page_title: 103rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
section_title: Training for Overlord
hierarchical_section_title: 103rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery / Training for Overlord
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 AEC Matador artillery tractor towing a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun at Burrow Head in Scotland, 18 February 1944.
context_page_description: The 103rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was an air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery during World War II. It saw action during the Liverpool Blitz, landed on D-Day and served throughout the subsequent campaign in North West Europe and defended the cities of Belgium against V-1 flying bombs.
context_section_description: The regiment left AA Command and joined the newly-formed 76th AA Bde at Blandford Camp on 21 December 1942. Then when 80th AA Bde was formed at Blandford in April 1943, 103rd HAA Rgt transferred to its command. Both 76th and 80th AA Bdes were mobile formations organised in Home Forces specifically for the planned invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord).
  In March and April the regiment handed over its 3.7-inch guns to active regiments in AA Command and re-equipped with the obsolescent 3-inch gun for mobile training. This included beach landing demonstrations and training with the Beach groups that had been formed for Overlord. 220 Battery of 73rd LAA Rgt, assigned to the same beach group, also joined the regiment for training. During the summer of 1943, the regiment trained intensively, attending gunnery practice camps at Redesdale and Ramsgate, training for beach landings in Scotland and Pembrokeshire, and then another practice camp at Whitby in November. That month the regiment handed in its 3-inch guns and was fully equipped with 24 of the modern 3.7-inch gun. At the end of the year the regiment was stationed across Ross & Cromarty and Renfrewshire.
  Lieutenant-Colonel Curtois was replaced as CO on 16 February 1944 by Lt-Col H.E. Johnston. Howard Erskine Johnston had experienced rapid promotion since he had been commissioned as a TA 2nd Lieutenant in the 93rd HAA Rgt early in 1939, becoming an acting Lt-Col in November 1942.
  Training continued in Scotland during early 1944, alongside 3rd British Division, which the regiment would support on D-Day. In the spring the regiment moved to Monks Common Camp at Mannings Heath in West Sussex. Then in May the units of 80th AA Bde moved to their marshalling areas to embark for the invasion.
caption: AEC Matador artillery tractor towing a 3.7-inch HAA gun in Scotland, February 1944.
exif: {}