The 105th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (105th LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the

Dorsetshire Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...

in 1940, it transferred to the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1941. It served with

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

in the Allied landings in North Africa (

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

). It later defended vital points during the campaign in Italy until it was disbanded in June 1944 to provide infantry reinforcements.

8th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment

The unit was originally formed on 28 May 1940 at

Blandford Camp Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and it ...

, as 50th (Holding) Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment), as part of the rapid expansion of the Army with wartime conscripts. It was converted to a normal infantry battalion as 8th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, on 9 October 1940.Frederick, pp. 89–90. On 10 October it joined

210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) The 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army organised during the Second World War to command a group of newly raised Home Defence battalions. It was later converted to a frontline brigade that ...

which was being organised by No 10 Infantry Training Group as a static defence formation, first under

and then 3rd Infantry Division. It charged with defending the

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

coast against invasion. The brigade became part of

Dorset County Division The Dorset County Division was formed on 24 February 1941. However it did not take over operational commitments from Southern Area until March 10 and it did not finally assume command of its allocated infantry brigades until 24 April. It only h ...

when that formation became operational in V Corps on 24 April 1941.Joslen, pp. 109, 373. Dorset County Division ceased to operate from 24 November 1941 and a number of its units were converted to other roles: 8th Bn Dorsets was selected to be retrained in the light anti-aircraft (LAA) role equipped with

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

s. On 1 December it transferred to the

(RA) as 105th LAA Regiment, comprising Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) and 345, 346 and 347 LAA Batteries.Frederick, pp. 805, 837.Farndale, Annex M.7th & 8th Dorsets at The Keep.
/ref>

105th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment

The_British_Army_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H16771

After initial training the regiment joined

Anti-Aircraft Command Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom. Origin ...

, but left in February 1942 before it had been allocated to a brigade. It then came under the command of V Corps once more, as the corps AA regiment. It trained with V Corps during the spring and summer in preparation for mobile warfare overseas, for which it was joined by a

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

(REME) workshop sub-section for each battery, and a regimental transport platoon of the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

(RASC).

Operation Torch

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces began landing in North Africa on 8 November 1942 in

. A series of convoys then brought in the follow-up troops. V Corps' HQ and troops began arriving on 22 November and took over their sector on 6 December; 105th LAA Rgt had landed by 18 December.

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

air attacks against formations at the front by divebombers and

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

s were increasing, and were sometimes heavy and damaging so the need for LAA cover was acute. Moving and deploying AA guns in the rough country with underpowered gun tractors was difficult. Ammunition expenditure by the LAA batteries was high, often wasted by the inexperienced gunners engaging unsuitable targets at long range, and supply was sometimes erratic. With greater experience of 'snap' actions against fast low-flying aircraft, Bofors gun units increasingly abandoned using the

Kerrison Predictor The Kerrison Predictor was one of the first fully automated anti-aircraft fire-control systems. It was used to automate the aiming of the British Army's Bofors 40 mm guns and provide accurate lead calculations through simple inputs on three main ...

in favour of the simple 'Stiffkey Stick' deflection sight. British_Army_40_mm_Bofors_near_Tunis_1943

Axis air attacks continued through January, but by then First Army's AA resources had been built up. The whole of 22nd AA Brigade (including a battery of 105th LAA Rgt at

Philippeville Philippeville (; wa, Flipveye) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The Philippeville municipality includes the former municipalities of Fagnolle, Franchimont, Jamagne, Jamiolle, Merlemont, Ne ...

) was assigned to forward airfield defence for No. 242 Group RAF, and in addition to divisional and corps LAA units the heavy AA (HAA) batteries of 52nd AA Bde were allocated to frontline defence of V Corps' units. Here the main tasks were defence of armour and artillery deployment areas and the critical supply and operational routes Spring 1943 brought an improvement for the Allies. The troop build-up allowed a resumption of the offensive. Attacks by V Corps were backed by 11 AA batteries, with 24 HAA and 96 LAA guns. The corps was given the task of securing the ground necessary to open the Oued Zarga–

Medjez el Bab Majaz al Bab ( ar, مجاز الباب), also known as Medjez el Bab, or as Membressa under the Roman Empire, is a town in northern Tunisia. It is located at the intersection of roads GP5 and GP6, in the ''Plaine de la Medjerda''. Commonwealth wa ...

road, and then moving on to capture

Longstop Hill The 2nd Battle of Longstop Hill or the Capture of Longstop Hill took place in Tunisia during the Tunisia Campaign of World War II from 21 to 23 April 1943. The battle was fought for control over the heights of Djebel el Ahmera and Djebel Rhar, ...

, which had defied the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

since December. Two weeks of hard slogging followed for V Corps, during which

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...

s and

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

s were active in low-level

Strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

and tank-busting missions. During the Oued Zarga battle (7–15 April) 15 were shot down in V Corps' deployment area. After V Corps had broken the back of the defence, First Army began its final offensive on

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

(

Operation Vulcan Operation Vulcan (22 April – 6 May 1943) and Operation Strike (6–12 May 1943) were the final ground attacks by the Allied forces against the Italian and German forces in Tunis, Cape Bon, and Bizerte, the last Axis toeholds in North Africa ...

) on 22 April, which involved five days' hard fighting across the Medjez Plain before the armour could break through. Axis air attacks were maintained until 25 April, doing considerable damage, but tailed off thereafter. By early May the Axis forces were crumbling, and a final thrust ( Operation Strike) took First Army into Tunis on 7 May; the Axis forces surrendered on 13 May. During the campaign all the LAA regiments in the forward areas had been heavily engaged. The_British_Army_in_Italy_1944_NA13703

Italy

105th LAA Regiment was assigned to 66th AA Bde for the Italian Campaign. The brigade arrived in late 1943, and its first assignments were to protect the area round

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

, where some of the initial landings had been made, and the airfields supporting the operations of

US Fifth Army The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM.

up the west side of Italy. As well as 105th LAA Rgt and two HAA regiments, the brigade included three US battalions equipped with Bofors guns. Further additions to its strength were made by January 1944.Routledge, pp. 285–6; Table XLVII, p. 296. Once the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

was finally over in May 1944 the Allied advance was resumed, and the troops in the

Anzio beachhead The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The op ...

broke out in June. 66th AA Brigade (including 105th LAA Rgt) handed over its responsibilities at Salerno to 22nd AA Bde and moved up to

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

, and then followed Fifth Army as far as

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The gravely weakened ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

'' was unable to influence any of these operations. Meanwhile, British forces in Italy were suffering an acute manpower shortage. In June 1944 the Chiefs of Staff decided that the number of AA regiments in Italy could be reduced, and it was decided to disband the corps LAA regiments and a number of others, their surplus personnel being converted to other roles, particularly infantry. 105th LAA Regiment was accordingly disbanded on 15 June 1944.Routledge, p. 278; Table XLIV, p. 293.

Notes

References

Basil Collier, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1957/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004
. * Gen Sir

Martin Farndale General Sir Martin Baker Farndale, (6 January 1929 – 10 May 2000) was a British Army officer who reached high office in the 1980s. Military career Educated at Yorebridge Grammar School, Askrigg, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Farnda ...

, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941'', Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * * Brig C.J.C. Molony, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East'', Vol V: ''The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and the Campaign in Italy 3rd September 1943 to 31st March 1944'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1973/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, . * Brig C.J.C. Molony, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East'', Vol VI: ''Victory in the Mediterranean, Part I: 1st April to 4th June 1944'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1987/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, . * Maj-Gen I.S.O. Playfair & Brig C.J.C. Molony, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East'', Vol IV: ''The Destruction of the Axis forces in Africa'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1966/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, . * Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, .

External sources

The Keep Military Museum.
{{refend Light anti-aircraft regiments of the Royal Artillery Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944