197th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, R.A.

The 197th H.A.A. Battery was formed by the reorganisation of the 66th A.A. M.G. Battery on 1st May 1937.  It was regimented with the 66th (Leeds) H.A.A. Regiment, R.A.  The Battery was located at Newcastle-upon-Tyne from where it travelled for embarkation as part of Convoy WS 5A, which sailed from off Oversay on 18th December 1940 to arrive in Freetown Harbour on 6th January 1941.  The 197th Battery disembarked shortly after and came under the command of the Sierra Leone Heavy Regiment, R.A.  A detachment of the Battery sailed on to Takoradi, Gold Coast where it had disembarked by 14th January.[1]

The Takoradi detachment, of two Officers, 48 British Other Ranks and 29 African Other ranks underwent training immediately after arrival by 14th January 1941 and on 29th January began preparing new gun positions. The guns were eventually placed in position on 15th March.[2]

At Freetown, the Battery established a gun site at Cape Sierra Leone, with two 3.7-inch guns, which was ready for action on 11th January 1941.  It now formed part of the newly formed Sierra Leone Anti-Aircraft Regiment, R.A.  A second site was brought into action with a single gun at Murray Town on 19th January, the second gun missing an essential part. Both sections fired at a hostile aircraft on 20th January.  On 15th January, a detachment of the 197th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. arrived at the Brookfields site and took over the section there of two 4.5-inch guns, the gun sites being handed over on 25th January. A number of N.C.O.s and men of the Sierra Leone H.A.A. Battery at Brookfields were drafted to the 197th Battery sections.  Murray Town opened fire again on 25th January and the Cape Sierra Leone section followed on 30th January.[3]

According to the war diary of the Sierra Leone A.A. Regiment, R.A., the 197th Battery was deployed as follows:

H.Q. 197th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. Murray Town
- one section (3.7-inch) deploying to Cockerell, near Murray Town
- one section (3.7-inch) deploying to Cape Sierra Leone
- one section (QF 3-inch 20cwt) at Cape Sierra Leone
- one section (4.5-inch) in transit to Takoradi, Ghana.[4]

On 1st May 1941, the Sierra Leone A.A. Regiment, R.A. was re-titled to become the 1st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, W.A.A.  A large detachment of B.O.R.s were posted to the newly formed 2nd H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A. during May.[5]

At Takoradi, on 3rd June 1941, the detachment of the 197th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. was merged with the 3rd H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A.[6]

On 6th July 1941, the H.1 gun site was taken over by the 2nd H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A. Between 28th and 29th July, the gun site at H.7 was abandoned in favour of the occupation of gun site H32, this latter station being ready for action on 31st July.  On 15th September, the 308th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. took over the H.14 site.  The Cape Sierra Leone site was taken over on 14th October by the 197th H.A.A. Battery, R.A., with personnel of the 2nd H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A. That day, ninety-four personnel of the 313th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. disembarked at Freetown and were attached to the batteries of the 1st H.A.A. Regiment, W.A.A. for all purposes. On 31st October, the 197th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. left Murray Town and moved to Beehive House, Wilberforce, Freetown.[7]

The Battery H. Q. Moved from Murray Town to Beehive House, Wilberforce on 3rd November 1941.  Four static 3.7-inch guns were taken from Freetown to the H32 site and two mobile guns withdrawn from that site between 16th and 20th November.  The static guns at H32 were declared ready for action on 18th December.[8]

The Battery remained at Freetown throughout 1942, occasionally exchanging gun positions with other batteries.  On 23rd February, thirty-two B.O.R.s were posted to the 1st H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A. from the 197th Battery.[9]

On 5th January 1942, the Battery vacated H.1 and occupied H.3.  In February the sites were redesignated A.1, A.2, etc.  On 31st March, a further two static 3.7-inch guns were mounted at A.3.  On 28th April, the personnel at A3 moved to F.1.   On 8th July the Battery occupied A.3 taking over from the 6th H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A.  On 15/16th August two static 3.7-inch guns were removed from A.3. On 10th September, the Battery vacated A.3 and moved to D.2. The sites now manned were D.2 and F.1.[10]

On 29th January 1943, the Battery vacated D.2 and moved to B.1.  On 12th February,  ‘B’ Troop vacated B.1 and occupied C.1.  Between 22nd and 25th February, two static 3.7-inch guns were moved from F.1 to B.1. On 4th April, one static 3.7-inch gun was moved from F.1 to Site No.3 (Wabow W.A.E.M.E.).  On 8/9th April, the four 3.7inch static guns at C.1 were dismantled and on 21st/22nd February were moved to Wabow W.A.E.M.E.[11] 

On 26th May the Battery was mobilised and embarked at Freetown for India.  It arrived at Durban on 20th June, disembarked and moved to Clairwood Transit Camp.  It re-embarked at Durban on 25th May and arrived at Bombay on 11th July.  Upon disembarkation, the Battery moved to Kedgaon Camp.[12]

During October 1943, the Battery became known officially as the 197th (W.A.) H.A.A. Battery, R.A. [It was official policy within Indian Command and the 14th Army to designate the ‘nationality’ of units in their title, to remove the risk of any opportunity for confusion where units of the same type also had the same unit number: for example, the 8th H.A.A. Battery, R.A. and the 8th (Indian) H.A.A. Battery, I.A.)].  What is also of interest, is that despite having been ‘Africanised’ during 1941, the Battery remained a Royal Artillery unit, not being designated as West African Artillery (W.A.A.).[13]

On 30th August 1943, the Battery moved to Manipur Road where it arrived on 8th/9th September.  ‘A’ Troop took over ‘C’ Station and ‘B’ Troop took over ‘B’ Station; Battery H.Q. moved to ‘C’ Station on 15th September.  The gun sites became known as ‘B’ and ‘C’ Sites during October and as ‘MB’ and ‘MC’ Sites in December.  The Battery remained in these positions until 2nd September 1944 when it was relieved by the 5th H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A.  The next day, the 197th Battery moved to the Imphal-Palel gun zone where it took over the ‘D’ and ‘K’ sites, with Battery H.Q. at ‘L’ site.  By this time, the Troops within the Battery had been redesignated as ‘E’ and ‘F’ Troops.   On 18th December 1944, ‘E’ Troop left the ‘D’ site to take over the ‘C’ site.[14]

Major D.E. Broad assumed command of the Battery on 13th February 1945.  The Battery ceased to be operational on 11th March and between 14th and 27th March all equipment was taken out of action and sent to Manipur Road.  Major Broad left on repatriation on 30th June to be temporarily succeeded in command by Lieutenant A.F. Jeggo.  ‘E’ Troop moved from Palel to Imphal on 17th July, to be joined by the rest of the unit on 11th August.  Major L.A. Sanders assumed command of the Battery on 27th August. [15]

On 17th September 1945, the Battery entrained with the 2nd H.A.A. Battery, W.A.A., en route for Kalyan where the Batteries arrived on 23rd September.  From Kalyan, the Battery went to Bombay on 28th September where it embarked on the ship H.M.T. Highland Princess (code-named B.T. 11), being played on board by the Sierra Leone Band.  The ship carrying the Battery weighed anchor the next day and arrived at Freetown on 19th October 1945 and the personnel disembarked on 20th October.[16]

It is thought that the 197th H.A.A. Battery was disbanded at Freetown during early November 1945.

6 August 2025