32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade

32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade
Active	1936–1955
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Type	Anti-Aircraft Brigade
Role	Air Defence
Part of	2nd AA Division 5th AA Group
Garrison/HQ	Derby
Engagements	The Blitz

The 32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1936 to 1955, charged with defending the East Midlands of England.

Origin

The formation was raised on 1 November 1936 at Normanton House, Derby, as 32nd (South Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group, forming part of 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division. It comprised anti-aircraft (AA) 'brigades' of the Royal Artillery (RA) and AA battalions of the Royal Engineers (RE), but when the RA redesignated its brigades as regiments in 1938, the group adopted the more usual title of 32nd (Midland) Ant-Aircraft Brigade in November 1938. On first formation the brigade comprised the following units:^[1]

• 69th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Brigade RA (TA) – Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) unit formed at Birmingham in 1936 by conversion of the 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
  • HQ, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 199th Anti-Aircraft Batteries
• 40th (The Sherwood Foresters) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA) – Searchlight unit formed at Chesterfield in 1936 by conversion of the 6th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters
  • HQ, 358th, 359th, 360th, 361st Anti-Aircraft Companies
• 42nd (The Robin Hoods, Sherwood Foresters) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA) – Searchlight unit formed at Nottingham in 1936 by conversion of 7th (Robin Hood Rifles) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters
  • HQ, 366th, 367th, 368th, 369th Anti-Aircraft Companies
• 44th (The Leicestershire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA) – Searchlight unit formed at Leicester in 1936 by conversion of the 4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment
  • HQ, 374th, 375th, 376th, 377th Anti-Aircraft Companies
• 45th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, RE (TA) – Searchlight unit formed at Birmingham in 1936 by conversion of the 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
  • HQ, 378th, 379th, 380th, 381st Anti-Aircraft Companies

All these units had previously been infantry battalions of the former 46th (North Midland) Division, which had been converted into 2 AA Division in 1935.^[2]

World War II

With the continued expansion of AA defences, especially after the Munich Crisis of 1938, new formations appeared, culminating in the creation of Anti-Aircraft Command, responsible for all TA air defence units in the UK. As a result of this expansion, some existing units transferred from 32 AA Bde to the new formations, while newly formed units replaced them, although the brigade remained within 2 AA Division. On the outbreak of war its order of battle was as follows:^[3][4][5]

• 68 AA Regiment RA – HAA unit formed in 1936 by conversion of 62nd Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, also from 46th Division^[2]
  • 200 & 220 (Derby) AA Btys at Derby
  • 276 & 277 AA Btys at Nottingham
• 42 (Robin Hoods) AA Battalion RE – see above
• 44 (Leicester) AA Battalion RE – see above
• 50 (Northamptonshire Regiment) AA Battalion RE – formed in 1937 by conversion of 4th Bn Northamptonshire Regiment
  • 400, 401, 402, 403 AA Coys
• 32nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps

In 1940 the RE AA battalions were transferred to the RA, and that summer the AA regiments of the RA were redesignated Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) to distinguish them from the new Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) units being formed. During The Blitz of 1940–41, 32 AA Bde controlled the following AA units defending the East Midlands:^[6][7][8][9]

• 78 (1st East Anglian) HAA Regiment (part) – formed in 1937 by conversion of 84th (1st East Anglian) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery^[10][11]
• 113 HAA Regiment (part) – raised November 1940^[12][13]
• 27 LAA Regiment – raised in Northern Command before September 1939^[14]
• 38 LAA Regiment (part) – raised in Northern Command before September 1939^[15]
• 64 LAA Regiment (part) – raised November 1940^[12][16]
• 41st (5th North Staffordshire Regiment) Searchlight Regiment – formed at Stoke-on-Trent in 1936 by conversion of 5th Bn North Staffordshire Regiment from 46 Division^[17]
• 44 Searchlight Regiment – see above
• 58 (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment – formed in 1938 as a duplicate of 36 (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment^[18]

When the AA Divisions were disbanded in 1942, 32 AA Bde came under the command of 5 AA Group, based in Nottingham, and remained with it for the rest of the war.

Postwar

The Brigade was reformed in the TA in 1947, still based at Derby, but renumbered as 58 AA Brigade (TA), with the following composition:^[19][20]

• 262 (North Midlands) HAA Regt at Derby – formerly 68 (North Midland) HAA (see above)^[21]
• 526 HAA Regt at Derby – formerly 26 LAA Regiment^[22]
• 528 LAA Regt at Nottingham – formerly 28 LAA Regiment^[22]
• 575 (6th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters) S/L Regt at Chesterfield – formerly 149 LAA, and before that 40 S/L (see above)^[23]
• 577 (The Robin Hoods, Sherwood Foresters) S/L Regt at Nottingham – formerly 42 S/L (see above)^[23]

In 1954, 262 and 526 HAA Regiments amalgamated as 262 Regiment. Then on 10 March 1955, AA Command was disbanded and a number of AA units were disbanded or merged. From 58 AA Bde, 262 HAA Regiment became P (North Midland) Battery of a new 438 LAA Regiment (which also included the former Leicester and Northampton Searchlight Regiments, see above), while 528 and 577 Regiments merged into 350 Regiment in Nottingham. Finally, the brigade was placed in suspended animation on 31 October 1955, and completely disbanded on 31 December 1957.^[20]

Notes

1. 2 AA Division 1936 at British Military History
2. TA 1927 and Army Lists.
3. 2 AA Division 1939 at British Military History
4. AA Command 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files
5. Routledge, Table LVIII, p. 376; Table LX, p. 378.
6. 2 AA Division at RA 39–45
7. 2 AA Division 1940 at British Military History
8. Routledge, Table LXV, p. 396.
9. Farndale, Annex D, p. 259.
10. 78 HAA at RA 39–45
11. Norfolk Artillery Volunteers at Regiments.org retrieved 12 August 2014
12. Farndale, Annex M, pp. 334–6.
13. 113 HAA at RA 39–45
14. 27 LAA at RA 39–45
15. 38 LAA at RA 39–45
16. at RA 39–45
17. 41 S/L at RA 39–45
18. 58 S/L at RA 39–45
19. The Territorial Army 1947
20. 67–106 Brigades at British Army 1945 on
21. 235–265 Regiments at British Army 1945 on
22. 520–563 Regiments at British Army 1945 on
23. 564–591 Regiments at British Army 1945 on

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, ISBN 1-85753-080-2.
• Monthly Army Lists.
• Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 9781857530995.
• Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army, London: War Office, 7 November 1927.

Online sources

• British Army units from 1945 on
• British Military History
• Orders of Battle at Patriot Files
• Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth (Regiments.org)
• The Royal Artillery 1939–45