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By the end of August 1944 the Regiment component of 2 TAF was 19 wing
headquarters, 18 LAA squadrons, eight rifle squadrons and four armoured
squadrons. In order to exercise control of the LAA defences in the
combat zone, HQ 106th Anti-Aircraft Brigade Royal Artillery was placed
in overall command of both Army and RAF Regiment LAA units. In an attack
on the airfield at Martragny in July 1944 2703 LAA Squadron and an Army
LAA battery shot down fourteen of the attacking aircraft. Unfortunately,
in the general melee one of the Army guns opened fire on RAF aircraft as
well — for which the entire gun detachment was placed in close arrest by
the battery commander and charged with ‘irresponsibly opening fire on
friendly aircraft”!
The success which Regiment squadrons had achieved in escorting Air
Technical Intelligence (ATI) teams in the Mediterranean theatre resulted
in their employment in similar roles in Europe. With armoured car and
rifle flights to escort them, ATI teams went ahead of the Army to secure
German radars at Mount Pincon and Houlgate and to examine the major
rocket site in the quarries at Hautmesnils. On 25th August 2798 Rifle
Squadron, which had been protecting RAF radar sites in one of the
American corps areas, was ordered to secure Longchamps racecourse in
Paris as a possible landing site. With guides from the French Maquis the
squadron took a devious route into the city to reach its objective —
thus becoming one of the first Allied units to enter the French capital.
On 31st August 1944 another RAF ATI team, designated ‘R” Force, entered
Rouen escorted by 1315 Wing 1-IQ. 2717 Rifle Squadron and 2757 Armoured
Car Squadron
Click here to go to Post War Years
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Europe 1944 D-Day was 6th June 1944 and the British and Canadian
landings were made on the Normandy beaches code-named, from west to east, Gold,
Juno and Sword. The first RAF Regiment units arrived off Juno beach on D-Day
itself but because of the congestion caused by the assault landing of over
25,000 men on Juno beach alone, were not able to disembark until D+ 1. On that
morning Colonel RL Preston. the senior Regiment staff officer of HQ 83 Group,
went ashore with his team, followed by 1304 and 1305 Wing Headquarters and 2809,
2819 and 2834 LAA Squadrons.
By D+12 there were ten Regiment squadrons deployed on forward airfields,
although not all had reached France without mishap. Nos.2817 and 2876 LAA
Squadrons had embarked in Landing Craft Tank (LCT) at Gosport and were heading
for the invasion beaches where they were due to land at dawn on D+2 when they
were intercepted by German naval forces. LAG Derrick Dean of 2876 Squadron
described the scene: “at about 0400 a German aircraft dropped flares over the
convoy which illuminated the vessels for patrolling German E Boats. Although the
convoy scattered on the orders of the commander, the enemy boats were successful
in attacking some of the LCTs. The one carrying 2817 Squadron received direct
hits which smashed the ramps and pierced the hull. Our craft manoeuvred
alongside to take off the dead and wounded and to tow the damaged LCT towards
the beaches. Despite our efforts, she began to sink and we took the remaining
personnel — RAF Regiment and Royal Navy — on board while the guns, vehicles and
equipment of 2817 Squadron went down with the LCT. Our squadron went ashore on
Juno beach and, despite stiff enemy resistance, reached the airstrip at
Coulornbes before midday where we immediately went into action against German
aircraft. That night we mounted patrols to clear the surrounding area of the
snipers who had been bothering us during the day”
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The RAF Regiment.net web
© site and The RAF Regiment from
1984 © Web site have been created by
Glen Beavis, both sites contain pictures and information gathered from
many sources, including my own personal knowledge.
Where possible I have given credit to the originators of
the information, if I have infringed any copyright laws then please
contact me.
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