The 101st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (101st LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the

King's Regiment (Liverpool) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 when a single battalion was raised as The Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot. ...

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

10th Armoured Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

in Middle East Forces until it was disbanded in June 1944 to provide infantry reinforcements.

12th Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool)

The 12th was one of a number of battalions of the King's formed on 4 July 1940 as part of the rapid expansion of the Army with wartime conscripts.Frederick, pp. 128–30. On 20 October the 11th and 12th King's both joined

202nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) The 202nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was a short-lived Home Defence formation of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. Origin and Service The 202nd Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was formed for service in the ...

, which was being organised by No 2 Infantry Training Group as a static defence formation in Northumbrian Area, later

Northumberland County Division The Northumberland County Division was a formation of the British Army in the Second World War, its headquarters were formed on 24 February 1941. It ceased to function on 1 December 1941, and the headquarters were disbanded on 21 December 1941. I ...

. On 28 May 1941, 12th King's transferred within the division to 225th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home).Joslen, pp. 115, 365, 388. Late in 1941, Northumberland County Division began to be broken up and a number of its units and formations were converted to other roles. While 225th Bde was converted into a tank brigade, 12th King's 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 models of 40 mm calibre automatic anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: * Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/43 - developed in the 1930s with market entry in 1934, wid ...

s. It left on 13 November 1941 and on 1 December it transferred to the

(RA) as 101st LAA Regiment, comprising Regimental Headquarters and 333, 334 and 335 LAA Batteries.Farndale, Annex M.Frederick, pp. 805, 836.

101st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery

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 II Corps District in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. It left II Corps in the autumn and joined the GHQ Reserve, joined by a

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm 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 t ...

(REME) workshop sub-section for each battery in preparation for mobile warfare. By mid-December it had come under

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

control preparatory to going overseas. It embarked in early February 1943.

Middle East

In May 1943 101st LAA Rgt regiment was in Middle East Forces and joined 8th AA Brigade at El Tahag in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. The

North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

having ended, Egypt was now a rear area and the regiment was non-operational, but 8th AA Bde was in training for the forthcoming Italian campaign. On 11 October 1943 101st LAA Rgt joined

, which had been with Ninth Army in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

since the

Second Battle of Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented ...

, when its LAA regiment had left.Joslen, pp. 25–6. However, 10th Armoured Division was not destined to see any further action. Armoured divisions were at a disadvantage in Italy (one cavalry historian described 'Fighting with an armoured division in Italy was like using a dagger to open a tin') and eventually 10th Armoured's armoured brigades from Egypt were rotated with exhausted ones from Italy, and the division was broken up. 101st LAA Regiment left on 30 April 1944. Meanwhile British forces in Italy were suffering an acute manpower shortage. In June 1944 the Chiefs of Staff decided that given the reduced activity of the ''

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

'' the number of AA regiments in Italy could be reduced, their surplus personnel being converted to other roles, particularly infantry. The Middle East School of Infantry began retraining AA gunners to reinforce depleted infantry formations rotated from Italy to Egypt.Routledge, p. 278. 101st LAA Regiment was accordingly disbanded on 11 June 1944.

Footnotes

Notes

References

* 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, Farn ...

, ''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, . * Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, {{ISBN, 1-85753-099-3. Light anti-aircraft regiments of the Royal Artillery Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944