where 317 engaged two Messerschmitt 109s (ME 109) and 318 fired against two FW 190s. On
the 11th, an FW 190 was engaged by an RAF Typhoon fighter in front of 318's guns, which were
unable to fire for fear of hitting the British plane. Enemy aircraft also attacked nearby Rye with
machine guns.
Eleven days later, a Dornier-127 (DO 127) was engaged by 317, but managed to drop its bomb
load on Ashford. On December 30, four FW 190s were engaged at Camber and one thought to be
hit. The following day, New Year's Eve, the CO wrote: 'It is the end of a very satisfactory month for
the regiment. We are now equipped with all our guns and have had some grand engagements.'
Although the regiment gained much practical anti-aircraft experience by being attached to static and
semi-static ADGB batteries along the South Coast, it also served to highlight the different emphasis
between the two types of unit. For example, divisional AA troops such as the 92nd could not
possibly be equipped with predictors for tracing enemy aircraft, because they were so heavy they
needed four men to lift them into position. On the other hand, mobility was the key function in the life
of the regiment and everything was geared towards it.
Pride of place in the 92nd always went to the efficiency and effectiveness of the guns and the
supply of ammunition, petrol, water, food, small arms, wireless and field telephones always had top
priority in using up essential space. The balance between these functions was delicate - but was to
prove its effectiveness in battle.
The year of 1943 opened with more enemy raids. On January 4, a German plane dropped a stick
of bombs near a 318 detachment at Winchelsea, causing no casualties. By the 13th, the regiment
was on the move again, going to Clacton for ten days' firing practice. It returned at the beginning of
February to Seaford, Newhaven and Brighton, where one gun was stationed in front of the famous
Grand Hotel.On the 9th, a DO 127 was engaged, but got away. Next day, however, came a significant
milestone in the 92nd's history - the regiment achieved its first Category One, a confirmed kill
of an enemy plane. The honour fell to G Troop of 319 Battery, which shot down a DO 127
over the sea at Newhaven with a five-second burst of fire. On the 22nd, the batteries returned to
Folkestone and Aldington.
COUNTDOWN TO OVERLORD
March 1943 to June 1944
'We knew we were to be part of the invasion - we
just didn't know where or when. But the
feeling of the men was for getting on with the job'
.
THE demonstration of the 92nd's growing skill was timely. For now a momentous undertaking
was at hand.
Early in 1943, 3rd Division was ordered to start training for the invasion of Sicily, only to see
the assignment switched - mainly for political reasons - to a Canadian division. But soon after,
3rd Division was given the task that would test its skill and courage to the limit and assure its
place in history. It was to be one of only two British divisions which would spearhead the D-Day
assault in Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.
Being chosen to lead the liberation of Europe was a tribute to the military prowess of the 'Iron
Division', whose proud history stretched back to the Napoleonic Wars, and which Montgomery
had commanded during the fighting retreat to Dunkirk in 1940.
But it was also an awesome responsibility. Everything depended on troops getting ashore and
establishing a beachhead in strength before the Germans could recover from the initial shock and
hurl them back into the sea. If the Allies failed to gain a foothold in Europe, it would be
catastrophic for the whole course of the war.
of Scotland to start the intensive programme of training that would make them ready for their
crucial mission. Between March 12 and 14, amid exceptionally fine weather, 92nd LAA moved
north in convoy from Kent, staging at Stevenage and Doncaster. Its destination was the small
towns of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, north of the Solway Firth in Kircudbrightshire. Here,
amid the hills, woods, rivers and lochs of the beautiful Southern Uplands of Scotland, the men
started honing themselves and their equipment to a peak of fighting fitness. But initial invasion
exercises started even further north, with combined operations at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
Then at the end of March, 318 moved to Inverary, Argyllshire - 40 miles north west of
Glasgow - for a fortnight of training with 8 Infantry Brigade and naval units. By day and night on
the waters of Loch Fyne, the 92nd practised beach landing, disembarking guns and supply
vehicles from landing craft and deploying them to their allotted area.
Meanwhile, a series of week-long trips, made by each battery in turn, started to 9 LAA
Practice Camp at Cark in Cartmel, near Grange over Sands on the edge of the Lake District.
First to go was 319, followed by 317 and 318.
The men had to be physically fit for the task ahead. As May opened, the emphasis was on
endurance work, including day-long hill walking and river crossing. Throughout May and into
June, there were full divisional exercises, during which tracer fire from a Bofors was used to
indicate the width of an infantry advance, a technique that later came into its own on the
battlefield. There was also practice on the anti-tank range at Cummertrees near Annan, wireless
exercises, night deployment and digging-in practice.
For the gun crews, digging-in was vital. When a Bofors was deployed, a pit was excavated for
it to give as much protection as possible from counter-battery fire and marauding aircraft.
However, some of the 92nd's more muscular members found their small infantry spades were
not up to the job of digging a gunpit in anything like a reasonable time - and nicknamed the
spades 'Fifth Column Shovels.' After digging trials, Captain R T Reid, CO of F Troop, agreed -
and told his men they could have heavy-duty navvy shovels instead.
On June 11, it was the turn of 317 to journey north to Inverary, where it joined 185 Infantry
Brigade for combined operations training. Meanwhile, to keep it on its toes and test its mobility,
the rest of the regiment was suddenly ordered south to Kent for a month of ADGB duties.