248th (Welwyn) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery

The 248th (Welwyn) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery (248 HAA Bty) was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). It was formed in the late 1930s as part of the rapid expansion of anti-aircraft forces in response to international tension, and it served through the Second World War and into the post-war Territorial Army until 1955. The battery was newly raised at Welwyn Garden City as the third battery of the 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. The Hertfordshire Territorial Association obtained a site at Lemsford Lane for a drill hall, and recruitment began on 14 November 1938. Supported by the local newspaper, public meetings and letters to local employers, recruitment went well and by March 1939 the battery was close to its establishment of 172. Captain F.D.E. Fremantle of the 86th Field Regiment was appointed officer commanding with the rank of Major. Early training was carried out on two QF 3.7-inch AA guns borrowed from a London AA battery. In June 1939 the battery took part in the partial mobilisation of Anti-Aircraft Command known as 'couverture', manning gun positions along the south bank of the Thames Estuary and training at the AA Practice Camp at Bude in Cornwall. On 24 August 1939, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised. The 79th (HY) AA Regiment was sent to defend airfields of 11 Group of RAF Fighter Command, with 248 Battery manning guns and light machine guns at RAF Biggin Hill, RAF Felixstowe and RAF Martlesham Heath. After war was declared on 3 September 1939, the battery shifted to the Gun Defence Area around the port of Harwich. On 17 October it fired the regiment's first rounds in anger. In December 1939 it received a warning order to prepare to move overseas, and after mobilising at Blackdown Camp near Aldershot it sailed for France on the night of 7/8 February 1940. It landed at Le Havre and manned static 3.7-inch gun positions at Parc de la Hève, coming under the operational command of 8th (Belfast) AA Rgt in 3 AA Bde guarding the lines of communication for the British Expeditionary Force. The Battle of France began on 10 May 1940, and the battery was engaged in the fighting and subsequent evacuation. The battery later fought in the Swansea Blitz and went on to defend London and Cyprus. It continued serving in the post-war Territorial Army until 1955.

The 248th (Welwyn) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery (248 HAA Bty), was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). It was formed just before the Second World War and served through the conflict and into the post-war TA until 1955. During the period of international tension in 1938, the TA was rapidly expanded, particularly for the Anti-Aircraft (AA) role. Much of this expansion was achieved by converting and/or expanding existing units. 343 (Watford) Field Battery was separated from 86th (East Anglian) (Herts Yeomanry) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery (partly descended from the old Hertfordshire Yeomanry cavalry) and converted into a complete new AA regiment, 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) AA Regiment, Royal Artillery. Regimental headquarters (RHQ) and two of the batteries (246 (1st Watford) and 247 (2nd Watford)) remained at Watford, while the third (248) was newly raised at Welwyn Garden City. The Hertfordshire Territorial Association obtained a site from the Welwyn Garden City Estate Office at Lemsford Lane where a drill hall could be built and recruitment for the new battery began on 14 November 1938. Supported by the local newspaper, public meetings and letters to local employers, recruitment went well and by March 1939 was close to the establishment of 172. Captain F.D.E. Fremantle of the 86th Field Regiment was appointed officer commanding (OC) of 248 Bty with the rank of Major. Training had to be carried out on two QF 3.7-inch AA guns borrowed from a London AA battery. In June 1939, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of Anti-Aircraft Command was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each TA AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected gun positions. 79th (HY) AA Regiment was embodied on 25 June for a partial deployment to gunsites along the south bank of the Thames Estuary, with 248 Bty at Brookley Park, Lewisham. The availability of equipment at the gunsites was invaluable for training the recruits, and the second half of the month's embodiment was spent at the AA Practice Camp at Bude in Cornwall, where 248 Battery scored a direct hit on a Queen Bee radio-controlled target aircraft. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised and sent to its war stations, which in the case of 79th (HY) AA Rgt were to defend airfields of 11 Group of RAF Fighter Command. One section of 248 Bty manned two 3-inch guns at RAF Biggin Hill while the rest of the battery manned Lewis Light machine guns (LMGs) at RAF Felixstowe (8 LMGs) and RAF Martlesham Heath (12 LMGs). After war was declared on 3 September there were numerous adjustments to AA Command's deployment as further units and equipment became available. During the autumn 79th (HY) AA Rgt handed over most of its responsibilities for airfields, and shifted towards the Gun Defence Area (GDA) round the port of Harwich and adjacent harbours. 248 Battery was deployed as follows: 2 x 3.7-inch at site H2 (Trimley, Felixstowe); 2 x 3.7-inch at site H3 (Dovercourt); 20 x AA LMG at RAF Martlesham Heath; 20 x AA LMG at Parkeston Quay, Harwich. On 17 October the battery fired the regiment's first rounds in anger, when sites H2 and H3 engaged an aircraft identified as hostile. The War Establishment of the battery was now 290 all ranks, and on 21 October a draft of 132 recruits (Militiamen with 3 months' AA training) arrived, after which the 125 men who were aged under 19 or over 38, or who were unfit for overseas service, were posted away in early November. On 26 December a warning order was received to prepare to move overseas, and the detachments concentrated at Harwich. The regiment was designated as a base defence AA regiment to man static 3.7-inch guns. 248 Battery was already experienced with the 3.7-inch and only needed to attend short courses by sections on a static gun site at Dartford, Kent before mobilising at Blackdown Camp near Aldershot. Here it was issued with vehicles (many of them impressed civilian lorries) and joined by a draft of 62 Militia reinforcements from Yorkshire to bring it up to full establishment. 248 Battery proceeded from Blackdown to Southampton and sailed for France on the night of 7/8 February 1940. It landed at Le Havre where it came under the operational command of 8th (Belfast) AA Rgt in 3 AA Bde guarding the lines of communication for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It was to remain at Le Havre to man two static 3.7-inch gun positions at Parc de la Hève on the edge of the cliff in front of the lighthouse. The concrete pits were built and guns emplaced by 27 February and a Gun-Laying (GL) Radar Mk I was set up. While this was being done, Nos 2 and 3 Sections manned the guns at Octeville Airfield. The rest of the regiment disembarked on 6 March and deployed around the port and airfield. 79th (HY) AA Regiment devised an AA barrage scheme using fixed bearings and staggered heights over the docks and oil storage tanks for 'unseen' fire at night; this was codenamed 'Pillar of Fire'. The Battle of France began on 10 May with the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. The BEF followed the pre-arranged Plan D and advanced into Belgium, but a rapid German breakthrough in the Ardennes forced it to fall back again. By 21 May the main body of the BEF was cut off, and between 26 May and 4 June as much as possible was evacuated through Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo). From 10 to 19 May the only Luftwaffe activity in the Le Havre area had been daily reconnaissance flights, but on the night of 19/20 May there was a three-hour raid on the French airfield at Octeville, during which 'Pillar of fire' brought down an enemy aircraft, followed on succeeding nights by attempts to drop Parachute mines into the harbour entrance. Even after the Dunkirk evacuation ended, there were still British forces in France. The battery later fought in the Swansea Blitz and went on to defend London and Cyprus. It continued serving in the post-war Territorial Army until 1955.

• 1955

  The battery continued serving in the post-war Territorial Army until 1955.

• 1940

  The battery sailed for France on the night of 7/8 February and manned static 3.7-inch guns at Le Havre during the Battle of France.

• 1939

  By March the battery was close to its establishment of 172; in June it took part in the 'couverture' partial mobilisation; on 24 August AA Command was fully mobilised.

• 1939

  On 17 October the battery fired the regiment's first rounds in anger at sites H2 and H3.

• 1938

  Recruitment for the new 248 Battery began at Welwyn Garden City on 14 November.

1. 1248th (Welwyn) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artilleryen.wikipedia.org
2. 2248thwikidata.org