The 8th Anti-Aircraft Division (8th AA Division) was an air defence formation 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 the early 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 opposin ...

. It defended

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

during

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

and 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 ...

'' 'hit and run' raids, but only had a short career.

Mobilisation

The 8th Anti-Aircraft Division was one of five new divisions created on 1 November 1940 by Anti-Aircraft Command to control the growing anti-aircraft (AA) defences of the United Kingdom. The division was formed by splitting the 5th AA Division, with the new formation taking responsibility for the

City of Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

and the counties of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

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 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. Potential targets in this area included the

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable a ...

factory and airfield at Filton, and the Royal Navy dockyards at Devonport (

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

) and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

.Frederick, p. 1047.8 AA Division 1940 at British Military History.
/ref>Routledge, p. 394; Map 34.Pile's despatch.
/ref> The Divisional headquarters (HQ) was at Bristol and the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) was Major-General Robert Allen, who was transferred from commanding the 5th AA Division.Farndale, Annex J.
/ref> The division formed part of I AA Corps, which was created at the same time to cover Southern England and Wales. The fighting units, organised in four AA Brigades, consisted of Heavy (HAA) and Light (LAA) gun units and Searchlight (S/L) units of 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 ...

, with major concentrations of HAA guns in the Bristol and Plymouth Gun Defence Areas (GDAs)

The Blitz

When the 8th AA Division was formed the ''Luftwaffe''s night Blitz on British cities was already under way. There had previously been daylight raids during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, notably on Bristol and Portland on 25 September 1940, now the night attacks were stepped up both against London and smaller cities, with the ports of Bristol and Plymouth receiving frequent raids, particularly heavy in March 1941 (the Bristol Blitz and

Plymouth Blitz The Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz. The royal doc ...

). In 1939 the scale of HAA guns ( 3-inch and the newer 3.7-inch and 4.5-inch guns) allocated to the Bristol GDA (covering Bristol and Avonmouth) had been 56, and this was increased to 80 in 1940, but by the end of February 1941 only 36 were in place. This increased to 68 a month later, though further additions to the establishment were already being called for. The position on LAA gunsites was worse: only small numbers of

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 were available at the start of the Blitz, and most LAA detachments had to make do with

Light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...

s (LMGs).

Order of Battle

The division's composition during the Blitz was as follows:Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941,with amendments, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 212/79. * 46th AA Brigade – Bristol ** 76th (Gloucestershire) HAA Rgt76 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> ** 23rd LAA Rgt – ''to 5th AA Division by May 1941'' ** 66th (Gloucesters) S/L Rgt (part)Litchfield, p. 86. ** 68th (Monmouthshire Regiment) S/L Rgt * 55th AA Brigade – Plymouth and Falmouth, Cornwall ** 56th (Cornwall) HAA Rgt56 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> ** 118th HAA Rgt (part) – ''new regiment raised in December 1940; to 9th AA Division by May 1941''Farndale, Annex M. ** 58th (

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

) LAA Rgt – ''part deployed at Plymouth, part under 65th AA Brigade at Southampton; left to join 11th Support Group in May 1941'' ** 81st S/L Rgt – ''new unit formed in November 1940 from existing S/L Bty of Cornwall Fortress Royal Engineers''81 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> ** 82nd S/L Rgt – ''new unit formed in November 1940 from existing S/L Bty of Dorset Fortress Royal Engineers''

* 60th AA Brigade –

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

and Portland ** 104th HAA Rgt ** 44th LAA Rgt44 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> ** 66th S/L Rgt (part) * 64th AA Brigade – Airfield sector layout ** 35th LAA Rgt35 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> ** 2nd S/L Rgt ** 3rd (Ulster) S/L Rgt – ''converted into 4th (Ulster) LAA Rgt in January 1942''3 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref>Litchfield, p. 310. ** 76th S/L Rgt ** 85th S/L Rgt – ''new unit raised in January 1941''85 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> * 9th AA 'Z' Rgt – ''equipped with Z Battery rocket launchers, formed by the 8th AA Division in January 1941'' * 8th AA Divisional Signals,

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

(RCS) – ''formed at Bristol as duplicate of 5th AA Divisional Signals at

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

''Lord & Watson, p. 170.Brief History of 39 Signal Regt at British Army website.
/ref> * 8th AA Divisional

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) ** 191st, 915th and 917th Companies * 8th AA Divisional Company,

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

(RAMC) * 8th AA Divisional Workshop Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC)

Mid-War

By October 1941 the availability of S/L control radar was sufficient to allow AA Command's S/L sites to be 'declustered' into single-light sites spaced at 10,400-yard intervals in 'Indicator Belts' along the coast and approaches to the GDAs, and 'Killer Belts' at spacing to cooperate with the RAF's

Night-fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

Early in 1942 the ''Luftwaffe'' began a new wave of attacks on British cities (the Baedeker Blitz):

and undefended

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

were hit in March, April and May, and Weston-super-Mare in June. New GDAs were established at Exeter,

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, Bath and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

.Routledge, pp. 400–4. Newly formed AA units joined the division, the HAA and support units increasingly becoming 'Mixed' units, indicating that women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) were fully integrated into them. At the same time, experienced units were posted away to train for service overseas. This led to a continual turnover of units, which accelerated in 1942 with the preparations for the invasion of 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 ...

) and the need to transfer AA units to counter the Baedeker raids and the ''Luftwaffe''s hit-and-run attacks against South Coast towns. Those AA units in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

(WO) Reserve rostered for overseas deployment were lent back to AA Command when not required for training. One of these, 103rd HAA Rgt, was moved down from

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, which was rarely attacked by this stage of the war, to reinforce the 8th AA Division in

in April 1942, establishing its batteries at St Ives, Truro and

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

under the 55th AA Brigade.103 HAA Rgt War Diary 1942, TNA file WO 166/7471. In July, the 103rd HAA Rgt was sent for a short attachment to the 11th AA Brigade (the mobile training brigade in

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 ...

) and was relieved by 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) HAA Rgt which had just completed training with the 11th AA Brigade. The 79th HAA Regiment occupied sites at

Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...

, Truro and Penzance on 14 July and the Penzance and Truro guns were in action against raiders early the next morning. The deployment lasted three weeks before the regiment left for further training and the 103rd HAA Rgt returned. In West Cornwall the main threat was from low level daylight 'hit and run' raids by single engined ''

'' aircraft (such as attacks by pairs of

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

s on St Ives on 28 August and Truro on 7 September), which were difficult for HAA guns to engage. Night raids on Truro on 24 September and on Penzance two nights later were engaged by the regiment with both HAA and light machine guns. In August 1942, the 64th AA Brigade was transferred from the 8th AA Division to the 3rd AA Division, a HQ brought down from Scotland to handle the increased workload along the South Coast.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.

Order of Battle

During this period the division was composed as follows (temporary attachments omitted): * 46th AA Brigade ** 59th (Essex Regiment) HAA Rgt – ''from the 6th AA Division December 1941; to WO control as part of the field force March 1942; later to Operation Torch''Joslen, p. 465.Routledge, Tables XXX–XXXII, pp. 188–90. ** 76th (Gloucestershire) HAA Rgt – ''to the 69th AA Brigade by December 1941'' ** 104th HAA Rgt – ''to the 5th AA Division in December 1941'' ** 112th HAA Rgt – ''from the 11th AA Division by May 1941; to the 9th AA Division by December 1941'' ** 116th HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed in November 1940; to the 55th AA Brigade by December 1941'' ** 119th HAA Rgt – ''from the 1st AA Division by May 1941; to the 64th AA Brigade by December 1941'' ** 133rd (Mixed) HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed September 1941'' ** 140th HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed December 1941; to the 69th AA Brigade by May 1942'' ** 150th (Mixed) HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed February 1942'' ** 165th HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed July 1942'' ** 36th LAA Rgt – ''from the 1st AA Division by May 1941; to the 69th AA Brigade Summer 1941'' ** 47th LAA Rgt – ''from the 69th AA Brigade by December 1941; to Operation Torch 1942''47 LAA LAA Rgt at RA 39–45.
/ref> ** 133rd LAA Rgt – ''from the 69th AA Brigade July 1942'' ** 66th S/L Rgt – ''to the 69th AA Brigade Summer 1941'' ** 68th S/L Rgt – ''to the 69th AA Brigade Summer 1941'' ** 1st AA 'Z' Rgt – ''from the 1st AA Division by May 1941, returned by December 1941'' * 55th AA Brigade ** 56th HAA Rgt– ''as above; left for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in December 1941'' ** 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) HAA Rgt – ''from the 11th AA Brigade for July 1942'' ** 103rd HAA Rgt – ''from the 4th AA Division May 1942'' ** 116th HAA Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade by December 1941'' ** 162nd (Mixed) HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed June 1942'' ** 166th (Mixed) HAA Rgt – ''new unit formed August 1942'' ** 36th LAA Rgt – ''from the 69th AA Brigade by December 1941; left for India in April 1942''Joslen, p. 523. ** 44th LAA Rgt – ''from the 9th AA Division January 1942 (previously the 60th AA Brigade ); left for India in March 1942'' ** 46th LAA Rgt – ''from the 9th AA Division by May 1941'' ** 55th (Devonshire) LAA Rgt – ''from WO Reserve in April 1942; later to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

'' ** 137th LAA Rgt – ''new unit formed February 1942'' ** 29th (Kent) S/L Rgt – ''from the 6th AA Division January 1942; to the 60th AA Brigade June 1942'' ** 81st S/L Rgt – ''as above; converted into unbrigaded 131st LAA Rgt in March 1942'' ** 82nd S/L Rgt – ''to the 64th AA Brigade December 1941'' ** 85th S/L Rgt – ''from the 64th AA Brigade by December 1941; converted into 132nd LAA Rgt in the 5th AA Division in March 1942'' ** 9th AA 'Z' Rgt – ''from the 60th AA Brigade by December 1941'' * 60th AA Brigade ** 108th HAA Rgt – ''from

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Defences (OSDEF) by September 1942'' ** 12th (Finsbury Rifles) LAA Rgt – ''from the 1st AA Division by May 1941; left AA Command and joined WO Reserve June 1941, later to

Persia and Iraq Command The Persia and Iraq Command was a command of the British Army established during the Second World War in September 1942 in Baghdad. Its primary role was to secure from land and air attack the oilfields and oil installations in Persia (officially ...

(PAIFORCE)'' ** 44th LAA Rgt – ''to the 9th AA Division by December 1941; then to the 55th AA Brigade January 1942'' ** 67th LAA Rgt – ''from the 3rd AA Division by September 1942'' ** 29th (Kent) S/L Rgt – ''from the 55th AA Brigade June 1942'' ** 74th (Essex Fortress) S/L Rgt – ''from the 6th AA Division January 1942'' ** 76th S/L Rgt – ''from the 64th AA Brigade December 1941; to the 69th AA Brigade August 1942'' ** 88th S/L Rgt – ''new unit formed in March 1941'' ** 89th S/L Rgt – ''new unit formed in March 1941; converted into 133rd LAA Rgt March 1942; to the 69th AA Brigade June 1942'' ** 9th AA 'Z' Rgt – ''to the 55th AA Brigade by December 1941'' * 64th AA Brigade – Left August 1942 ** 98th HAA Rgt – ''from the 4th AA Division May 1942'' ** 119th HAA Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade by December 1941; to the 9th AA Division June 1942'' ** 35th LAA Rgt – ''left in November 1941 for

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, where it was captured in February 1942'' ** 75th (Middlesex) LAA Rgt – ''joined from unbrigaded by December 1941; left in July 1942, later in invasion of Sicily ( Operation Husky)'' ** 87th LAA Rgt – ''new unit formed October 1941; to the 9th AA Division June 1942'' ** 127th (Queens) LAA Rgt – ''converted from 63rd (Queens) S/L Rgt, joined July 1942'' ** 2nd S/L Rgt – ''as above'' ** 3rd S/L Rgt – ''to the 69th AA Brigade December 1941'' ** 76th S/L Rgt – ''to the 60th AA Brigade December 1941'' ** 82nd S/L Rgt – ''from the 55th AA Brigade December 1941'' ** 85th S/L Rgt – ''to the 55th AA Brigade by December 1941'' * 69th AA Brigade – new formation joined June 1941 ** 76th (Gloucestershire) HAA Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade by December 1941; to Operation Torch by November 1942'' ** 140th HAA Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade by May 1942'' ** 24th LAA Rgt – ''from the 5th AA Division; to India 1942'' ** 36th LAA Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade on formation; to the 55th AA Brigade by December 1941'' ** 47th LAA Rgt – ''from the 9th AA Division on formation; to the 46th AA Brigade by December 1941'' ** 72nd LAA Rgt – ''from the 9th AA Division May 1942; left July 1942, later in Operation Torch'' ** 87th LAA Rgt – ''from the 9th AA Division (previously the 64 AA Brigade) in August 1942'' ** 133rd LAA Rgt – ''from the 60th AA Brigade June 1942, to the 46 AA Brigade July 1942'' ** 3rd S/L Rgt – ''from the 60th AA Brigade December 1941; converted into unbrigaded 4th (Ulster) LAA Rgt in January 1942'' ** 66th S/L Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade on formation'' ** 68th S/L Rgt – ''from the 46th AA Brigade on formation'' ** 76th S/L Rgt – ''from the 60th AA Brigade 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: * 8th AA Division Mixed Signal Unit HQ, RCS ** HQ No 1 Company *** 8th AA Division Mixed Signal Office Section *** 307th AA Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Section (Bristol GDA) *** 46th AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 69th AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 110th RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section ( RAF Colerne) *** 19th AA Line Maintenance Section ** HQ No 2 Company *** 55th AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 116th RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section (

RAF Portreath Remote Radar Head Portreath or RRH Portreath is an air defence radar station operated by the Royal Air Force. It has a coastal location at Nancekuke Common, approximately north east of the village of Portreath in Cornwall, England. Its radar ( ...

) *** 306th AA Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Section (Plymouth GDA) *** 318th AA Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Section (Falmouth) *** 20th AA Line Maintenance Section ** HQ No 3 Company *** 60th AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 120th RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section (

RAF Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

) *** 64th AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 113th RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section ( RAF Middle Wallop) *** 305th AA Gun Operations Room Mixed Signal Section (Portland) *** 21st AA Line Maintenance Section * HQ 8th AA Div RASC ** 191st, 915th, 917th Companies * 8th AA Div RAMC * 8th AA Div Workshop Company, RAOC * 8th AA Div Radio Maintenance Company, RAOC The RAOC companies became part of the new

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) 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 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 Britai ...

. The 8th AA Division merged with the 5th AA Division into the 3rd AA Group based at Bristol and cooperating with

No. 10 Group RAF No. 10 Group RAF was a former operations group of the Royal Air Force which participated in the Second World War. History It was formed on 1 April 1918 in No. 2 Area. On 8 May of the next year it was transferred to South-Western Area. In 191 ...

. Major-General Allen retired. The 5th and 8th Divisional Signals re-amalgamated at Bristol as the 3rd AA Group Signals. Postwar the unit became The 57th (City and County of Bristol) Signals Squadron, today part of

39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment 39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 1 Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. The Lynx badge is a reminder ...

.Nalder, p. 620.

General Officer Commanding

The 8th AA Division only had one commander during its existence: * Major-General Robert Hall Allen, MC (11 November 1940 – 30 September 1942)

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.
* 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 II, Wakefield, Microform Academic, 1984, . * * Norman E.H. Litchfield, ''The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, . * Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, ''Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents'', Solihull: Helion, 2003, . * Maj-Gen R.F.H. Nalder, ''The Royal Corps of Signals: A History of its Antecedents and Developments (Circa 1800–1955)'', London: Royal Signals Institution, 1958.
Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: "The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28th July, 1939, to 15th April, 1945" ''London Gazette'' 18 December 1947.
* Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, . * Col J.D. Sainsbury, ''The Hertfordshire Yeomanry Regiments, Royal Artillery, Part 2: The Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 1938–1945 and the Searchlight Battery 1937–1945; Part 3: The Post-war Units 1947–2002'', Welwyn: Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Trust/Hart Books, 2003, .

External sources

British Army website

Anti-Aircraft Command (1940) at British Military History

Generals of World War II

Royal Artillery 1939–1945
{{WW2AirDefenceUK Military units and formations established in 1940 Anti-aircraft divisions of the British Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1942 Military units and formations in Bristol