page_title: 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers
section_title: Antwerp
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers / World War II / 125th (Cameronians) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment / Antwerp
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 Mobile Bofors gun of 89th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment at Elst in Holland, 15 December 1944.
context_page_description: The 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers was a Scottish Volunteer unit of the British Army. Originally raised in Glasgow from 1859, it later became a battalion of the Cameronians. During World War I it served on the Western Front and in Ireland. Converted into an anti-aircraft regiment just before World War II, it served during The Blitz and in the campaign in North West Europe, and continued in air defence role in the postwar years until 1955.
context_section_description: The regiment was withdrawn from Dunkirk on 1 November and moved to rejoin 76 AA Bde defending Antwerp. A Gun Defence Area (GDA) covering the whole area of Antwerp and the Scheldt estuary was established, with 76 AA Bde responsible for the 'Scheldt North' sector. HAA positions were established at intervals of 4–5000 yards along the waterway, interspersed with irregularly sited LAA positions. 125th LAA Regiment was fully deployed by 4 November, with RHQ and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshop in the convent at Hoogerheide (later at Kapelle), 417 LAA Bty at Krabbendijke, 419 LAA Bty at Rilland Cloisters, and 418 LAA Bty in the countryside. 2nd S/L Rgt arrived on 17 November with the primary task of cooperating with the LAA guns against mine-laying in the channel. Lieutenant-Colonel Gow acted as brigade commander on occasions when the brigadier was absent. 125th LAA Regiment contributed personnel to a local warning radar troop that 76 AA Bde organised from its own resources
  The only enemy aircraft seen in this period were on reconnaissance missions, usually flying very high. However, at the beginning of December 417 LAA battery was ordered to send A Trp to 4th Commando Brigade to defend the island of North Beveland against enemy shipping; C Trp joined it in early January 1945. When the German Army launched its Ardennes offensive (the Battle of the Bulge) aimed at breaking through to Antwerp, 76th AA Bde was ordered to take precautions against possible attacks by German airborne troops, as well as dealing with increased air activity; the night of 26/27 December was the busiest since the brigade arrived at the Scheldt.
  On 1 January 1945, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte: daylight attacks against Allied airfields in support of the Ardennes offensive. Between 09.20 and 09.54 some 50–60 enemy aircraft, mainly Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190, came over 76th AA Bde's area. Its war diary records: 'This was the best day since our formation', with 15 aircraft claimed as 'certainly destroyed' and others probably crashed in enemy territory.
  Antwerp was heavily attacked by V-1 flying bombs; on 26 February one of these landed in 417 LAA Bty's area, causing a number of casualties. As the war war in Europe drew to its close, AA commitments in rear areas were reduced and units closed up to the Scheldt, where they were either sent forward into Germany (as AA or occupation troops) or prepared for disbandment. Several regiments were disbanded in April 1945, other were converted into garrison troops or driver training regiments. 125th LAA Rgt remained in 76th AA Bde's order of battle in the final weeks of the war.
  The brigade was ordered to cease fire on 3 May 1945 when a local truce came into effect to allow supplies to be sent to civilians in enemy-occupied Holland (Operation Manna). This was followed on 4 May by the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath and the end of the war in Europe (VE Day).
caption: SP Bofors gun in Holland, December 1944.
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