Anti-Aircraft Defence - Scotland  On November 9th 1939, the 9th Regiment was split up. The 6th Battery stayed in Northern Ireland and the remainder went to Egypt. This was because the 5th Light AA Battery replaced the 6th. This Battery had been training in England at the time. It has been surmised by many that it was more cost effective to send a unit to Egypt that were already in England and had also completed their Anti Aircraft training. Rommel at Tobruk virtually wiped out the 5th Battery. The survivors were transferred to the Coleraine Battery.

In November 1939 the Battery moved to Scotland, under the command of the 51st LAA Regiment, they covered the AA Defences over a wide area.

"The Battery HQ was located in Falkirk. X Troop were based three miles from Stirling at the Royal Naval Ammunition Dump, Bandeath. When a ship went into Rosyth Dockyard for refitting or repairs, the first thing that happened was that all the ammunition had to be taken off the ship. In Rosyth there were a series of caves used for storing ammunition. these were approached by the use of a railway line. Sometimes the ammo was taken via the Kinkardine Bridge to Bandeath for temporary storage. Bandeath was at least three miles from Stirling. When we were off duty we would walk into Stirling and go to the cinema.

Y Troop were posted to AA Defence duties in Grangemouth. The weapon used in this AA Defence was the Lewis Machine Gun. Z Troop were posted to the Naval Dockyard. There they manned the 40mm Multi Barrelled Pom Pom's". Robin Martin (2004)

X Troop's Itinerary for Scotland and The Move

 

Some of the first tasks for the Battery in Scotland included the protection of a four-mile square ammunition dump at Bellshill. This was located  SW of Glasgow.  They were also responsible for the AA Defence the large petrol tanks at Grangemouth. Both these were precarious assignments because there would have been no escape if an enemy bomb had dropped on either location.  Y Troop was tasked to well secluded gun posts around the city of Aberdeen. It was here that Sgt. Andy McGowan is credited with shooting down the Battery's first plane, a German Dornier 217, with a Lewis machine gun. The plane crashed into Aberdeen Skating Rink, which was empty at the time. The crew had parachuted to safety and Gunner Jack Doherty retrieved the pilot's gloves as a war souvenir. (Speedy Moore, 2004)

"There was twelve of us posted to the Lewis Gun Pits just outside Aberdeen. Sgt Jimmy McCaw was in charge of our group. The Lewis guns were in two pits. Each pit had a pole with the gun mounted on it. These Gun Pits were on the Douglas Farm on Torry Point, facing out into the North Sea. Our task was to protect Aberdeen City and the harbour by interdicting the German planes as the came in from occupied Europe.

Mrs. Douglas was a small lady, always neat and tidy. She had lost a son in the war. He had been a fighter pilot from Aberdeen University. She also had another son and two daughters. One day she presented us with her late son's  wind up gramophone and his collection of records. We always found the Aberdonians were a generous and welcoming people.

One day we got the order to stand to. There was a heavy fog on the coast and we could hear the dog fight in the sky directly overhead. John Hutchinson was my No. 2 on the gun, responsible for the reloading when necessary. The rules were that we had to wait for the Sgt.  to give the Fire Control Orders before opening fire. Jigger Diamond was on the other gun. Both of us had limited arcs of fire so that we only engaged targets when it was safe to open fire. If we fired outside our designated arcs, we were in danger of shooting each other.

 

 

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It came out of the fog to our right. It was like a double decker bus. I never thought about Jimmy McCaw. I had the gun cocked so I got stuck into the plane. When it moved to the left, I kept firing even when I moved out of my safe firing arcs. John Hutchinson reloaded the gun when it emptied. The plane was easy to shoot because the magazines were loaded with a two ball and one tracer sequence. You just hose piped the rounds onto the plane, once you were on, you kept it there." Spanky McGowan (2004)