early stage, showed much promise in its fighting skills - a different destiny was being decided for it.
On October 29, 1941, orders came through that the battalion was to be converted to a mobile light
anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery. As the change in role was being finalised, infantry training
continued. At the beginning of November, sea mines again brought drama. Two exploded on the
beaches near the battalion's base and several others had to be immobilised by the Royal Navy.
On November 5, a 1,000lb German bomb hit Dorman and Long's steelworks at Coatham,
Redcar, but failed to explode. Three days later, D Company took part in exercises with the Home
Guard between Halifax and Huddersfield, playing the role of invading German parachutists.
FROM INFANTRY TO GUNNERS
November to December 1941
'I know you will live up to your old motto,
Loyaute M'Oblige. You will soon be holding more than your own
as a highly-efficient regiment of the Royal Artillery '
BUT the new challenge that faced the 7th Loyals was about to begin. On November 13, 1941, the
men of the battalion were called together in the New Pavilion, Redcar, to be addressed by the
divisional commander, Major-General P J Shears. He wished them good luck in their new role as
gunners, saying it was 'a great honour' to have been selected for it.
Two days later, on November 15, 1941, the battalion was officially converted to an artillery unit.
But its proud link with The Loyal Regiment was enshrined in its new title. It became the 92nd
(Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA.
The 7th Loyals was one of 32 battalions from British infantry regiments which were switched to
mobile LAA duties in the winter of 1941 to meet a shortage of such units in the ever-expanding
Army.
As the German blitzkrieg in Poland and France had shown so dramatically, air power was now
one of the decisive factors in war. It was vital that any army going into battle had the means to
protect itself against enemy planes - and that meant creating highly mobile anti-aircraft units which
could deploy at a moment's notice to combat any threat from the skies.
Each LAA regiment consisted of a headquarters (RHQ) and three batteries. Each battery was
divided into three troops, each of six guns. The total of officers and men was about 800, around the
same strength as an infantry battalion.
the Second World War and after, and with 20mm Oerlikon Guns and Polsten Guns. The Bofors
was designed for use against relatively low-level raiders, such as fighters and dive-bombers. Recoil-
operated with a sliding breech block, it fired its two-pounder shells at the rate of 120 per minute.
These were fed into the auto-loading unit from clips or 'chargers' holding four shells each, which
were continuously supplied by the gunners.
Shells had a muzzle velocity of 2,700 feet per second and were deadly against aircraft up to about
5,000ft, although they in fact went many times higher. Filled with TNT, they were fused to explode
on impact and to self-destruct through a tracer-igniter once they had passed their effective range.
This was to prevent live shells which missed enemy aircraft falling to earth and exploding on friendly
soil. Because the Bofors - originally developed by the Swedish armaments firm of the same name -
was such a successful gun, many variants were built for different situations and it was continuously
developed and improved during the war. Initially, LAA regiments used towed versions, but self-
propelled models - with the gun set on the back of a Morris Commercial lorry chassis - were later
built for even greater mobility and battle-readiness. Another mobile version, not used by LAA
regiments, had a Bofors mounted on a Crusader light tank chassis.
While the designated task of mobile LAA units was providing defence against enemy planes, guns
were used extensively against ground targets later in the war, when the Bofors proved a devastating
weapon for bombarding infantry positions.
Loaded with solid shot, they were also given an anti-tank role. But the 40mm shells were ineffective
against heavy German armour - and, as some veterans ruefully recall, attacking tanks with Bofors
fire could be a positive hazard because it more often than not earned a hot reprisal from the
undamaged panzers.
These then, were the weapons with which the newly-formed 92nd had to familiarise itself and
become expert in their use.The regiment's three batteries were designated 317 (A, B, C Troops), 318 (D, E, F Troops) and
319 (G, H, I Troops). They were billeted respectively at Kirkleatham Hall, Redcar (with RHQ), at
the town's racecourse and at a local convalescent home.
As far as possible, whole companies of the 7th Loyals were absorbed into the new batteries,
whose commanders were Majors N H Joynson, M S Gornall and Major P Crane. Captain Godden
took over as adjutant.
Later, Major Crane noted - not without a hint of pride - that in each of the batteries, two-thirds of
the men who served the guns were from 7th Loyals, and most were from the Lancashire area.
Regiment members brought in after conversion were largely drivers and tradesmen.
On the day conversion took place, a German Junkers 88 (JU 88) flying below 500ft dropped two
bombs which ricocheted 300yards and 50ft high, bursting on Dorman and Long's. Several civilians
were killed and injured and the steelworks was extensively damaged. The 92nd fired its first shots in
anger as a Bofors detachment tried to down the raider, but no hits were reported.
Meanwhile, coastal patrols continued. On November 14, a mine was washed up in the regiment's
sector and rendered harmless. The following day in the same area came a grimmer find - the body
of an RAF pilot who had been based at Leuchars in Scotland was recovered from the sea.
As work started on acquainting the men of the 92nd with their new equipment, intelligence tests
were carried out and revealed an 'exceptionally high' aptitude for gunnery among the men.
Soon, it was time for the regiment fully to take up its fresh challenge. In a letter, Brigadier John
Wells CMG DSO, Colonel of The Loyal Regiment, told the CO: 'I am pleased and proud at all I
saw and heard of the 7th Battalion when I saw them recently. What the regiment loses by your
conversion, your new corps will gain. The spirit in which you are accepting this change is the real
proof that you are true Loyals.
'Although you are no longer part of the The Loyal Regiment, you can - and I know you will - live
up to your old motto, Loyaute M'Oblige. I have every confidence that you will soon be holding more
than your own as a highly-efficient regiment of the Royal Artillery. Thank you for all you have done
for the regiment. Good luck to you all, officers and men. I shall always be glad to hear of you.'
Another letter to the CO, from Brigadier J H Jenson MC TD, was equally warm. 'I feel I cannot let
you leave the brigade without expressing to you and to all the ranks under your command my
grateful thanks for your loyal co-operation during our short connection and my sincere regret that it
should be necessary to sever that connection.