92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
The 92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was a British Army mobile light anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery that was raised and active during the Second World War.
The 92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was created in November 1941 from the 7th Battalion, Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire). Most of the men in the unit were conscripts who came from Cheshire, Lancashire, Liverpool and other areas of Merseyside. In 1942 the regiment became the 3rd British Infantry Division's divisional light anti-aircraft regiment. After anti-invasion duties in several parts of England, the regiment moved to Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire, in the spring of 1943 to begin training with the 3rd British Division for the invasion of Europe. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the regiment's F Troop landed on Sword Beach near La Breche d'Hermanville, in Normandy, as part of 3rd Division's assault forces. The troop's task was to protect the vital bridges over the River Orne and Caen Canal, which had been captured earlier that day during Operation Deadstick by Glider-borne infantry of the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, led by Major John Howard. F Troop deployed around the bridges and for five days fought off repeated enemy air attacks, shooting down 17 German planes despite being deprived of its reinforcements, which had been sunk in the English Channel. The bridges were later renamed Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge. The 92nd fought with distinction throughout the rest of the campaign in North West Europe, ending the war in Bremen. The regiment was formally disbanded after the war in February 1946.