airfields and factories began to receive a few Bofors guns.
AA Command was also desperate for manpower. When the War Office released the first intakes of Militiamen to the Command in early 1940, most were found to be in low physical categories and without training. The 31st AA Brigade reported that out of 1000 recruits sent for duty, '50 had to be discharged immediately because of serious medical defects, another 20 were judged to be mentally deficient and a further 18 were unfit to do any manual labour such as lifting ammunition'. Fitness and training was greatly improved by the time Britain's AA defences were seriously tested during the Battle of Britain and Blitz.
In 1940, RA regiments equipped with 3-inch or 3.7-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.
After the German invasion of the Low Countries in May 1940, Maj-Gen Heywood was appointed head of the British Military Mission to the Netherlands and briefly replaced as GOC of the 7th AA Division by Maj-Gen J.E.T Younger, promoted from command of the 57th LAA Brigade. Within days, Younger was transferred to command the 3rd AA Division and later was replaced by Maj-Gen R.B. Pargiter from the 4th AA Division.

Battle of Britain

Tyneside, Wearside, and Teesside were important strategic targets because of their high concentrations of heavy industry and ports. During the early part of the Battle of Britain, German day and night air raids and mine laying began along the East Coast of England, intensifying through June 1940. Thereafter the Luftwaffe concentrated on Royal Air Force sites in the South of England, with occasional raids on the North East, such as the period 12–15 August.
On 15 August, in the belief that the defences of NE England had been denuded, Luftflotte 5 attacked across the North Sea from Norway. Some 65 Heinkel He 111 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 26 escorted by 35 Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörer fighters of Zerstörergeschwader 76 were picked up on radar and ambushed by fighters of No. 13 Group RAF before they reached the coast. Those bombers that succeeded in breaking through then split into two groups, one being engaged by the guns of the Tyne GDA the other by the Tees GDA. Bombs were widely scattered and only at Sunderland was any major damage inflicted. KG 26 lost 8 bombers and 7 fighters for no loss to the RAF, in 'one of the most successful air actions of the war'.
On 21 August, the 7th AA Division had its guns distributed as follows:
With the bulk of the fighting occurring further south, the mobile guns soon moved out of the division's area.
In September 1940 the 7th AA Division formed the 7th AA Z Regiment equipped with rocket projectors.

The Blitz

The Battle of Britain was followed by the Luftwaffe 's night Blitz on London and other industrial cities during the winter of 1940–41. Again, NE England escaped the worst of this, but hundreds of people died during the Newcastle Blitz and there were notable air raids on Tyneside on 9 April and Sunderland on 25 April.
AA Command was now reaching its peak strength, and there was considerable reorganisation in November 1940. The 31st and 39th AA Brigades transferred to a new 10th AA Division covering Yorkshire and Humberside, and the 7th AA Division came under the command of III Anti-Aircraft Corps. The 30th AA Brigade was covering Tyneside and the 43rd AA Brigade covering Teesside, while the 57th LAA Brigade had become primarily a searchlight rather than LAA gun formation.

Order of Battle 1940–41

The 3rd AA Division had the following composition during the Blitz:
30th AA Brigade
43rd AA Brigade
57th AA Brigade
In 1941, the 7th Divisional Signals became a 'Mixed' unit, indicating that women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service were fully integrated into the unit.

Mid-War

The main Blitz ended in May 1941, but occasional raids continued. Newly-formed AA units joined the division, the HAA and support units increasingly being 'mixed'. At the same time, experienced units were posted away for service overseas. This led to a continual turnover of units, which accelerated in 1942 with the preparations for the invasion of North Africa and the need to transfer AA units to counter the Baedeker Blitz and the Luftwaffe's hit-and-run attacks against South Coast towns. In August 1942, the 3rd AA Division was sent to the South Coast and the 7th AA Division took over command of the 36th AA Brigade covering Edinburgh and the Forth.
During the Baedeker raids in 1942, Middlesbrough and Billingham received two successive raids on the nights of 6 and 7 July, and another on 25 July. Sunderland was raided on 6 September, but most of the bombs fell wide of their targets. There were also lone raiders, such as the Dornier bomber that hit Middlesbrough railway station on August Bank Holiday 1942.

Order of Battle 1941–42

During this period the division was composed as follows:
30th AA Brigade
43rd AA Brigade
57th AA Brigade
  • 46th S/L Rgt – left for the 3rd AA Division December 1941
  • 47th S/L Rgt – left for conversion to 122nd LAA Rgt February 1942
  • 55th S/L Rgt – left for conversion to 113th LAA Rgt January 1942
  • 56th S/L Rgt– joined from the 3rd AA Division December 1941; left for conversion to 125th LAA Rgt March 1942
  • 60th HAA Rgt – joined from the 12th AA Division May 1942; left June 1942
  • 100th HAA Rgt – joined from the 12th AA Division May 1942; left June 1942
  • 155th HAA Rgt – new unit raised in March 1942; joined May, left for the 12th AA Division August 1942
  • 134th LAA Rgt – joined from the 4th AA Division August 1942
  • 4th AA Z Rgt – joined from the 4th AA Division August 1942
36th Anti-Aircraft Brigade' covering Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth – joined from the 3rd AA Division August 1942
The increased sophistication of Operations Rooms and communications was reflected in the growth in support units, which attained the following organisation by May 1942:
The RAOC companies became part of the new Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during 1942.

Disbandment

A reorganisation of AA Command in October 1942 saw the AA divisions disbanded and replaced by a number of AA Groups more closely aligned with the groups of RAF Fighter Command. The 7th AA Division was split between the 5th AA Group and the 6th AA Group, with the 7th AA Divisional Signals joining the 6th AA Group Signals.

General Officer Commanding

The following officers commanded the 7th AA Division: