page_title: 29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade
section_title: Phoney War
hierarchical_section_title: 29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade / World War II / Phoney War
caption_attribution_description: The 3.7-Inch QF AA was Britain's primary heavy anti-aircraft gun during World War II, the equivalent of the German 88 mm FlaK with a slightly larger calibre of 94 mm. It remained in use after the war until AA guns were replaced by guided missiles in the late 1950s.
context_page_description: 29th (East Anglian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army before and during World War II. It defended East Anglian airfields and ports during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. It was reformed in the postwar TA.
context_section_description: In the Spring of 1940, 6 AA Division reorganised its growing AA defences. As a result, 29th AA Bn and its S/L sites in Kent were transferred away from 29 AA Bde to 27 (Home Counties) AA Bde, while 32nd and 33rd AA Bns and their sites in Essex and Suffolk returned from 41 AA Bde to 29 AA Bde, together with 119 Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Bty (of 'P' LAA Rgt) with its Troops based at the RAF fighter and radar stations at Debden, Wattisham and Darsham. 29 AA Brigade then took on responsibility from 37 AA Bde for the HAA guns at Harwich (an important anti-invasion naval base), RAF North Weald and RAF Debden manned by 90th HAA Rgt (272, 284, 285 HAA Btys), together with the Gun Operations Room (GOR) at Harwich.
  Afterwards 90th HAA Rgt was replaced by 99th (London Welsh) HAA Rgt (302, 303, 307, 318 HAA Btys) and the whole of 'P' LAA Rgt (49, 95 and 119 LAA Btys) was transferred to 29 AA Bde and its batteries transferred to a newly raised 48th LAA Rgt.
  HAA gun sites were equipped with 3.7-inch or the older 3-inch guns. Although LAA units were receiving Bofors 40 mm guns, many of the sites only had LMGs, though some like the Royal Naval Mining Depot at Wrabness at least had quadruple mountings. The first, very secret, Gun-Laying Radar Mk I sets began to appear in May 1940, with one being stationed at Landguard Fort at Harwich to replace the old sound-locator at the S/L site operated by 469 AA Co, 74th AA Bn.
  In May 1940 Brigade HQ shifted to Boxted House in Boxted near Colchester in Essex. During August 1940 the AA Battalions were transferred from the Royal Engineers to the Royal Artillery, when they were designated Searchlight Regiments.
caption: 3.7-inch gun preserved at Nothe Fort, Weymouth
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix F50fd", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix F50fd   Ver1.00", "Image DateTime": "2009:05:24 07:10:16", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "252", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1409", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6312", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:05:18 14:40:38", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:05:18 14:40:38", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "181/20", "EXIF ApertureValue": "23/5", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "457/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "8", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3380", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2830", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1268", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5017", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "5017", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}