474th Searchlight Battery, Royal Artillery

474th Searchlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a unit of the British Army during World War II. Originally raised as an anti-aircraft (AA) battery, in which role it served during the Battle of Britain and Blitz, it also provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45.

Origin

474th Searchlight Battery was formed in the Royal Artillery (RA) in 1940, based on a cadre drawn from two Scottish searchlight (S/L) units based in Edinburgh, the 51st (Highland) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers (2 officers and 19 other ranks) and 4/5th Battalion, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), (52nd Searchlight Regiment) (5 officers and 27 other ranks). On 22 February February the cadres travelled down to 222nd Searchlight Training Regiment, RA, at Norton Manor Barracks near Taunton where, together with 235 conscripts and 83 volunteers, they formed a new battery on 1 March. The battery did not form part of a regiment, but was assigned to 5th Anti-Aircraft Division to be attached as required.Frederick, pp. 860, 873.474 S/L Bty War Diary, 1940–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew file WO 166/3322.

Battle of Britain

By mid-March, the battery had moved to the Tetbury area, with HQ at Manor Farm, Westonbirt, taking over existing searchlight sites and equipment from 455th Company, 1st (Rifle) Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (68th Searchlight Regiment). The new battery came under the orders of that regiment, but within a month it moved to Kings Worthy in Hampshire and came under the command of 4th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (63rd Searchlight Regiment) in 47th AA Brigade. It was controlled by the operations room at RAF Tangmere and formed part of the AA defences for Southampton. Here the battery underwent training and began to receive the powerful new 150 cm searchlight to supplement the standard 90 cm equipment. From the beginning of June there were almost nightly alerts as the Battle of Britain got under way, and on the night of 18/19 June several ''Luftwaffe'' bombers were picked up by searchlights of 63rd Rgt and destroyed by AA guns and night fighters.Farndale, AnnexD.

On 3 July 1940 the battery was transferred from 63rd S/L Rgt to 3rd (Ulster) S/L Rgt, just returned from the Dunkirk evacuation, but three weeks later it was ordered to hand over its sites to another battery of 3rd S/L Rgt and move to Cornwall where it joined the newly formed 76th S/L Rgt under 55th AA Bde. Battery Headquarters was at Redruth, later at Killiow, and when the last of the Troops arrived from Hampshire in late August the battery occupied a full establishment of 24 S/L sites.Farndale, Annex M.

In August 1940, all army searchlight units, whether Royal Artillery (RA), Royal Engineers (RE), or still forming parts of infantry regiments, were brought under the RA.

The Blitz

In November 1940, during The Blitz, 474th Battery moved again, to Sherborne in Dorset, where 76th S/L Rgt came under 64th AA Bde in 8th AA Division, both being new formations created in the rapidly expanding Anti-Aircraft Command. The brigade's prime responsibility was airfield defence.

In January 1941 the battery moved to Alderbury in Wiltshire, but its role was unchanged. It began to receive GL Mark I E/F gun-laying radar equipped with elevation-finding equipment. It was also engaged in experiments at RAF Boscombe Down to see how searchlights combined with AA guns could deal with low-flying attacks. By the spring the battery manned clusters of three searchlights at Boscombe Down and RAF Middle Wallop.

Mobile role

After the Blitz ended in May 1941, the battery continued its home defence role in AA Command until the beginning of 1943. In February 1943 it moved to Thurstaston and deployed its detachments to 24 AA and anti-minelaying sites on the Mersey and round Barrow-in-Furness and Walney Island. From 20 February, 474 Bty ceased to be part of 76th S/L Rgt and became an independent unit, though coming under the operational command of HQ 39th (Lancashire Fusiliers) S/L Rgt, which had no other batteries under its command.474 (Ind) S/L Bty War Diary, 1943, TNA file WO 166/11557. In April the battery handed over its sites to 356th (Ind) S/L Bty and moved to Kinross in Scotland to train in mobile operations. 474th (Ind) S/L Bty was formally mobilised for active service in June 1943 and in August was joined by its own Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshop, which had formed at Bestwood Camp, Nottingham in May as 'M' S/L Battery Workshop.

After attending various training camps and field exercises, the battery moved to Silverstone in Northamptonshire and joined 100 AA Bde, one of the formations preparing for Operation Overlord, the planned Allied invasion of Normandy.474 (Ind) S/L Bty War Diary, January–June 1944, TNA file WO 166/14909. In February 1944, Battery HQ moved to Caterham in Surrey, where it came under the command of 80 AA Bde, one of the Overlord assault formations, though Troops of 8 lights were detached until April, providing 'Canopy' cover for RAF Colerne and RAF Manston.

Normandy

The battery's reconnaissance and assault groups embarked on 1 June, and the first part of C Troop disembarked on Juno Beach at 14.00 on D-Day (6 June). However, attempts to land four S/L lorries of C Troop later in the day led to three becoming submerged, and offloading of equipment did not restart until the following day at Juno and Sword Beaches, still under fire. By the end of D + 1 the battery had three lights in action against enemy raiders.474 (Ind) S/L Bty War Diary, June–December 1944, TNA file WO 171/1213.Medal citation for Capt A.M. Edmonds, TNA file WO 373/56/625. It was under command of 80 AA Bde, initially responsible for covering 3rd Canadian Division at Juno and 3rd British Division at Sword, later extended to include the port of Ouistreham and the Orne

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