page_title: 52nd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
section_title: Mobilisation
hierarchical_section_title: 52nd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery / Mobilisation
caption_attribution_description: QF 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns in Hyde Park, London in 1939.
context_page_description: 52nd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1922 until 1961. In World War II it defended London during The Blitz and later served in the Burma Campaign.
context_section_description: The TA's AA units were mobilised on 23 September 1938 during the Munich Crisis. The call-out of key parties by telephone and telegram went well, and they assembled at their drill halls within a few hours. Because the units possessed only a small scale of transport, elaborate plans had been made to requisition civilian vehicles, ranging from heavy lorries to buses and private cars. Equipment was drawn from mobilisation stores, and the detachments ferried out to their war stations. Despite some failures and problems, the emergency positions covering London were manned and most of the equipment was in place within 24 hours. The emergency mobilisation lasted nearly three weeks before the TA units were released on 14 October. The TA was doubled in size after the MunichCrisis, and 313 AA Battery was formed at Brentford and joined the regiment in April 1939. 
  The deterioration in international relations during 1939 led to a partial mobilisation in June, and a proportion of TA AA units manned their war stations under a rotation system known as 'Couverture'. Full mobilisation of AA Command came on 28 August 1939, ahead of the declaration of war on 3 September 1939.
caption: 3.7 inch gun in London in 1939.
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