54th (City of London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1922 until 1954. In

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 ...

it defended London during

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

and later served in the Middle East.

Origin

German air raids by

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

airships and

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

bombers on London and other British cities during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

had shown the need for strong anti-aircraft (AA) defences in any future war. When the Territorial Army (TA) was reformed in 1922 it included a number of dedicated AA units of the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

(RGA). The fourth of these was 54th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, RGA, (TA), comprising 160th, 161st and 162nd (City of London) AA Batteries, formed in July 1923 and headquartered in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

.Frederick, pp. 754, 767.Litchfield, p. 164. It was assigned to 27th (London) Air Defence Brigade. As Britain's AA defences expanded during the 1930s, higher formations became necessary. 1st AA Division was formed to cover London and the Home Counties in 1935, and the 54th AA Brigade was reassigned to 26th (London) AA Group within the division. The Royal Garrison Artillery had been absorbed into 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 ...

(RA) in 1924; on 1 January 1939 the RA replaced its traditional unit designation 'Brigade' by the modern 'Regiment', which allowed the 'AA Groups' to take the more usual formation title of 'Brigades'.

World War II

Mobilisation

The TA's AA units were mobilised on 23 September 1938 during the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudete ...

, with units manning their emergency positions within 24 hours, even though many did not yet have their full complement of men or equipment. The emergency lasted three weeks, and they were stood down on 13 October. 54th AA Regiment formed an additional battery, No 312, at Putney on 1 April 1939, as part of the expansion of the TA following the Munich Crisis. In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new

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 ...

. In June, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of the TA was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA gun and searchlight positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations. After mobilisation, a new 48th AA Bde was formed in South London on 28 August 1939, to which 54 (CoL) AA Regt was assigned.

Battle of Britain and Blitz

In May 1940 the regiment was deployed manning 4.5-inch guns at sites in South East London:Operation Order No 15, in 99 HAA Rgt War Diary, 19 August 1939–31 December 1940, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2389. * 160 AA Bty at

Welling Welling is a town in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. It was part of Kent prior to the creation of Greater London i ...

(site ZS6) * 161 AA Bty at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

(ZS8) * 312 AA Bty at

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

(ZS14) and

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

(ZS16), with Battery HQ (BHQ) at 'Woodhall' in College Road, Dulwich On 1 May 1940, detachments of the newly-formed 318 AA Bty of 99th (London Welsh) AA Rgt were sent to these sites for training on 4.5-inch guns, and then on 15 May, 318 AA Bty took over BHQ and sites ZS14 and ZS16 from 312 AA Bty. At the same time 162 AA Bty concentrated at

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

(ZS7).

On 1 June 1940, along with other AA units equipped with 3-inch, 3.7-inch or 4.5-inch AA guns, the 54th was designated a Heavy AA Regiment. It continued to serve with 48 AA Bde in 1 AA Division defending London during the Blitz54 HAA Rgt at RA 39–45
/ref> The regiment sent a cadre to 205th Training Regiment at Aborfield to provide the basis for a new 428 Bty; this was formed on 8 May 1941 and joined the regiment on 6 August 1941. It replaced 162 Bty, which had left to join a new 127th HAA Rgt forming at

Cobham, Surrey Cobham () is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred south-west of London and northeast of Guildford on the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of pr ...

. On 29 December 1941 428 Bty transferred to 131st HAA Rgt.

Indian Ocean and Middle East

In 1942 the regiment sailed to the Indian Ocean. 162 (City of London) Battery went to

East Africa Command East Africa Command was a Command of the British Army. Until 1947 it was under the direct control of the Army Council and thereafter it became the responsibility of Middle East Command. It was disbanded on 11 December 1963, the day before Kenya bec ...

, where it later formed part of a composite 'F' Regiment. The rest of the regiment went to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, where by September 1942, 160 and 161 (City of London) Batteries had been joined by 159 (Lloyd's, City of London) Battery from 53 (City of London) HAA Regiment.Joslen, p. 519. 159 Battery later moved on to 52 (London) HAA Regiment and took part in the

Burma Campaign 1944–45 Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. In May 1943, 54 HAA Regiment moved to

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 ...

, where it came under the non-operational 8th AA Bde in Middle East Forces. 312 Battery moved up and came under 89th HAA Rgt/AA Defence Command at

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

but the rest of the regiment remained in Egypt until it was placed in suspended animation on 27 February 1945.

Postwar

When the TA was reformed in 1947, the regiment was reconstituted as 454 HAA Regiment (City of London), RA, TA based at Lytton Grove, Putney, as part of 67 AA Bde.Frederick, p. 1015.444–473 Regiments at British Army 1945 on
/ref> On 1 January 1954 the regiment was merged into 452 (London) HAA based at Acton.

Honorary Colonel

The following officer served as Honorary Colonel of the regiment: * Capt Sir Benjamin Lazarus Hansford, KCB, TD (1863–1954), 1928–47

Prominent members

On 1 September 1939 the artist

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was a British painter, printmaker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All Al ...

was mobilised at Putney with 54th HAA Regiment. By December he was a Bombardier with F Troop of 162 Bty. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 23 December, leaving the artillery and becoming an

official war artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

in February 1940.Edward Ardizzone website
/ref>

Notes

References

* ''Monthly Army List''. * ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. * 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 Far East Theatre 1939–1946'', London: Brasseys, 2002, . * 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, . * Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, {{OCLC, 852069247 * ''Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army'', London: War Office, 7 November 1927 (also in Litchfield, Appendix IV).

Online sources

The Royal Artillery 1939–45

British Military History

Orders of Battle at Patriot Files

British Army units from 1945 on

Edward Ardizzone website
Heavy anti-aircraft regiments of the Royal Artillery Military units and formations in London Military units and formations in Wandsworth