page_title: 73rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
section_title: D-Day
hierarchical_section_title: 73rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery / D-Day
caption_attribution_description: English: D-day - British Forces during the Invasion of Normandy 6 June 1944 3rd Division troops sheltering behind Universal Carriers (one with a towed 6-pdr AT gun) on Queen beach, Sword area, 6 June 1944. An M10 Wolverine 3-in self-propelled gun and a Bofors anti-aircraft gun can be seen in the background.
context_page_description: The 73rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, was an air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery during World War II. It served during the London Blitz, landed on D-Day, seeing action throughout the campaign in North West Europe and defending the cities of Belgium against V-1 flying bombs.
context_section_description: For the Normandy landings, 80th AA Bde was assigned to support I Corps landing on Juno and Sword. The leading elements were to land with the assault waves on D-Day itself (6 June). Light AA defence was emphasised at the start of the operation, since low-level attack by Luftwaffe aircraft was considered the most likely threat and the designated assault regiments landed with minimum scales of equipment, to be brought up to strength by parties arriving later.
  The leading units were formed into AA Assault Groups, and Lt-Col Armstrong with RHQ of 73rd LAA Rgt took charge of 'M' AA Assault Group landing on Queen Beach of Sword under the command of 3rd Division. The assault group included elements of 103rd HAA Rgt equipped with towed 3.7-inch guns and 93rd LAA Rgt equipped with the new 20 mm Polsten gun in triple mountings, half of them mounted on Crusader tank chassis.
  M AA Assault Group
  73rd LAA Rgt RHQ (Lt-Col J.A. Armstrong)
  218/73 LAA Bty
  296/73 LAA Bty less 2 Troops
  G & H Troops 322/93 LAA Bty
  322/103 HAA Bty
  C Troop 323/103 HAA Bty
  B Troop 474th (Independent) Searchlight Battery
  16 Fire Control Post
  76 & 103 Coast Observation Detachments
  One Platoon 112 Company Pioneer Corps (smoke generators)
  73 LAA Rgt Workshop, REME
  220/73 LAA Bty and 1 Troop of 322/93 LAA Bty were assigned to the neighbouring 'N' AA Assault Group under RHQ of 103rd HAA Rgt. One troop of 296/73 LAA Bty was assigned to 'P' AA Assault Group on Juno Beach, the other was held in reserve in England.
  The brigade experienced considerable problems during the landings, with losses of landing craft and hard fire-fights going on to establish a firm hold. A and C Troops of 218th Bty, less two guns each, landed at Queen White and Queen Red respectively, 45 minutes after H-Hour, when the beach was still under heavy fire. The Battery and A Troop commanders and the regimental medical officer were all wounded but carried on. The remaining guns of these Troops were landed, and the whole battery was in position five hours after H-Hour. By then, Lt-Col Armstrong had arrived and set up the AA command post on the beach. 220th Battery arrived late, found its intended positions to be still in enemy hands and could not begin landing until the following day (D+1) on Juno beach. Some of the AA gun detachments already ashore on Sword were involved in 'mopping up' isolated German strongpoints. Total casualties for the regiment on D-Day were one officer wounded and evacuated, one other rank killed, five wounded and one missing.
  Communication problems meant that 73rd LAA Rgt remained out of contact with 80th AA Bde HQ until D+1. Luckily, Luftwaffe attacks on D-Day were few and sporadic, only increasing on D+1, by which time more guns of 73rd LAA Rgt had got ashore. The air attacks peaked on D+3.
  B Troop of 218 Bty landed 38 hours late, at 0600 on D+2, and deployed at Ouistreham. This troop, together with B Troop of 322/103 HAA Bty, had a secondary coastal artillery role to protect shipping off Queen from attack by German E-boats, particularly at night. For this purpose 16 Fire Control Post and 76 and 103 Coast Observer detachments were landed with it, under command of 103rd HAA Rgt. The guns would fire blind, controlled by radar, or with the assistance of searchlights.
caption: Troops of 3rd Division sheltering on Sword on D-Day, with Bofors gun in background.
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