Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom.

Origin

The formation of a Command-level body of anti-aircraft defences had been announced in 1938, but Anti-Aircraft Command was not formed until 1 April 1939 under General Sir Alan Brooke, who had been commander of Anti-Aircraft Corps. He then passed control to Sir Frederick Pile, who remained in command until the end of the war.Routledge, Chapter 26.Robert Palmer, 'A Concise History of Anti-Aircraft Command (History & Personnel)' at British Military History.
/ref> AA Command was under the operational direction of

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

as part of Air Defence of Great Britain, and occupied a headquarters known as ''Glenthorn'' in the grounds of Bentley Priory, home of Fighter Command.Wykeham
/ref> The majority of AA Command's guns and searchlights were operated by Territorial Army units. Some

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

units joined after they returned from the Dunkirk evacuation. Later, as the war progressed, Regulars and TA were freed up for overseas service by the use of men of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

(loading and firing the guns) and women of the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

(handling ammunition and operating gun directors).Sir Frederick Pile's despatch.
/ref>

Organisation

Divisional

Divisions under the command were: * 1st Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at start of the war, headquartered in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

. * 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at the start of the war, headquartered at RAF Hucknall,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. * 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at the start of the war, headquartered in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. * 4th Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at the start of the war, headquartered in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. * 5th Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at the start of the war, headquartered in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. * 6th Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at the start of the war, headquartered in Uxbridge. * 7th Anti-Aircraft Division – Existing division at the start of the war, headquartered in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. * 8th Anti-Aircraft Division – Formed November 1940 covering South West England, headquartered in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. * 9th Anti-Aircraft Division – Formed November 1940 covering South Wales, headquartered in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. * 10th Anti-Aircraft Division – Formed November 1940 covering

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and the Humber Estuary. * 11th Anti-Aircraft Division – Formed November 1940 covering the West and Central Midlands. * 12th Anti-Aircraft Division – Formed November 1940 covering southwestern Scotland. AA Command was also responsible for the Orkney and Shetland Defences (OSDEF).

Corps

At the end of 1940, the Command created three

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

to supervise this expanding organisation: * I Anti-Aircraft Corps covering the South (1, 5, 6, 8 and 9 AA Divisions) corresponding with 10 and 11 Groups RAF * II Anti-Aircraft Corps covering the Midlands (2, 4, 10 and 11 AA Divisions) corresponding with 9 and 12 Groups RAF * III Anti-Aircraft Corps covering the North (3, 7 and 12 AA Divisions, and OSDEF) corresponding with 13 and 14 Groups RAF

Groups

In October 1942, the corps and divisions were abolished and replaced by seven flexible AA Groups more closely aligned with the operational structure of Fighter Command: * 1st Anti-Aircraft Group covering London * 2nd Anti-Aircraft Group covering the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

, South-East England and southern East Anglia (1st and 2nd AA Groups coincided with No. 11 Group RAF) * 3rd Anti-Aircraft Group covering South-West England and South Wales (coinciding with No. 10 Group RAF) * 4th Anti-Aircraft Group covering North Wales and North-West England (coinciding with No. 9 Group RAF) * 5th Anti-Aircraft Group covering northern East Anglia and the East Coast as far as

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...

(coinciding with No. 12 Group RAF) * 6th Anti-Aircraft Group covering North-East England and Scotland (coinciding with No. 13 Group RAF (except Northern Ireland) and No. 14 Group RAF) * 7th Anti-Aircraft Group covering Northern Ireland * the Orkney and Shetland Defences remained separate

Later events

Later, the 6th AA Group took over the Solent area to cover the preparations for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

and was replaced in NE England by a new 8th Anti-Aircraft Group. A new 9th Anti-Aircraft Group was formed to cover southern East Anglia during the flying bomb offensive ( Operation Diver). On 1 April 1943, AA Command took over control of smoke screens from the Ministry of Home Security. These installations were manned by the Pioneer Corps. In November 1944, the 3rd, 4th and 7th Anti-Aircraft Groups were disbanded, with the areas covered by the 2nd and 5th Anti-Aircraft Groups extended.

Postwar

When the TA was reformed after the Second World War in 1947, AA Command was generously provided for, with a large number of units, some of them including members of the Women's Royal Army Corps (successors of the ATS). It was structured in five regional AA Groups, each commanding a number of TA and Regular AA Brigades: * 1st AA Group – London * 2nd AA Group –

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

* 3rd AA Group – Edinburgh * 4th AA Group –

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

* 5th AA Group –

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

On 1 December 1954, it was announced that AA Command would be disbanded with effect from 10 March 1955.

Senior staff

The following officers held senior posts in AA Command:

General Officers Commanding-in-Chief

* Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke (1 April – 28 July 1939; GOC AA Corps 15 July 1938 – 31 March 1939) * Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Pile (12 October 1939 – 14 April 1945) * Lieutenant-General Sir William Green (15 April 1945 – 30 April 1946) * Lieutenant-General Otto Lund (1 May 1946 – May 1948) * Lieutenant-General Sir Ivor Thomas (May 1948 – 27 May 1950) * Lieutenant-General Charles Loewen (28 May 1950 – 16 April 1953) * Lieutenant-General Sir Maurice Chilton (17 April 1953 – 15 May 1955)

Major-General, General Staff

* Major-General Thomas Newton (8 May 1939 – 31 December 1941) * Major-General Robert Whittaker (1 January 1942 – 21 February 1944 * Major-General Frank Lejeune (22 February 1944 – 22 May 1944) * Major-General Stephen Lamplugh (19 June 1944 – 24 June 1945)

Brigadier, General Staff

* Brigadier B. P. Hughes (1 October 1942 – 1943) * Brigadier Stephen Lamplugh (25 June 1945 – 30 July 1946) * Brigadier Geoffrey Thompson (1 July 1946 – 31 December 1946)

Chief of Staff

* Brigadier Geoffrey Thompson (1 January 1947 – April 1948)Thompson at Generals of World War II
/ref>

Deputy Director, Auxiliary Territorial Service

* Controller V. P. Farrow (12 May – 14 October 1942) * Controller The Hon. Lady M. Lawrence (15 October 1942 – 27 June 1943) * Senior Controller Christian Fraser-Tytler (28 June 1943 – 1944/45)

Notes

References

* I. F. W. Beckett, ''Territorials: A Century of Service'', TA100, 2008. * Gen Sir Martin Farndale, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941'', Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/London: Brasseys, 1996, . * Norman E. H. Litchfield, ''The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, .
Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: 'The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28 July 1939, to 15 April 1945' ''London Gazette'' 18 December 1947.
* Brig N. W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, . *

Peter Wykeham Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

''Fighter Command: A Study of Air Defence, 1914–1960''
accessed 30 May 2008.

External links

British Military History

Generals of World War II

Orders of Battle at Patriot Files

Royal Artillery 1939–1945

Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth

{{Subject bar , portal1=United Kingdom , portal2=Aviation

Anti-Aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

Air defence units and formations of the British Army Air defence commands (military formations) Military units and formations established in 1939 Military history of Middlesex Military units and formations disestablished in 1955