page_title: 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment
section_title: Normandy
hierarchical_section_title: 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment / World War II / Normandy
caption_attribution_description: IWM caption&#160;: 3.7-inch gun being towed by an AEC matador lorry through the ruins of Caen.
context_page_description: The 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Territorial Army recruited from East London. During World War I it raised four battalions, which carried out garrison duty in Malta and Egypt, served at Gallipoli and against the Senussi, and saw a great deal of action on the Western Front, notably in the Attack on the Gommecourt Salient in 1916, at Bullecourt in 1917 and at Oppy Wood and Chipilly Ridge in 1918. During World War II it served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the Battle of France and during the Blitz in 1940 and in North West Europe in 1944–45. It continued in the TA until 1961.
context_section_description: The regiment was assigned to Second Army for the Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord). It formed part of 106th AA Bde, scheduled to land shortly after D-Day to defend the airfields that would be established for RAF Second Tactical Air Force.
  The brigade began landing on 10 June (D + 4), although the regiment at first only had two of its batteries, the third battery not arriving until after 25 June. The deployment was frustrating, because Luftwaffe attacks were lighter than anticipated and there were surplus HAA guns in the beachhead. In addition, RAF commanders refused permission to engage enemy aircraft unless the airfields themselves were being attacked.
  Airfield defence having become redundant, the HAA guns began to be used for a variety of ground tasks, such as bombardment, counter-battery fire, and anti-tank shoots. 60th HAA Regiment was engaged in this way during the Battle of Caen, and then in AA defence of the city (under 100th AA Bde) after its capture.
caption: An AEC Matador tractor tows a 3.7-inch AA gun through the ruins of Caen, August 1944.
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