17. Guns were deployed at Birchington, Finglesham, Lympne RAF aerodrome, Richborough,
Cheriton and Hawkinge aerodrome. Nine days later, 317 rejoined the regiment, deploying at
Minster, Snowdown Colliery and Sandwich. On July 9, the battery's guns opened fire on a DO 127
raider.
Five days later, the regiment was ordered back to Scotland, arriving there on July 19. By now, new
Mark V self-propelled Bofors Guns had been delivered, and one troop in each battery started
training with them.
In August, further exercises were held with 185 Brigade and there were two complete divisional
exercises, lasting into September. Trips to Cark for firing practice resumed and there was anti-tank
training at Craignair, south of Castle Douglas.
On 21st September, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Loder-Symonds assumed command of the 92nd
when Lieutenant-Colonel Hollwey was posted to take over 124 LAA. Throughout October training
went on, with regimental deployment exercises, wire-cutting and night attack by patrols. In
November, there was an interlude of entertainment and recreation in the form of inter-regiment
boxing and rugby matches, plus a visit by the band of The Loyal Regiment. At the end of the month,
the final phase of 3rd Division's assault training started when units moved north to the area around
Nairn and Inverness to link up with Naval Task Force S, which was to carry the division to the
Normandy beaches. On November 28, 318 journeyed to Brackla Camp near Nairn, spending the
next two months in a series of full-scale invasion exercises along the Moray Firth between Chanonry
Point and Fort George.
Here, often amid appalling weather, the men refined their loading and assault techniques in tank
landing craft. As the historic year of 1944 opened, the rest of the regiment was training apace,
especially with vehicle waterproofing, which was vital to prevent engines becoming stalled in the surf
of the invasion beaches. The 92nd REME workshop smothered vulnerable parts of the motors in a
greasy paste and attached breather tubes to be used for air intakes.
In one waterproofing trial on January 15, a convoy drove into the River Dee near New Galloway,
north of Castle Douglas. Three-tonner lorries fared well, but the strong current submerged 15cwt
trucks and jeeps.Fast-flowing water was not the only hazard. Although the SP Bofors were strong and solidly-based, they could become bogged down, especially in the swampier parts of the Scottish
countryside. On these occasions, their built-in winches proved very useful, pulling the gun free by
fastening the winch cable to trees or to other vehicles and slowly winding it in.
Even so, it could sometimes be a close-run thing. 'One of our guns once became so deeply
swamped in a bog that it took two others as well as its own winch to drag it to hard ground,'
recalled Jack Prior, who as a young lieutenant joined 317 in December 1943, transferring to the
92nd after service with ADGB units on the hazardous Dover Command.
'It had sunk to its axles and we seriously wondered if we would lose it altogether. I could
almost hear the court of inquiry being turned into a court martial, with yours truly committed to
repaying the loss from his pay - spread over several hundred years!'
On January 17, 317 moved up to Brackla for its two months of intensive invasion exercises
with Task Force S and the rest of 3rd Division. The south shores of the Moray Firth were
substituted for the Normandy beaches as, amid swirling snowstorms, they practised assault
landings in Burghead Bay. During one of these exercises, tragedy struck. A brigadier, waiting on
the dunes to observe the landings, was hit and killed by a tank which had failed to spot him as it
crested the rise.
Early in March, 317 travelled further north to Tain on the Dornoch Firth, where destroyers
and a cruiser demonstrated a naval artillery bombardment on the headland of Tarbat Ness. This
dramatically showed the men the weight of firepower that would be supporting them during the
Normandy landings and gave them some idea of the hellish noise of it all.
On the 27th, the battery moved south again to concentrate at Munlochy near Inverness for
further exercises, which took the men into the hills around Culloden. On January 26, the CO of
the 92nd, Lieutenant-Colonel Loder-Symonds, left to take over as artillery commander of
British 1st Airborne Division. He was in charge of artillery during Operation Market Garden at
Arnhem in September 1944. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Bazeley DSO RA assumed command.
February started for 318, now back from Brackla, with anti-tank training at Cummertrees. The
regiment practised telephone silence, communicating by radio only. On the 6th, a detachment left
for a 3rd Division conference at Langholm, north of Carlisle, to be addressed by Montgomery,
who was Commander-in-Chief of 21st Army Group and the land commander for Overlord. The
rest of the month - amid snow - saw telephone silence, casualty evacuation and mine practice,
assault training, lectures and further waterproofing trials. A new troop of eight 20mm guns was
attached to each battery.
Throughout March, there were further lectures, instructional films and organised recreational
training, including forced marching competitions. RHQ personnel practised on Craignair range
with Sten guns and Piat anti-tank weapons. But, as always, the main thrust of training was on
deploying the guns for swift action.
'Above all, the guns had to be at instant readiness in case of sudden enemy aircraft attack,' said
Jack Prior. 'This was emphasised and practised ad nauseam, but the work paid off when we
reached Normandy and I cannot recall any gun getting stuck or caught on the hop by a 350mph
ME 109 or FW 190.
against shelling and mortaring, which were the main fire to be avoided. In fact of course, there
was little chance of this, because the shelling was often accompanied by bombing or strafing, for
which we had to be prepared and ready for action.
'Knowledge of the gun mechanism had been gathered years before and we had been handling
the guns until it had become second nature. But we had to ensure that in doing our own specified
jobs we did not get in each other's way in a very confined space, albeit in the open air.'
As winter slowly gave way to spring, the men of 92nd LAA, along with the rest of 3rd Division,
were reaching a peak of fighting fitness and perfecting their Overlord tasks. Now enthusiasm
began to be tinged with impatience. `We knew we were to be part of the invasion,' recalled
George Baker. `We just didn't know where or when. The men were all for getting on with the
job. The feeling was, �Why don't we go and get it over with?�'
But as April opened, the years of waiting were finally drawing to a close. From all parts of
Britain, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and gigantic quantities of tanks, guns and equipment
began streaming south by road and rail to assembly areas ready for the great cross-Channel
operation. On April 5, 1944, 92nd LAA started its own journey, with RHQ and 318 in the
vanguard.