1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers

The East Anglian Division began its annual training on 27 July 1914 and by 3 August the divisional artillery had concentrated at the Redesdale training area in Northumberland. When the order to mobilise was given on 4 August, the units returned to their headquarters and then moved to their war stations. By 10 August the division had concentrated around Brentwood, Essex, and on 20 August it moved to Chelmsford and formed part of the coast defences of the UK until the following May.[17][18] Meanwhile, the formation of duplicate or 2nd Line TF units from Home Service men and recruits had been authorised, and towards the end of 1914 the 2nd East Anglian Division came into existence at Peterborough. The original (1st Line) I East Anglian Brigade became the 1/I and its 2nd Line became the 2/I East Anglian Brigade.[11][19][20]

The 1st East Anglian Division was employed on coast defence until May 1915, when it was concentrated at St Albans preparatory to going overseas as the 54th (1st East Anglian) Division. However, when the infantry departed for the Gallipoli Campaign, the divisional artillery was left behind. In August it joined the 2nd Line at Thetford and Brandon, Suffolk, rearmed with modern 18-pounder guns and handed over its obsolete 15-pounders to the 2nd Line batteries.[17][18][19]

On 17 November 1915 the 54th Divisional Artillery embarked for France, where it joined 33rd Division, a 'Kitchener's Army' division whose artillery were still under training.[17][18][19][21]

After a month on the Western Front, during which parties of officers and men had been attached for training to other divisions in the Front Line, 54th Divisional Artillery was warned that it was to be transferred to Egypt to rejoin its parent division, which had been withdrawn from Gallipoli. Embarkation began at Marseille on 30 January 1916 and disembarkation was completed at Alexandria by 14 February. The divisional artillery rejoined 54th Division at Mena Camp near Cairo and in April moved into No 1 (Southern) Section of the Suez Canal defences.[17][18]

On 29 May 1916 the 1/I East Anglian Brigade was renumbered CCLXX (270) Brigade RFA and its batteries became A, B and C. It was renumbered again on 21 December, becoming CCLXXII (272) Brigade RFA, and was reorganised into two six-gun batteries, with C Battery split up between A and B.[11][17][18][22]

An 18-pounder crew in action in Sinai, 1916.

The infantry battalions of 54th Division were slowly brought back up to strength with drafts from home during 1916, and by mid-January 1917 the whole division had assembled at Moascar in preparation for the British invasion of Sinai.[23] After crossing the Wilderness,[24] the division took part in the First (26–7 March) and Second Battle of Gaza (17–9 April)

Between 26 June and 1 July 1917 the brigade was reorganised, with A Bty transferred to CCLXIV Bde of 52nd (Lowland) Divisional Artillery and C (Howitzer) Bty (originally the 1st Suffolk Battery, see above) joining from CCLXXI (1/II East Anglian) Bde. Henceforward the brigade comprised six 18-pounders in B Bty and four 4.5-inch howitzers in C Bty.[17][18][22]

The campaign was renewed in the autumn at the Third Battle of Gaza (27 October – 7 November) and the final capture of Gaza (1–7 November). At the end of the year the division was engaged in the Battle of Jaffa (21–22 December).[17][18]

54th Division was next engaged in the action at Berukin (9–10 April 1918). Finally it took part in the opening stage of Allenby's final offensive (the Battle of Megiddo), known as the Battle of Sharon (19–23 September).[17][18]

The division was then taken out of the line and concentrated at Haifa, where it was engaged in repairing communications for the rapidly advancing army. It next moved to Beirut, where it was concentrating when the Armistice of Mudros was signed with Turkey and hostilities ended on 31 October.[17]

In late November 1918 the division was ordered to return to Egypt, the artillery proceeding by sea and arriving in mid-December. Demobilisation began in January 1919, and the TF units were slowly reduced to cadres. In March and April, when its guns had been handed in and about one-third of its men had left, 54th Divisional Artillery was converted into an ad hoc cavalry regiment to act as mounted police during disturbances in Cairo. Demobilisation recommenced in May and was completed in June.[17][25]

Training for the 2nd Line artillery was hindered by the shortage of equipment, and several months passed before guns, horses and harness were received. Even then, only obsolete French De Bange 90 mm cannon were available for training. Early in 1915 the 2nd East Anglian Division (which was numbered 69th in August 1915) concentrated round Thetford, where it formed part of First Army in Central Force. The divisional artillery was distributed around Brandon, Cambridge and Tuddenham. In November the divisional artillery took over the 15-pounder guns released by its 1st Line (see above).[19]

The division's role throughout the war was to train drafts of reinforcements for units serving overseas. In May 1916, the 2/I East Anglian Brigade was numbered CCCXLV (345) Bde, the batteries became A, B and C, and it was joined by 2/1st Suffolk (Howitzer) Bty from 2/III East Anglian Brigade, which became D (H) Bty.[11][19][22][20] The following month the division was transferred to Northern Command and moved to Harrogate in North Yorkshire.[19]

On 1 September 1916, C Bty changed places (and designations) with 533 (Howitzer) Battery, RFA, at Cowshott (near Aldershot). In November 1916, B Bty was broken up to bring A and C Btys up to six-gun strength. However, the following month the whole brigade was broken up, with A and D (H) Btys becoming B and D (H) Btys in CCCXLVIII (2/IV East Anglian) Bde and C Bty becoming B Bty in CCCXLVI (2/II East Anglian) Bde.[22][19][20]

A 3rd Line Depot brigade (3/I East Anglian Brigade) was formed early in March 1915. At first, training had to be carried out without any guns, harness or horses. In May the unit was affiliated to No 4 TF Artillery School at High Wycombe, which took over training while the 3/Ist became a holding and draft-finding unit. The 3rd Line East Anglian brigades were merged into the school in August 1916, when it became 4th Reserve Brigade, RFA (TF).[26]

When the TF was reformed on 7 February 1920 the unit was reformed in 54th (East Anglian) Division as 1st East Anglian Brigade, RFA. On the reconstitution of the TF as the Territorial Army in 1921 it was numbered as 84th (East Anglian) Brigade, RFA,, with the following organisation:[11][7][27][28]

• RHQ at The Barracks, Surrey Street, Norwich
• 333rd (Norfolk) Field Bty at Norwich
• 334th (Norfolk) Field Bty at Norwich
• 335th (Norfolk) Field Bty at Nelson Road, Great Yarmouth
• 336th (Northamptonshire) Field Bty (Howitzer) at 36 Queen's Road, Peterborough[29] – from the pre-war IV East Anglian (Howitzer) Bde

When the RFA merged into the Royal Artillery on 1 June 1924, the unit changed its title to a 'Field Brigade, RA', and the subtitle '1st East Anglian' was restored in 1937.[11][27] The brigade moved into new drill halls at All Saints Green, Norwich, Artillery Square, Great Yarmouth, and Lincoln Road, Peterborough.[7]

In 1938, the unit was one of a number of field artillery units selected for conversion to the Anti-Aircraft (AA) role as 78th (1st East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA (still termed a brigade until 1 January 1939). The process began in November 1938, when 336th (Northamptonshire) Bty joined 135th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, and was replaced by 409th (Suffolk) Independent AA Bty at Lowestoft.[11][7][14][27][30][31][32] (The latter had originally been the 1st Suffolk AVC in the 1st Norfolk Administrative Bn, and later C (H) Bty of CCLXXII Bde, see above.)[5][13] The new regiment therefore had the following composition:[11][7][14][30]

• RHQ at All Saints Green, Norwich
• 243rd (2nd Norfolk) AA Bty at Norwich
• 244th (3rd Norfolk) AA Bty at Norwich
• 245th (1st Norfolk) AA Bty at Artillery Square, Great Yarmouth
• 409th (Suffolk) AA Bty at Lowestoft

The regiment was assigned to 41st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade in 2nd AA Division.[33][34]

In February 1939 the TA's AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of the TA was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA gun positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations, which in the case of 41st (London) AA Bde was in East Anglia.[35]

On the evening of Saturday 23 March 1940, a Royal Air Force bomber crashed in flames. Among the first on the scene were Sergeant H. Aspland and Gunners L. Thomas and H. Greenacre of 78th AA Rgt. In spite of the danger of explosion, Sgt Aspland and Gnr Thomas got one member of the crew out from under the wing just before the fuel tank exploded, while Gnr Greenacre carried the unconscious rear gunner to safety. The three men received a commendation from the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of AA Command.[36]

On 1 June 1940 the AA regiments equipped with 3-inch or newer 3.7-inch guns were redesignated 'Heavy AA' (HAA) regiments.[11][30] During the Battle of Britain and Blitz, from July 1940 to February 1941, 2nd AA Division split 78th HAA Rgt up into detachments between 32nd (Midland), 40th and 41st (London) AA Bdes, covering airfields in East Anglia and the East Midlands, and 39th AA Bde covering the Humber Gun Zone.[33][37][38][39][40] By May 1941 the regiment was concentrated in 40 AA Bde.[41]

The regiment sent a cadre to 205th HAA Training Rgt, Arborfield, to provide the basis for a new 468 Bty; this was formed on 7 August 1941 and joined the regiment on 6 October 1941 to replace 409 Bty, which transferred to 136th HAA Rgt. By the end of the year the regiment was in 41st AA Bde.[30][42][43]

The regiment later supplied cadres for 506 and 540 (Mixed) HAA Btys formed on 13 January and 5 March 1942 respectively at 206th HAA Training Rgt, Arborfield, which joined 149th and 158th (Mixed) HAA Rgts ('Mixed' units were those into which women from the Auxiliary Territorial Service were integrated).[30]

During April 1942 the regiment left AA Command (except 468 HAA Bty which joined 136 HAA Rgt, reducing 78th to the three-battery establishment for overseas service) and came under control of the War Office to prepare for overseas service.[43][44][45]

3-inch AA guns on cruciform travelling carriages.

78th HAA Regiment left the UK in June 1942 with 243, 244 and 245 HAA Btys[45] and sailed for the Middle East. The commander of Persia and Iraq Command (PAIFORCE), Gen Henry Maitland Wilson, had urgently requested additional AA units, to cover the vital oilfields and other facilities in case of Luftwaffe attack from the Caucasus,[46] and the regiment joined Ninth Army in October.[31][33][47][48] In the event, the Germans did not break through in the Caucasus and the Luftwaffe was never able to bomb Iraq or Persia, which made the job of AA units in PAIFORCE rather dull.[46]

By January 1943, 78th HAA Rgt was part of 'AA Defence Area Levant' in 20th AA Bde, which covered Haifa, Beirut and Tripoli. The regiment's three batteries between then deployed 20 x 3.7-inch and 4 x 3-inch HAA guns.[49] In November 1943 the regiment moved to Egypt as part of Middle East Forces.[31][33]

3.7-inch AA gun in action in Italy.

From January 1944 the regiment was in Italy.[31][33][50] Here it came under the command of 8th AA Bde, which was defending airfields in the Brindisi area for Eighth Army. In July the brigade was relieved and moved across Italy to defend Civitavecchia and US airfields on the Tiber plain, then back across to Ancona.[51][52]

However, by this stage of the Italian Campaign the Luftwaffe was incapable of serious attacks, while the British ground forces were suffering a severe manpower shortage, so many AA units were deemed surplus to requirements and the personnel made available for drafting to other units. 78th HAA Regiment was withdrawn for disbandment in September,[51] and was placed in suspended animation with 243, 244 and 245 HAA Btys on 26 December 1945.[11][30][31][33]