III Anti-Aircraft Corps was a high-level formation of Britain's

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 ...

from 1940 to 1942. It defended Scotland, Northern Ireland and North East England during the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

and the middle years of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

Origin

AA Command had been created in 1938 to control the Territorial Army's rapidly-expanding anti-aircraft (AA) organisation within

Air Defence of Great Britain The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was a RAF command comprising substantial army and RAF elements responsible for the air defence of the British Isles. It lasted from 1925, following recommendations that the RAF take control of homeland air ...

. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, it commanded seven AA Divisions, each with several AA Brigades, disposed around the

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.Pile's despatch.
/ref>Robert Palmer, ''A Concise History of Anti-Aircraft Command (History and Personnel)'' at British Military History.
/ref> Continued expansion made this organisation unwieldy, so in November 1940 – during the ''

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 ...

s nightly

on London and other British cities – five further AA Divisions were organised, and all the divisions grouped under three corps headquarters directly subordinate to AA Command. III AA Corps covered North Eastern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and by February 1941 comprised four division-level headquarters and 11 brigades. Its boundaries roughly coincided with No. 13 Group and No. 14 Group of

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...

.Frederick, p. 1047.

Order of battle

III AA Corps had the following organisation from February 1941: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. Corps HQ:

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

General Officer Commanding:Farndale, Annex J. * Lieutenant-General H. G. Martin

3rd AA Division

36th (Scottish) Anti-Aircraft Brigade 36th (Scottish) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of the Second World War. It was responsible for defending eastern Scotland. Origins Large num ...

(

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) * 51st Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade (North East Scotland) * 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade (Sectors)

7th AA Division

30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during the Second World War. Origins The formation was raised as 30th (Northumb ...

( Tyne) * 43rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade ( Tees,

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) * 57th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade (North East England sector layout)

12th AA Division

* 3rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade (

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) * 42nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade (

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) * 63rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade (West of Scotland Gun Defence Areas, sectors)

Orkney & Shetland Defence Force (OSDEF)

* 58th Anti-Aircraft Brigade * 59th Anti-Aircraft Brigade

Intermediate Ammunition Depots

* Kincardine * Finchale, County Durham

Equipment Ammunition Magazines

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, near Glasgow * Renfrew, near Glasgow

Operations

During its short existence, III AA Corps had to deal with the 1940–41 Blitz on industrial towns and cities such as

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Clydebank, Greenock and

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, as well as later raids on

and Sunderland. In August 1942, the 3rd AA Division HQ was sent south to assist in defending the South Coast of England against 'hit and run' attacks by the ''Luftwaffe''.

Disbandment

The AA Corps and Divisional HQs were disbanded in October 1942 and a replaced by a more flexible system of AA Groups. The area covered by III AA Corps became the responsibility of two of the new groups: 6th Anti-Aircraft Group (North East England and Scotland) and 7th Anti-Aircraft Group (Northern Ireland); OSDEF remained directly subordinate to AA Command.Routledge, p. 401 & Map 36.

Notes

References

* * Gen Sir Martin Farndale, ''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 II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, . * Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994,
Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: 'The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28 July 1939, to 15 April 1945' ''London Gazette'' 18 December 1947

External sources

British Military History

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:03 Anti-Aircraft Corps Corps of the British Army in World War II Air defence units and formations of the British Army Military units and formations in Edinburgh Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1942