The 92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (92nd LAA Rgt) was a mobile 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 Gurkha ...

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 ...

(RA) 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The regiment had a special role on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, and afterwards served throughout the campaign in North West Europe.

Origin

92nd LAA Regiment was formed in November 1941 by converting the 7th Battalion, Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire), a war service infantry battalion that had only been raised at in the previous year as part of the rapid wartime expansion of the British Army.Loyals at Regiments.org
/ref>John Downham, 'The Regiments in World War II' at Lancashire Infantry Museum.
/ref>92 LAA Rgt at RA 1939–45.
/ref>Farndale, Annex M.

7th Loyals

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics) In political contexts a cadre (, , ) consists of a person recognized as a capable militant within a political ...

of experienced officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) from the Loyals, several recently returned from the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

, arrived at Coed Helen Camp at

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor ...

on 5 July 1940, where they were joined by a draft of new conscripts on 17 July to begin forming the new battalion. Most of the recruits came from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

. Also at Caernarfon were the newly raised 8th and 9th Battalions of the Loyals which (together with 12th Battalion

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

) constituted No 15 Infantry Training Group. In October 1940 the 15th ITG became 215th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), a home defence formation.Frederick, p. 192.Macarthy, 'Regimental History'.
/ref>8 Loyals War Diary, 1940, The National Archives (TNA), Kew file WO 166/4446.Joslen, p. 378. Training was hampered by the shortage of rifles and equipment, and the tented camp became uninhabitable during winter gales. The battalion moved to barracks and billets in the Liverpool area, where the men assisted in firefighting and rescue work during the

Liverpool Blitz The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the English city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed area of the country, outside Lo ...

. In February 1941, 215th Brigade joined the

Durham and North Riding County Division The Durham and North Riding County Division was a coastal defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It existed only from 12 March 1941 until 1 December 1941, when it was redesignated Durham and North Riding Coastal Area a ...

in North East England, where it took up an operational role in beach defence, with 7th Bn at Ravenscar.

92nd (Loyals) LAA

In November 1941, the county division and 215 Bde were disbanded. At this point the three battalions of the Loyals were converted from infantry to other roles: the 7th and 8th became the 92nd (Loyals) and 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiments of the RA, while the 9th became 148th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps. The new 92nd LAA Regiment came into existence at Redcar on 15 November, consisting of Regimental HQ (RHQ) and 317, 318 and 319 LAA Batteries, 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.Frederick, pp. 804, 835. Surplus men were drafted on 26 November to 211th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Training Regiment at

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough ...

where they joined a new 494 (Mixed) Heavy AA Bty that was being formed for 143rd (Mixed) HAA Rgt ('Mixed' indicating that women from the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

were integrated into the unit's personnel). At first, the 92nd LAA Rgt assisted

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 ...

by deploying to provide LAA cover at Vulnerable Points (VPs) including

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, whi ...

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

and the waterworks at Kempton Park and Hampton, while batteries rotated to gunnery ranges for training. RHQ was established at Frogmore Hall,

Watton-at-Stone Watton-at-Stone is a village in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane. The 2011 census showed a population of 2,272 living in 946 households. Watton-at ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

Mobile training

On 24 March 1942, 92nd LAA joined 3rd Division, with which it would serve until the end of the war.Joslen, p. 43. The regiment underwent mobile training at various locations for the next two years, and when not training were sent on short attachments with AA Command on the South Coast of England, where all available LAA guns were needed to defend against 'hit and run' attacks by ''

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-Fliegerabt ...

'' fighter-bombers. 92nd LAA had a few inconclusive engagements with raiders in this period, finally claiming its first 'kill' when 319 Bty shot down a

Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...

over Newhaven on 10 February 1943. In early 1943, 3rd Division began training for the invasion of Normandy (

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

). 92nd LAA went to Scotland for intensive training, being based in

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas ( gd, Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in th ...

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

and nearby Dalbeattie, apart from a 'snap' redeployment back to the South Coast for a month in June–July, both for practice in moving and to assist AA Command. By now one troop in each battery was equipped with six self-propelled (SP) Bofors guns, and in March 1944 each battery was given an extra troop equipped with eight 20 mm guns. These additional troops were provided by 214 Bty of 62nd LAA Rgt, which joined on 14 March 1944 and was broken up, with its three Trps (39, 40 and 50) joining 317, 318 and 319 Btys respectively. As a mobile unit the regiment also had its own

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. In April 1944 the regiment moved from Castle Douglas to

Horndean Horndean is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, north of Portsmouth. The nearest railway station is southeast of the village at Rowlands Castle. The village had a population of 12,942 at the 2011 Census, and shares the semi- ...

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

to make final preparations for Overlord. 3rd Division had been selected as the assault formation to make the first landing on

Sword Beach Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied Fr ...

near La Breche d'Hermanville, in Normandy on

. AA defence of the beachhead on D-Day was the responsibility of 80th AA Brigade, and the only divisional LAA unit to land that day would be F Troop of 92nd (Loyals), which was trained for a special role. RHQ and the rest of 318 Bty would land on D +1, while 317 and 319 Btys would arrive in the following weeks. F Troop loaded its six SP Bofors guns onto two

Landing Craft, Tank The Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) (or Tank Landing Craft TLC) was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of ver ...

(LCTs) at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite ...

, while RHQ, D and E Troops loaded onto larger Landing Ships, Tank at

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an anc ...

on the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

D-Day

F Troop's task on D-Day (6 June) was to drive from Sword Beach to the bridges over the River Orne and

Caen canal Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Benouville that had been seized overnight by the glider-borne infantry of the 2nd Battalion

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence ...

(

6th Airborne Division The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being ...

), led by

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

. The reconnaissance party of F Troop (Captain Reid and Sergeant Connor) went ashore with the division's first wave ( 8th Brigade) soon after H-Hour, while the guns landed with the third wave ( 9th Brigade) in the afternoon. Reid and Connor accompanied the Commandos of Lord Lovat's 1st Special Service Brigade to the bridges, which were held by 2nd Bn

. Three SP guns successfully landed on Queen Red beach, but the other LCT was damaged in the final approach and had to land on Queen White. The Troop rendezvoused at Colleville and then moved towards 6th Airlanding Brigade's landing zone, where it spent the night. Meanwhile, the Thames convoy was shelled by coast guns as it passed down the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

, and the

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

''Sambut'' carrying RHQ and the remainder of 318 Bty was damaged and had to be abandoned, with a number of casualties, eight fatal. However further elements of 92nd LAA got ashore on D + 1 (7 June).Routledge, p. 310.

Benouville

F Troop deployed around the vital bridges at dawn on D + 1, two guns round the canal bridge (later renamed Pegasus Bridge), two round the river bridge (later renamed

Horsa Bridge Horsa Bridge, also known as Ranville Bridge, over the Orne river, was, along with Pegasus Bridge, captured during Operation Tonga by gliderborne troops of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) in a ''coup de main'' op ...

), and two in between. It was immediately in action against low-level and dive-bombing attacks, during which it shot down two

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. On D + 2 the hottest spot in the beachhead for AA action was Benouville, where F Troop bore the brunt while as many as 45 enemy aircraft milled about in cannon and machine-gun attacks: the Troop shot down three

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. They were joined the following day by D and E Troops of 92nd and four triple

20 mm Polsten The Polsten was a Polish development of the 20 mm Oerlikon gun. The Polsten was designed to be simpler and much cheaper to build than the Oerlikon, without reducing effectiveness. Development When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the ...

mountings from 93rd LAA (the other Loyals LAA unit). That day (D + 3) was the peak, with waves of 50 aircraft attacking; nine more were shot down. Attacks continued until D + 4 (10 June) when another two aircraft were shot down. The six guns of F Troop had fired 5000 rounds of Bofors ammunition in four days. Bofors_40mm_(2),_Pegasus_Bridge,_Normandy,_France

Bofors_40mm_(2),_Pegasus_Bridge,_Normandy,_France

In addition to air attack, the positions round Benouville were regularly shelled and mortared. On one occasion the oil in the breech of gun F3 caught fire during a mortar bombardment, and Sergeant Clements risked his life by leaving his slit trench to unload the shells from the Bofors. He was later awarded a

Mention in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. On another occasion, the Troop prepared to repel enemy tanks and infantry with armour-piercing 40 mm shot and

Bren gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...

s. Benouville continued to be a hot spot, with fierce AA battles throughout June. The 20mm and 40 mm guns of 92nd LAA, together with 40th LAA Rgt from

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

and 4th Canadian LAA Rgt from

3rd Canadian Division The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from t ...

, were in constant action, shooting down 17 aircraft and driving off many others, preventing them from pressing home their attacks.

Normandy campaign

After nine days at Benouville, F Trp was relieved and went to Plumetot airfield to rest and refit with Bofors guns equipped with rangefinders suitable for ground action. Their role at the airstrip was to protect the Auster aircraft operating as Air Observation Posts for the guns of HMS ''Rodney''.Routledge, p. 317. Battery HQ and A Troop of 317 Bty embarked on 13 June and landed at Jig Sector of

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was ...

on 16 June, linking up with B and C Troops already landed. RHQ and the remainder of 318 Bty from the Sambut were re-equipped at Blenheim Barracks,

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

, and landed in Normandy on 2 July. The whole regiment had now arrived and was deployed with 318 Bty around

Hermanville-sur-Mer Hermanville-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Sights * 13th century church * Commonwealth war cemetery * Old village centre * Villa la Bluette, an 1899 villa by arc ...

to protect gun and vehicle concentrations, while 317 and 319 Btys were on Perrier Ridge. On 4 July the regiment celebrated Maida Day, remembering one of the Loyals' main battle honours. On 8 and 9 July, A, B and C Trps advanced with 3rd Division in an attack on

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Operation Charnwood Operation Charnwood was an Anglo-Canadian offensive that took place from 8 to 9 July 1944, during the Battle for Caen, part of the larger Operation Overlord (code-name for the Battle of Normandy) in the Second World War. The operation was i ...

), but the advance stalled. RHQ at Colleville was shelled and suffered several casualties. 92nd LAA Rgt also participated in Operation Goodwood, setting up Observation Posts to spot enemy mortar positions and call down divisional artillery or

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

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, ...

s to counter them. The regiment was deployed east of the Orne for three weeks after Goodwood, and suffered a number of casualties from night bombers, but participated in unseen barrage fire directed by the AA Operations Rooms against night attacks. 3rd Division moved back west of the Orne on 31 July to participate in

Operation Bluecoat Operation Bluecoat was a British offensive in the Battle of Normandy, from 30 July until 7 August 1944, during the Second World War. The geographical objectives of the attack, undertaken by VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the British Second Army ( ...

. The Allied air forces now had complete superiority over the Normandy beachhead and the need for AA defence was reduced. 92nd LAA Regiment was reduced by three Bofors Troops (C, E and H) and the three additional 20 mm Troops (X, Y and Z), leaving each battery with two Troops, one each of towed and SP Bofors. From now on the Bofors regiments were often used for direct and indirect ground shoots. 92nd LAA Rgt also retained responsibility for 3rd Division's counter-mortar teams.

Low Countries

At the end of August,

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

broke out of the Normandy beachhead, and 3rd Division was given a period for rest and training. It them moved up into Belgium and forced the Meuse-Escaut Canal on 19 September, with 92nd LAA following up to protect the canal bridge at Lille St Hubert. It then crossed the Dutch border and moved on to protect the bridges over the s'Hertogenbosch Canal. There were a number of engagements with ''

'' fighter-bombers, including one while on the move, when a strafing Bf 109 was destroyed. In early October the regiment suffered the heaviest period of air attack since Normandy. It also contributed to the artillery bombardment for 3rd Division's capture of

Overloon Overloon is a village with 3,626 inhabitants on the outskirts of the Peel region, in the former municipality of Boxmeer, North Brabant. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Land van Cuijk. Located on the outskirts is the Nat ...

(

Operation Aintree The Battle of Overloon was a battle fought in the Second World War battle between Allied forces and the German Army which took place in and around the village of Overloon in the south-east of the Netherlands between 30 September and 18 October ...

), firing 1800 rounds. At the end of the month, 21st Army Group's line was extended, and B, D and F Trps had to go into the line temporarily as infantry to hold a sector on the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

( nl, Maas). On 1 January 1945, in support of their Ardennes offensive (

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

), the ''Luftwaffe'' launched large numbers of fighter-bombers against the airfields of

RAF Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

(

Operation Bodenplatte Operation Bodenplatte (; "Baseplate"), launched on 1 January 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries during the Second World War. The goal of ''Bodenplatte'' was to gain air superiority during th ...

). After their bombing runs they returned making low-level attacks. Many passed over 92nd LAA's positions, and the regiment's Bofors fired continuously for around 45 minutes. In all it fired 1765 rounds, destroying seven aircraft outright and two more shared, with another five 'probables' – the largest contribution by an LAA regiment on that day. On 24 February, 3rd Division moved out of rest areas and crossed the Mass to reinforce

Operation Veritable Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the Second World War. The operation was conduc ...

, the clearance of the

Klever Reichswald The Klever Reichswald is an Imperial forest in North Rhine-Westphalia ( Germany) between the rivers Rhine and Meuse at the German–Dutch border. The forest is located in the municipal territory of Kleve, Goch, Kranenburg and Bedburg-Hau. It i ...

. 92nd LAA Rgt crossed the Geran frontier on 27 February and deployed around Goch taking part in ground shoots. During 185 Brigade's attack on Kervenheim, 318 battery fired 2400 rounds in 20 minutes in indirect shooting against enemy trenches.

Crossing the Rhine

The_British_Army_in_North-west_Europe_1944-45_BU2748

During the opening stage of the Rhine crossing ( Operation Plunder) 3rd Division was a follow-up formation, holding the west bank of the river while 51st Highland made the assault crossing on the night of 23/24 March 1945. However, 92nd LAA Rgt participated in the 'Pepperpot' attacks, in which every gun or mortar in range fired intensively to saturate enemy ground positions before the infantry went in.Saunders pp. 63–5. Each battery of 92nd fired between 4500 and 6500 rounds, the regiment as whole firing 32,000 rounds over the fours days. D Troop also fired 46 rounds from a captured 88 mm ''Flak'' gun. 92nd LAA Regiment crossed the Rhine on 28 March. 3rd Division now pushed on rapidly towards its objective of

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

. To improve mobility, 92nd left its towed Bofors behind, advancing only with RHQ and three SP troops (attached to the three RA field regiments), while 12 three-ton lorries were lent to 185 Brigade as a troop-carrying platoon. On 4 April, 3rd Division crossed the

Dortmund–Ems Canal The Dortmund–Ems Canal is a long canal in Germany between the inland port of the city of Dortmund () and the seaport of Emden. The artificial southern part of the canal ends after at Herbrum lock near Meppen. The route then takes th ...

in assault boats and 92nd was deployed to defend the canal and river bridges against 'ferocious' attacks by fighter-bombers. The rapid advance continued: on 15 April the regiment fired 1000 rounds in support of 8 Brigade's attack on Brinkum. On 25 April, 3rd Division crossed the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

into Bremen, covered by a massive bombardment, to which 92nd contributed 36,000 rounds – 37 lorry-loads – aimed at the Kattenrtun area and the city's airfield. 319 Battery's guns each required seven new barrels to be fitted during this bombardment, and the regiments Flak 88 was also employed. One Bofors was sited to cover the Weser in case German submarines tried to intervene in the assault. On 3 May the regimen fired for the last time in the war, destroying two boats on the Weser and a German signal station. The following day the

German surrender at Lüneburg Heath On 4 May 1945, at 18:30 British Double Summer Time, at Lüneburg Heath, south of Hamburg, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, northwest Germany including all ...

was signed and 21st Army Group ceased fire on 5 May. From D-Day to VE-Day, 92nd LAA Rgt had travelled 600 miles, firing 95, 627 rounds of 40 mm ammunition at air and ground targets, of which 18,878 rounds of 40 mm and 8687 rounds of 20 mm had accounted for 48 enemy aircraft, plus 21 'probables'. It had lost 2 officers and 18 other ranks killed, and 4 officers and 42 other ranks wounded.

Postwar

After VE-Day the regiment remained with the army of occupation, supervising

Displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

s and freed

Prisoners of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

. Towards the end of May, 3rd Division moved to

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

and 92nd LAA took over responsibility for the area round Warburg, later at Harpstedt. The regiment handed in its Bofors guns on 17 July and thereafter acted purely as occupation troops. The REME workshop was disbanded on 9 October. The regiment dwindled through 1945 and early 1946 as men were discharged or posted, and it was formally disbanded on 4 February 1946.

Notes

References

* Maj L.F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West'', Vol I: ''The Battle of Normandy'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1962/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * Maj L.F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West'', Vol II: ''The Defeat of Germany'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1968/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, Farnd ...

, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941'', Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Br * 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, . *
Tom McCarthy, ''True Loyals: A History of 7th Battalion The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)/92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, 1940-1946''.
* Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, * Tim Saunders, ''Operation Plunder: The British and Canadian Rhine Crossing'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books, 2006, .

External sources

{{Portal, United Kingdom, World War II
Lancashire Infantry Museum

* ttps://ra39-45.co.uk Royal Artillery 1939–1945br>ww2talk
Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) Light anti-aircraft regiments of the Royal Artillery Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations in Lancashire Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 092