page_title: 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
section_title: Operation Plunder
hierarchical_section_title: 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery / Operation Plunder
caption_attribution_description: English: British Polsten triple 20mm anti-aircraft mounting on the banks of the Rhine, 25 March 1945.
context_page_description: The 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was an air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery during World War II. Elements of the regiment landed with special equipment on D-Day, and served in the Normandy campaign. The regiment went on to defend Belgian cities against V-1 flying bombs and participated in the assault crossing of the Rhine.
context_section_description: The regiment was heavily involved in the assault crossing of the Rhine (Operation Plunder). This began when 21st Army Group requisitioned transport vehicles from 75th and 76th AA Bdes to transport engineering equipment in preparation for the operation; 93rd LAA Rgt provided a small HQ and REME detachment for these units.
  The regiment was given a special role in Operation Plunder because its truck mounts were the only LAA guns that could be ferried over the river on a Class 9 raft. In mid-March, the batteries  were concentrated and reorganised on a light scale, similar to that adopted for the D-Day landings. The three batteries were divided among the three corps taking part in the operation:
  Tactical HQ and 321 Bty under 106 AA Bde supporting XXX Corps' crossing at Rees
  322 Bty under 100 AA Bde, supporting XII Corps' crossing at Xanten
  320 Bty (less one Trp at Nijmegen) later added to 107 AA Bde, supporting II Canadian Corps' crossing at Emmerich
  Rear HQ remained at Rixensart
  321 and 322 Batteries moved from their Belgian concentration areas and crossed the River Maas on the night of 19/20 March to enter their forward concentration areas hidden in woods. 320 Battery was added to the operation and given similar instructions. The assault crossing was to be made at night, but 322 Bty on XII Corps' front would be drawn up in the open in full moonlight. Consequently, it was shelled, mortared and machine gunned before the crossing even began, but the battery commander, Major John Frame, had carefully reconnoitred the position and deployed to minimise casualties; he was later awarded a Military Cross (MC). Half of the battery was rafted across during D-Day and set up on the east bank to protect the bridgehead. The battery had suffered 3 other ranks killed and one officer and 3 ORs wounded and had lost two SP vehicles (but not their triple mountings) to direct hits. Captain Norman Wright, a troop commander in 322 Bty, was later awarded a MC for his leadership on this occasion and during the Diver deployment.
  XXX Corps was held up by strong opposition round Rees, and the priority was to get reinforcements, tanks and field guns across rather than AA guns. Luckily, the Luftwaffe was hardly seen during the night assaults or D-Day itself. Air attacks only began after dark on D-Day, and the LAA guns were effective in driving attacking aircraft up to heights where the HAA guns with their radar and predictors could deal with them. XXX Corps got its first bridges operational early on D+2, and 321 Bty immediately crossed to protect the east end. All the AA positions in the east bank had to be well dug in, with assistance from the Pioneer Corps. The two troops of 320 Bty deployed on 30/31 March to protect II Canadian Corps' work on the bridges at Emmerich.
  As 21st Army Group began its advance across Germany, most of 93rd LAA Rgt was sent back to Antwerp, but then returned to reoccupy its positions guarding the Rhine crossings from air or waterborne attack, though 320 Bty  accompanied First Canadian Army in its final operations. As the war drew to its close, the regiment became increasingly engaged in occupation duties. After VE Day the regiment concentrated at Xanten, the first time all subunits had been together for a year.
caption: Triple 20 mm LAA mounting on the bank of the Rhine, 25 March 1945.
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