[John McGillivray]

My daughter borrowed a copy of “A History of 2 CDN HAA REGT 1939 – 1945”, which was published in Soesterberg, Holland (Aug. 1945), from the McGill University library. It states that the 11th Bty of 2 HAA Regt was in Eastbourne during the spring and summer of 1943.

“In the meantime, and even before “Gallop’, it had been decided to deploy the whole of 1 Cdn AA Bde on the south coast. 8 Bty maintained C Tp and BHQ at Black Rock, but during January D Tp moved to Rottingdean and began construction of a site on Telescombe Cliff, at Peacehaven. Towards the end of May, all quarters in Addington were vacated; RHQ and Workshops moved to Hove; Army Service Corps to Saltdean; 1 Bty BHQ moved to Bishopstone, near Seaford, with A Tp taking over a partly constructed site at Hove Grammar School, and B Tp building a new site on top of the hill at Denton, overlooking Newhaven town and harbour. With the shuffling around caused by moves to Whitby, D Tp took over the Grammar School, thus putting both 8 Bty sites under GOR Brighton, and A Tp went to Telescombe, bringing 1 Bty completely under GOR Seaford, a much more satisfactory arrangement. 11 Bty remained non-operational at Eastbourne.

“These deployments, under 5 AA Bde, were part of the general thickening-up of England’s south coast defences, in the face of increased enemy ‘tip and run’ raids. On Feb 10, C Tp engaged as unseen, with 8 rounds, a target which GL indicated as losing height; a Do 217 then broke out of the clouds and was destroyed by LAA fire, crashing inland above Saltdean. 8 Bty BHQ and C Tp were sprayed with cannon shells from FW 190s at 1109 hrs 29 March; the presence of Spitfires restricted fire. At noon May 25, Brighton and Hove suffered their heaviest raid of the war; C Tp fired 13 rds, and destroyed one FW 190 by gun control (Sgt F.L. Lappin); the MT section of C Tp worked into the following morning assisting in the demolition of shattered buildings – a job where the winch cable of an AEC came in very useful. Early in the morning of 5 Jun C Tp fired another 33 rounds, results unknown. 11 Bty, at Eastbourne, were in an area long popular with the GAF – one detachment, working to clear debris and rescue the victim of one raid, who swore loudly during his excavation, sweated and toiled upwards of an hour only to find that the victim was a parrot.

“At the end of the summer, 11 Bty had a hectic fortnight of hard work. On Aug 23, E and F Tps deployed in the Burgess Hill area, and on 2 Sep these two troops were moved again, this time to sites known a H. 28 and H. 30, between Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath.”