rNOTE

This is a preliminary narrative and should not be regardedas authoritative. It has not been checked for accuracy inall aspects. and its interpretations are not necessarilythose of the Historical Section as a whole.

Ce texte est pr~liminaire et n'a aucun caract~re afficiel.On n'a pas v~rifie son exactitude et les interpretationsqulil cantient oe sont pas necessa;rement cel1es du Servicehistorique.

Directorate of HistoryNational Defence HeadquartersOttawa, CanadaK1A OK2

July 1986

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Original

The Director,historical ~ection,

General Staff,~ational Defence ~ead uarters,Ottawa, CA1lAJJA.

SLCRET

Addendum to epert No. 18ldated 22 Lax. 41)

26 Lay 41

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1. The follo.ling addend:w:l is resented for attach::lent toRe art No. l.~, iealing Nitn the C~dian Light hnti-AircraftUnite at CO=~.

2. Administrative Order llo. 53, issued at Canadian lilit­ary Head uartere on 25 ~r. 41, changes the title of theCa~dian head~uarters at this station (fo~rly MHead~uarter.Cdo.Troops, Colchester") to neadlo.:i,uarters dn•.A. &: A. k.Group, Cole ester". As indicated b;y this title, anti-tank&s well as. anti-aircraft traininti is nON to be carried onthere; and one anti-tank battery (104 A-Tk Bty, .C.A.) i.new stationed at COLC~cT~rl (at SOB 0 BdRHACHS).

3. 16 Lt. A.A. Bty, .C.A. hae now joined 3 Lt. A•• egt.at this station (as anticipated in eport No. 18, para.51.It should be further noted that 4 Lt. A•• Bty, rl.C.A. i.now serving detached, under ~ir Defences of Great ~ritain,

at :VIllGTON lIANOR, ST.lIARYS C Y,Kl!alT. 2 Lt. A.A. Bty, .C.A.is still serving similarly at TLIk,~NT; but arrangementsare in progress for its relief by 5 Lt. A.A. Bty, .C.A.

4. Four additional 40-mm. Bofors equi~ments have beenreleased from ~y production for the units at COLCHBST ,thue increaeing the number of light A.A guns availablefor inetruction thefe to twelve l.ee Report No.18,para.13).Th1e may be said to typify the ;>ainfully slow manner inwhich the ga,lJ8 in the e ui:PD1ent of the Canadian troops inthis country are now being filled.

5. !l.D.H.~. was advised on 22 lIar. 41 that it was con-sidered likely that the accommodation at CO~ST~ wouldbe required for at least a year. At a meeting held at theWar Office on 19 lIar 41 on the question of accommodation forthe Canadian Army in thie country, Lieutenant-Generall:.cNA.UGliTOH informed the British authoritie. that this accomm.­odation was required lIas a obilisation and Training Centrefor Cdn Lt. and lieavy A.A. Arty •Tk. Arty and ~d. Arty.'This indicates that lieavy .A. and edium Artillery unitswill be concentrated at this station as they arrive in thlBcountry. (see extract from. l!emorandwn on this meeting inC.M.H•• file 6/Cdn.Are~1)•

6. Lt.-Col. IDlV~ has been replaced by Lajor .B.LOC TT, R.C.A., in the camnand of 2 Lt •.A.A. Regt., R.C.,A.I gather that Lt.-Col. ~ ~ has been considered too oldfor this ay ointment.

lC.¥.Stacey) Kajor,Hi~torical Officer, C. •

(Couled in Historical Section, Jul u,.)

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Visit to Canadian Light Anti-AircraftUnite,CO~TER.

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C,nadian ~litary Headquarters,2 Cockopur street, S.W. 1,

London, JillGLAHD.

The Director,historical Section,

General ~ta.ffJ

National Defence Headquarters,OTrA Ao C.lNAIlA.

•1. A further report is eubmitted. Thie report deals with &visit to the Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft unite now concentratedfor training at COLCHhSTER.

2. It was recently decided to concentrate the light .A.unitaof the Canadian Corps at this station (the only place where accOllllllll­dation wae available) under the command of Lt.-Col.G.A. lLcCarter,R.C.A., for a period of training to fit them for taking ~eir placesin the Corps. Ae the Public Relations Officer, C•.li. " had ar­ranged a prese visit to this group for 20 March, and Lt.-Col.~Carter had organized a ~rogramme for the occaaion, I took advant­age of the ov~ortun1ty for a simultaneous visit.

3. With Lieut. AUDRAIN, the official photogra~of.c.U.H....I left the Sun Life Building about 1950 hre. on 20 larch. ve droveto COLCHclSTJ::R via STRATFORD - ILFORD _ ROIIli'ORD _ BrlJlJNTI10ClD _ CHh:UlS_FORD, and arrived in time for lunch at the H.Q.. lIess in DRURY LClDGJI;,as previously arranged. After lunch we were joined by Lieut.GIBBS,AIl.R.O., C.M.H•• , who was accompanisd by Mr. ROSS 1.llllIR0, the Can­adian ~resa rspresentative at H•• Cdn.Corps, and by l!r. A.h. CHalS!­~NSE1i of -Canada' 8 eakly" (London), both of whom are accred1ted~ uniformed Canadian war correspondents.

4. There had been a great deal of anti-aircraft fire in Londonsoon after dark on the night of 19-20 1:arch, but haVing heard littleor nothing that could clearly be recognized as the sound of explodingbomb. I had felt rather uncertain as to the extent of the attack.zassing through the ..r:aast ~nd in the course of this drive, however,we ..... plenty of evidence that it had been heavy. We saw much h-".damage, &s well as places where fires were still smouldering. Theattack appeared to have been es~ec1~ly fierce in the vicinity ofBOW •

THE TROO1oS AT COLCHESTER

5. The history of this group of anti-aircr.rt units at Col-chestsr may be traced in C.lI.H.Q. fyle 61Cdn. Areall (secret).The Wl,1te now praeent there a.re as follows:

1 Light Anti-Aircraft egiment, .C.A.(Lt .-Col. ",l;. HUCKVALiS)

89 Bty. l 0od stock, .B.)35 Bty. (Sherbrooke ,,, .... )109 Bty. l Trail, B.O.)

2 .Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, R.C .A.( Lt.-Col. ~.w. Neville)

... ,-

4 Bty.'54 Bty.5 Bty.

(late lermanent Force,(Brantford,Ont.)(llontreal) •

2

D • C i. " •• 0'1'1, I Dl"'~DIID~

by oar "" D.... NOHDDooo:~ _

Kingaton,Ont.) i-J

3 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment ,R.C .A.(Lt.-Col. B.R. IUCR)

53 Jity.15 Bty.17 llty. !TOrontO) •

"innipeg) •Calgary) •

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An additional battery of the 2nd rlegt.,2 llty (foraerly 1Bty) (Yorkton,Saak.) ia serving in the Thamee -"etuary underthe Air Defence a of Great lirita1.n. An additional batteryof the 3rd Regt., 16 Jlty (Vancouver) ia eXl'ected from Canadaon T.C.lO. The let egt., for "borpB l'roopa, is on a 3-batteryestabliShment; the other two, as divisional regiment., havefour batteries Bach.

6. The batte.iee bearing numbere 35,89,109,54 and 53 haveall been formed very recently in the United Kingdom. Theprocedure followed wae that each field regiment, R.C.A., inthe Canadian force in this country provided a nucleu8 ( notle ae than one-third etrength) for one Light A.A. (or anti­tank) battery; the new battery in each caae adopting theeurplua number and territorial affiliation of ite respectiveregiment. Thue 1 Fd Regt provided 54 Lt.A.A. Bty., and 5 FdRegt provided 89 Lt.A.A. llty. The additional pereonnelre'l.u1red were provided from the H.olding Unite.

7. The Headquartere, 1 Light A.A. Regiment, wae alsoorganized recently in this country.

8. The Head'l.uarters, 2 Light A.A. egiment, and 2-Btyand 4 Bty have eXiated in thie country for aome time paat.

9. The Head'l.uarters, 3 Light A.A. Regiment, 15 Bty and17 Bty arrived from Canads on T.C. 9 at the end 'of February,1941.

10. The 4th Battery, ae noted, ie a .F. battery fo~erly

atationed at Kingaton, which lIPent the early part of thia warmanning heavy anti-aircraft guns at halifax, N.S. Lt.-Col.~cCarter mentioned that "hile thia battery is technicallyproficient it has given more disciplinary difficulty thanany of the others •

11. The Brigade .Lajor at lieadquartera, Canadian Troop.,Colchester, is lajor J.N. LANJ>, R.C.A. The n.A.A. & ~.~.U.

ia l.ajor J .W. BARRIl!o, SllliilliR KJS a.:;O= (~.O.) •

12. At the :present time, the authorized ar li;stabliebmentfor a Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, R.A., is 281 all ranks(8 officers) • It consiats of , Battery H.,. and 3 troopa,each composed of 4 Bub-sections; ita armament lalart from.amall arms) consists of twelve 4O-mm• .!lofora guns. Ae alreadynoted, a Regiment may consiat of either three or four euchBatteriee - in other words, of either 36 or 48 guns.

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13. On thi B BCa~e, the total number of guns required forthe battefies already at Colchester would be 108; while a 25%training ~ale would require 27_ The actual number of gunsnow at Colchester is eight. As already reported (see my ReportNo.10) General ~cNaughton was told on 17 .an last that thethree Can-'1an Light A.A. regiments could be "e u1 ped on atraining acale in the near future and to fUll Bcale in aboutthree montbs ll

• Lt.-Col. lIcCarterlJ understanding of the situ­ation 1s that there 1s now very little chance of getting moregwl8 from the British authorities for a good many weeks tocame; production 15 going forward rapidly, but the weaponsare needed elsewhere - probably in the ~astern Mediterranean,where a further Violent crisis now aeems imminent, in theaha e of a German attack on Greece •

.tCCOUlODATION AT COLCHESTER

14. Colchester 15 a considerable garrison centre in peace-time J and the Canadian troops now occupy two units of thepermanent barracks, SOBRAON B C and GOO.rEilAT BARilACKS.Theee are old buildinga and not eapecially cpmfortablei aproportion of the men are sleeping on "biscuits- on the floor.,as thsrs is a shortage of beds. (The principle adopted by thsBritian authorities is that no man muat aleep on a concretefloor; therefore the buildings with auch floora have firstMcall- on the bed., and men accommodated in buildings withwooden floors sametLmes have to Ileep on them.) On the whole,however t the troo~s do not appear to be badly off. ColonelMcCarter has received very friendly co-operation fram theBritish military authorities in the area.

15. DRURY LODGE houses the iieadquarters. both for officsand living accommodation. It ia a pleasant house with' a largegarden attached, and Colonel cCarter and his officers arewell pleased with their situation.

DEllONSTRATION

~6. Despite the shortage of squipment, Colonel McCartsrcontxived to put on an excellent demonstration for the benefitof the preas. We spent about two hours watching the unit.at their various activities. e eaw varioue phases of gun andinstrument drill in progress, as well aa practical work withthe predictor; in addition, we eaw foot dri~lt rifle drill tphysical training, and Bren gun and Anti-Gas training. Clasassin Driving and llaintsnancs (involVing both lorries and motor­cycles) and in Map Reading were in progrees on Abbey ?ield,and we also saw one in First ide e 10Gked in on lectureson Aircraft Identification, the use of the predictor t Ammunit­ion, and llap eading. It will be gathered that the Canadiansection of the barrack. was a scene of considerable activityon this occasion. Extra training value was being obtainedfrom the eqUipment available by using the guns and predictor.separately in some case.. 'rbe men appearl!d to be keen andin good spirits; the marching was smart and the gun-drillmade an excellent appearance.

THE BOFORS GUN

17. The Bofors 40-mm. gun 1s a weapon designed for UNagainst low-flying aircraft. ~t is the weapon of all Corpsanti-aircraft artillery, Heavy A.A. Regiments bsing ArmyTroops. (As noted in my eport No. 10, it is propossd thatCanada shall provide one lIeavy !.lobile rlegiment. rrs eumablya 4th Light A. • Regiment will come from Canada with theThird Division.) The gun fires at a very rapid rate shellsweighing about two pounds, to which a relatively largepropelling charge imparta a very high muzzle-velocity.

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17.(cont'd) If the firing number etande on the trigger thegun fires at a rate of 120 rounds per migut., but ainglerounds can also be fired. With a view to the safsty of ourown troop. and civilians, the shell is self-destroying. The!.:ark !I gun (which ws saw at Colchsstsr) is ds scribed a.semi-mobile; it travels upon two pair. of wheel. which, withtheir axlel, are removed before the gun goe. into action.

18. In view of the vsry high rate of fire and theconsequent heating, spare barrels are lIrovided. We saw ademonatration of the very rapid manner in which the barrel.can be changed.

19. ~ach gun equipment includes a generator tosupply elsctric powsr.to control the gun and opsrate the,predictor which goes with it. ilian the predictor 1s uaedthe gun-crew do not touch the gun itself except to loadand fire it; laying is autOlll&tic - if the telsscope of the~redictor 18 kept focussed upon the plane which i. the target,the gun follow. i\, S1gb.:te are J:,Irovided to enable the gunto be used independently of the predictor.

20. The Bofors can be used &8 an anti-tank weaponat ranges up to &00 yards. For thie purpose a proportion ofarmour-piercing shell ie carried with it in the field.

IlliSIO TIOR

21. The res eon for the recent alteration in thedeeignation of the YORKTOll Light A.A. Battery from let to2nd wae the decision to mobilize the let Field Hattery(Ottawa) for the fourth Divieion (following the withdra.alof 4Div. artillery units for the ~irst Canadian ArmouredDivision) and to convert it into a Light A.A. Battery. To~rotect th1. battery'a seniority it wa. decided to changethe Yorkton1battery1a nuwber. National Defence Headquarterswas adVised that this action had been taken, on lB ~ 41(cable OS 437 Canmilitry to Defensor).

(C •• Stacey) l!ajor,Hi.torioal Officer,C. .M ••

(Coo1f!d 1n H19tor~.c81 Section, Jul 4-3.)