Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

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fiwi
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Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by fiwi » Tue May 07, 2019 8:08 am

Good morning,

I just found out that a family member served in these 2 regiments :

Italy: from 14 June 1943 – 9 March 1945

Unit: 2 LAA Regiment

North West Europe: from 11 March 1945 – 10 September 1945

Unit: 2 HAA

I'd love to find the right combination for these 2 units => up to Division/Army , down to Battalions/Batteries ?

+ the dates and campaigns they were in please. Are there good places to look for this info ?

Thanks.
Friendly regards,
Filip

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by Temujin » Tue May 07, 2019 11:21 am

fiwi wrote:
Tue May 07, 2019 8:08 am
Good morning,

I just found out that a family member served in these 2 regiments :

Italy: from 14 June 1943 – 9 March 1945

Unit: 2 LAA Regiment

North West Europe: from 11 March 1945 – 10 September 1945

Unit: 2 HAA

I'd love to find the right combination for these 2 units => up to Division/Army , down to Battalions/Batteries ?

+ the dates and campaigns they were in please. Are there good places to look for this info ?

Thanks.
Good day Filip, the best source of information on these units are their War Dairies, that tells you what they did “day to day” throughout the war.

Below are links to the War Diaries of the 2nd Heavy AA Regiment RCA. Warning, these are FILLED with information and pretty “dry” reading

http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1

The records can be “out of order” so sometimes very hard to read. I’ll see if I can find a “Unit History” for you

Here’s a bit more info on this unit

https://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherla ... t-rca.html
8C1E72FB-B1FC-43E1-8626-23238F7B4BB6.jpeg
8C1E72FB-B1FC-43E1-8626-23238F7B4BB6.jpeg (111.93 KiB) Viewed 25850 times
Gunners of the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, pushing a 3.7-inch (9.84 cm) anti-aircraft gun through mud.
Photographer: Bell, Ken.
Location: Dunkerque, France:
Subject: Mil. - Ops. - Land - 1945/02/01.@Weapons - Armaments - Artillery.@Mil. - Units - R.C.A. - 1945/02/01.@Army.
Date: February 1, 1945.
64024175-034D-4F5A-9E34-DBDA5899E227.jpeg
64024175-034D-4F5A-9E34-DBDA5899E227.jpeg (124.29 KiB) Viewed 25849 times
Ordnance QF 3.7-inch Heavy AA Gun manned by 2nd Canadian Heavy AA Regiment. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607529)
C671C4FF-DBC9-434A-B087-1BB36FA37284.jpeg
C671C4FF-DBC9-434A-B087-1BB36FA37284.jpeg (1.22 MiB) Viewed 25848 times
Ordnance QF 3.7-inch Heavy AA Gun manned by 2nd Canadian Heavy AA Regiment. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607609)
A33E10A5-6F63-44C1-8C28-D4F4A09BD208.jpeg
A33E10A5-6F63-44C1-8C28-D4F4A09BD208.jpeg (1.07 MiB) Viewed 25847 times
3.7-inch HAA Gun in tow position. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607610)
78A7920B-4207-495D-A772-E3B0142ACF3A.jpeg
78A7920B-4207-495D-A772-E3B0142ACF3A.jpeg (71.33 KiB) Viewed 25846 times
Ordnance QF 3.7-inch Heavy AA Gun being cleaned. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3225276)

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by Temujin » Tue May 07, 2019 11:27 am

Here’s the War Diaries of the 2nd Light AA Regiment RCA

http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocih ... /1?r=0&s=1

I’ll also is if I can find you a Unit History for this Regiment

The 2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was made up of 3 Batteries:

4th LAA Bty
54th LAA Bty
5th LAA Bty

The 2nd LAA was part of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, and would have taken part in the Landings in Sicily and Italy until the Division moved to NW Europe to join the 1st Canadian Army



1st Canadian Infantry Division

1st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
2nd Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
3rd Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
1st Anti-Tank Regiment
2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
DFD68C66-7F21-4843-A6DB-FE0136DB176C.jpeg
DFD68C66-7F21-4843-A6DB-FE0136DB176C.jpeg (97.65 KiB) Viewed 25850 times
Gunner V.C. Northey, loading 40-mm Bofors AAA rounds, 5th Battery, 2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RCA, Campobasso, Italy, 29 October 1943. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3260956)
02F5E4D9-E6EF-4892-A9CD-DD6CA3E000EF.jpeg
02F5E4D9-E6EF-4892-A9CD-DD6CA3E000EF.jpeg (207.91 KiB) Viewed 25845 times
QF 40-mm Bofors AA Gun manned by 1st Canadian Division gunners. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4233963)
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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by Temujin » Tue May 07, 2019 11:40 am

A little more info on the 2nd LAA Regiment

https://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherla ... t-rca.html

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by Temujin » Tue May 07, 2019 11:43 am

There IS a unit History of the 2nd Heavy AA Unit.......not sure where you can find a copy. This is the cover page
1CF24201-3491-43EA-AD66-AE47ECF4C12A.jpeg
1CF24201-3491-43EA-AD66-AE47ECF4C12A.jpeg (58.77 KiB) Viewed 25857 times
https://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherla ... overs.html

The 2nd Canadian Heavy AA Regiment was part of First Canadian Army Troops

FIRST CANADIAN ARMY TROOPS

ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY:


1st Army Group, Royal Canadian Artillery:
11th Army Field Regiment
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment
5th Medium Regiment

2nd Army Group, Royal Canadian Artillery:

19th Army Field Regiment
3rd Medium Regiment
4th Medium Regiment
7th Medium Regiment
2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Mobile)

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by Temujin » Tue May 07, 2019 11:46 am

Copy of above history?.......a little bit expensive I think

https://www.abebooks.com/History-2-Cdn- ... 4356116/bd


NOTE: The Imperial War Museum in the UK may have a copy

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item ... 1500010807

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by Temujin » Tue May 07, 2019 11:55 am

I just found a Unit History of the 2nd Cdn LAA Regiment in the war diaries, give a moment and I’ll download the pages and post them up here for you

EDIT: Download all 40 plus pages. Just need to fix them up for easy reading.......then I’ll post the entire history on a separate thread, so everyone can find it when using Google. Probably have this done later today

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by fiwi » Thu May 09, 2019 9:02 am

Wow, fantastic, I traced one of my cousins in the diaries of the 5th LAA Battery, 2nd LAA Regiment !
Friendly regards,
Filip

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by fiwi » Thu May 09, 2019 1:38 pm

Temujin wrote:
Tue May 07, 2019 11:43 am
There IS a unit History of the 2nd Heavy AA Unit.......not sure where you can find a copy. This is the cover page

1CF24201-3491-43EA-AD66-AE47ECF4C12A.jpeg

https://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherla ... overs.html

The 2nd Canadian Heavy AA Regiment was part of First Canadian Army Troops

FIRST CANADIAN ARMY TROOPS

ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY:


1st Army Group, Royal Canadian Artillery:
11th Army Field Regiment
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment
5th Medium Regiment

2nd Army Group, Royal Canadian Artillery:

19th Army Field Regiment
3rd Medium Regiment
4th Medium Regiment
7th Medium Regiment
2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Mobile)
If only there was a similar one for the 2nd LAA Regiment ?
Friendly regards,
Filip

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Re: Researching the 2 LAA and 2 HAA Regiment RCA

Post by fiwi » Thu May 09, 2019 1:42 pm

Temujin wrote:
Tue May 07, 2019 11:55 am
I just found a Unit History of the 2nd Cdn LAA Regiment in the war diaries, give a moment and I’ll download the pages and post them up here for you

EDIT: Download all 40 plus pages. Just need to fix them up for easy reading.......then I’ll post the entire history on a separate thread, so everyone can find it when using Google. Probably have this done later today
Thank you very much !!
Friendly regards,
Filip

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