page_title: 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
section_title: Phoney War
hierarchical_section_title: 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery / World War II / Phoney War
caption_attribution_description: English: My own picture of front of raf bentley priory
context_page_description: The 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army. Formed just before World War II, it fought in the Battle of France, the Swansea Blitz, Operation Torch and the Italian Campaign. It continued serving in the post-war TA until 1955.
context_section_description: After war was declared on 3 September there were numerous adjustments to AA Command's deployment as further units and equipment became available. During the autumn 79th (HY) AA Rgt handed over most of its responsibilities for airfields, and shifted towards the Gun Defence Area (GDA) round the port of Harwich and adjacent harbours, where Lt-Col Bazley-Green was appointed AA Defence Commander (AADC) with a Gun Operations Room (GOR) at Harwich:
  RHQ at Stansted Mountfitchet, later Felixstowe
  246 Bty:
  4 x 3-inch at site H1 (Landguard Common, Felixstowe)
  20 x AA LMG at Royal Naval Mining Depot, Wrabness
  20 x AA LMG at Murex Works, Rainham
  247 Bty:
  2 x 3-inch at site A1 (RAF Bentley Priory)
  2 x 3-inch at site A2 (RAF Bentley Priory)
  2 x 3-inch at site H5 (Beacon Hill Battery, Harwich)
  248 Bty:
  2 x 3.7-inch at site H2 (Trimley, Felixstowe)
  2 x 3.7-inch at site H3 (Dovercourt)
  20 x AA LMG at RAF Martlesham Heath
  20 x AA LMG at Parkeston Quay, Harwich
  (The Royal Navy submarine depot ship HMS Cyclops in Harwich harbour was designated as AA site H4 under the GOR)
  On 17 October the regiment fired its first rounds in anger, when sites H2 and H3 engaged an aircraft identified as hostile. During this period a draft of 100-plus recruits (Militiamen with 3 months' AA training) was received for each battery, and training began for 'Operators, Fire Control' who would man RDF (radar) sets when they arrived.
  On 26 December a warning order was received to prepare to move overseas, and the detachments concentrated at Harwich. The regiment was designated as a base defence AA regiment to man static 3.7-inch guns. 248 Battery was already experienced with the 3.7-inch and only needed to attend short courses by sections on a static gun site at Dartford before mobilising at Blackdown Camp near Aldershot, whereas 246 and 247 Btys went to 208th AA Training Rgt at Yeovil and 209th AA Training Rgt at Blandford respectively, followed by two weeks at No 4 AA Practice Camp at Tŷ Croes on Anglesey and No 1 AA Practice Camp at Aberporth in West Wales respectively.
caption: RAF Bentley Priory, protected by 79th (HY) AA Rgt in the early days of World War II
exif: {"Image Make": "Sony Ericsson", "Image Model": "W810i", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "R4DB005     prgCXC1250321_ORANGE_HN 4.5", "Image DateTime": "2007:04:05 17:01:50", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "736", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4433", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1600", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:05 17:01:50", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:05 17:01:50", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1632", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1224", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "600", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}